Motorcycle Girl: Book Two

Chapter 25: Unwanted Visitor

"And if she called the cops they'd send me back to France." I say.

"You were eighteen." Maman snaps.

"I was seventeen and if they sent me to rehab I'd have-"

"She would've snuck out and ran back to the wood." Gwen finished for me.

"No you wouldn't have, Odette. You were a little girl. Also, you said your three parents. But you only have two. I am your mother, not Gwen. She helped you and for that I am grateful, but I'm the women who raised you."

That pisses me off.

I see Nathan sitting up now, probably ready to pull me away from the scene before I go running out of the house again.

Still, I find myself scoffing.

"You don't get to do that. I have three parents."

"No you don't!" Maman snaps. "You have me and Papa, that's it."

I stand up, moving around the coffee table.

"Sorry to break it to you, but when you got your ass thrown in jail, when you left your twelve year old alone in a random country that speaks a random language, the role of a mother from you died down."

"Odelette." Nathan says. "Let's go upstairs.

I ignore him.

"I have three parents." I snap. "Gwen didn't give me some new clothes and leave me alone! That women picked me up off the street, got me braces, braided my hair, taught me how to shave and how to have a period, she wiped every single tear falling from my face over the parents who vanished out of thin air! She taught me how to drive, paid for my college. She helped me with my homework, and the list goes on. And on. And on. She's the fucking reason I am an accountant, Maman! Yes, you are my mother, you gave birth to me and nurtured and love me until I was twelve years old, but the women next to you is my mother too, because she was there when you weren't. She's the fucking reason I'm not dead somewhere in the woods from cutting so deep that I bled out! Only five people knew of my existence, two of them were in England, one of them was in hiding in France and the other two, the people who should have fought for our family, were in jail over something they did not do! Even back when I was in college and had shut her out, I knew I could go to her! Hell, last week I knew I could go to her and she would be there! So don't you dare sit there and talk down about Gwen! She's the reason I'm fucking alive! She's the reason I am who I am today! She is just as much of my mother as you are!"

Maman stands up and she's pissed.

She's giving me that motherly look. You know the one? When you've said something to your mother or did something as school and she finds out, she's looking at me with those wide eyes, the set lips.

She's pissed, and I know I should be scared because she's my Maman, but I'm not.

"You are my little girl, Odeletta Juileta! I changed your diapers! I helped teach you to ride a bike! I was there when you said your first words, I wiped your tears on the first day of school! I ate the proper vitamins and food for nine months while you grew inside of me! I felt your kicks, I soothed fevers! I did that! I am your mother!"

She's in my face now but I don't back down. I don't move.

I glare at her.

"You were there for the child years. She was there for the last of my teenage years. She did just as much as you did!"

"You are my child." Maman snaps. "Don't you dare talk to me like that again."

"I am not a child. I am twenty five! I grew up Maman! I know you are having trouble accepting that but I grew up! I got older! I started my period, learned to drive, I started college, had sex! When you got me back, I was grown! I am grown! You need to accept the fact that you missed moments! You need to accept the fact that Gwen was there too. She missed my early childhood. You missed my last childhood. You are in the same boat. Stop acting like the only victim here. Aunt Rosalie missed more of Annalise's life than you missed of mine! She thought they were dead, and now she's grateful to have her family back! You should be thanking me! I am the whole reason you're alive! And the girl Gwen met would never have charged into a court room like that! She turned me into who I am! You should be thanking her and accepting the shared custody instead of bath mouthing her and putting yourself on a pedestal!"