Long Time Gone - Lorelei James Page 0,14
to Billings, Kimberly.”
“Letting me?” she shouted.
“What?” Aunt Hulda said from across the room.
“You need to be reminded whose family you belong to,” her mother said with false bravado.
The bed creaked and then Aunt Hulda stood next to her. “Clara. What on earth are you talking about? Kimi is finishing out her education at St. Mary’s.”
“Not anymore, she ain’t,” her dad said behind her.
Kimi whirled around and faced him. “The only reason you want me here is so you don’t lose Carolyn. You’re afraid she won’t come around anymore. And why would she? I wouldn’t.”
He pointed at Hulda. “I shoulda put a stop to this bullshit years ago. You’ve had too much control for too long and I’m takin’ it back.”
“You can’t keep me here,” Kimi said.
“You are a minor, girlie. I can lock you in your fuckin’ room if I chose to and there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
“If you lock her in her room, will you hire a housekeeper, cook, laundress, nursemaid and gardener to take care of this household?” Aunt Hulda demanded. “Because we both know you won’t cook, or clean, or buy your own food, or even take care of your wife. You leave that responsibility to your children.”
Her father glared at his wife. “I told you your sister would turn your daughters against us. Now do you believe me?”
Kimi looked at her mom. “You agreed to this?”
“He’s my husband and your father. You’re still a child, Kimberly—”
“I’ve never been a child! You didn’t allow it! You expected too much from me.” She tried to keep the petulance out of her voice, but this wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right.
Aunt Hulda put her arm around Kimi and sent her brother-in-law a pitying look. Then she looked at her sister. “Listen to her, Clara. Eli is just upset that Carolyn married a man he didn’t approve of. He’s taking out his anger on your daughter. Are you going to let that happen?”
“Eli’s decision is final, Hulda. I agree with him.” She wheezed. “When you leave tomorrow, Kimberly won’t be going with you.”
Her stomach cramped. She felt the bile rise in her throat at the thought of being trapped here, in this house, for the next year until she could legally walk away.
“I’m sorry it’s come to this, sister,” Hulda said softly.
Kimi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was the one woman she’d counted on giving up that easily? “Don’t make me stay here,” she pleaded. “I’ll run away the first chance I get and no one will ever see me again.”
“I know, sweetheart. But they’re mistaken. They can’t force you to stay here.” Aunt Hulda glared at her sister. “In order to enroll your minor-aged daughters at St. Mary’s, you gave the school guardianship over them. So technically, St. Mary’s makes the final decision. And do you really think that they’ll agree to terminate Kimi’s education and their guardianship when neither of Kimi’s parents has bothered to set foot at the school even one time in the six years she’s been a student? No. I checked. And even if the school opts to remain out of the family issue, I can guarantee you I will not stand by and watch Kimi become an indentured servant.”
“Feminist, hippie bullshit,” her father grumbled. “A woman’s job is to take care of her family.”
“Then Mom failed at that pretty spectacularly, didn’t she?” Kimi snapped.
“I have a parental consent form, signed by you, Clara, giving me guardianship on weekends, the summer and holidays,” Aunt Hulda stated. “If you cared so much about her, then maybe you should’ve read the paperwork the school sent, rather than just signing it without reading through it. Although now, I am so very glad you didn’t.”
“You conniving witch,” her mother said.
“I expected name calling from Eli, but not from my own sister.” She patted Kimi on the shoulder. “I was afraid something like this would happen, so I already put your things in the trunk of my car.”
“This ain’t over,” Eli warned.
“Yes, it is,” Kimi said. “Now that I know neither of you have any power over me? I won’t ever come back here. Ever,” she emphasized. She gave her mother, who’d started crying, a scathing look.
“Kimi, I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you are. Goodbye, Clara.” And because she was so upset, heartsick and disgusted, she looked at her Aunt Hulda and said, “Thank you for bein’ the mother to me that she couldn’t be. Now can we please go home?”
She walked out of the house and