Page 35 of Dangerously Deceptive

“Well, if it isn’t the dirty little whore who went and got herself knocked up.” She smiles maniacally, as I approach the bar. The rest of the Sweetbutts were all busy either cleaning, or smoking and gossiping, depending on their rank.

“Morning,” I mumble, not really knowing how to reply to that.

“So, today is the day you find out who the baby daddy is, don’t you?” she asks, announcing it to the room, almost like she wants the attention. I was already nervous enough without her drawing attention to it.

“What jobs do you want me to do this morning? I have to report to Church at one this afternoon,” I reply, trying to change the subject. Sadly, that doesn’t fly with Kandy.

Before I even know what’s happening, Kandy rushes forward, grips me by the hair, and pulls me into the room. As we were talking, the bar had started to fill up with Reapers. It was nine in the morning, which means they were all coming here waiting for breakfast, which I hope some of the other Sweetbutts have already started. If they have to wait for too long they get really arsey.

I can’t believe I’m worrying about them getting hangry while my bitch of a mother is literally pulling chunks of hair off my head. She drags me until I’m in the middle of the room, and she can put on a show for all the people who are laughing and cheering along. I ignore the burning pain on my scalp, and the humiliation that's spreading to my cheeks. I know this is just the start.

“Do you all know that today is the day my daughter here finds out who knocked her up?” she shouts, playing it up for the crowd, waving her arms around dramatically. The movement causes her already short tank top to ride up even farther, showing more skin than someone her age should.

“Did you know that she is so much of a whore she broke the Sweetbutts’ number one rule, and she fucked an outsider? More than that, there’s a chance she let the wanker knock her up!” she shouts as she throws me to the floor, landing hard on my knees. Instinctively I wrap my arms around my baby. Not that it will do much good to protect my little gummy bear, but I sure as fuck am going to try.

“Whore.”

“Dirty bitch.”

“Dumb cunt.”

They were just the insults I can hear and make out. The whole room is shouting and getting riled up, all aiming their shit at me. I just keep my eyes downcast, trying to ignore them.

CRACK!

A hard slap ricochets off my face, causing sharp prickles of pain to ripple across my cheek. Not to mention how banged up my head feels at being knocked sideways. I can feel the pounding starting, sounding like a bass drum as it builds louder in my head. I look up, clearly having missed whatever insulting question she asked me.

“Tell them, whore. Tell them how many possible baby daddies you have,” she sings-songs, loving every moment of being in the spotlight. She likes exerting her dominance over everyone, but she gets a particular pleasure out of it when it’s me.

“It could be any Church member, two Probies, or one outsider,” I reply, not needing to say the actual number is fifteen, and the Pres is the only one who isn’t in the running. While he is most definitely a sick fuck, he isn’t that sick.

The cat-calls and insults begin to fly again, and my mother relishes it. “Come on, slut. Tell everyone who you want the baby daddy to be. Do you want it to be Whiskey so you can get married and become his Old Lady? Or maybe you think if the brat belongs to the outsider you can run away and pretend there’s no Reaper blood running through the little bastard's veins? But, there is. Because you are a Reaper. No matter how much you hate it, or how fucking ashamed I am that I produced such an ugly cunt for a daughter, you will always have the purest form of Reaper blood running through your veins. And so will your bastard baby.” Her voice twists and the venom drips from every word as my witch of a mother exposes her true colours. Not that they hadn’t all seen it before. We all know that Kandy may look all nice and sweet on the outside, but she is filled with nothing but hatred and poison on the inside.

Normally I ignore her, I have my entire life, but this time is different. This time it’s not me she is attacking, it’s my baby. The one person in this world that I am supposed to protect. It’s hard to imagine that something no bigger than a gummy bear sweet is capable of dragging this much protective instinct out of me. I know this concept will be alien to my mother, as she doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body, but I can’t not stand up for my baby.

Pushing myself to my feet, I use as much energy as I can to get her fist out of my hair. It’s not hard to push her off balance, thanks to the ridiculously high ‘hooker heels’ as she calls them. Once she has let go, I capitalise on her disorientated state and do something I have wanted to do for the last nineteen years. I pull my arm back before slamming it as hard as I can into her nose.

The crack of skin against bone rings out around the bar, and as Kandy collapses to the floor with blood spurting from her nose, I feel a sharp pain jolting all the way up my arm. I’m not bothered if I’ve hurt myself, I have a point to make.

“It doesn't matter who the father of my baby is, all that matters is that I’m its mother. I will love it, protect it, and always ensure it has the best life possible. It may have lots of Reaper blood, or just a little, it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t even care if the outsider, as you call him, is the baby’s dad. All that matters to me is that the baby is happy, healthy, and loved. Something I never had growing up with a bitch like you as a mum. You can talk bad about me all you like, but don’t you ever talk shit about my baby. Do you understand?” I yell.

Looking around, all I see are shocked expressions, yet not one of them run to her defence. They just stare at the pathetic excuse for a mother, cowering on the floor, crying with blood pouring from her nose. It takes her a while before she comes to her senses, and realises that everyone is staring at her and how weak she looks like that.

As she goes to push herself up from the floor, Pepper, another Lifer’s Old Lady, runs to grab her arm. But once Kandy has used her to get back on her feet, she soon pushes her away, snarling about not needing anyone's help. One of the younger Sweetbutts hands her a towel from behind the bar, which she takes and presses it against her nose before turning her attention to me.

“Why, you little bitch. How fucking dare you disrespect me and my authority!” she screams in the most ridiculous high-pitched tone I’ve ever heard. It’s lucky the windows don’t shatter.

As she finishes screaming, she launches herself at me, but she only has one free hand because the other is still holding the bloody towel to what I’m guessing is a broken nose. But she still has an advantage because I use both my arms to shield my stomach, knowing that this bitch is cruel enough to fight dirty. Sure enough, as soon as she gets me on the floor, she tries to deliver blows to my stomach, but instead she just gets my arms. When she realises she isn’t getting anywhere, that’s when she begins to slap my face.

She only manages to get around three slaps and backhands to my face before a booming voice stops everyone in their tracks. “ENOUGH!”

Everyone who had crowded around us while the fight was happening now backs away, lighting up more of the room now we aren’t engulfed in shadows. The Reapers and Sweetbutts all sit around as though nothing has happened and like they weren’t really involved or doing anything wrong. Pepper goes to help Kandy up, and this time she lets her without complaint. She even allows her to keep hold of her arm to stop from falling over. That’s how indoctrinated all these fucking women are. Kandy literally pushed her on her ass not five minutes ago, and now she is back holding her up, just waiting for her to snap again.

“Kandy! I thought I made it very fucking clear that I did not want Shayla or that baby harmed. That is a Reaper rule. Women who are pregnant are off-limits. Light chores, minimal workload, shorter work hours. It was the same for you when you were pregnant, and it will be the same for every slut who gets knocked up with a future Reaper. Did I not make that clear enough for you?” Pres shouts at Kandy, his voice deep and authoritative.

It’s so ironic that they protect pregnant women, yet before they find out they are pregnant, and as soon as they’ve hatched the little Reaper, they become nothing again. Particularly if they give birth to a girl. That’s just a waste of space, it’s the boys they really want. Their future heirs. It’s so fucked up.

Kandy holds her head high, her voice quivering slightly as she tries and fails to stand up to Pres. “Of course I understand your rules, Mack. But she was disrespecting the Reapers. She thinks she is better than us, and that she can leave if the brat isn’t a Reaper. She was being a little bitch, and so I set her straight. That is all.”

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