Status: On hiatus

Lost Rivals

But You're My Daughter!

Tillie paced her room, trying to steady her shaking hands and harsh, fast breathing. She thought about seeing Jade there, lying motionless on the ground. She knew it was a warning sign for her from the boss. Tillie knew that the boss had beaten Jade up to show Tillie what he could do to her.
Tillie honestly thought that this part of her life was over. She thought that she would never again see Jade’s face or a ruthless message from her old boss.

“Why wouldn’t Adrienne listen to me?” Tillie sighed as she slammed her clammy palms up against her flushed cheeks.

The young girl continued to pace around her room thinking about what her old boss’s next step would be in getting back at her.

Tillie didn’t have much time to continue her thought because there was a sharp rapping on her door.

“Come in!” Tillie yelled.

The door opened and Billie stood at the doorway looking worried. His look only intensified by the crease of concern on his forehead.

“Sweetie, is everything okay with you and your mother? She’s downstairs in the lounge room crying. She won’t tell me what’s wrong, so maybe you will.”

Having said that, Billie walked into the room and sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of Tillie who was glaring at him, hands on her hips.

“Billie Joe, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not Adrienne’s business and it’s most definitely not yours either.”

Tillie then stomped into her bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Billie sighed in annoyance. This was going to be harder than he thought. He waltzed over to the slammed door and leaned his weight against it. He quickly raked his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.

“Tillie, you know you can tell me anything, you know I’ll understand.”

He waited for an answer but was only greeted with the sound of his daughter sobbing on the other side of the door.

“Tillie, honey, I'm coming in so I hope you're decent.” Billie yelled through the door. He opened it carefully and covered his eyes a bit, just in case his oldest child was in any state of undress.

Billie Joe peeked through his fingers and saw Tillie Ilene lying on the tiles near the spa bath with tears streaming down her face, making her face appear to be bleeding black blood as her mascara dripped down her cheeks.

“Billie, I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.” Tillie managed through her tears.

Billie wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kneeled down near the teenager and touched her tear stained cheeks with his thumbs. He cradled her head in his hands and gently kissed her on the nose, causing her to smile and let out a small giggle.

“So now are you going to tell me why you're crying? Or am I going to have to resort to tickling it out of your cute little mouth?” Billie joked.

Tillie once again turned serious. “It’s private, Billie Joe. Believe it or not, but I did have a life before I started living here. Let me remind you, seventeen fricken’ years!” She then turned her face away from him and resumed sobbing into her hands.

“You know I didn’t intentionally leave you, and I do know that you had a life before I met you again. But I don’t know what you did in those years without Adie and me as your parents…so why don’t you just tell me?”

Tillie’s face became red with anger and her whole body began to shake. “I told you! I can’t tell you. It’s private! Leave me the Hell alone!”

Billie Joe then realized that he couldn’t talk to her right now and retreated to the safety of his kitchen, feeling guilty for leaving his child in such disarray. But he knew she would eventually open up to either him or his wife if she wanted to and he couldn’t push her.

Billie put his face in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t know having a daughter would be so hard. But furthermore, what had Tillie gone through that she couldn’t talk about it?

He hoped it wasn’t bad, but something told him that whatever Tillie had done in her past was going to blow up in her face and he hoped she would let him help her pick up the pieces.