sHe: THE RISE OF THE NEW BREEDS [Book 1]

Chapter 5

A TAXI STOPPED at a suburb address. Roberta got off with a duffel bag and walked towards her house. She noticed harsh lights and music coming from the open garage door where Lilya used it as a workshop in-between running her art gallery business.

The albino pregnant woman wore protective eye goggles—she was welding a wire-framed life-sized sculpture of The Happy Family—a resemblance of her and Roberta kissing while in their arms, each holding their twin babies.

Electronic punk-rock music by a British group The Daughters of None blared on a stereo; and Lilya did not notice that Roberta was standing behind, observing her with the sculpture with gloomy eyes.

Roberta then switched off the music; Lilya turned around immediately and saw her husband. She removed the goggles and ran over and hugged Roberta —and started rattling her heart out...

"When did you come? Why did you not call? Rob, I would have come to the airport."

She kept hugged Roberta even tighter with tears flowing; sobbed and continued ranting in a troubled tone...

"I am so sorry dear, so sorry of what happened to Mimi—how they could have taken her?"

She gazed at the indifferent Roberta who was quiet and still. She spoke out again. "Why won't you not allow me to come to LA? I wanted so badly to be with you—and I was so worried for the past couple of nights thinking about you—you never called nor answered my call and...

"...Aunt Flo called me several times from Columbus asking about Mimi. I could not tell her anything—she is worried sick there too..." Roberta pushed Lilya away. "Don't ever mention that old bitch's name to me—I feel like killing her!"

"Why are you angry, dear? What happened?"

Roberta walked up and slammed the duffle bag hard on the worktable, "that dumb-ass aunt of mine registered the she-fuck that Laura gave birth under Laura's name!" Roberta's voice was getting frightening loud for Lilya. Yet she approached nearer to hear Roberta continuing to carp, "that is how my enemies got the information, and they took away my sister just to get back at me!"

Lilya gently touched Roberta's back. "Calm down Rob, it is the hospital procedure to register the name of the mother even it is for adoption—you can't blame it on Aunt Flo, dear..."

Roberta grabbed Lilya's hand and stared back intensely...

"You shut up and sit down—I got some questions for you!"

Roberta seized her duffel bag on the worktable. She went to unzips and pulled a file out—slapped the Lilya-Joana in-street demonstration photo flat on the table—

"Now you tell me about this girl's brother—Joe!"

Roberta has researched intensively on Joe/Joseph Gilman and found nothing on the piecemeal CIA investigation database since yesterday—even Joana Gilman was non-existence; and even her nemesis of her past, Roxy was also a ghost in her finding.

Lilya's voice shook when she replied...

"Joana does not have a brother. She lived and grew up with her grandmother and her mother. They lived in the next farmhouse from I came from—then one day, Roxy came back from Columbus and she took her away—that is the whole truth, Rob, I swear!"

"Don't you lie to cover up for your friend, Lilya! My own flesh and blood have been abducted now, and I only want the truth from you—now tell me about her shemale fucking brother!"

Lilya pleaded back, "you are mistaken, dear—Jo doesn't have a brother!"

Roberta pulled out another photo from the file—it was a blowup from the CCTV car park footage of Joe in a brunette wig—there was some facial resemblance to Joana. Roberta smacked Lilya's head and snatched her by her hair; the photo was held close towards her face...

"Then who the fuck is this? Tell me, who the fuck is this?"

"I don't know, it could be anyone... let me go, Rob!"

Roberta slammed Lilya's forehead on the worktable before releasing her. The four-month pregnant woman slumped below in pain on the garage floor while the superior Roberta screeched menacingly at her...

"Enough of the lying, bitch! Now, where is this farmhouse? The kidnappers might have taken Laura there—now tell me where?"

Lilya was now enraged for being both accused and the maltreatment...

"No, only her grandmother lives there alone; and she is a sweet and innocent lady. You are not in the right mind now, and you might do something horrible when you get there—that old woman knows nothing—and you are not going to go there to harm her too, Roberta!"

The incense in the air built on with more accusations...

"I just don't understand you, Lilya! You were never honest to me with anything at all— you fucking live a pretentious and deceitful double-life even after we are married. First, you kept the Aryan Sisterhood a secret, then about Roxy and now this bitch Joana who has a fucking brother! Why do you tell so much lies, you bitch? My sister is dying out there and you don't fucking care, and now you bullshitting me with excuses to protect my enemies instead!

"You don't care about the amount of shit that I am going through now—I am out there hunting them to get my Laura back, while you-you are here in your pretentious happy-life-of-your-happy-fucking-world..." Roberta pointed at the sculpture that Lilya had just erected, "...and you even dare to create an insensitive happy-piece-of-shit like this in my moment of loss and sadness!"

Roberta grabbed a crowbar and wreaked the wired sculpture; it dropped down and she continued to trample it with her feet in abhorrence. She turned and looked at her crying wife who was staggering on her feet to escape out. Roberta trudged forward and snatched her by the shoulder when she almost reaching the garage door...

She punched Lilya in the face. The albino teen dipped on the floor again with a broken lower lip; Lily was dazed and was too numbed to holler out for help. Roberta took out her handcuffs and slapped it on Lilya wrists to her back. She then proceeded to shut the garage door from any prying neighbours...

The terrified Lilya who was beseeching for Roberta to end her physical abuses, but she was dragged instead on the floor—the raging cop hauled her by the left leg, back to the cataclysm worktable area where the argument earlier started. Roberta brandished the blow-torch and turned the knob of the blue flame on. She growled at the screaming at the albino in a deep odium voice...

"Bitch, you are gonna tell me now where this fucking farmhouse is!"