Deen Queens

thirteen [becky]

BECKY

Becky was drunk and it was a disaster.

Correction: Becky was completely shit-faced. Her bra was unhooked at the back, her braids were coming undone and she could barely walk in a straight line, never-mind have comprehensible thoughts.

Her day had started well enough; she'd completed her final exam and was ecstatic to be done with school. Some of the girls in her class had invited her to a house party – a celebration of closing another chapter in their lives – and initially she'd refused. Becky was trying to remain on a straight edge: no alcohol, no casual sex and definitely no parties, where both of those would probably happen by accident. It was time for her to buckle up and concentrate on who she was, before she got lost in the tornado of a wild life.

On the way back home from school however, she'd bumped into Julius. She'd been avoiding him for as long as possible – and for good reason – but life always did have a way of waiting for the perfect moment to shatter all plans. It was like an erratic weather forecast; when a harmless sunlit sky turned into a blur of grey clouds, hail pouring with enough ferocity to shake the tarmac.

Life was unpredictable and Becky, well, she was rubbish at avoiding people.

"Well well well, who do we have here?" he had sneered, looking down at her through lidded eyes that glinted dangerously. Thankfully, he was by himself for a change and not with one of his stupid goons, following him around like minions without a brain-cell for themselves.

Becky had squared her shoulders and raised her head high, refusing to be intimidated. Her mother had raised two young children in the most dangerous of streets all alone and so, she had mastered the art of hiding all traces of vulnerability from a young age. It was the only thing that kept them alive most days. Whilst they were doing a lot better now financially, and lived in a better neighbourhood, she hadn't forgotten the streets that raised her.

She'd made excuses to get away, pretending that seeing her ex-boyfriend hadn't bothered her at all. But whilst she no longer cared about Julius – especially after the many rumours and threats he threw around with ease – there was a part of her that hurt around his presence. She had really liked him at the time and yet, he had shown that he thought of her as nothing but a shiny new toy, one that could be thrown away after use. Was that all she was good for? When lies had been spread about her sleeping with others, he'd dropped her faster than burning coal, his reputation far more important than her truth.

He had spread more lies about her and threatened her into silence, armed with near-nude photos of her as arsenal. But she'd taken care of that problem long ago, stapling her naked body in the walls of her school in order to take away the control he had over her. How could you threaten someone with something they were willing to do themselves?

"I don't have time for this," she had said with a bored expression, interrupting the insults he spat at her with a flick of her hair. "I've got to be somewhere."

He'd laughed, head thrown back and his perfectly beautiful face crumpling with a sneer. "More like you've got to be with someone. You'll never learn, will you, eh? Once a whore, always a whore. Enjoy fuckin' everything in existence, slag, hopefully I won't see you around."

She'd brushed it off, her steps firm and fingers clenched tight but the second she was in the safety of her own bedroom, Becky allowed her body to shake with fear. Without thinking about how stupid her actions were and how much she'd regret them the following day, she had changed into a crimson body-con dress and dragged her brother along to the party.

Carter didn't really do the party scene and although they were twins, the two were polar opposites in personality. But beneath their differences, they understood each other well and Carter knew that as embarrassing as it was, she needed to forget for a minute – consequences be damned.