Privilege- Chapter Six: Creating a Monster or Becoming One?

It was not until the spring that Addy had any visitors. Emmet was less and less frequent in his communication with Addy, which they both appreciated. Addy contently spent her time reading, painting, or taking hikes around the property. By all accounts, she was now a total recluse, going out of her way to avoid even bumping into the delivery driver from McGlenn's Mart and Bar. It was not that Addy was rude to anyone intentionally, she had simply had her fill with any of the world that had turned on her when she was the most vulnerable. It was on a call with her mother that Addy learned that Frances had finally finished her degree that summer. To her chagrin, Addy winced when her mother explained that it was Emmet who had hired an expensive professional service to peddle Frances's resume among the top corporations. It was as if Addy was being punched in a sore spot of her heart knowing Emmet would never have done the same for her. At least the gossip was enough to give Alice an excuse to call her daughter, whom she had not been in regular contact with for some time. Addy blamed Emmet for moving her parents so far away for this disconnect within her family. Alice had found out this information third hand since Frances and Emmet were mum on the entire ordeal, again causing Addy to feel left out.

By the last week of June, Emmet had completed his final surgery on Frances who now was as medically close in physical appearance to Addy as any skilled surgeon could achieve. Frances arrived via the small airport with her ears still freshly bandaged. Addy by now had figured out that the cabin was Frances's place that Emmet hid her away from the world to heal. Addy wondered if she were now her sister's unofficial nursemaid by Emmet's design all along. Trying to be as pleasing as she was raised to be Addy plastered on her now signature fake smile to welcome Frances at the car by opening the passenger door for her. Frances compensated for their height disparity by wearing high heels, something Addy never wore unless she was attending a formal event and in that case only modest ones because she dreaded having to glance upon Emmet's liver spots which seemed to congregate on the top of his bald head. A flash of being intimate with Emmet caused Addy to shutter a little when the intrusive memory of the last time that she wore stilettos surfaced. This trip was different for Addy and Frances, as Emmet was not going to be visiting them at all. His office merger with another practice had fallen through and Emmet was in the midst of a very heated legal battle of which he was losing. Addy had assumed that Emmet would delay doing Frances's last procedure, but he insisted that he keep to his timeline of finishing his work for her to coincide with starting her career.

A few day's rest could not belay the awkwardness at the cabin which was palpable, even for the typically zoned-out Frances. On the fourth day, she pulled off her dressings in the bathroom and thereafter spent most of her nights hitting on the local men at the bar. Frances made sure she was blacked out drunk before closing, vomiting on Addy who had to drag her to the car. Addy however found it infuriating that Emmet did not mind this behavior on the few occasions in which she tried to bring it up to him. The only reason that Addy would drive the forty-five minutes into town to get Frances was due to her fear that Emmet would blame her if Frances were to get herself into trouble. At one point Addy caught Frances when she was going for sex in the port-a-john with two locals. Addy stopped Frances from the attempted copulation, but she knew that it probably was not the first time she had done something like have a sexual encounter above a toilet. "Why did Frances always get a free pass to be horrible?" Addy would wonder while she tended to her out-of-control sister.

The next night was no different, only this time Addy didn't stop Frances from having her little tryst with a local in the bar's toilet. Addy had noticed a change that came over Frances once Emmet had completed all of the surgeries to render Frances into a low-rent version of herself. Addy reminisced to herself when she witnessed Emmet in self-congratulation mode while he spoke to Frances about how he had planned it so perfectly for her to be fully healed by the time she was done with school. Frances, it would seem to Addy was using their new similarity to greet the town from her waist down. With all that Addy did to preserve Emmet's name and to uphold their family status, it was maddening to see Frances act as she was. However, she felt more strongly toward Emmet for allowing it. Addy waited while Frances had her romp in the port-a-john with the mouth breathing, lump of lard that she was with, for no other reason than to hold it over her in a grab for moral superiority. Addy fantasized about how she would look Frances in the face when she came back into the bar. For them to lock eyes as a means of letting her know what Frances was to her: filth. Only what happened in those few minutes was more upsetting to Frances than Addy could have ever planned. As she waited for her moment to let Frances see her disapproval, the ten or so men at the bar started to almost float around the still beautiful Addy. This was something Addy, who had dialed back her over-the-top beauty routines now that her marriage was more of a long-distance relationship, had not expected. These men spoke kindly to her and offered to buy her drinks. Addy though kept to her mission, and it wasn't long before Frances stepped in to see Addy once again outdoing her without trying. Frances's cheerful grin was immediately wiped off and she pleaded with Addy to drive her back to the house. It was obvious that no matter the context, Addy still made her feel insecure, and rightfully so.

When they reached their destination Frances leaned over as if to speak to Addy before she got out of the car. Addy expecting her sister to say something meaningful since they had just driven in silence, instead turned toward Frances to catch her sticking her finger down her throat to vomit all over her on purpose. Frances' retch hit her in the face like a fire hose, leaving Addy to wipe the vomit from her mouth and eyes in total shock. Frances smiled a little, and as if nothing happened then walked toward the house. Finally, after years of self-control, Addy lost it. Emmet may bring all hell to her for it but at that moment she just did not care anymore about the pretenses she was nurturing every second of her life anymore. Addy ran into the house seeing Frances was already halfway up the stairs. She grabbed Frances by the hair and yanked her down as hard as she could. Frances tumbled to the ground, but Addy was not done. She rushed over to her sister and kicked her ribs as hard as she could. Frances in turn moaned in pain. "If you think you can fuck with me you little bastard, you've got another thing coming!" Addy yelled, surprised at even herself. Her pity turned to disdain, which had become toxic hatred of Frances that had boiled over in a satisfying act of rage. Frances doubled over still on the floor yelled back "Emmet is going to hear all about this, bitch." Addy nearly laughed at the thought. Emmet no longer held any power over her. He was not the king she had once thought of him as. He was thousands of miles away and a brisk jog from dying of old age. If Emmet were to leave her Addy would be thankful that her sham marriage was a penance paid in full. Frances seeing her threat did not have the intended effect on Addy, pulled herself up from the ground saying "he'll leave you and everyone knows you'll get nothing. He wants me anyway. I'm younger and better looking now." Addy could tell that Frances had been holding that in for years, she also knew Frances didn't believe it either. Addy who could have easily been bested by the stockier Frances grabbed her standing sister by the collar and said "No one wants you. You fish smelling regret. Do whatever you want. I'll see to it that Emmet cuts you off and you back to the whorehouse your mother shit you out in." Frances pulled away crying. Addy not knowing how that would have turned out, felt euphoric.

In her triumph, Addy called the chartered flight company and ordered them to take Frances back to the States. Then she called a driver for Frances from the same grocery store that their deliveries came from, offering the clerk an amount from a wad of hundred dollar bills she had squirreled away from Emmet over time. All before she banged on Frances's door saying "Get your shit out of my house or I'll have the guys at the bar drag you out by your fat fucking cankles." Frances popped out with her suitcase already packed as if she had been expecting Addy to react in that manner for some time. She waited on the porch in silence, locked out of house, knowing Addy had the upper hand.