Chapter 4 · My Evil Aunt

My dad was quiet for a moment. "Alright, let's clean out Spencer's room. He can sleep with us for a couple of days."

Mom shot up and headed straight for the yard. Spencer and I followed her. In the yard, Mom was wiping away her tears. Spencer tugged at her sleeve. "Mom, don't cry. I'll sleep with you and Dad. I'll let Aunt Tanya have my room."

Mom's tears fell even harder. I knew she felt wronged, not just for herself, but for us too.

When we got back, Aunt Tanya was already lying down in Spencer's room, and she had tossed his toys into the main room.

Dad was cleaning up the dishes from the table. He always spoiled his sister endlessly.

I was angry and frustrated with Dad. I hated how he always put Aunt Tanya above everyone else, no matter what. In the end, it cost both him and Mom their lives, and left Spencer and me in such a terrible situation.

But he was my dad. He was quiet, reserved, and kind of clumsy. He never raised a hand against Mom or us. He treated Mom well, and he was good to Spencer and me too.

As long as it had nothing to do with Aunt Tanya, he never made Mom, Spencer, or me feel wronged or neglected.

After Mom went inside, she changed into her work clothes and got ready to head out. Dad dropped the broom and hurried to get his motorcycle, wanting to give her a ride.

But Mom just ignored him completely and walked off.

Dad sighed and came back inside. He looked at Spencer and me, then pulled a few candies out of his pocket and handed them to us.

He said to me, "I'm heading to work now. You and Spencer stay home. If anything happens, just call me."

I nodded. We had a secondhand phone that Dad bought just for Spencer and me.

Since he and Mom were always working and only came home for meals, they worried about leaving us alone. So they got us the phone and showed us how to reach them if anything happened.

Back then, all I knew was how to make a basic call.

But this time, things were different. Even though Aunt Tanya never let me touch the phone again in the previous timeline, I'd watched other people use theirs.

When I got older, I caught on quick. The steps were simple enough, and just watching was enough to figure it out.

*****

After Mom and Dad left for work, Aunt Tanya came out and started rummaging through everything, making a mess.

She dug through Mom's cabinet, slathered Mom's face cream all over her own face, and when that wasn't enough for her, she just chucked the jar to the ground and smashed it.

She was grumbling, "Like that old hag deserves something this nice."

Spencer saw her smashing Mom's stuff, clenched his fists, and rammed his head into her. "Don't touch Mom's things!"

Aunt Tanya kicked Spencer hard, knocking him to the floor. "You little idiot, how dare you hit me? Just wait till I deal with you."

She rolled up her sleeves, ready to hit Spencer, but I rushed over and bit down hard on her arm.

"You nasty brat!" Aunt Tanya spat.

She slapped me hard across the face. When I wouldn't let go, she kept kicking me until I was hurting so bad I had to let go.

She glared at us. "One of these days, I'm gonna teach you brats a lesson."

With that, she turned and stormed back into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Mabel, I'm gonna call Mom and tell her Aunt Tanya hit us," Spencer said, reaching for the phone.

I quickly grabbed the phone from him and said, "Spencer, why don't you go play outside for a bit?"

Spencer didn't really understand why I wanted him out of the house, but he always did what I said, so he headed out to the yard without asking any questions.

I crept up to the doorway. Inside, Aunt Tanya was on the phone, talking openly without a care. She figured Spencer and I were just kids and wouldn't understand a thing.

I hid behind the door and hit record on my phone.

Aunt Tanya was acting all pitiful on the phone, blaming Jonas for not backing her up last night.

She said, "Are you even a man? Your brother beat me, and you just stood there watching. Now I'm stuck crashing at Matthew's place, and those two little brats are making my life miserable."

Jonas must've said something, because Aunt Tanya whined, "You jerk, I know you care about me, but is this how you show it? If you hadn't been so rough, Robert never would've caught on. Now what are we supposed to do?

"Robert knows I've cheated on him, and you know he'll hunt down the guy. If he finds out it's you and realizes Anthony isn't his kid, he'll go crazy and take all three of us out. We need to figure something out."

Chapter 4

My dad was quiet for a moment. "Alright, let's clean out Spencer's room. He can sleep with us for a couple of days."

Mom's tears fell even harder. I knew she felt wronged, not just for herself, but for us too.

When we got back, Aunt Tanya was already lying down in Spencer's room, and she had tossed his toys into the main room.

Dad was cleaning up the dishes from the table. He always spoiled his sister endlessly.

But he was my dad. He was quiet, reserved, and kind of clumsy. He never raised a hand against Mom or us. He treated Mom well, and he was good to Spencer and me too.

As long as it had nothing to do with Aunt Tanya, he never made Mom, Spencer, or me feel wronged or neglected.

After Mom went inside, she changed into her work clothes and got ready to head out. Dad dropped the broom and hurried to get his motorcycle, wanting to give her a ride.

But Mom just ignored him completely and walked off.

Dad sighed and came back inside. He looked at Spencer and me, then pulled a few candies out of his pocket and handed them to us.

He said to me, "I'm heading to work now. You and Spencer stay home. If anything happens, just call me."

I nodded. We had a secondhand phone that Dad bought just for Spencer and me.

Since he and Mom were always working and only came home for meals, they worried about leaving us alone. So they got us the phone and showed us how to reach them if anything happened.

Back then, all I knew was how to make a basic call.

But this time, things were different. Even though Aunt Tanya never let me touch the phone again in the previous timeline, I'd watched other people use theirs.

When I got older, I caught on quick. The steps were simple enough, and just watching was enough to figure it out.

*****

After Mom and Dad left for work, Aunt Tanya came out and started rummaging through everything, making a mess.

She dug through Mom's cabinet, slathered Mom's face cream all over her own face, and when that wasn't enough for her, she just chucked the jar to the ground and smashed it.

She was grumbling, "Like that old hag deserves something this nice."

Spencer saw her smashing Mom's stuff, clenched his fists, and rammed his head into her. "Don't touch Mom's things!"

Aunt Tanya kicked Spencer hard, knocking him to the floor. "You little idiot, how dare you hit me? Just wait till I deal with you."

She rolled up her sleeves, ready to hit Spencer, but I rushed over and bit down hard on her arm.

"You nasty brat!" Aunt Tanya spat.

She slapped me hard across the face. When I wouldn't let go, she kept kicking me until I was hurting so bad I had to let go.

She glared at us. "One of these days, I'm gonna teach you brats a lesson."

With that, she turned and stormed back into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Mabel, I'm gonna call Mom and tell her Aunt Tanya hit us," Spencer said, reaching for the phone.

I quickly grabbed the phone from him and said, "Spencer, why don't you go play outside for a bit?"

Spencer didn't really understand why I wanted him out of the house, but he always did what I said, so he headed out to the yard without asking any questions.

I crept up to the doorway. Inside, Aunt Tanya was on the phone, talking openly without a care. She figured Spencer and I were just kids and wouldn't understand a thing.

I hid behind the door and hit record on my phone.

Aunt Tanya was acting all pitiful on the phone, blaming Jonas for not backing her up last night.

She said, "Are you even a man? Your brother beat me, and you just stood there watching. Now I'm stuck crashing at Matthew's place, and those two little brats are making my life miserable."