"Such a temper he had." Came a mysterious female voice, prompting a jolt from the grown-up June. She turned to her left and had her gaze met by a figure in profile. She was clearly a woman, more specifically a Breeder. An extremely large bust, far bigger than June had ever seen in her life jutted forward from her chest, straining a tightly laced bodice. Further downward was a set of wide broodmare level hips, the perfect framework for a tremendous soft bubble butt. Yet what drew her attention most was the green cloak this woman was wearing. It was a deep emerald color, somehow visible in the low light, with a golden trim of an elaborate knot pattern. The hood was pulled over her face, making June unable to see her features well. The only thing that stood out was a pointed nose and a few curly locks of red hair.
"Yes..." said June automatically. "And it was always worse when he was drunk." Her tone was laced with disgust and scorn. Somehow this had overridden her confusion over the strange situation. Something about the woman's mere presence was calming her down.
"An instinct of self-destruction." Replied the woman. "The struggles he went through both physically and mentally were too much for his psyche to handle. So, he tried to numb the pain." A soft yet clearly melancholy sigh emerged from her lips. "Such a tragic cycle."
"Tragic?!" June scoffed. "He was an abusive drunk! And he brought it all on himself! How is that the least bit sympathetic?!"
"Did his alcoholism only affect himself?" she asked.
"No?" June phrased it as a question at first as the implications only became clear to her afterwards. "Fair enough." She said with a sigh. "I guess if he'd continued, he would have been the end of us all. "
"But he did not." Said the woman. All of the sudden, the scene around them blurred away. June yelped in surprise and confusion. They were now back in the living room, only this time it was no longer past midnight. June looked to be a little older now, just about 13 or so. At the moment she was frantically doing her homework. From this distance she couldn't tell what it was, but it seemed that detail was unimportant. In the background however, she heard footsteps and the frantic clattering of pots and pans. It could only be her mother, Tammy.
All of the sudden, Tammy burst out into the living room frantically. It had been many years since her passing, and she had looked quite different even then. Her blonde hair was currently frazzled and unkempt, while her sapphire blue eyes were highlighted with bags of fatigue. She was a slender woman of about 5'5". Surprisingly despite being a stay at home homemaker, she was still able to keep her figure quite splendidly. But since she had been born well before the green light event, she had never awakened as a Breeder. Thus, she was far less curvaceous than her daughter eventually would be; a modest bust and only somewhat flared hips. Right now though, nobody would be paying attention to her appearance, save for the look of absolute panic on her face. "June!" she exclaimed; her voice tinged with fear. "Where's the buffalo sauce?!"
"Huh?" Young June asked, looking up from her homework. "I dunno, isn't it in the cupboard?"
"No!" Tammy snapped. "Are you sure you didn't see it somewhere else? You know I can't make Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese without it!"
"Look I'm sorry!" responded June, her own voice escalating. "If it's not there I dunno where it is!" The confrontation caused her mother to recoil a bit.
"Fuck!" she swore without a care that her daughter was overhearing. It was kind of surreal to see cursing out loud, at least outside the proverbial bedroom. Years of conditioning and countless dollars in swear jars had drilled it out of her. "What am I going to do? He'll be here soon and you know how he gets if dinner isn't ready when he arrives!" As if waiting for her to say that, they heard the sound of tire tracks going up the gravel driveway. He was here. "Shit! What do I do?" young June was beginning to panic herself. When her father's temper was raging, there was no such thing as collateral damage. Somehow, she'd be drawn into it too. Before they had time to figure out what to do, the seemingly deafening sound of the front doorknob turning rang through their ears, followed immediately by the creak of the hinges swinging.
"I'm home." A surprisingly neutral tone given how often he would return in a foul mood. Yet June and Tammy were not about to allow themselves to suffer that terrible illusion of hope though. At best they might be able to get a calmer fury from him.
"H-honey?" Tammy stammered as Mike strolled into the living room. She was doing her best to put up a brave face, while showing just how remorseful she was about the whole thing. "I-I have some bad news."
"What is it?" while direct and straightforward, it lacked his usual aggression. If they weren't frightened for their very safety, they would have probably taken notice.
"W-we're out of Buffalo sauce." Tammy whimpered. "I'm sorry! I didn't know it was gone! I was just about to run to the store! Honestly!"
"Oh...I see, so it'll be a little late." Quiet acceptance? Now they really were confused.
"You-you're not mad?"
"No darling... I'm not." Mike responded." "I know you probably think I'm going to hurt you again, but I promise you; It's going to be alright!" he continued, cracking a wide beaming smile. It was doing nothing to dissuade the fear and confusion his wife and daughter were clearly feeling. Yet that seemed lost on him completely. "You see..." he then reached into his pocket, prompting a flinch of fear from them, laying bare the high levels of anxiety that would not go down until he revealed what it actually was; a small rectangular paper packet with a cartoon demon lounging in a martini glass. A religious tract. "This little tract showed me the light!"
"W-What?" Tammy stammered.
"It under my windshield wiper!" He exclaimed. "Someone must have been handing them out outside the liquor store! I got to reading it and I learned what a horrible sinner I've been." Continued Mike, collapsing to his knees and clutching his hands together. For the first time in as long as they could remember, Mike was humbling himself. Every part of his body language seemed to scream "penitence". "So, I prayed about it... and I realize now that Lord Jesus doesn't want me to destroy my family... he wants me to live my life in his name. It is not too late for me to turn from my wicked ways!" He then looked up at them, with a pleading look on his face. "Jesus may have forgiven me, and I know I do not deserve it... but I ask you both to forgive me too. I swear I will never touch another bottle as long as I live, and I will become the husband and father you both deserve." A long silence passed as Tammy and June just stared gobsmacked, trying to gauge his sincerity. It was only when he began to openly weep in sorrow that they began to approach.
"So it was that he changed." Said the green woman softly. June did not turn her attention away from the spectacle, and simply looked on in silence. "On that day, he gave up the bottle and took up a Bible."
"Yes." June replied flatly. "It was a night of great change for the whole family."
"A change for the better or for the worse though?" The woman in green queried. A simple question, yet one that gave June a great amount of pause.
"I..." she said, still pondering deeply. "I thought it was for the better at first." She confessed. For some reason she felt an urge to bear her soul to this faceless woman. "But everything in his-no, our life suddenly revolved around God. It felt safer but our minds and lives were closed off to everything around us. "It was funny, not two weeks ago June would not have remembered it that way. Back then, she would have proudly recounted about how her father turned away from alcoholism to find Christ. Again, the scene shifted, blurring away to reveal the stadium-like interior of the church. Though she had seen it recently, the gap in years was obvious. The carpeting was that old dark grey color, clearly placed down to cover the hardwood floors until a better one could be found. The seats were still pews, rather than the individual reclining chairs they had installed about 10 years ago.
