Brawl by Kylie Hillman

bitches.”
    Hitting him with a look that promises his death, I then fix the hatred in my expression on my mother. She hasn’t made a move to cover herself, instead she’s staring at me as she rests naked from the waist down, over the bench her eight-year-old sits at most mornings to eat his cereal. The deep-seated loathing I find looking back at me makes her beautiful face appear ugly.
    “Johnny, I doubt my daughter could show you as good a time as I can.”
    The bitch wiggles her ass in his direction which makes him laugh. He dry-fucks the air in response. “Like this, Cathy?”
    I thought I was mad before but that had nothing on the savage ferocity that explodes in me when she laughs at his response. How can she think this is funny? The small semblance of control that I’ve managed to keep hold of snaps. The remaining heel leaves my hand as if it contains a homing beacon and my mother’s face is its home base. The shoe hits the whore in the nose, making her squeal and slide to the floor holding her face. I launch myself at her companion, driving my fist into his nose, which knocks him to the floor.
    “What the fuck?” his exclamation is muffled by the hand he’s using to cradle his nose. “Stupid bitch.”
    Leaning over him where he lies on the white tiled floor, I point down at him. “I’m a stupid bitch? You’ve got to be kidding me?”
    Condescension drips from each word. I close the distance between Mom and I, grabbing her by the top of her arm and forcing her to stand. Not a sound leaves her, even when I squeeze her upper arm. “ She has three kids in this house. One of them is only eight. Like, have some fucking respect, you douche.”
    “Come on, Johnny. Let’s get out of here.” The old man I hit with the first high heel peers from around the corner. Goddamn coward is too scared to show himself. It takes a second, but I realize why when I look at him again. He’s the father of one of Zali’s girlfriends. A married father with a really nice wife and four kids. Mom’s managed to hit an all-time low tonight. Before I can let him know that I’ve worked out who he is, he speaks again. “I’m going, with or without you.”
    I hear him make his way down the hall to the front door. The door slams shut behind him and I hold my breath waiting for Cooper to yell out because the noise has woken him up. When he doesn’t, I look back at the dickhead on the floor. Lifting an eyebrow, I wait to see what he’s going to do.
    “Cathy, call me. I can’t deal with this shit tonight.” He scoots on his ass along the floor until he’s out of my reach. Clambering to his feet, he follows after the other man. Banging echoes through the house again when the front door closes behind him.
    “You disgust me,” I snarl at Mom as I let go of her and put some distance between us. “I wish you would—”
    “GABBI!” Cooper yells from his bedroom.
    Shaking my head at the half naked woman in front of me, I reply to my scared sounding little brother. “I’ll be right there, bucko.”
    “Gabbi, I’m scared...” he calls again. He sounds like he’s seconds away from coming out here to get me. Urgency settles in the pit of my stomach and I attempt to get rid of Mom before he sees her like this.
    “Go and sleep it off,” I sneer at my still silent mother. My heated gaze tries to catch her eyes but I can’t. She’s looking at the floor, the wall, anywhere but me. “I’m not sure if you smell more like a fucking brewery or a brothel.”
    Mom grabs her clothes and walks away without a word. The shaking that’s rocked my body since I walked in on them, begins to subside after she’s exited the room. I was geared up for an argument with her—that’s what normally happens after I send her “gentleman friends” packing—so I’m surprised to see her leaving without so much as an insult thrown my way.
    “Ga...bbi,” Cooper yells for me again. Shuffling sounds sound down the hallway and I know he’s on his