Angelica had been keeping an eye on Binky ever since he mentioned this “nice mister.” It would be the same thing every day. Binky enjoyed telling Angelica all about the people and animals he saw but now he talked about seeing a nice mister across the street.
”I don’t think anybody lives in that house, Binky. It’s been on sale for a while,” Angelica said.
Binky shook his head. “Nu uh. Binky see nice mistah wif own see-pwaces! Mummah just nu see!”
She sighed and continued to humor him but it still concerned her. Binky was pretty old after all. Maybe he was starting to become delusional. It made her sad to think that he could be reaching that point with the amount of time they had spent together. Still, Angelica refused to completely accept that and thought maybe she could hide a camera near Binky to see if there was any truth to what he was saying.
All thoughts came to a sudden halt as Binky began to shriek.
”MUMMAH! MUMMAH! HEWP! MEANIE MUMMAH BWUDDAH AM OUSSIDE!”
Angelica’s eyes widened as she stepped into the room and saw her brother, Erik. He had his face pressed against the window and made a creepy face to try and scare Binky.
It was never good news when Erik came over. He had been a problem since his teenage years and had only grown worse since. Binky had such a strong fear of him because as a foal, Erik would take him whenever Angelica wasn’t around and flick at his stomach until he vomited. Nobody ever got along with him and he only came to see his sisters when he wanted something.
”Open the damn door!” Erik shouted with his face pressed against the window.
”Huu huuu! Meanie bwudda am scawie!” Binky cried.
Angelica hesitantly opened the door and curled her nose at the strong smell of alcohol.
“What do you want?” She asked.
Erik stumbled into the house and ignored her at first. Instead choosing to look around at the cozy house that was much better than the apartment he lived in.
”Are you listening to me?”
Erik’s eyes widened and he looked right at Angelica. “Uh…yeah…”
”Why are you here? You know Binky doesn’t like—“
”I don’t give a fuck what that little retard thinks,” Erik spat. “It’s because of little degernates like him that i’m in this mess. It’s not enough that I have to live in that shithole apartment but now I’m in trouble with my lazy ass cunt of a neighbor.”
Erik leaned against the wall and clenched his jaw.
“There were some annoying fluffy shits babbling about babies that pissed me off. My stupid ass neighbor left his Amazon boxes outside and surprise surprise, an entire freeloading fluffy family welcomed themselves. I had to hear them sing those stupid fucking songs for while I struggled to get any sleep. So finally I had enough and killed the babies while scaring the parents away! And now my neighbor has been pissed at me and giving me all kinds of shit for taking action on a problem he caused!”
It was complete silence when Erik finished. Angelica always found him to be reprehensible and this recent story only reinforced that opinion. She had a feeling as to what it was he wanted and knew how unpredictable Erik could be after drinking, especially when he didn’t get what he wanted.
“You gonna say anything or just stare at me like an idiot?” Erik snarled. He didn’t even wait for Angelica to finish as he walked into the room where Binky laid.
“Jesus! Binks looks even more like a loaf of bread compared to the last time I saw him!”
Binky couldn’t turn his head to see Erik but the voice and its closeness were enough to create scaredy peepees on his favorite blankie.
“Huu huu! Am sowwy mummah! Binky no mean tu make sowwy poopies on bestest bwankie!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh, God! It never gets old seeing that fat little fuck shit and pee everywhere! HAHAHAHAA!”
Angelica ignored her brother’s comments and ran over to comfort Binky. “Are you okay, Binky? Don’t worry. Mommy is here now….” She gently stroked his back while giving reassuring hugs.
“Huu huuu….B-B-Binky jus was scawed of mummah meanie bwuddah! Nu wan biggest huwties again! Huhuhuhuhu!” Binky had so much snot dripping from his nostrils that parts of it would enter his mouth. Angelica had to gently wipe it off of his mouth with her thumb.
”What do you see in those things?” Erik asked. “You’ve been coddling and treating it like your own son for a while. Meanwhile your brother is out here busting his ass off and living in a shithole!”
Angelica glared at Erik. He had been given too many chances over the years. Each time ended the same with him getting into a fight with someone and getting buried in alcohol, only to return home and beg to be taken care of. Angelica and Danielle had taken him to therapy sessions that he would end up stopping after the first two weeks. It became too much and they both swore never to let him back, but he always found a way.
”You know Dani isn’t going to let you back in that easily,” Angelica said while gently swaying Binky from side to side in her arms.
Erik snorted. “Yeah? And where’s Miss Hasbio gone off to? Off to design more of these wastes of life?”
Angelica sat down in an armchair and stuck a bottle of Binky’s favorite fruit juice into his mouth. His old age made his already fragile jaw even weaker and more of his teeth had begun to disappear, so liquid foods were often what he had to eat.
”She’s gone off to Joel’s. He had some fluffies in his backyard” Angelica responded. Her eyes were on Binky the entire time. Erik was just noise she had to respond to every couple of seconds.
She would have seen Erik’s eyes narrow at the mention of Joel if she had been making eye contact. “Oh yeah? How sweet of him,” Erik said in a mockingly sweet tone.
“They were awfully ratty looking. Look,” Angelica held up her phone to show Erik the fluffies, still keeping her attention on Binky.
Erik’s eyes widened at the image. He knew those fluffies. They were the source of all his problems. The same little fuck heads that wouldn’t shut up when he tried to sleep. He could feel his heart rate picking up as images of the fluffies and their stupid babies clouded any other thought.
Then the anger inside of Erik went just as quickly as it had arrived. The two little fluffs could still be dealt with. Maybe not now but he knew where they were. All he had to do was wait for his time to strike.
“You know what? I’m sorry Binky.”
Angelica looked up at Erik for the first time since the beginning of Erik’s arrival.
“Nu cawe!” Binky shouted back. “Mummah’s bwuddah am biggest meanie! Gib Binky biggest scawdies and huwties!”
Erik resisted every impulse to throw Binky out the window and forced a smile that made his sister wince.
“Aww. Don’t be like that, big guy. You know I was just fucking with you. All that shit I did was in the past.”
”Stiww gabe binky biggest scawdies.”
”I know. I was just fucking with you like I said. Doesn’t mean I was going to hurt you.”
”Nu cawe! Binky no twust meanie Mummah bwuddah! Am dummeh munstah mummah bwuddah!” Erik noticed that Binky’s fat little body would tremble every time he spoke. It made him look like some kind of vibrating foot rest.
It wasn’t the time for Binky to suffer. He most likely already was, having no legs and all. What mattered more to Erik were the fluffies Joel found. He had to make them suffer for what he’d been put through.
“Do you need anything else or are you going to keep standing there with that creepy smile on your face?” Angelica said. Joel snapped out of his thoughts and saw his sister continuing to glare at him with her stupid fluffy puffing his cheeks out.
“Gu way dummeh munstah!”
Erik grinned and then turned away. “I’ve decided to take care of a few things before I come back here. You two enjoy whatever it is you do for fun.”
Without another word, Erik stepped outside and walked away with both hands in his pockets. It made Angelica uncomfortable to see him suddenly so calm and seemingly cheerful. Something had to be on his mind. And that something likely wouldn’t lead to anything good. It didn’t matter for now. What mattered more was poor Binky.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Angelica said to her fluffy as he continued to tremble in her arms. “But mommy is very proud of you for being so brave in front of Erik. I know he hurt you as a baby and I wish there was more I could have done at the time. I wish I hadn’t been….been so scared of him at the time. But I’m trying everyday to be stronger for you. Just like you are for me.”
Binky’s eyes watered his mummah’s words. He knew she loved him and did all she could to protect him. It made Binky wish he could be the big strong fluffy that every fluffy mummah said their babbeh’s would be. Then he would give her meanie bwuddah the biggest owwies. But for now all he could do was make mummah happy and it seemed to mean a lot to her.
———————————————————————————————————————————
The two of them lay in bed that night thinking about what they wanted for the other. Angelica thought hard about what Erik had said to her. She worried about Timmy and the foals, especially after what happened to his special friend. Danielle had been making more frequent trips for a while and Angelica had stopped by as well. The way Erik got suddenly calm after seeing them disturbed her and she wondered if he was aware of the secret they all knew.
What bothered Angelica most was how Erik still scared her. She had told Binky she’d be stronger for him but the sight of her brother and his violent temper still made her hands tremble and breath shorten. There was no doubt that the fluffies he had beaten suffered greatly. But looking down at Binky kicking his stubs and giggling made her want to continue fighting back against that fear. She had to be strong for him.
Binky went to sleep thinking about how much mummah’s meanie munstah bwuddah had scared him. How he had been so powerless while mummah told that munstah off. He didn’t understand that fluffies were for huggies and wub. The only human he knew who acted the way he did.
Binky dreamed of having his weggies again, running towards mummah and slamming his body into the munstah. It was only in dreams where Binky had enough control over his life to rid the world of those who brought suffering to himself and those he loved. He knew he was getting old and what scared him most was leaving mummah all alone. She needed him for huggies and heawt happies. Sometimes Binky would hear Mummah sniffling or see her lying in bed with him, staring at the ceiling for hours. She was such a good mummah and didn’t deserve to be unhappy.
———————————————————————————————————————————
The lights went off at Binky’s house and the surrounding houses eventually did the same, each one preparing for bed and the day that awaited them. All except for the one across the streets. The lights went on around that time and a mystery man looked out the window at the house across the street. He smiled at the house. It was all dark with not a single light on. He could see the large window where Binky the fluffy often watched him.
”Don’t worry, Binky,” the man said. “Your time isn’t now.”