Kate sat down on the couch while Billy put something to eat in the oven; pizza she thought he said.  She felt weak and lay against the back of the couch.  She checked the time; eight-thirty-three PM; she still had time.<br/><br/>She felt a strange mix of relief now that someone knew of her activities and remorse at having told him.  Sitting up she rested her arms on her knees and folded her fingers together.  Her anger was rising as indicated by the rapid bouncing of her right leg.<br/><br/>Billy came back in and sat down next to her.  She took a deep long breath and let it out slowly.  Then he started asking her questions.<br/><br/>“You are really into this kind of stuff?  Why Kate?  Why do you like this stuff?”<br/><br/>Kate clenched her jaw and stood up.  She started pacing the living room like a caged panther.  It was obvious she was fuming.  She stopped in front of Billy and leaned in, her eyes narrowed.<br/><br/>“Why?  Why do I do these things?  Is that what you want to know?”<br/><br/>She clenched her jaw and the muscles in her neck grew taunt.  Her blue eyes flashed blue lightning.  She started pacing again.<br/><br/>“Uncle Billy wants to know why we do these things.”  She said mockingly.  She glared at him as she paced back and forth.<br/><br/>“Fine I’ll tell you then.  I do these things because I’m a geek uncle Billy.  A geek.  I’m a blonde haired, blue eyed, hot bodied geek.”<br/><br/>She paced with her hands balled into fists.<br/><br/>“I was accepted into MIT<em>and </em>Princeton and do you know why?  Because I have a knack for math and science.”  Her anger was growing.  She stopped in front of Billy again.<br/><br/>“Do you know what I will be majoring in next fall?  Huh?  Do you?  Astrophysics Uncle Billy.  ASTROPHYSICS.”<br/><br/>Her voice was getting shrill.<br/><br/>“Do you know why I chose Princeton over MIT?  I chose Princeton because that’s where Einstein taught.  EINSTEIN!!!  Can you imagine that?  And do you know what my final essay was last year?  My final essay for my junior year in high school?”<br/><br/>She stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips.  “My final essay, in my junior year of high school, was on the String Theory Uncle Billy. The String Theory!  Christ, my fucking science teacher didn’t even know what that WAS!”<br/><br/>She was growing hysterical but managed to calm down some as she paced.<br/><br/>“Before I got in with the Goths I was a total geek.  None of the boys would date me.  Oh they would fuck me sure I mean look at me.  But date me?  Take me to a movie?  Or the junior prom?  No fucking way.  And then there was mom…”<br/><br/>She paused… she was getting to the core and wasn’t sure if she wanted to let all the daemons out but once the dominos started falling…it was hard to stop them.<br/><br/>“Then mom married that fucking PIG.”  She paused again.  “This is all dad’s fault.”  Her voice was shaky.  “He liked the idea of me being a scientist and he promised me he would always be there for me.  He PROMISED!  And he lied.  He fucking lied.”<br/><br/>Kate stood in the middle of Billy’s living room and stared at the wall.  Then she buckled over and began crying pounding her temples with her fists.  When Billy went over to stop her she lashed out.<br/><br/>“Don’t you touch me!”  She screamed backing away.  “Don’t you fucking touch me!”<br/><br/>She started pacing again trying to calm herself.  It was all coming out like a burst dam.  A few long minutes went by as she stomped back and forth muttering to herself.  Then she visibly relaxed as if all the tension left her body at the same time.  She blinked and glanced at the couch.  She walked over and sat down.  She stared at her lap.<br/><br/>“Do you know what happened last summer?  No I guess you wouldn’t” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Mom didn’t tell anyone really.  It was kind of a ‘family secret’.”  Kate showed Billy her wrist bands and the silver rings at the wrist.<br/><br/>“You know why I always wear these?”  She began unbuckling them.  “I wear them…because…of these.”  She removed both wrist bands and showed Billy the scars on her wrists from where she cut herself.  They were white and deep.  She touched them lightly, almost reverently with her fingertips.<br/><br/>“Yeah…I tried to kill myself last summer.  After they sewed me back up they locked me away for a month down at Mercy General Psych Ward and you know what happened in there?”  She chuckled.<br/><br/>“One day I decided to take a shower with all my clothes on.  I was in the shower maybe half an hour when an orderly found me.  It took three of them to drag me out.”  She laughed again.  “But that’s not the best part.  The best part is…get this… later on that day I stabbed one of those orderlies in the back with a plastic fork.  Christ,” she laughed, “you should have seen the look on his face.”<br/><br/>She stopped laughing and looked at her wrists.<br/><br/>“That got me shot up with enough Throizine that I did the Throizine shuffle for two days straight.”  She turned her head and looked at Billy.  Her eyes were glazed.  She stood up and walked over to the picture window.<br/><br/>“I do what I do Uncle Billy because it helps me find some peace.  When I get angry I either break things or I cut myself.  I got suspended last year for throwing books at my science teacher, the stupid fuck.”<br/><br/>She turned and looked at Billy.  The kitchen timer went off.<br/><br/>“I LIKE to be punished Uncle Billy.  I LIKE to be dragged around and force to perform sex acts on strangers.  To be tied up and fucked.  I NEED it.<br/><br/>She was growing angry again.  The aroma of pizza wafted in from the kitchen.<br/><br/>“Can you understand that Billy?  My life is a fucking mess and the only way I can control it is by going to the club, getting lost in the music and fucking my eyes out.  And sometimes, not often, but sometimes, I am late on purpose just so Jeff can punish me.  I do what I do Uncle Billy because I LIKE it and because I NEED it.  Otherwise I would be strung out on Meth or worse or I’d be dead.”<br/><br/>She threw her arms in the air and turned on him.<br/><br/>“YOU want me to be that little girl again.  The one you taught how to swim.  The little blonde girl you bought ice cream for.  Well guess what Uncle Billy?  THAT little girl died and was buried with her dad.  THIS…” she pointed at herself…  “This is me now and you can either feed me or fuck me but either way I’m outta here…”<br/><br/>And with that she was done…just like that…she was simply… done.  She put her wristbands back on.  Straightened out her gown, looked at Billy and said without blinking…<br/><br/>“So, can we eat?  Cause I have to get going soon…”<br/><br/>