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Ester Series: Back in the Game
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TerraMGP
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Ester Series: Mrs. Herrman

Ester Series: In a Brave New World
mrs_herrman.doc
Keywords female 998694, feline 138469, mouse 49963, bear 44798, chipmunk 12060, stoat 2099, character development 1266, plot development 538, child abuse 266, neglect 33, ester series 20
Mrs. Herrman

By TerraMGP

If she had been given any choice in the matter Diana would probably have felt quite grumpy today. Cutting back on some of her old habits for the sake of ones girlfriend was one thing, and she could even put up with being ‘responsible’ if it

meant Ruth thought more of her. Yet there was just something about actually sitting down in a library that made her feel dirty. “Mousie is damn lucky I need to get a B or better in history. I still can’t believe she talked me into this. I swear the second this whole thing is behind me…” Of course the wicked little things Diana wished she could do to her girlfriend upon acquisition of the arbitrarily high grade never went further than her own slightly skewed imagination. But it was such little secrets that made the world go round, or so the punkish girl liked to think. “Ah well maybe I’ll be able to have some fun with Mousie after school this Friday. God knows she’s long overdue.” Of course that would have to wait for another day, but at least she had the time to relax and ponder what wicked things she could do to her girlfriend. After so many months of ups and downs Diana finally felt like she was floating on air as she popped the door open dashing into the ramshackle living room.

“Hay Jonathon, I’m home! God you would not believe the day I had. Seriously if that damn history teacher reams me out one more time I swear to God…” Leaving her threat unfinished she tossed the battered backpack off of her shoulder and into the middle of the living room where she promptly threw herself onto the couch, greeted fondly by the comforting groan of the old furniture piece that had already taken so much abuse. It was all part of her routine, one that had served her quite well when trying to unwind after the bland hell that was her school life. After a few moments of just kicking back lazily and doing her best to relax though Diana decided that she really just wanted to watch some Tv and as usual fumbled though the clutter on the side table until she picked up the simple black remote, along with a strange piece of folded paper taped to the underside of it. “What the hell is this?” Diana mused to herself, picking the simple piece of paper up and flipping open what appeared to be a hastily scribbled note.

“Dee,

Sorry about not being here. I tried to call but I couldn‘t get though. Long

Story short, I need to get outta here for a while, you know who. I know its

Hell with her around so if you can  find a place to crash, do it. I’ll

Be working late at the club, and then try to stop in and check on you

when I’m sure I won‘t make things worse. Take care of yourself and

try to avoid the kitchen.

Love ya

Jonathon”



The words on the page seemed to blur right there. For a moment all of her thoughts scattered around trying to make sense of the words in a way she could accept, looking for some alternate meaning. Diana willed herself to focus again, narrowing her eyes on the letters that were now scrawled onto the page with far more effort than she should have needed. “Fuck!” She finally exclaimed “Fucking hell… Why now? Why did she have to come back now?” She quickly slapped a paw over her mouth and looked around nervously, drinking in every small creak of the old house with newfound caution. Even now she knew that her little outburst could have roused a sleeping mosnter, one that she would give just about anything to avoid. One thought pushed its way into Dianas mind and was now dominating her, escape. If it was who she thought it was, then she head to be somewhere, anywhere else.

“Ok Diana, its ok, just calm down.” she thought to herself. “She didn’t hear you when you came in, she probably won’t hear you now. All you need to do is get the phone and make a few calls. Maybe you can…” That line of thought was quickly quashed. Diana wasn’t sure she could get to the land line phone, and the only other choice would be her brothers cell, something that would probably be absent right about now. Besides, who would she call?

She did have one option though. It meant sneaking though the kitchen and getting to the basement stairs, but at least she would be able to sneak out the window instead of coming back up. That way she would be set even if the commotion woke the terror that Diana was sure now slumbered on the kitchen table. With a stealth born of events just like this she made her way over to the kitchen door and peeked her head in cautiously. Thankfully it seemed that the kitchen itself was clear for the moment, meaning their ‘guest’ must be off in another room sleeping it off. She made her way over the broken tile floor as quickly and quietly as she possibly could remembering each and every creaky spot from rote. “Ok Diana, it should be clear sailing now. Just a couple more feet and then its down the stairs and out the window.” she murmured gaining a bit of excited electricity with every step she took.

“Just where do ya think yer are going young lady?”

The Chipettes heart suddenly locked up in her chest. She was so close to freedom, only a few steps to the basement stairs and from there it was out the window, down the street and away from here. She could almost taste the crisp cold air on her tongue welcoming her escape. She wanted nothing more than to make a dash for it and get far away right now without another word. Unfortunately she was too scared to move, too scared to do anything but gaze at the stairs, her voice barely a mumbled whisper. “H-hello… Mom.”

“Hello mom. That’s all I get? That’s the greeting I get? From my own fucking daughter!”

There was a loud pop inches from her feet, Diana flinched as she felt the telltale ping of glass shards hitting her jeans and gazed nervously at the warm pale liquid pooling up in front of her. “I.. I thought you were asleep. Jonathon left a note to tell me you got in. I was just going to get something and head out so I didn’t wake you…”

“Don’t lie to me. Don’t you dare lie to me girl. Maybe you forgot but this is my house. Not yours, not your worthless faggot brothers. Mine. You think I gave up everything raising you two so you could turn around and walk all over me? Do you?” The woman’s hand clasped firmly on the leather jacket and bit down with an icy ferocity born of anger and the scotch that now mingled with other smells in her stale breath. “Your brother may not give a shit about me or what I think, but I will be damned if I let you treat me like a leper. Now turn around, I want you to look me in the eyes. I want to make sure you understand.”

The trembling Chipette slowly began to mince her feet around in the puddle of cheap beer and shattered glass which told her fearstruck mind that she was indeed complying. Before she even realized it Diana was turned around and looking up into that familiar face, its warmth and beauty faded and eroded from years of hard drinking, the tips of her chestnut brown fur already taking on a dull grey sheen that seemed so out of place on the woman who was still far too young for it. The young girl gazed nervously into the dull blue eyes that had once been so full of life and energy, now turned cold and dim. She looked into the face of her mother and swallowed back all of her fear and pain at the sight, a knot of nervous anxiety slowly twisting around her stomach.

“Why do you have to do this to me?” Mrs. Herrman looked down into her daughters eyes as she asked this, her grip now shifted to the other solder. “What did I ever do to you Diana? What did I do to make you hate me so much? Is it your brother? Is it all the bullshit he has been feeding you about me?” She saw Diana turning her face away and quickly cupped her free paw around it, turning it back firmly but not roughly in spite of her inebriated state.

“N-no mom. It’s not that. It has nothing to do with Jonathon.”  partial lie, but a lie nonetheless. She didn’t want to tell her mother the whole truth, in fact she didn’t really want to look at the woman either. Just the sight of what her mother was hurt Diana in a way that little else in this world could. She despised the woman, and yet couldn’t bring herself to truly hate her.

“You have to understand sweetheart, I don’t want to act the way I do with your brother. I tried to raise him to be a good boy. But then he started running around with all those god damn fairies in high school… and he started to cut hair, and shake his ass for Japanese men and fucking middle managers who don’t want anyone to know that they are bull queers. And then he comes home and trash talks me because I raised him better than that.” The woman bit back a sob as she said this and pulled her daughter into a semi-sloppy hug, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and squeezing the girl firmly to her chest.

It was rather difficult in this state to tell if this was genuine emotion or a side effect of her dangerously high blood alcohol level. Either way she didn’t feel inclined to return the hug, and instead stood there nervously and accepted the volatile affection passively. The young woman liked to tell herself that she was quiet for her brother, that in spite of everything else that may happen she refused to speak up to her mother because she knew that the conflict about Jonathon’s sexuality tore the man up inside, and that taking a side would only make him feel worse. She would have loved to tell herself that if he said the word she would gladly jump to his defense and tell the woman off for all the horrible things she said to him over the years were signs that she was a horrible mother and a horrible person. She knew better though. In spite of it all Diana knew the truth. This woman was still her mother, and she simply couldn’t bring herself to do it. In spite of everything the woman had done she still feared her, and loved her as well in a rather strange way. It was the same strange mix of emotions that kept Diana from daring fore the nearest exit as fast as she could.

Without another word the age worn and obviously tipsy woman walked up to the stove and yanked out the bottom tray of the stove scattering the pans held within haphazardly around the kitchen floor. “Sit down Diana, I’m sure you haven’t eaten yet.” Her voice left no room for argument, and without looking back to see if her daughter had indeed taken a seat she placed a large and overly scoured metal pan onto the old stovetop and sauntered over to the fridge. She threw the door open and grabbing a carton of eggs that she raddled to ensure something was left in it.

“M-mom… I really don’t think you should be using a stove right now.” Diana murmured about as loudly as she dared. Her fist balled up in a quiet show of silent fury at her mother. Every fiber of her being just wanted to let loose, to shout and scream and kick and smash until the woman finally stopped speaking. But as always these feelings were easily overshadowed by the reality of the situation, and Diana found herself sitting down in one of the rickety old chairs watching as her mother fumbled her way though the kitchen making a horrible mess on the already broken countertop.

“I’m not drunk damnit!” The haggard woman yelled “What do I keep telling you about that mouth of yours. I’m perfectly capable of cooking for my own child.” Each of those words was punctuated by the loud crack of an egg as it was smashed on the counter, whatever stayed in the broken shell as it was dragged over the ungreased pan hitting the heated metal with a loud sizzle. She went though all six of the eggs that had been in the carton getting about half of each in the pan. She looked at the small can next to the stove that held the families meager supply of kitchen utensils for a few long moments before finally grabbing a whisk out of it, totally ignoring the brand new spatula sitting next to it. The woman drove the tool into the middle of the pan and spun it around frantically splashing more goop down the sides of the pan as she beat the small yellow spheres into a semblance of a scramble.

It wasn’t long before this twisted semblance of her childhood memories was combined with a sharp burning smell that wafted into Diana’s nose. “God damn it mom..” she mumbled softly turning an eye to the fire extinguisher her brother insisted stay on top of the fridge. Fortunately the eggs didn’t really catch, and her mother was able to dump the rather unappetizing black and yellow mass onto a plate without starting the stove on fire.

“See? I told ya I could still make dinner. I know how much you love scrambled eggs sweetie.” The sloppy woman managed to saunter over to the table and set the eggs down without dropping them, yet was seemingly oblivious to the state of the burned mass swimming in uncooked protein goo. “Well go on, take a bite. Its not like your brother is here to make you any food. He’s too busy shaking that ass of his for skeevy old men. Mommy is hear now and she will still take care of you.”

As she gazed hesitantly towards the eggs Diana couldn’t help but think about all those times as a child that she would run into the kitchen early on a Saturday morning, jumping into this same chair and looking up over the edge of the table. She could still hear the rustling of her fathers paper as he glanced over the comics while trying hard to look serious, or feel the tooth jarring clack of plastic on plastic as Jonathon smashed two of his megazords together in mock combat. If she tried a little harder she could even smell the warmth of her mothers favorite perfume mingling with sizzling bacon and eggs that were just starting to curdle into a proper scramble. For one glorious moment it all flooded her senses and wrapped around her like a warm safe blanket. Then it was gone.

That was the worst part about her mother coming home. It would be so much easier if she yelled and screamed, threw things around. If only the woman would scream at her more or throw something or even hit her. Anything to take away the guilt that Diana felt and let her hate the woman unconditionally. It simply killed her that underneath all of the booze and anonymous sex and filth there was still some glimmer of the woman she had once loved so much, just beyond her reach.



Of course over that spark lay a hundred and ten pounds of emaciated, sickly bitch gazing expectantly at the girl to take a bite of the rather foul-looking dish before her. With the moment of hesitation that she felt would fly before she once again sparked her mothers ire Diana scooped up the fork and slowly cut into the mass of eggstuff, pulling a small bite of the food to her lips. The only saving grace to the mass of bitter burnt blandness and gelled goo was a slight hint of doneness to the middle of the eggs that seemed to simply mock what was her favorite breakfast as a child. She managed a few more bites like this, each one twisting her stomach like a vice, before finally shoving the plate aside and standing up taking on as defiant an air as she dared with the woman. “I’m done Mom. I had a big lunch at school. I’m going to go for a walk…”

“A walk huh? Fine. I get it.” the older woman snapped, grabbing the plate of food and promptly dumping it into the trash. “Fine, go. Go ahead and have your walk. Don’t think I can’t take a hint.” Mrs. Herrman grabbed hold of some steel wool sitting by the sink and began to scrub at the dinner pan with all the grace and poise she had mustered to prepare dinner, managing to somehow scrape herself at least once on either tool or pan. “God forbid you spend one fucking hour with your mother while she’s here. You know you could at least do that. Would it be too much to ask?”

“Mom…” Part of her knew it was true. Diana hated to admit it, but she wanted to spend time with her mother desperately, to share everything that had happened to her, to blurt out all of the changes in her life. She wanted to let her Mom know about all of her new friends and the hobbies she was picking up. She wanted to sit down next to her mom and tell her about all of her strange little adventures both on paper and in real life. Most of all she wanted to tell her about Ester and how and happy that wonderful little girl made her feel deep down inside

This woman wasn’t her mother though, and Diana knew it. Whatever she may have once been it was a stranger standing there now before the sink, a degenerate drinker and barfly who just showed up to impose her morals and remind both of the Herrman children of what they lost. If Diana told her about any of it, especially about Ester, there was no telling what this familiar stranger might do to her little love in retribution for the perceived transgressions. She would be damned if she let this woman ruin her life again.

Diana turned on heel and promptly walked away from the scowling drunk in her kitchen, pushing open the basement door and running down the narrow old staircase and stopping at a large old army chest which she proceeded to fling open and withdraw various items from, shoving them each into a ragged old backpack. Once this was done she reached up to the basement window and yanked off the wooden pane holding the glass in place, pushing her backpack out and then climbing over the trunk to get out herself. “Sorry Mom…” Diana mumbled to herself “But I am done with this shit.”

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Picking her way though the brambles and branches that hedged the woods off from the rest of so called civilization Diana finally managed to pull herself out and onto the fractured asphalt parking lot that once served as employee parking to the abandoned factory that now lay before her. It was a simple enough old building, its windows mostly busted out and doors either rusted shut or falling off of the hinges. It seemed to have escaped any notice by the rest of the world and was instead left to slowly rot and crumble itself out like so many others around town. Fortunately Diana was not like most other people, and she knew a good opportunity when she saw one.

Hefting the heavy backpack over one shoulder she made her way across the parking lot and around to one of the busted windows now resting at about ground level. First thing in was the backpack, soon followed by the Chipette herself. Both landed with a resounding thud on the cold concrete floor just inside the window. This was the factory end of the building, though with most of the machines ripped out and hauled off it was difficult to tell what exactly this factory once produced. Not that it really mattered much at this point. If anything nosing around whatever equipment was once here would have just been a formula for disaster.

Making her way past the main floor Diana finally came upon her goal, a small set of office space nestled into the rear corner of the building. Unlike the factory before most of the desks and cubicle walls had been left in place and were really showing signs of the abuse they had taken in the long years since this place closed. She was actually forced to cover her muzzle before drating in, doing her best to avoid the far end of the office where an ill tempered feral cat had decided to lay claim to part of this hidden haven in a kind of unspoken territorial agreement. She ran though the forest of standing artificial walls and into a small corner office resting at the opposite end of the floor, slamming the door shut and dropping the backpack down on the ground as she breathed in the still clean air that came from the as yet untainted ventilation system. For a moment Diana wondered if this was how characters in D&D felt when they finally managed to make it past all of the traps and dangers in a dungeon to finally make it back home.

“Damn it mousie, you really are turning me into a massive nerd, aren’t you?” Diana quipped to nobody in particular. She was finally safe, home, or at least the best home she would be getting for the next few days. Everybody else seemed to have written this building off as a condemnation in progress, something left to rot itself away since other places in the city demanded attention more. Luckily for Diana she saw so much more. Years ago the curious little Chipette had braved the dangerous bowels of this place and found herself a sanctuary, a home away from home, which was something she now found herself in desperate need of.

“Well Thrice, here we are.” Diana laughed, yanking open the front of the offices fireproof safe and pulling out a stuffed triceratops which she placed on the corner of the ratty old couch. After that she pulled open the zipper of her backpack and out came a grey plastic case which she opened to reveal her Super Nintendo and a small collection of her games, all held standing by a set of plastic partitions each wide and thick enough to hold the games in place. Miraculously the office itself had held up quite well over the years, and thanks to a few cheap renovations of Dianas own design it had just about everything a girl could need. Along with the couch and chairs that had been left behind by their previous owner, the place also contained a mini fridge that had probably been quite expensive when it was new, and a nice stable desk to use as a table. It even had a surprisingly good bottle of whisky tucked away in one of the lower drawers.

Of course Diana had made a few small changes to help make the space livable. A ten dollar TV/VCR from a garage sale being the biggest change. It wasn’t too much, but it was a place to play her old games. That and the mini fridge were both connected to a power strip that in turn was plugged into the wall. By some fluke the socket had not been shut off with the rest of the building which meant she could run all of her gaming stuff, the mini fridge and even a small radio/cassette player. That was probably the aspect of this building she liked best, in many ways it was like her own little apartment.

Finally after a few more minutes of work She managed to get the connector fastened to the TV and the adaptor plugged in, picking out ‘Super Mario World’ and plugging it firmly into the system. “Gah, finally. I have been jonseing to play this game all day.” Diana leaned back and pulled the stuffed toy a bit closer, eyes wandering around the room as she once again made her way though the first couple of levels, finally coming to rest on a rather corny old poster of a wind surfer and some caption about hanging on to dreams. “Yeah yeah, I know I’m playing though this game again. I really don’t want to hear it.” she growled. “You have no fucking idea what I’ve had to put up with today, none at all. Seriously all you have to do is sit there on that stupid fucking board in those pastel shorts and cruise for some superficial sugar daddy boyfriend. Some of us actually have real problems.“ she turned her gaze back to the game moving along towards the first castle with the practiced precision that one gained from years of repetition and practice. “You know I should really bring Mousie here some time” she murmured to herself “Its still hard to believe she hasn’t played any super Nintendo games. Hell she hasn’t even seen an NES before.” She chuckled to herself a bit more thinking about the prospect of bringing her little girlfriend into the little sanctum she had carved out for herself in these urban ruins. Of course she knew that would never happen, since doing that would require her to talk more about the main reason she so often retreated to this place.

Her mother, Once again Diana found the woman creeping her way into her thoughts even out here where she was supposed to be alone. She wondered why her mom had to come back, especially now when things were finally going right in her life. The last time she came home it wasn’t nearly as hard since her Mother was too drunk to notice her slipping out, and since that was before Ester knew where she lived she could simply make an excuse for her girlfriend not to call and be done with it. Now though, now Est called at least once or twice a week regardless of weather or not they went to hang out after school, and Diana couldn’t do anything but walk home lest her mother get wise and do something that… that she didn’t even want to think about.

“No, I don’t need to tell Ester about my mom damn it, and I sure as hell don’t need to let mom know about Est.” she snapped at the poster fingers still moving along the pad moving along around the various creatures and pitfalls without more than a glance to the screen. “Look, I don’t need to take this from a fucking poster. Honesty isn’t the best policy. Mom would end up scaring her off or making her…” Diana didn’t want to think about the end to that sentence. Far too many things could happen that would simply ruin her life again. “There is no way I’m going to let anything like that happen. No way in hell” she growled scooting back into her seat and trying to focus on the game once more in an attempt to drive worries about her mother and the imaginary argument with the annoying little conversation with the man on the old poster out of her mind. It was bad enough that she had to worry about what the woman every day, there was no way she was going to expose Ester, or any of them for that matter, to all of this.

The next couple of hours passed by in relatively quiet spikes of joy and frustration. After unlocking the first hidden area she managed to plow her way into the forest and got though most of star road and star way as well, going back every now and then to get a new yellow Yoshi to play around with. All in all it was probably the most relaxed she had been since her mother got home, she had almost forgotten that the bitch was even there. “Ok why are you starting in again?” She snapped suddenly scowling at the poster. “Yeah of course I know I have to go home soon damn it. You think I’m fucking stupid?” The chipettes mood quickly turning south as she ascribed the rather cruel realization to the man in the picture. Of course it wasn’t the anonymous windsurfers fault, she knew that. She may have ascribed infuriating opinions to the thing so she had someone to vent at when times were rough but that didn’t mean it solved the problem.

“Damn it why did she have to come back now? Things were finally getting good for once. God damn it why couldn’t she just stay away? Or better yet why couldn’t she sober the hell up? Gah ever since dad took off.” She stopped herself there. As much as she hated her mother there were some things she couldn’t blame the woman for, and that was one of the big ones. Another reluctant sigh escaped Dianas lips as she switched her game off and started to pack it away next to her NES in a large fireproof safe that had been left in the office. The lock was broken so it didn’t keep things safe from theives but it did close shut enough to keep them from getting damaged by the elements or little vermin. That made it the perfect place to keep things she didn’t want her mom chancing upon.

Once everything was arranged properly the young Chipette grabbed her stuffed triceratops and placed him into the safe along with the other objects from her childhood, gazing at them again longingly before closing the safe and making sure it could open again even though it always did. She zipped the now empty backpack up and sholdered it haphazardly. The lack of weight she felt was more than offset by the prospect of facing her mother again, even if it was to help her brother out.. “Well I’m heading back like you wanted.” She grumbled to the windsurfer “You breath a word of this to anyone and I swear I’ll cut you out and glue you to a picture of a volcano.”  Having made her pointless little threat Diana made her way out of the old office, feeling the door thudding loudly behind her.

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Jonathon hopped down from the smoothed out wooden stage and started to chuckle a little bit. “Well sis, be honest, what do you think? That routine good enough to get me a few extra bucks tonight?” The older sibling reached over and tussed his little sisters hair before walking over to the bar, still clad in the hot pink G string that he had been using to for most of his routines. Admittedly the thing was a little bit tight, but then considering his line of work that was usually quite the advantage. Still as he sat down on a stool next to Diana Jonathon couldn’t help but feel a little bit too confined.

Diana stroked her chin and looked over her scantily clad brother again running the series of sultry moves though her head a second time. “Well I dunno really. I mean I like the outfit, and the that little pole spin you did at the end was great, but don’t you think that your showing off way too much of your ass? I mean you got a lot of really good real-estate in the front too ya know. I keep telling you that you don’t flaunt it nearly enough.” Diana finished off the last of her coke and then set the empty glass back down on the stage, watching as her brother once again snatched it up and poked her nose.

“Now now Dee we’ve been over this, no rings on the boards. You know how the bossman gets about that. Now you want another full one?” he raddled the melted ice around in the glass and set it down on a nearby table, quite amused by the girls rather blatant comments. “Yeah well maybe a few of them might like it but come on you know they are all coming to see me lift my tail. Honestly Dee most of our clients aren’t looking to take it if ya know what I mean. In their minds I’m already face down on their bed with my rear end in the air and the rest is just something to play with while they get their rocks off.”

Naturally Diana felt her brother was selling himself short but she also knew that her brother wasn’t going to budge on this. “Well I still think the front end is just as sexy, if not more. Don’t get roped into thinking you have to be the catcher in their minds in order to get the bills ok? You got a damn fine body, not just the bootie” Both siblings laughed at the comment that to anyone else would have probably been rather disturbing and then exchanged a small hug.

“Heh well maybe. Here Dee let me get ya a refill.” Jonathon made his way back over to the bar where a burly looking Doberman was setting up syrup and juicing limes for the upcoming show. “Hay Ben, Another coke and a cranberry juice if ya don’t mind.” Jonathon watched intently as the big bartender shot him a smile and nabbed up a clean glass filling it with a quick shot of cranberry juice before shooting a blast of coke from the fountain into Dianas old one.

“Here ya go pal, and this ones on me. Just do me a favor and listen to your sister ok? The girls done ya right in the past after all.” Ben waved over to the highschooler sitting over by the stage and shook his head again. Most of the people at the ‘Pleasure Palace’ found it a bit odd at first that the young girl hung around so much before shows, let alone that she ended up more or less choreographing her big brothers routines. But since it was before opening hours it technically wasn’t illegal, and she did tend to bring a rather odd form of precocious energy when she did show up, though that seemed to have dropped off for the past month or so.

“So moms still hanging around huh?” Jonathon asked offering the coke to Diana and plopping once more onto his own seat swigging down half of the stale storebought cranberry cocktail. “Well Sorry I can’t be around to help but you know how she gets when I’m around. Hell I kinda think she’s just waiting around to make sure I don’t come back into the house. Hopefully it won’t be too long though, and then she’ll be back on the road and it’ll just be you and me again. Just do me a favor and try to hold out till then ok? I promise if you ever need me I’ll be around.” Jonathon smiled and gave his sister a very playful and very light slug in the shoulder to let her know that it would all be ok.

Diana smiled and took a sip of her coke as she let her big brothers words sink in. “Well as long as you promise, I suppose I can’t really complain now can I? Just do me a big favor and think about showing off what you’ve got in the front ok? If it works out I expect a bump in my allowance.” She chuckled again and set the drink down happily feeling at peace for the first time in days. “Now why don’t you hop back up there and give me another free show.”

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Lillian was well aware that her little girl tended to worry needlessly about very small things. Usually it was some impractical obsession over breaking a limb after a short fall or burning the apartment down when someone forgot to snuff a candle on their way out the door. Some of these fears she felt a little responsible for, and most she fought to the best of her maternal abilities. Still, since her little girl had always been quite smart there was usually the odd case every now and then with a problem she simply could not completely rationalize away.

At the moment such a problem had actually reared its ugly head in the form of Esters beloved girlfriend Diana. To be specific it was the fact that Diana, who normally spent quite a bit of time talking to Ester on the phone throughout the schoolweek, had apparently neglected to call the house for so much as a hello. This of course had managed to get the normally neurotic young girl into a quiet panic as the week went on, which Lillian had done her best to abate until she found out that Diana had not been walking towards home with Ester or stopping with her at the game shop as they normally did, nor had she given any real explanation to the young girl as to why her behavior had shifted so suddenly.

“So your absolutely sure Diana is going to be fine Mommy?” Ester asked from her place in the passengers seat, squirming around yet again to ensure that her lap was totally covered with towel. After nearly a week of odd behavior Ester had pleaded with her mother to take her to Dianas house so that they could check up on her and make sure everything was ok. Naturally this meant bringing a hot dish over to the house in case money was scarce or in the event of any family tragedy that Diana was too upset to talk about. It was that dish which Ester now struggled to balance on her lap as they drove down the old industrial road that intersected with the small wooded area where Diana lived.

Lillian looked down at her child struggling to hold the meal in place and laughed softly patting the sweet girl on her head. “Don’t worry so much sweetie. Like I told you before its probably something small and simple. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if she just got a bad grade on a test you helped her with and was too embarrassed to let you know. She may put on a tough front but I know for a fact that your view of her means a hell of a lot in her life. I’m sure we can get all of this worked out nice and quick, and then you two girls will be just fine again.” Unfortunately Lillian wasn’t quite as convinced as she made herself out to be. True it could be some sort of petty teenage thing that prevented the rough young girl from staying in contact, but after so many months of witnessing the teen drama that was her daughters’ budding romantic life up close Lillian suspected that the roots of this problem may go quite a bit deeper than a bad grade or some petty school slight. Ester seemed more or less oblivious to such things anyways, and Diana really wasn’t the kind of girl to give a damn about what others thought, at least academically.

Ester, being the overly cautious girl that she was, waited for the car to stop completely before throwing the door open and shoving herself out of the passengers door, casserole dish and all. She darted to the front door as quickly as she dared and stood beside the rickety old house gazing eagerly at the front door as if trying to figure out how she could knock on it with the dish still in her hands.

“Allright sweetheart just calm down. Its not like a couple more seconds will kill you.” Lillian chuckled to herself as she strode up the porch behind her little girl and knocked on the door. She had actually had a few conversations with Jonathon since Esters last little escapade over here without permission that had granted her the semi iconic and hopefully temporary green stripe running though her hair. The young man was nice enough. Lillian figured if something was up she might be able to help, or at least offer some comfort food to ease the families troubled minds.

Moments later both mother and child could hear footsteps from the other side of the door and watched as it was raddled open, revealing a rather gaunt and sickly looking woman in her late forties or so standing in the doorway clad in a ratty tank top and sweat pants. Lillian tried very hard not to balk at the scent of stale liquor and body odor that emanated from the strange woman.

“Can I help you two?” Mrs. Herrman muttered sharply. Her usual stammered slurs had been replaced by the sharp whispers of an obvious hangover as she looked between the women though a sharp squint and nursed a large cup of black coffee.

“Oh uh… hello. We were looking for Diana if she is around. You see my daughter has been trying to get ahold of her for a few days now after school and she was getting quite worried.” Lil neglected to mention just how worried she was at the moment with this woman standing in the doorway. The safe assumption was of course that she was family, but if that was the case it only served to raise even more awkward questions.

“Diana huh? I didn’t know she’d made any friends. Of course she never tells me anything. Hell she can’t even bring herself to sit down and spend an afternoon with me.” the woman mused sipping at her black coffee “Still I guess its nice that she has people who actually care about her enough to come all the way out here and look for her… even if she never hangs around.” Mrs. Herrman kept her eyes locked on the small mouse girl who was beaming a smile at her and offering up a garish looking casserole dish.

“Oh Diana has lots of friends!” The chipper mouse chimed in quickly to avoid any awkward pauses. “Though she and I aren’t friends really, I mean we are but… well” The stammering mouse giggled and folded her ears down “I’m also her girlfriend too. I dunno if she talks about me that much but if she does, that’s who I am.” Ester continued to glair at this woman intently, hopeful that this little revelation would be enough to secure at least a smile and a few kind words from this strange woman that Diana had apparently neglected to mention.

It didn’t. Whatever foulness the lack of drink had brought over the woman’s face darkened a thousand fold as she took a step out of the door and gazed down at Ester. “Girlfriend” She spat the word like a poison and started to pace around Ester slowly trapping her between the porch railing and her own graying body. “Girlfriend as in dating? As in hugging and kissing and touching? Girlfriend like the kind who gets down on her knees and puts that ugly little rodent muzzle between my daughter’s legs?”

Lil was quick to pull her child out from the trapped spot and away from this new woman before any harm could befall her. “Look whoever you are, Watch what your saying. I didn’t come all the way out here so some drunk could yell at my child and insult her for being in love.” The feline flashed a bit of fang by way of a threat and pulled the trembling mouse close to her body before maneuvering in between the two of them. “Now if you want to try and intimidate someone its going to be me. There is no way I‘m letting her deal with the likes of you.” It wasn‘t in Lils nature to be pointlessly rude, but it also wasn‘t in her nature to let her baby be put in any danger. If this woman was going to do anything stupid it would be Lillian she had to deal with, and after hearing what the chipmunk had said the feline was almost eager for a fight.

“Daughter huh? So the little lesbian whore that’s trying to seduce my kid is adopted I take it? Hell that or her daddy just rammed ya real good.” She laughed taking another sip of her coffee and walking towards the two of them. “Look if your ok with your kid living in like a freak cause she can’t get a man that’s one thing. Hell you could be a dyke too for all I care. Its your life and sadly the government can‘t tell her to quit going against god and go find a man. But I‘ll be damned if I‘ll let you drag my kid down with you. I love my kids, no matter what her and her faggot brother think, and I‘m not going to let you ruin her the way he got ruined. You got me?”

“Go wait in the car honey.” Lil said to Ester in a voice that brokered no argument. She waited until the little mouse had run her way out of earshot before turning back to this tattered woman and narrowing her eyes. “First of all nobody talks that way around my little girl, nobody. You do it again and I‘ll make sure you live to regret it.” Lillian hissed with the savage fury that only a mother could muster. “Though I guess I can see why Diana never talks about her parents now if your what she has for a mom. Maybe if you love her you should actually listen to her and think about what she wants. Maybe then she wouldn’t be so eager to get the fuck away from you.”

The two women locked eyes for a few long moments. Both mothers stood tensed and ready to strike at the first sign of aggression that rendered the whole world still save for a few tiny whimpers of fear from the small mouse nearby. “I‘ll thank you to leave now.” Mrs. Herrman finally murmured roughly. “And take that little Dyke whore of a daughter with you. I don‘t want her around my house anymore.”

It was all Lillian could do not to rip this woman’s face in two. But she knew Ester was waiting, and the prospect of going to prison for assault really didn‘t sit well on the chefs learned pallet. Without another word Lillian turned and started walking towards the car leaving the bigoted woman to nurse her hangover and praying that the young girl who dwelt there would have the good sense to call someone for help should her mother go too far.

Ester watched her mother pulling herself into the car and whimpered softly, still holding on to the casserole dish close. “Mommy, that wasn’t really Dianas mom… was it?” she whimpered. “I mean she sounded so… so mean. Why was she so mad at us?” The small mouse leaned back into her seat and lifted the dish up trying to shove it into the back seat, struggling for a moment until her mother reached down and snatched it up placing it back into the floor of the back seat.

“Sweetheart I, well I don’t know what to tell you. She just has some issues it seems” Lillian just leaned back and tried for a moment to forget the anger that was building up. The feline put her car into reverse and then quickly pulled the car out of the driveway but kept it lingering in the road for a few minutes. “Sweetheart you may not hear as much from Diana for the next few days or so, but I want you to to do me a favor and be extra supportive for her. Allright?” Lil leaned down and placed a kiss on the girls forehead smiling oh so softly. This visit made a lot of things much clearer to the feline. Things about Diana, about just how much the girls needed each other, but most of all about how grateful she was to have her own daughter in her life.

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“Done with your walk?”

Diana pulled herself up the last couple of steps and looked into the kitchen where her mother sat, spinning a half empty bottle of cheep bear around on the particle board kitchen table near five others that were probably drained only minutes ago. She had been going for her ‘walks‘ every day this week, and every day the woman seemed to grow just a little more bitter. Of course part of that was probably because she wanted to spend time with Diana, but there was no way the young girl was going to subject herself to that. “Yeah I guess… I’m going to go watch some TV till Jonathon gets home I think.” Even if she had wanted to be around her mother before, which she hadn’t, she knew better than to bother trying to communicate if she’d gotten another six pack in her.

“That’s always the way with you isn’t it? Always taking his side, trying to be like him. Why? What the hell did he do to make him so great? Is it giving up on school so he can go show off for perverts and give haircuts to trailer trash? Or is it cause he is happy to sit around and badmouth ol’ mom and talk about how much of a worthless slag I am?” She took another sip of her beer and then eyed her daughter a second. Without warning the woman’s already bitter face took a dark hugh to it, and those normally dull eyes gained a cold spark. “Or maybe its cause he’s ok with you being a filthy little Dyke Bitch!” Mrs. Herrman punctuated that sentence by throwing her nearly empty bottle of beer against the cracked linoleum right at her daughters’ feet, watching it burst into pieces harmlessly before turning a spiteful glance back to Diana.

“What are you talking about mom?” The girl gasped. Of course she knew damn well what her mother was talking about, or at least suspected. Diana could feel her heart sinking so far down into her stomach. The bottles were nothing new of course, she had been dodging those half her life, but considering how her mother was acting, Diana feared that her worst nightmare had finally come true.

“Don’t play dumb with me damn it. You thought you could hide it forever huh? Thought you could hide that wisply little rat whore from me? Was that it?” Another bottle, this time actually hitting the wall about a foot from Diana’s shoulder. “Why, huh? Why did you do it? Thought it would be funny? Saw how much it killed me inside when your Faggot Brother decided to go off and sleep around with men so you thought you’d do it too? Oh hell, I guess that makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Maybe you were hoping to just shove me right over the edge!”

The third bottle came far closer than Diana had expected and she was barely able to duck as it whizzed past where her head had been only a moment earlier, smashing into the living room somewhere and popping like the first two. That alone was enough to send a shock of terror down her spine. Her mother had never actually aimed to hit her with a bottle before, at least to her knowledge. Normally that would have been enough to send her running in the other direction. But now… “Mom, why do you think I’m a lesbian?” she asked in as calm a tone as she could muster. Her mother may have had her suspicions, but there was no way in hell Diana would implicate herself right now and risk the woman finding out more than she needed to.

Mrs. Herrman finally pulled herself up from the table and began to saunter towards her daughter in the straightest line she could muster with one of the remaining beer bottles in hand. “Oh… Your curious about how I figured it all out huh?” She slurred “Think your ol moms too stupid to put two and two together? Or maybe your just hopin I didn’t actually get to meet the little carpet muncher your runnin around with. Is that it? Figured if you kept that ugly little cunt away from the house You’d never have to hear about it?”

That simple statement ripped away those precious fragments of Doubt Diana had left. For the second time that week the chipettes vision began to blur and her mouth went painfully dry. “Mom… W-what the hell did you do?”

“Shut up!”

A hard blow right across her cheek finally returned Dianas vision to her just in time to realize she was heading straight for the floor. She managed to throw her arms up a split second before hitting the floor face first.

“What, do you want to kill me? Is that it? It’s bad enough that bastard father of yours left. You two figure if you both go gay you can just finish the old hag off and then you won’t have to be bothered by her?” Mrs. Herrman leaned one hand on the kitchen doorframe and looked down at her child with that strange mix of solemn anger and sadistic glee that only mass quantities of alcohol could bring on. “Why don’t you tell me dear. Tell Mom just what the hell you were thinking. Did you want me to blow my brains out? Maybe go crazy and get locked up? Did you just want to see the look on my face as I sobbed my eyes out cause my little girl fucks other girls? Come on now you can tell me. What is it? What do you want?”

“What do I want?” she repeated the question with a harsh growl and looked up at the woman pulling her body back up and then spitting at the woman. “I want my fucking mother back!” The poor girl screamed though her tears. The swelling was already apparent on her face, and her head was swimming from the shocking force of the blow. None of that mattered though next to the sheer anger and hatred that now welled up in her heart. Those cold blue eyes locked with the graying orbs of her parent for a long moment as the two, mother and child, let the pain and rage and fear swirl though their bodies like some dark and terrible drug. Oh how the Chipette longed to strike this woman, to deliver the blow back a thousand fold. The world rushed around her like a swirling typhoon making it hard to tell if she was indeed attacking her or not. She wasn’t, and in spite of her overwhelming longing Diana knew that somehow she still wasn’t able to strike this woman, even with the black seething disgust welling in her. Finally she turned on heel and stormed back into her room, slamming the old hardwood door behind her. “Gaaah! I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you! I want my Mother back! I fucking hate you!” The young girl turned around quickly and ran towards her room, dodging another bottle as she threw herself in and slammed the door as hard as she could.

She stayed quiet for a moment, gazing at her door for a few long moments as she let her rage bubble and seethe inside until it finally burst to the surface. Fists, knees, elbows and feet all struck blow after resounding blow against the thick old door with unceasing ferocity and strength. Even after the doorframe had begun to warp and the telltale signs of blood were appearing where she left her marks the furious girl refused to stop. Slowly, oh so slowly, The strikes faded out into a few hard smacks and then finally a still quietness. The crushed girl finally gave in to the hate she had sought for so very long, curling up against the door and folding bloodstained hands over bloodsoaked jeans. Diana cried.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Ester Series: Back in the Game
Ester Series: In a Brave New World
This one's gonna hurt...

Questions, Comments and criticism welcomed

Keywords
female 998,694, feline 138,469, mouse 49,963, bear 44,798, chipmunk 12,060, stoat 2,099, character development 1,266, plot development 538, child abuse 266, neglect 33, ester series 20
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 9 years, 10 months ago
Rating: Mature

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