Page 39 of Lorna's Savior
“Kristen Odessa Hepplewaite Lewis Rafferty Fife Leslie Smythe Hernandez Lawrence. However, to hear her talk, it’s only Kristen Hepplewaite. She kept her maiden name with each marriage. Notice there’s no Wilson in there, Mother always stressed that they weren’t married.”
“How did you get along with them?”
“After Wade, I didn’t give two shits about them, and told them that the first time I met them. I informed them that they were only an itch my mother wanted to scratch. I think I was eight when I said that, and that was to number three, Fife.”
“What happened to Wade?”
“Wade was my favorite. But, because Mother is who she is, he left, and I felt his loss the most. I vowed never to get close to another man.” Lorna frowned at him, then sighed. “I guess, subconsciously, that’s why I slipped out and left before you woke up.”
“I’ll forgive you for now, but tell me about Wade. Your whole face lit up when you mentioned his name.”
Lorna sighed. “Wade Rafferty. He was a stuntman from Hollywood, but he had been injured, and moved in with a family member in Vegas. Mother went there for a weekend getaway, and met him. He was working as a bartender at some swanky hotel. She picked him up, married him, and brought him home. Wade was so cool, I liked him the minute I saw him. He bucked tradition, or Mother’s ideal of tradition in his mannerisms, looks, and dress. I loved it.” She grinned, then leaned in and pointed to her eyebrow. “He even gave me this.”
Andy leaned in and frowned. “What? I don’t see anything.”
“Exactly, I had three stitches and a broken wrist. Best day of my life.” She laughed in glee, then laughed harder at Andy’s confused look. It took several minutes to calm before she continued. “Wade took the training wheels off my bike and had me learn to ride.” She laughed. “We forgot my helmet. When mother found out she was livid. I don’t think I’ve ever—not once in my life before or since—seen her that pissed. They fought because of it. Mother never forgave him. Their relationship went downhill from there. Wade stuck it out, because of me, but when Mother came home one day and said she was taking me to LA to her plastic surgeon to have Botox injected in my forehead, so he could remove the scar, Wade lost it on her. I think that’s the only time she called the cops.
“Neither one of them was arrested, but Wade had it on record what Mother planned to do with me. Two weeks later, a CPS worker showed up here, and said that if she ever found out Mother had a plastic surgeon work on me, she’d take me away from her. Mother kicked Wade out then.”
“Did she? Have any work done on you?”
“No. Thank god. Not after what happened to her.”
“What do you mean?”
Lorna drew in another deep breath, and exhaled heavily. “I say this with all the tolerance I can muster, but Mother is ugly.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes, I called my mother ugly. You name it, she’s had it done. Botox, liposuction, tummy tuck, lap band surgery, breast augmentation.” Lorna shook her head, then grinned at Andy. “She even had her ass sucked out and implants put in. There are implants in both her facial and ass cheeks. Personally, I think she looks like the joker on those Batman movies. Hell, she even had her favorite red lipstick tattooed on her lips.”
“No way.”
“Way,” Lorna said as she jumped to her feet, and went for her phone. She accessed her pictures and showed Andy. “If she found out I took this photo, she’d kill me. This was the day the lip tattoo was finished. She didn’t go anywhere for six weeks, not until she healed. She even had her current husband at that time, who was a plastic surgeon, insert a feeding tube so she could eat without moving her lips. But, she won’t admit this, it was either the tattoo guys, or the Botox that hit a nerve and she can’t move her lips.” She accessed a different picture and showed him. “That was taken two years later. After everything had healed.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what happened after Wade left?”
“I told Mother I would never like any man she ever brought home again. I think that was the point that we agreed to keep away from each other. I only went to her if I needed her signature on something for school. Anything else, I went to Annie, Lori, or Murphy. They were the staff.”
“What school did you go to?”
“The local high school on the west side of town. I graduated with honors. While I was there, which was for my whole thirteen years of schooling, Mother never allowed me to do anything. No sports, no extracurricular activities, and no band or chorus. I had to go to school, and be right home afterward.”
“If you didn’t have those activities, how did you get into college? Don’t most colleges look at that stuff? Make sure you’re a well-rounded person?”
Giggling, Lorna looked at him and deadpanned, “I lied.”
“About?”
“In the section of the college application that listed those activities, I wrote that I was unable to participate in them. My reason was because we couldn’t afford in-patient care and I had to come home after school and relieve the day nurse, because my mother was paranoid, and had episodes. They actually gave me a scholarship to attend.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, I’m not really proud of that, but I had to think of something. I attended the college over in Helena, that was as far away as Mother would allow me to live, but when I graduated, I had to move back home. No clue why, and she kept telling me I couldn’t move out until I was thirty. If it wasn’t for my best friend, I never would have this place.”
