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“I want more visitation.”“Oh that’s rich! What? Weekends aren’t enough for you? Where you get two full free days with her? I think that’s pretty generous of me to let you”
“Let me?”
A ten year old Gia sat on the staircase, a bag sitting next to her as she awaited her father to leave the kitchen and take her to his place. It was their agreement with joint custody at the end of their divorce and...it was supposed to get easier...but all Rita and Zordon did was fight. “It’s a miracle you even won that case!”“Amazing how motivated a lawyer can be when I push the right buttons” A pause, “I hope you know where I’m going with this”
“Don’t”
“I fucked the lawyer, won the kid and the house. Ooh. Bravo me, any day is a win when you are the loser, you son of a bitch”“I should have listened to everyone else in my life when they said you’re nothing but poison” It was true, being married to someone like Rita Repulsa thinned out his hair and lost him practically everything, but he wasn’t going to stand for this woman to raise his one and only daughter. “I can’t sit back and watch you destroy our daughter’s life”“Well” Rita’s work had really picked up, the amount of money she was making from selling houses put her in a financially stable enough position to finally get the big confession off of her chest. As much as she loved raking in his alimony and child support, she just loved to twist that dagger in his heart. “Too bad she isn’t yours” What? Gia wasn’t supposed to hear that, but it was too late. The damage was done not only to Zordon but to her daughter as well. Gia closed her eyes tightly, the eyes that damned her to look so much like her mother. Don’t cry. Her mother always told her crying was for little bitches, it was a way to toughen her up, to get her to stand toe to toe with the boys. She wasn’t going to need anyone...she could make it on her own. Why be a princess when she could be a queen?
“What?”
“Oh do you think that little girl really is yours? Wake up! She’s gorgeous, that blonde hair? She sure as hell doesn’t get it from you” Rita, of course, was a natural blonde but to make herself the hottest real estate bitch around town she would dye it a jet black. It really made those eyes pop. “Please”Would Rita really be the type to lie about something like this? He was sick of her mind games, “........I want to take a paternity test”“I’ll give you her whole damn hairbrush”“If she’s not mine, I don’t want anything to do with you or her ever again.” Zordon was hurt, betrayed. What was crueler? Not knowing he was raising another man’s child all these years, or her coming to him with the truth? A part of him hoped that Rita was right, that this would be his final chance to cut loose from having anything to do with the vile woman. Even if it meant leaving a bastard child in the hands of her. The two adults continued to argue in the kitchen...they didn’t even hear the front door open and close. Gia was gone. She needed to be away, anywhere but here so she went to the only house she felt safe. Across the street and five houses down to the Gomez-Hart house...to Emma. Gia meekly knocked on the door, she held onto her arms, breathing heavily so she wouldn’t actually cry. She wasn’t going to let herself, even if that was all she wanted to do. Mrs. Gomez-Hart answered the door...Gia was hoping for Kimberly but it was Trini. Gia knew she wasn’t Trini’s favorite person in the world but the moment the older woman saw the distress clearly written on Gia’s face she crouched down to her level and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Sweetie what’s wrong?”Suddenly it felt as if her mouth went dry, talking about it was only going to trigger the water building up in her eyes. How could she say it out loud? That the man she had been spending her weekends with, the man she grew to know as her father wasn’t? She turned her head to the house, “They’re fighting...it’s bad...can I see Emma? Is that okay?”“Of course it is. She’s in her room, you go on up there and my wife can get you something to drink” Trini was quick to notice the backpack Gia had with her...on a Friday night...she was supposed to be going with Zordon.As Gia ascended the stairs she could hear the other Mrs. Gomez-Hart call from the kitchen, “Trini! Where are you going?” Kimberly came out into the living room and noticed the tiny blonde near the top of the stairs, “Gia? Is everything okay”Gia shook her head side to side, “S’not” She didn’t want to talk to an adult, she didn’t want to feel like this burden to her parents. A pawn to cause pain. She knew if her mother was right, that Zordon would be devastated...that he would leave them. When Rita was that confident? Oh her mother was always right. Gia wanted to see Emma, she needed her best friend. She didn’t mean to be rude by turning and continuing up the stairs, but she was so close to breaking, she couldn’t handle an adult seeing her cry. Crying upset her mother, and she didn’t want to make Kimberly upset.She got to Emma’s door, taking a moment to take a deep breath before knocking. This was going to ruin the other girls night, whatever good mood Emma was likely in, she was about to get bulldozed down. Her bubble would be popped by a wrecking ball. Emma expected one of her moms to be at the door but the moment she recognized the blonde locks she enveloped her best friend in a hug. Gia didn’t have to say anything, her energy said it all; that something was wrong.“What happened?”Gia buried her forehead in Emma’s shoulder, “I hate her” Rita was going to be responsible for sending her dad away...her not-dad. Whatever. It didn’t matter to Gia, he was a man that gave a shit about her. He didn’t cast her off, or treat her like a nuisance. Her mother didn’t want Gia, she didn’t want a kid...she could have let Zordon raise her but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a win. “I hate her so much”“Gia...what happened?” Emma pulled Gia into the safety of her pink princess room. She gently pulled onto the straps of Gia’s backpack until she could completely take it off for her. “...Did your mom hurt you?” Her mind immediately went to the bad place, Kimberly and Trini taught her to ask these kind of things...to keep tabs on Gia as Rita didn’t come off as the most stable human being.“What? No” It wasn’t a secret that Rita can be rough and tug her around but she never struck her. Not physically. “......I just heard…..” How could she bring herself to say it? That her mom left the trailer park but no matter how successful she became the trailer park mentality stuck. “My daddy’s not my dad…”Emma stared at her with wide eyes, as a ten year old with great parents she wasn’t equipped to hear about anything bad. She didn’t have the words to make Gia feel better about this one. “What? I don’t understand”“Well” Gia choked out a laugh, taking the moment to try and make a joke out of the whole ordeal. “When boys and girls get naked and touch parts babies happen and mommy’s touched a lotta guys junk” A lot.
“....Ew”
Gia dropped her head down, “I don’t know who my dad is...if it’s not... him. I’m scared I’ll never know”Emma sat down on her bed, patting the seat next to her so Gia could be near her. “I don’t know who my parents are” She nudged her friend, trying to get her to smile “The ones who touched parts” Emma sighed, she never really had to face the reality of being adopted so head on. “I was brought over from another country when I was a baby but...I am a Gomez-Hart. My mom’s love me so much, and I love them...they’ve always been my moms. I don’t care that we look different…”That was the difference. Emma’s mom’s loved her. Zordon didn’t have the balls to stick around if Gia wasn’t his. So did he even love her? Rita sure as hell didn’t. “Are you ever curious?”“Sure, of course” Emma rested back on her hands. She wanted to know what they look like, if they were creative like her, where she got certain traits, “But they’re strangers to me...I know my mom’s have talked about it. Visiting the Philippines...but I don’t know the language, I don’t know that world...it’s a part of me but I feel so far...it doesn’t feel like me. It’s not my world. Harwood Street, Eastland... you. You are my world”“So what? I just grow up without a dad?” Even if she only had him two days a week he was still a father of some sort.“I’ve been doing pretty okay without one” Emma smiled, oh as if she counted, her moms were the best. “I have my uncle Zack...and uncle Gabe and Michael”“My uncle creeps me out” If anyone in Rita’s immediate family was going to be arrested for something awful it would no doubt be Rito. “My aunts fun” Dimitria aka Divatox knew how to have a good time...she was a vodka aunt times 1,000. “She taught me a lot about boys wieners ” Hiding around a strip club was certainly eye opening, she saw a lot of boobs.“Family isn’t five minutes of boy parts and girl parts touching” Five minutes? Was that all it took? “Family is about the people who care about you no matter what.”“I think that wells run a bit a dry” Zordon was going to leave, Rita only threw expensive things at Gia so she show off to her friends, Dimitria wasn’t exactly the aunt of the year with her stripping and liking to cocaine and Rito...mmm...hard pass. “No one cares about me” “I do” Emma sat up, resting a hand on her best friend’s thigh, “You’re my best friend in the whole world. I’ll be your family...my moms too...you are not alone”Little did Gia know, as Kimberly was downstairs ordering a pizza for the girls...Trini was headed straight across the street to give the Morans hell. By the time she reached her neighbors house, Zordon was already in his car, a yellow hairbrush in his hand. He sped out of there just as fast. Rita had that effect on people. No matter. That wasn’t going to stop Trini from going through the Moran’s front door and straight to the kitchen to see Rita mixing herself a martini.“What the hell is wrong with you!?”“Oh. You.” Rita could tell it was Trini just by the sound of her angry little voice, the older woman didn’t turn, she didn’t want to face reality. “Did you want a drink?” “No I don’t “want a drink.” Do you even know where your daughter is right now?”“Mm I was meaning to ask if she could spend the night with you” Rita brought a hand up, holding the bridge of her nose, “That little shit heard everything didn’t she?”“Yeah, funny thing about kids. They have ears” Trini stepped forward, taking the martini glass by it’s stem and pouring it out into the sink, much to the protest of Rita. “Don’t you care that she’s upset?”“She was going to learn the truth one day or another”Trini frowned, tilting her head, “Truth about what?”“That the no good son of a bitch isn’t her father.” Rita folded her arms, shaking her head, “My marriage was a prison, I felt like I was in a cage. You know what I did the second the divorce went through? Went to the beach...it was spring break and oh... oh did I find some young men. I know you wouldn’t get it, what with being a lesbian and all but...well, men get horny. Sleeping with an older woman is like a dream” And to Rita? Oh it felt amazing being with an attractive young man, no strings, all at the prime of their lives.“....How many men did you sleep with?”“Oh easily a dozen” Rita chuckled lightly to herself, “It was a fun week of no regrets...eh, okay, one regret. One of those idiots clearly didn’t know how to put a condom on. I have no idea who Gia’s father is, and I was not in the position to raise a kid. So I may’ve passed the baby along as my ex-husbands. Is that so wrong?” “Yes” Was she serious right now? “That is the definition of wrong. You can’t keep messing around with people’s lives...and I refuse to let you continue to treat your daughter like garbage. Do you even love her? Do you even care?” “Look I know I’m not the mother of the fucking year, but that kids all I got” Rita glanced down to the sink, she had a martini as well but Trini ruined that. “I want her to have anything she wants. If that means stringing along my shitty ex, or fucking around to sell houses…”“Wait- you what?” “A girl has to have some fun, jesus, being a mother sucks” Rita laughed, “I’ll talk to the twerp”“You’re going to talk to your daughter. Now. No venom” Trini shook her head, “And god damn it, pay attention to your kid. It was too easy for her to run away without you knowing”“Eh, I’ve been wanting to microchip her for years” Her laughter continued as she followed Trini out the door, “Oh I’m kidding, you idiot. I can track her phone. Where else is she going to go?” A pause, possibly down to the strip club to see her sister...oh that’d be a fun trip.When they reached the Gomez-Hart house, Kimberly was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, she was still completely in the dark of what was even happening. “Does anyone want to care to fill me in?”Trini didn’t miss a beat, “Rita’s a shitty mom” She sent her wife a look, one that meant, later. Rita rolled her eyes and started to ascend the stairs, “Whatever” It wasn’t hard to figure out which bedroom door was Emma’s. The girl had pink flowers all over it. “Gia, open up. I know you’re in there”“Surprised you even care!” Well, it wasn’t a wonder who Gia got her bite from.“You want to have this conversation through a fucking door, or do you want to talk to me like a woman?” Rita stood back folding her arms. Trini had to sigh shaking her head at the use of Rita’s language. She really didn’t need that around Emma who was also behind that door.A few moments later the little blonde girl opened the door, Emma still remained sitting on the bed. She wasn’t going to leave the room, she wasn’t going to abandon her friend. Like Trini, Emma was holding her ground, folding her arms and giving Rita her best death glare...she tried really hard, but looking mean was still pretty foreign to the sweetheart of the Gomez-Hart family.“I care about you, you little shit.” Rita crouched down to get to her ten year old’s height. “You know what I tell you about your dad?”“He’s not my dad apparently” When Rita tilted her head to the side, Gia had to let out a sigh, “That he’s a no good son of a bitch” A mantra that she had been saying since she could talk. “That’s right.” Rita rested her hands on her shoulders, “I’m going to give you the god-honest truth. The world is a scary place...I had to work my ass off to get to a point to feel safe to come clean. I send you to that school, you made it to that basketball team. I want you to have every fucking opportunity you can get to make it. Yeah, I’m a fuck up. I’m the worst I’ve heard it all but I’m still your mother….and I don’t want you to end up like me.” She rested a hand on Gia’s cheek, “You’re beautiful, but I want you to be strong. You don’t need a man to tell you what to do. You don’t need a man to support you, and you aren’t going to take shit from anyone in a boardroom”Gia narrowed her eyes, “Don’t need a man? That’s rich, all the guys you date I can’t keep them straight”“Oh honey, I call all the shots. Those men are play toys” Rita laughed, “You are not going to have another daddy anytime soon” The world can be thankful for that.“Yeah?” Gia narrowed her eyes, “Well, I don’t want a brother or a sister either.”“That’s my girl” Rita could be proud to say she was raising a little bitch, one who wouldn’t take shit from anyone...not even her own mother. “I’m sorry this was how you had to learn the truth. I know I’m not perfect, but I love you”“Even if I don’t want a boy?” If this was honesty hour, Gia wanted to throw that out in the air. That she was never going to be with someone like Jake Holling or Troy Burrows, or a guy. Rita wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her in for an extremely awkward hug, “Even if you want to eat pussy for the rest of your life” Rita only prayed that Gia wouldn’t be cutting those beautiful locks and wouldn’t go full butch on her. Raising a power lesbian? Well, that was something Rita could do.“........Why would she be eating cats?” Emma asked, still in the room, only a little traumatized by what she thought Rita was suggesting. The poor kittens.“God damn it Rita!” Trini called from downstairs, with Rita and Gia being in the hallway the two mother’s could hear everything. “Will you for once use a fucking filter?”“Trini!” Kimberly scolded her wife standing next to her, “We don’t say fuck in this house” Not while Emma was in earshot.“Mooom!” The young impressionable Emma was still horrified at the idea of eating cats, now everyone was saying the fuck-word.The realtor couldn’t help but laugh, “C’mon you little shit, let’s go get your aunt Demi and celebrate the good news” Rita stood up, crouching was a bitch on her knees. “We won’t ever have to see that man ever again. It’s just us girls now”Gia knew her mother well, knew what she really wanted to do. “If it’s okay, I’d rather stay here with Emma…” She knew if she were there, her mother wouldn’t fully be able to do what she wanted...and that was to get plastered. Here Gia was with her best friend, in a warm household. “But don’t fuck around. I mean it when I say I don’t want a brother or a stupid little sister.”“Please” Rita ruffled up blonde locks of hair, “You are the best birth control a woman could ask for” With a wink, she made sure to add, “I love you, kid.”A reluctant Gia folded her arms, “You still suck” She wasn’t ready to say I love you back.“Alright, well, you girls have fun. Not too much fun. Don’t give Trini and Kimmie here a hard time. Remember, you’re a guest” And she didn’t have to pay Trini or Kimberly for watching her daughter. A win for everyone. As Rita descended the stairs, she couldn’t help laugh as she passed Kimberly and Trini, “Guess our girls are a lot closer than I thought.” The idea of Gia dating her precious daughter scared the hell out of Trini, but playing with the mere thought of Rita becoming Emma’s mother in-law was downright terrifying.