2__Taste of revenge
2 days later
Erin happily rocked back and forth at the kitchen table where she sat, watching her mother finish up the last of her chores.
“A minute, okay sweetie?” said her mom.
“Okay,” Erin told her, sounding patient, but actually being really anxious to go on to their quarters for the night. Because it wasn’t yet bedtime, her mom had promised to help her assemble the new doll house and have a tea party.
Erin was ecstatic, even if she didn’t show it. She had been shocked to the bone when, besides a woollen doll very much like the one her mom had made her, the Chairman had sent her a whole range of new dollies! They came with clothes, a doll house and pretty brushes for their hair.
Erin couldn’t believe her luck! And it was all thanks to the Chairman. She smiled at the thought of him. He was like Santa.
“Okay, honey, I’m done!”
Grinning, Erin hopped off the chair but quickly came to a halt when, suddenly, Braden appeared in the large kitchen. At the mere sight of him, Erin’s heart deflated like a popped balloon. What did he want?
“Braden,” said her mother with a soft smile. “What’s wrong? You want some water?”
Looking at Erin with his mouth curved in a sardonic smirk, the boy dug his hands into the pockets of his thick bathrobe. He’d been listening at the door. He knew the plans Erin had with her mother and there was no way he’d let such a perfect chance for revenge slip through his fingers.
Clearing his throat, he pulled out a hand and examined his fingernails. “No, I don’t want water, Alicia. I’m hungry.”
Erin frowned, but her mother wasn’t yet bothered.
“Oh?" Said her mother to Braden. “What would you like? Should I quickly put together a beef sandwich for you?”
Crossing his arms, Braden sighed. “Nope. I don’t think I want a sandwich. I think…” He looked at Erin, smiled. “I want a cheesy macaroni and beef casserole. I also feel like having some chocolate cake… yes.”
Erin’s mouth fell open.
Her mother raised her brows. “A… a casserole? Cake…? At this time of the night, Braden?”
Turning his fierce little blue eyes on her, Braden raised a brow. “Are you refusing? Should I tell my father that the maid refused to make me food?”
Alicia released a breath and quickly shook her head. “No, no… I… I didn’t say no, Braden.”
Erin turned to her mother in surprise. “Mom!”
Alicia immediately raised a hand to silence her daughter. If Erin got herself worked up about this it would end with her fighting Braden and, this time, they might really get kicked out. Alicia had to just do what the boy wanted. After all… he was heir to all of it.
“I’m sorry, honey, mommy’s got to work a little while longer,” she told Erin, putting her apron back on. “You can keep me company or go on to bed if you’re tired, love.”
Speechless, Erin watched her mother turn back to the stoves that she’d just cleaned spotless and begin pulling out clean pots and pans to get cooking.
She couldn’t believe it! Furious, Erin turned to face Braden only to find that he was grinning at her.
“And that,” he said quietly for only her to hear. “…is what you get when you challenge me.”
“What’s your problem, Braden?” Erin asked him, her eyes already pricking with tears again. She hated how she was such a cry baby whenever he was around!
“You made me say sorry!” he muttered darkly. “My dad says all this is going to be mine, so I don’t have to listen to anyone. I can do what I like! But you, the maid’s child, made me apologize!”
Erin’s fists clenched, her heart full of anger at how unfair it all was! “You’re only ten!” she told him angrily. “You don’t have anything! This whole giant house belongs to your grandpa, not you!”
“Erin,” called her mother from the other end of the vast kitchen. “What’s going on?”
Erin glanced at her mom and, pouting, shook her head. “Nothing, mommy. I... I’m just talking to… Braden.”
Alicia looked at them worriedly and nodded. “Okay. Don’t fight, you two. Braden, your aunt’s sleeping and you know she hates noise.”
Braden rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Alicia. She can’t hear us from her room anyway.”
Erin glared at him as her mother went back to her work. “Don’t talk to my mom like that,” she warned. “It’s not nice.”
“I’ll talk how I like. That’s what you get for biting me!” he told her, before smirking and turning on his heel to leave the kitchen. At the exit, he glanced back at her. “You better not have given me rabies or whatever poor people have, or else!”
Ignoring the look of injury in her eyes, he walked off with a triumphant smile. Erin stood staring at the empty exit for a little while, his mean words replaying in her head.
She knew two things now. One: she would not be playing dollies with her mom tonight. Two: she hated Braden Stone.
It was late into the night and Erin was nodding off on the chair where she’d sat to keep her mom company. A gentle hand touched her shoulder.
“Erin, honey, I’m done. Wake up,” said her mom gently.
Erin blinked her eyes open, her nose twitching at the delicious aromas that filled the kitchen.
“Come on,” said her mom, holding her hand and guiding her off the high chair. “Let’s go to bed.”
Rubbing her eye, Erin let herself be led. Suddenly, her mom came to a stop.
“Oh, Braden, there you are,” she said.
Erin’s eyes flew open. What did he want now?
“Did you make the food?” he asked haughtily.
Alicia pursed her lips and nodded tiredly. “Yes. I’ve set it out on the dining table for you, so you may go ahead and eat.”
Erin glared sleepily at him. The boy truly was evil itself.
Braden sighed and put his hands in his pockets. “Well… now that I think about it… I’m not really hungry anymore.”
Erin’s mouth parted. What? He was no longer hungry? What?!
Alicia only stared at the boy. “But you asked me to—”
“Yes, but now I’m not hungry anymore.” He smiled at them, his handsome face and smile so much like his father’s, and sadly, his evil little heart too. “You may throw it all out.”
“But you wanted to eat!” said Erin furiously. “We couldn’t play dollies because you wanted to eat!!”
Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Shh, shh! It’s okay, honey. It’s alright. Calm down.”
Braden looked at her and crossed his arms. “I say if I’m hungry or not. You just do what I say.”
Erin had never been more furious in her life! Even when her best friend, Jackson, ruined her pretty drawings at school she hadn’t been this angry.
“It’s alright,” said her mother, moving to pack everything away.
Erin shook her head, eyes filling with angry tears. It wasn’t alright. It wasn’t alright at all.
When Braden’s mouth curved in that horrid smirk of his, Erin lost it. This time, whether they got kicked out or not, she did not care. She’d rip off this boy’s ears if it was the last thing she did.