The Usual Disclaimer: This is a work of fantasy. All characters featured in sexual situations are over 18. The characters in these stories are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons living, dead or undead is purely coincidental. Do not try this at home.
*****
Kelly was in trouble yet again. Her boyfriend had called her at work and started an argument over the phone.
"What the fuck, Kelly?" he had started the conversation.
Kelly knew she had a bad temper. She should have hung up the phone, or said they would talk later; anything besides having it out over the phone in front of a dozen customers. The problem with having such a volatile temper is that, of course, she didn't make the rational decision.
"What is your problem, Dave?" she had immediately responded.
"You promised you were going to clean up the apartment over the weekend," he said. His voice was loud enough that it could be heard over the phone by an uncomfortable-looking older couple waiting at the counter in front of Kelly. "Instead, I get back from my folks' house and the place looks like a fucking bomb went off in here. What were you doing all weekend?"
"I was working," she defended herself. "I sent you a text. I had to pull an extra shift because Brianna was out sick."
Kelly was just barely restraining her temper. She had worked hard all weekend and had not gotten much sleep as a result. Perhaps she would have done at least a little cleaning at the apartment if Dave hadn't been such a jerk about it. As it was, she was tired and still had three hours to go before she would get off work.
"Yeah, right," he said. Kelly could picture Dave's sneer that went along with that comment. "Kelly, you haven't cleaned a damned thing around this place in months. I'm fed up with having to clean up after your ass just so I'm not embarrassed to have friends over."
Kelly knew she was about to lose it.
"Dave," she hissed through gritted teeth, "I am at work. I will talk to you when I get home."
"Well, I have to get ready for my job," Dave went on, "and I expect you to have this pig sty cleaned up by the time I get back tonight! Oh, and I threw out that pile of crap you had sitting by the front door."
That 'pile of crap' had mostly consisted of Kelly's laundry. She had left it there because it needed to be washed, but it included half of her work clothes. It would be expensive to replace so much of her wardrobe, and it was a total dick move to throw away her stuff.
"You mother fucker!" she yelled into the phone.
In front of her, everyone in the entire store turned to stare at her. The elderly couple involuntarily took a step back from the counter. Kelly felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled to snarl at...her manager.
Shit,
she thought,
This is the last thing I need right now.
She was fired, of course. Kelly had been warned about this sort of behavior twice before, but it hadn't been this bad either time. She was still in a towering rage as she pulled up in front of the apartment. Dave was dressed for work when she charged in the front door.
"You fucking asshole!" she yelled, "You just got me fired from my fucking job!"
"Good," he spat back at her, "Maybe now you'll have the time to clean upβ"
It was the wrong thing to say.
Kelly was not a terribly tall or strong woman, but Dave was really short. She leapt at him and began punching and kicking wildly. She had no self control left whatsoever. She might have killed him if one of the neighbors hadn't called 911. There happened to be a police cruiser nearby, and the police pulled her off of her unconscious and bleeding boyfriend minutes after the assault began.
Kelly was arrested. She called her parents from jail. It was the second time she had been arrested for losing her temper like that. Last time, though, she had merely vandalized an ex-boyfriend's car. She was potentially facing felony assault charges this time. Her father was unsympathetic when she explained what had happened.
"Look, Kelly," he said, "We have talked about this. There is no way we are bailing you out this time. You need to get your act together. For Christ's sake, Kelly, you aren't a kid anymore! You're twenty-six years old. When you get out of jail, if you need a place to stay, you can stay with us. But there won't be any more of this behavior, you got it?"
Kelly was stunned. She couldn't believe they wouldn't even post bail for her. She slammed the phone down on the receiver and muttered, "Thanks for nothing, Dad."
She spent the night in jail, and was surprised the next morning when she was told she had made bail.
She got dressed in the clothes she had worn to work the previous day; it was a professional-looking blouse with a long skirt. She had wrecked her nylons in the process of kicking Dave's ass, so she tossed them into the trash. When she finished signing for her purse and keys, she turned and stopped in shock. Her younger brother, Greg, had been the one to post her bail.
He stood there with his arms crossed, looking at her. He looked bigger than she remembered, broader across the shoulders and chest, and he looked taller, somehow. His expression was carefully neutral. They had not seen each other in two years, ever since that incident at their parents' house. He finally spoke, in a soft tone.
"Mom called me," he said, "I came as soon as I could. Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay," he said, "I brought my van. Let's go get your stuff."
They drove to her apartment without talking. Kelly kept looking over at her younger brother, expecting him to say something. He never did.
It took just over an hour to get Kelly's belongings packed into the van. They strapped her mattress and box spring to the top of the van with bungee cords. She got in her car and followed him to his apartment. Unlike the place she had shared with Dave, her brother's apartment was completely clean and tidy. Aside from her bed, Kelly had very little furniture.