“This is not Lizzie's doing,” said Tasha and then corrected Mickie's incorrect statement. “I know you love Jim and you're upset, but you and Jim weren't happy before me. You may have been happy, but Jim? He considered you to be mutually convenient no more, so please don't make this Lizzie and Juan's fault.”
Suddenly, without warning, Mickie stood over Tasha. She pulled her arm back before landing the gun across her cheek. Tasha let out a small cry as the pain registered and as scared and worried as she felt, she knew she had to get Lizzie and Juan safely out of the house before things got completely out of hand.
“Please, Mickie,” Tasha pleaded. “They're scared, you've made your point, can't you let them go?” she asked, convinced that her thoughts that night at the charity auction when she’d considered Mickie deranged were spot on, more accurate than even she’d really believed.
“And what about you?” Mickie stared down at Tasha.
“What about me? I think we both know you're unlikely to let me go willingly, so I’m asking you to let Lizzie and Juan go, they don't need to be here, do they?”
Looking thoughtful, Mickie backed up against the island in the middle of the kitchen and pulled herself up. Sitting now, she cocked her head at Tasha. “Are you really that nice? So nice that you want the two of them to go at your own expense?” She stopped to take another picture on her phone.
Tasha was unsure if what she was asking made her nice because as far as she was concerned she was simply behaving in the way any normal and decent person would when faced with the possibility of being able to save innocent bystanders. She shrugged then tried to explain, “I don't think they should be here. Lizzie is a child and Juan is only involved because of his relationship with Philip.”
“Fucking hell! You really are so nice, aren't you?” She laughed erratically then suddenly stopped. “He’ll destroy you, Jim. There is no way you will keep up with him. He isn’t soft and fluffy like you, he is hard and relentless,” she spat.
Tasha said nothing but did think Mickie really hadn’t been anything to Jim other than convenient if she believed he was hard and relentless. She had absolutely no first-hand knowledge of the gentle, caring, loving man Tasha knew and loved.
“Maybe we should all get better acquainted while I consider your suggestion.” Mickie grinned. “I know, why don't I ask you a question, you answer and then I tell you something about myself. Right, I'll start. When did you first have sex with Jim?”
“Mickie—” began Tasha preparing to protest.
“No!” Mickie interrupted angrily. “These are my rules, you answer or I keep them both with you and involve them in our getting to know you game. I might do that anyway, but I’ll be a little more invasive in my questioning if you don't follow the rules. So, when did you first fuck my then boyfriend, Jim?”
“Mickie, please, they don't need to hear this,” Tasha protested making Mickie leap down and crouch before her, eye to eye with the gun firmly pointing at Tasha.
“Tasha, please, just tell her. Answer her questions, I don't care what you and Daddy have done. I kind of already guessed by how you are together that the two of you are you know, passionate,” pleaded Lizzie with an embarrassed flush colouring her cheeks. She inhaled deeply, desperate to keep Tasha safe even if it meant hearing details of her father’s private life.
“So, come on Tasha, don't be coy, we're all ears. When did you and Jim fuck for the first time?” Mickie reinstated herself to her former position on the island, grabbing a bottle of scotch as she went. “Spill!” she snapped before taking a large gulp from the bottle.
“I was in New York on the Friday, that's when I met Jim and when we got together,” admitted Tasha, blushing furiously, hoping Lizzie wouldn’t judge her harshly, not because she was ashamed, she wasn’t, not about anything she and Jim had done or shared. She did however, believe that there really was no need for Lizzie to know these things about her father.
“You were far more of a whore than I'd given you credit for. I knew it was a whirlwind but on the first day, even before a date,” commented Mickie as she took another mouthful of liquor. “My turn to share then; erm, I only ever dated Bobby to get to Jim.”
“Poor Uncle Bobby,” remarked Lizzie whose words alone gained Tasha's attention so that she wrapped her arm a little more tightly around her.
“Oh, Lizzie, I fucked your Uncle Bobby a hundred and one different ways during our time together, so I think I earned the right to get closer to your dad. Maybe you could call Uncle Bobby and see just how good I was.”
The three of them sitting on the floor winced at the coldness of Mickie's summary and suggestion, but if she noticed she passed no comment.
“Maybe not. Next question for Tasha. How old were you when you lost your virginity?”
“Fifteen,” replied Tasha immediately, refusing to be made to feel ashamed for the loss of innocence to someone she loved in order to somehow made it a good memory, untarnished by the reality of her life and situation at the time.
Laughing, Mickie shook her head.
“What to share next? Oh, I know, Jim's second wife, she didn't miscarry,” cackled Mickie, the other's confusion was apparent. “She was pregnant when Jim married her, fuck, that's why he married her. But soon after they married, I found out she’d had some substance abuse issues in the past. Jim was unaware and he’d never have allowed a former junkie near his precious Lizzie and Philip let alone a new addition, so I gave her a choice, hang onto your new husband and lose the baby or vice versa.” Mickie laughed again before another slug of whiskey and then whispered to them, “I even paid for her abortion. She was real stupid because she thought I would allow her to carry on like it never happened, but every time I needed something I reminded her of our secret until she became bitter and twisted and Jim divorced her. Next question Tasha, have you ever fucked someone for money, you know prostituted yourself?”
Tasha knew what Mickie wanted and was now sure that the whole purpose of this little getting to know you session was purely to distort and discredit Tasha as a friend, wife and stepmother.
“Not like you mean,” said Tasha flatly.
“Huh-huh!” snapped Mickie as if Tasha had just answered a question incorrectly on a TV quiz show. “Let's try that one again, Tasha, but before you answer you just think about what a real chatty man Daddy is when he has a drink in his hand and cash in his pocket, not to mention Mommy dearest. So, have you ever fucked someone for money, you know prostituted yourself?”
“I'm not doing this,” snapped Tasha defiantly.
“Fine.” Mickie’s smile disconcerted Tasha slightly before she turned to Lizzie. “Little, sweet innocent Lizzie. You have a boyfriend now, Dylan. Tell us about him. Have you kissed him?”
Lizzie nodded.
