Chapter Text
Ira’s life growing up was as ordinary and normal as any person’s life could be. Well, except for the nonstop, ongoing, tremendous pissing match she’s been in with her mother, Sharon, since she was born. To say that Sharon and Ira don’t get along would be an understatement. Sharon has and will always be a cold, heartless bitch and Ira will stop at nothing to infuriate and undermine her. What are some examples of this particular feud, you ask? Sharon directs her as a child to stay inside and read books. Ira rips the pages out of the books and goes outside to play. Sharon necessitates that Ira join the marching band in high school for her PE credit. Ira joins the girls’ lacrosse team instead. Sharon claims that Ira can’t handle lacrosse because she’s too soft. Ira picks a fight with and gets the shit beat out of her by the toughest, bitchiest girl in school. Sharon demands that Ira get a Ph.D in chemical and physical biology like she did. Ira decides she’s going to get her Ph.D in organic chemistry. Needless to say, Ira didn’t have many friends growing up due to her strange and constant need to spite her mother. That, and many of the other people didn’t like her dirty, sometimes dark, humor.
Where was Ira’s father during this great squabble? Well, Ira never knew her biological father. The only father she’s ever known is her step-dad, Gary. So far, for the first 2 years of her life, there was no father. Only Sharon, at least from what she could tell by baby pictures. Even then, in those baby pictures and in any pictures with Ira, Sharon holds a blank expression. Ira has never seen a picture of her mother smiling, only the judging, blank face that she holds in her day-to-day life. Ira honestly couldn’t fathom how her mother was able to trick Gary into marrying her. They are two opposite creatures.
Gary is a spineless, sweet astrophysicist. From what she understands, Gary and Sharon met in line at the coffee shop that resides in the government building where they both work. One time, she was able to get Gary drunk enough to talk about how they met. He said something about how he made a joke about the long line at the coffee shop, which was ignored, and then another pun about the name of an item on the menu. At that point, Sharon turned around, looked him up and down with her cold, calculating, ever judging stare and finally said, “You will pick me up for dinner on Sunday at exactly 6:00 PM. You will wear a blue dress shirt and take me to a nice restaurant,” She quickly scribbled her address on a napkin. “This is my address. Do not be late,” Sharon commanded. Apparently, Gary picked her up and the rest was history.
Sharon and Ira looked very similar. Ira definitely inherited her mom’s fire hair, pale skin and thin frame. However, everything else, Ira assumes she inherited from her unknown father. Speaking of father, Ira had contemplated on calling Gary “Dad” for a long time. However, she had a feeling that her mother would flip out if she did that, which she didn’t understand why. Gary was a way better parent to Ira than Sharon. If Ira was sick, he took her to the doctors. If she had lacrosse practice, he would make sure she was never late. If she needed help with homework, he was there in a heartbeat. If she had any performance, game or any important function, he was supporting her on the sidelines. Even at Ira’s Highschool graduation, her mother did not show up. But Gary was there with a giant, home-made sign that screamed “I’m proud of you!” Ira hypothesizes that Gary loves her so much because he does not have any children of his own. He’s sterile; a fact that Ira believes heavily impacted her mother’s decision to marry him. Ira has always been his only child, even if she was not his own.
Currently, Ira was gunning for the job of director of organic chemistry research at her mother’s and Gary’s government job. So far, she was one of the researchers there but she was lobbying her way to the top. Especially since the director is retiring within a few months and he has yet to name a successor. Due to her lobbying, she’s actually become quite close with the old man. Her mother was the director of biological research and was able to intimidate most of the people above her into giving her the funding she wanted. Ira wanted the job so that she could undermine her mother by taking some of that funding and purposefully doing petty shit to sabotage her mother’s ability to get some research done. (Ira would never hinder with the research process though, she had morals.) And yet, despite working in the same building, seeing each other almost once a week in the cafeteria, They refused to talk to each other. You see, Sharon had disowned Ira. Why had Sharon disowned Ira? Well, it was because Ira refused to break up with her boyfriend when her mother demanded she do it.
It all started when Ira had moved in with her boyfriend. They had been dating 6 months and suddenly, she gets a call from Sharon telling her to meet her and Gary at Outback Steak house in two days at exactly 7 PM and to bring her boyfriend with her. Apparently, Sharon wanted to meet the man. Now in Ira’s quest to endlessly piss her mother off, she never had an opportunity to date. In college, she hooked up with a few guys, had some fun, but she never dated. This was her first real boyfriend.
“Listen, my mom is a bitch; Gary is a pussy; don’t comment or say anything when my mom and I start to get into it. Just turn away and talk to Gary.” Ira told her boyfriend. She knew that it wouldn’t be an enjoyable dinner. Ira and her boyfriend arrived and sat across from her mother and Gary. The whole time they would talk, Sharon never smiled one time and only nodded every now and then at what her boyfriend said. She barely spoke. It unnerved Ira because usually her mother was quick to make snide remarks and opinionated comments. Meanwhile, Gary was laughing and chatting up a storm. It wasn’t until her boyfriend excused himself to go to the restroom that Sharon finally spoke. “I don’t like him,” She said and then immediately sipped her water. Ira gave her an incredulous look, “What? No, you barely know him!” Sharon just shook her head. “I don’t like him.” “Yeah, Ira, sweetie, I just have some feelings in my bones about him. I don’t think he’s right for you,” Gary tried to explain, watching her through his circular glasses. Ira was shocked to hear Gary say that. “I expect you to break up with him and go back to your own apartment by the end of the week,” Ira’s mother stated. Ira was quiet for a few moments, her eyebrows furrowed at her mother. “No,” she replied. Ira’s mom looked up at her from her salad, there was a long pause before her mother glared at her, “If you do not leave him, you will never hear from Gary nor me ever again. If you approach us in public, we will pretend that you are a stranger. We will not help you financially and you will be cut out of our wills.” Ever since then, which was a year ago from this day, she had not had any contact from her mom.
That was the one and only time she’s ever regretted not listening and doing what her mother demanded. Her mother, although cold and unfeelingly, identified something that Ira could not see. And for once, Ira recognized that her mother was trying to protect her.
It was around 11:00 at night when her boyfriend came home. She was currently doing the dishes at the sink, “You’re home late.” She stated softly. It started out with him coming home late from work, then to making snide comments about the way she looked, then emotionally trying to break her, and finally to completely coming home and striking her. She walked on eggshells on a daily basis now. Why doesn’t she leave? It’s complicated. Her mother and Gary have abandoned her, she doesn’t have any friends, he’s threatened to kill her if she tries, and she still does have some feelings for him regardless of the way he treats her.
Ira’s boyfriend scoffed. He worked as an accountant for an accounting firm. He loosened his tie and immediately went to the fridge. Ira glanced behind her, she didn’t miss the fresh red marks that littered his neck. Immediately, she was filled with rage. “Where’s dinner?” he asked as he pulled a beer out of the fridge and closed it. “Maybe I would have made you something if you hadn’t been fucking around,” she bit at him. Immediately, all she saw was a fist to her face. He went even further by grabbing her hair and slamming her face on the counter. “Don’t you ever disrespect me like that again, cunt.” With that, he let go and sauntered over to the couch and sat down. He began to flip through the channels.
Ira knew her nose was broken and her face stung. Blood was trickling down her nose and in the process of slamming her head, there was a gash on top of her head cascading her own blood down. She kept her head on the counter, repeating the words he had just spoken over in her head. She began to shake. She laid there for about 30 seconds, processing what had happened and her emotions. Her own rage had been subdued with the assault but now it was rising even stronger. She slowly lifted her head up and looked at the knife set in front of her. “Cunt, cunt, cunt, cunt,” ringing throughout her head. Tears began to leak from her eyes. She had endured his beatings before, but never once had she known for sure that he was cheating. She had suspicions but this was her first confirmation that he was and when she confronted him, he hit her and said she disrespected him. No, he disrespected her.
She slowly reached and pulled out the chef’s knife from the block with her right hand. She remained quiet. All logic was out of her mind now. She was seeing red, unbridled rage coursing through her veins. She pulled herself off the counter slowly, shaking. She turned around where her boyfriend sat. His back was to her as the back of the couch faced the open kitchen. She slowly walked over, footsteps quiet as she stopped right behind him. She stared at him, anger and disgust overcoming her facial features.
She moved quickly. She was smart, even if she wasn’t thinking clearly and all she was feeling was rage. Her knife went through the right side of his neck, she was aiming for the jugular vein. As she brought her knife down the first time, her left hand went to grab at his head, for stability. Quickly, he tried to get away but she was still too fast. She kept stabbing and stabbing and stabbing. If he tried to get away, she followed after him. She had started to yell. Ira’s boyfriend was gurgling on his own blood, blood was spraying all over her face and her clothes. Even after he stopped moving and gurgling, she was still stabbing. It wasn’t until she finally noticed the giant humanoid creature to the right of her that she stopped.