Prologue

Prologue

" M ilk, Milk, Lemonade, around the corner Fudge is made…"

Molly listened to her siblings with half an ear. While they were busy playing jump rope on the cement pad in the back of their extravagant home, she was studying the ants on the stalks of the many flowers lining the garden fence.

She loved insects and wished she could be an entomologist. Unfortunately, she was destined to work at the family business, just like the generations before her.

"Hey! Molly Moo! Come here and play with us!" her older brother called.

"No, thank you," she responded politely.

"Forced family fun," he countered. "Dad said we had to entertain the younger kids. Not just me. "

"I don't want to play. I'm busy."

"She's too fat to jump rope anyway," a visiting cousin teased.

"Yeah!" piped her younger sister. "She might cause an earthquake. Right, Moo-Moo?"

The group of kids laughed.

Molly rolled her eyes. She had learned long ago to just ignore them. The more she fought the bullying, the worst it got.

She used to cry and tell her parents about the abuse, but they'd just shake their heads and advise her to diet and exercise.

"Sticks and Stones," her father would say.

She listened to her younger brother approach, stomping in irritation. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing you'd care about," Molly muttered.

With a snort of derision, her brother loomed over her crouching form. "Flowers?"

"No, she's playing with bugs again," her younger sister replied, coming up behind her. She scrunched her nose in distaste while looking over Molly's shoulder. "You're so weird, Moo-Moo. Why can't you just be normal?"

"I'm watching the ants milk the aphids," Molly explained quietly. "See?" She pointed to where the two species of insects interacted. "The ants used their antennas to stroke the aphids until the aphids release a substance called honeydew, which is excreted from the aphids' rear?—"

"Ewww!" her sister cried. "That's gross."

"Fucking disgusting!"

Before Molly could stop him, her asshole brother began pulling out the plants and stomping on them.

Rage consumed her. The insects were innocent creatures and didn't deserve to be treated like this, as was the flora. Before she could stop herself, she attacked.

Molly had the upper hand, using the weight they liked to tease about to her advantage. Once she had him on the ground, she sat on her younger brother's chest and pounded into him good.

The moment she busted his nose and drew blood, her older brother dragged her off, which allowed her enraged younger brother a chance to retaliate.

So, while the elder one held her down, the younger one began kicking her in the stomach. Two of her male cousins also joined in, laughing as they stomped on her legs.

The other kids from the family gathered to watch, all while her younger sister skipped around singing nonsense. "Molly-Polly, Creepy-Crawly, Ten-Times Larger than a Trolley, Ass too Fat, her Stomach Jolly, Smells like Rotten Rat Tamale."