Dakota's Suite

Apathy

There was a time that I had found that I held a pittance of sympathy for Daphne. She had come a long way indeed. Within the course of seven years, she had remarried, moved from Indiana back to South Carolina, and had dragged us along with her. Her long black hair that she had was now cut down into an asymmetrical blonde bob. She was still small, but she had lost weight over the years that our biological father was out of the picture. She no longer feared having to paint her face out of necessity. She eventually found the joy of dredging her face in makeup. Went from wearing our father's old clothes to wearing modest feminine ones ever since she had met Allen. She became as pale and fragile as a porcelain doll almost, given her weight change.

It was as if she believed that changing her appearance would change her entirely. Now that's a laugh.

She had her back facing me, arms barely shuffling as she placed the empty bowls into the sink. "Are you just going to stand there and look like that?" She asked boredly. She wanted to talk.

"I don't know, maybe I should." I responded dryly.

She scoffed. "Why are you always like this?"

I shrugged and slipped my hands in the pockets of my jeans. "Maybe because I love pissing you off, you know the answers to your own questions, Daphne."

She finally turned around. "Listen here you-" With a pause, she did a sharp inhale. Her back expanded with each breath she took.

I took a step forward, not even bothering to appease her by venturing further. "Careful, the child you actually give a shit about is right above us." I reprimanded, faux concern laced within my tone.

I'm in a shit mood already. I might as well make hers even more shitty for thinking that she had the upper hand with making someone feel smaller than she was.

Finally, I leave the dining room and saunter into the small kitchen. My hands never left my pockets as I finally found myself a foot away from Daphne as she had her head facing the floor, hands disappearing momentarily behind the faded dishcloth she was using.

With reluctance, she raised her head. Her grey eyes cold yet full of such hatred. Her red lips deepened down into a heavy scowl while she swiftly tossed the dishcloth into the sink. "Stay away from Hannah."

"My own sibling?" I repeated, gazing down at her with a blank expression on my face. "Daphne, you know that she approaches me on her own, right? Unlike the rest of you, that would rather not even look at my face."

Daphne folded her arms, and her neck craned up to look at me while she continued her glare. Daphne had a thing about not displaying how she really felt about me in front of Hannah. A part of me believed that it was because she was afraid of Hannah seeing her for who she truly was, that Hannah would be so repulsed by her behavior that she'd change, to her fears, wind up being like me.

She honestly didn't really care for Hannah either. She just wanted one of her children to at least appear normal.

"With distance, she'd eventually learn and continue staying far away from you, freak." Daphne seethed with clenched teeth on the last word. "I know what happened at the table."

"Freak? Afraid that it's contaigous then?" I retorted.

She threw her head back and bitterly laughed. "No, because if so, then how'd you get it?"

It was my turn to glare. This was one of the main reasons why I didn't even want to come to this damn dinner. "Maybe from the piece of shit that knocked you up when you had been hooking?" I shot back, unpocketing my hands so that they laid limply by my sides.

Her eyes widened, but she quickly resumed her previous look. "You...are nothing like him." This time, her tone had been lower than before, slow and drawn out as if she was almost afraid.

Her nose scrunched, hands unfolded, and also at her sides, a twisted smile formed along her face as her eyes bore daggers into me. I'm nearly convinced that she'd actually grow the balls to finally carry it out, just with actual knives this time around.

"What the fuck does that even mean Daphne?" I boredly asked. Even if she wanted to go back to trying to doing harm to me, she wouldn't stand a chance with me now.

Daphne paused for a second, her lips pursed together as she continued her spiteful gaze, despite all the changes she made to herself physically, she could never cover up the pure contempt she had for me. "Quit baiting me asshole."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're the one looking for a fight." I stated blankly. "Which is fine, you can't hurt me at this point. What really piques my interest is how you're quick to aid a man that doesn't give a fuck-"

"You know nothing!" Daphne hissed through gritted teeth.

"Since he's gone...I've known you for what you are Dakota..." She sneered as she took a step closer. "Hell, I knew it the moment I gave birth to your pitiful ass."

Another step. "You are fucked up. You know it. I know it. You are the embodiment of what is truly broken."

Surprise, surprise, she took another step. "You are the cancer in this family."

Her hands shot up to her head. Mouth agape as if she was struggling to hold back what she was about to say next. "I wish...I knew what I was thinking-"

She stopped mid-sentence. Eyes scanned me head to toe to determine a difference in my body language; there wasn't one. Daphne had made it very clear that she never wanted to be my mother, and after several events in the past, she even grew to despise me. I've been subjected to her animosity enough to know that she hated me and that this was simply another reminder.

I casually slipped my hands into the pockets of my pants. "What's the matter? You never stopped before."

Daphne's eyes blazed with anger. "Stay away from my daughter. If you want someplace to rest your miserable head, you will do as I say." She threatened. Love her immediate subject change.

I chuckled. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen."

She snorted in response. "Says who?"

"Says the bills I've been covering ever since I was fucking sixteen Daphne." I reminded her. "Go on, kick me out, let's see how far you and Allen get with keeping this house together, especially with your newfound coke addiction."

"Oh wait," I paused with another roll of my eyes. "That was never a new thing, was it?"

Daphne raised her hand and brought it back slightly, as if she was about to strike me. It wouldn't have been the first time she had done so. With a pause, she fumed and allowed her hand to fall back limply to her side. Her teeth had sunken into her bottom lip. She knew what the odds were, I was the only one really aware of her vices. I had been the financial caretaker of this house ever since I had been legally allowed to work, Daphne only managed to snag this house because at the time she was married to my biological father, retaining the house had been partially been covered by the money she had obtained by her marriage to that old fuck. Allen never truly had a job of his own. The money he obtained was through disability grants. Daphne tried working but hated the dedication she'd have to instill in one, especially when it meant she wouldn't have as much down time as she does now.

"You're absolutely terrible." Daphne uttered through gritted teeth, her head slowly bowed down as her hands had clenched into tight fights, her body nearly trembling with anger.

"I know." I agreed. "Wonder who I got that from."