SashaButters

“What?” was all Jennifer could manage to get out. Poisoning her? Poisoning her how? “She, she gets confused when she comes out of it.” she explained when she had found her tongue. But she couldn’t get the words out of her head for the rest of the day. The accusation hung over her head all the following week as well, and the weeks after that. Hortensia hadn’t said anything more on the subject and Carol had taken her word for it, but as they sat at the dinner table, another untouched plate in front of the preteen, Jennifer started to wonder. “Tens, we need to talk after dinner.” Jennifer said. “I didn’t do anything.” Hortensia mumbled, elbow resting on the white dining room table cloth, head propped up by her fist. “Yes you did!” Matilda said. “What did I do?” Hortensia argued. “What didn’t you do?” Matilda insisted. “We can talk about it later when Matilda’s in the bath.” Jennifer said. “Tell me now.” Hortensia said in a bored voice. “I don’t care.” Matilda looked up from her plate, hopeful to hear what trouble Hortensia had gotten herself into now, but Jennifer only shook her head. “Later.” Hortensia made a dissatisfied noise. “You can’t just drop a, ‘we need to talk’ on me.” Matilda giggled. “She thinks you’re breaking up with her.” “I do not!” Hortensia grumbled. “Can’t you tell me what it’s about?” “We have a meeting at the police station tomorrow.” Jennifer said. Hortensia’s eyes briefly flicked over to meet hers before looking away. “Matilda, if you’re done eating, please go upstairs and get ready for bed.” “Bed? It’s only six!” “I didn’t say you had to go to bed, I said please go get ready for bed. Take a bath, brush your teeth, put on your pajamas, read.” Matilda slowly slid off her chair and turned to leave. “Put your plate in the sink, please.” Without a word, the plate rose into the air and into the sink before she made her way up the stairs, visibly sulking as she did so. “She’s going to be a handful when she’s a teenager.” Jennifer said, but Hortensia didn’t react. “Why do we have to go to the police station?” Hortensia mumbled after a minute of silence. “I think we’re meeting with the detective, I’m not sure. I just want you to be prepared in case they start asking you questions.” “I don’t know anything.” Hortensia said softly. Jennifer gave her a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s difficult to talk about, trust me, I know, but it’s important they have all the information.” “I don’t know anything.” Hortensia repeated. Jennifer didn’t believe her. There were too many injuries. Too many inconsistencies in her story. Too much pain in her eyes. And the odd erratic behavior. She knew. Drugs or no drugs. She knew. “Okay.” Jennifer said. She wouldn’t push her. “Can I ask you something?” Hortensia wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Are you aware you’ve been, what’s the word, dissociating?” “I don’t know what that means.” Hortensia said into her still full plate as she moved mashed potatoes back and forth with her fork. “Spacing out… intently.. to the point you…” She could see the girl freeze in place even without actually verbalizing it. “Hey, It’s okay.” Jennifer whispered. She could see her eyes growing glossy. Jennifer had obviously struck a sore spot, but it was time it was addressed. She had tried to fish for answers on numerous occasions, but all she had ever accomplished was shutting her down even more. So Jennifer had held her tongue and passed on her symptoms to her doctors, but even she was growing more reluctant. More and more medication was being added, which left her scrambling even more trying to distinguish symptoms from side effects. Repeating words of others? Side effect. Switch medication. Fixes problem. Mood Swings intensify. Increases medication. No energy. Lowers medication and adds a secondary pill. Stomach ache. And on and on it went. But it all still hadn’t fixed the original problem of the trances. Not a side effect. Get referred to a neurologist to check for seizures. Not seizures. Told the source is psychological. Referred back to Psychiatrist. Same run around with the accidents. Everything had healed and there was nothing physically wrong. Which was a relief, in a way. She didn’t have a head injury from the attack, no swollen blood vessels ready to pop, no hemorrhages, no lesions. She had dotted her i’s and crossed her t’s, but It had caused a bit of contempt in their relationship. Doctor’s appointments, medicine, nappies and food. That’s what they always fought over. Not homework, or curfews and bedtimes. Hortensia mumbled something unintelligible before pushing her plate aside and burying her face in the crook of her arm on the table. Her shoulders began to rise and fall as her breath came in great heaving sobs. “So you are in there?” Jennifer asked gently. Hortensia nodded. “Would you tell me what’s going on when it happens?” Jennifer asked. She got up from her spot on the table and came around. “I feel funny.” “Are you upset when it happens?” Hortensia shrugged. Her psychiatrist said it was stress triggered, her way of escaping a difficult situation. “Is it because you’ve had an accident? Are you panicking?” It’s what she had always assumed was going on. Because it didn’t seem like arguing with her set it off, lord only knew how much they fought, and not once had she froze as an out. (And give Jennifer the last word in an argument? Ha!) No, she had never seen Hortensia retreat from any visible stress. She had seen her freeze during dinner while being forced to eat, and while doing lessons, and while yes, that could be seen as a stressful situation, she had also seen her freeze mid Mario Kart race, but she had been doing terribly, crashing into walls and such ( even Jennifer had managed to keep her cart on the track) so maybe losing to your headmistress was considered a stressful event. But, sometimes she just stumbled onto her like that, slouched over on the couch or lying in bed. Or sometimes, she’d smell her from the kitchen and she’d know what she’d walk out to. The soiled nappies were the only constant. Usually she was just wet, but sometimes… she wasn’t. It was… difficult, cleaning those up. Usually Jennifer would put her in the shower and stay with her until she woke up, but sometimes it wasn’t an option. And it wasn’t like she had to clean up every bowel movement. It was more like once a week. Her fecal continence had come back, well mostly. (Rest In Peace to her second favorite throw pillow) Jennifer had enacted a new rule. “No one is allowed to run around in their knickers.” “It’s just like a big pad that wraps around. It’s really not that different.” She tried to say. At first it was only when they left the house, but after a few mishaps on the rug and the couch, she had made her keep it on. “But the heat!” Hortensia had protested. So she had made the rule in solidarity. If Hortensia had to roast, so did the rest of them. At least it was cooling down now. Jennifer had gotten rather lax around the girls and had found herself downstairs…not prepared to receive company. The markings on her skin no longer even garnered a second glance from either of them. The summer had been an unbearably hot one and one horrifically miserable night had left them all downstairs in their knickers as Hortensia lamented to Matilda about how terrible getting boobs were. Matilda hadn’t responded, she had been nestled tight against Jennifer’s chest despite her hot, sticky skin and was utterly sacked out. Jennifer hadn’t minded. She had laid on her back and stroked the girl's hair from her sweat streaked face. “I’m going to be sad when she’s too old for this.” Jennifer had said softly. Hortensia glanced over for a moment and resumed her drawing. “How old is too old?” “I don’t know. Nine or ten?” Jennifer could have sworn she saw something on Hortensia’s face then, but maybe she only imagined it in the dark room with only the telly to see by. Maybe it had only been wishful thinking. She had been glued to Jennifer for the first three days she had come back, but then as things settled down she had gone back to her usual ways of keeping her arm length away. She was hesitant to touch her even now, sure Hortensia would smack her hands away or scream obscenities before locking herself away in her bedroom. “Would you tell me what’s gotten you so upset?” Jennifer asked softly. Hortensia shook her head, still hiding her face in the crook of her arm. “Is it about tomorrow?” Shake. “Tens, please talk to me. I only want to help.” “You can’t. You just make everything worse!” Jennifer bit back a frustrated sigh. “How am I making things worse?” No response. “Tens?” “You just do.” How helpful. “Would you answer my earlier question?” “Wh-what question?” She mumbled followed by a wet sounding sniffle. “When you have an accident are…” Jennifer trailed off as Hortensia’s sobs intensified. Ah. “It’s okay, Tens. Really, it is.” she whispered. “It’s not okay!” Hortensia wailed. “Tens, is this why you’re starving yourself? To try and avoid having accidents?” Hortensia shook her head, but she wasn’t sure she believed her. “You need to eat. Starving yourself is only going to make you more miserable. If you have an accident, you have an accident. It’s not the end of the world. You don’t have to be afraid.” “I’m not afraid!” Hortensia growled. “Then tell me what you feel when it happens.” “Tired.” Hortensia mumbled. “Tired?” Too tired to get up and use the bathroom? No. “What else?” “Dizzy, and sick, like I need to lie down.” Interesting. She did often find her sprawled out. “So you feel it coming on? These…episodes?” Nod. “And then what happens?” “I don’t wanna talk about it.” Came the mumbled response. No. She was shutting back down. It was so difficult to get her to open up. “It’s important.” “I don’t wanna talk about it.” “Tens, please don’t shut me out. We need to get to the bottom of this. If it’s stress, that’s fine, but I need to know there isn’t something else going on.” “Leave me alone!” Jennifer sighed. “Tens, you can tell me what’s going on. No matter what it is. I’m here for you.” She placed a hand lightly on her back. “I love yo-” Jennifer gasped in pain and held her stomach. That little… Hortensia had taken her elbow and slammed it into her stomach. Jennifer grabbed her wrist and held it up before grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet her eyes. “Look at me! I don’t care how upset you are. We do not hit people!” Jennifer said. “Don’t touch me! Let me go!” The girl began to wriggle out her grasp. “Then don’t hit me!” Jennifer shouted back before releasing her. “Don’t tell me what to do! You’re not my mom!” She was glaring daggers now, not in defiance, but rage. “One more word out of your mouth and you’re going straight to bed!” Jennifer turned away and leaned over the sink like she was going to be sick. She took a deep breath before turning back around. Hortensia was pacing back and forth in agitation like a bull ready to lunge. So it was going to be that kind of night. Jennifer opened the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of pills from the top shelf. She slowly shook one out in her palm all the while staring pointedly into her face. Night night Hortensia. “No. No. I’m sorry. I’m fine.” Hortensia held up her hands defensively. Twenty minutes and she’d be out like a light. Her medication to pull her out of a rage attack worked a little too well. Getting her to take them was another story. It was like trying to give a cat a pill. Sometimes the sight of the bottle was enough to calm her down if she wasn’t too far gone. Other times she needed Matilda’s help if she felt like Hortensia was a danger to herself or others. Psychic powers really came in handy pinning her down in an emergency. An elbow to the gut would have earned her a tablet, but Jennifer wanted to salvage the conversation. “Are you?” Jennifer asked, a note of skepticism hung in the air. “Yes!” Hortensia said, eyes rolling and voice thick with enough attitude and resentment that Jennifer debated giving it to her anyway. “Are you going to sit back down and talk to me?” “I don’t want to talk to you!” “You can drop the attitude, take a seat and answer my questions, or you can take your medicine and go to bed. Those are your options.” Hortensia made a series of whining noises and stomping gestures befitting a child half her age. Jennifer had had enough. She pointed to the back door. “Go. Outside. Twenty minutes. Go hit your bag or something, I don’t care. Just go.” Hortensia remainted where she was, glaring defiantly up at her. “GO!” Jennifer yelled. Finally the girl began to move, not towards the back door, but further into the house. “Where do you think you’re going? I said go to the backyard!” “The lou!” “No, you’re not going to the lou!” “I have to pee!” Jennifer knew her better than that. It was a stalling tactic. She often said she needed to pee before disappearing for twenty minutes. For someone clever enough to tape a Gameboy to the inside of a toilet tank ahead of time, you’d think she’d be smart enough to turn the volume down. “You can hold it for twenty minutes.” “No, I can’t! I really need to pee!” But she exhibited no outward signs of distress that Jennifer could see. No wigging, squirming, or dancing. She was calling her bluff. “Good thing you’re wearing a nappy then. Out!” “No, I’m not!” Hortensia lied despite the clear outline under her shorts. “OUT!” “FUCK YOU!” Hortensia screamed. “I HATE YOU!” She stormed out of the house, slamming the back door on the way out. Jennifer collapsed into the nearest chair at the table, passing the prescription bottle from one hand to the other. Place one tablet under tongue as needed for outbursts. Her vision began to blur. She felt like she was failing. Hortensia was slipping away more and more everyday and there was nothing she could do. Was this normal preteen behavior? She stared at the bottle and debated taking one herself. The thought of a dreamless, drug induced slumber sounded like heaven. An intrusive urge to dump the entire bottle in her mouth buzzed around in her head like a fly that kept returning no matter how many times she batted it away. Eventually, she stood up and put the bottle away, save one tablet which she slipped into her pocket just in case. For Hortensia, she told herself before setting the kettle on the stove. She had just finished pouring herself a mug of tea when the doorbell rang. She stared at the clock before deciding to ignore whoever it was. Now wasn’t a good time for company. But the doorbell rang again. And again. And again. Feeling irritated, she went to the backdoor to make sure Hortensia wasn’t playing a trick on her, but she was outback with her punching bag where she was supposed to be, not hitting it but holding it against herself in a tight embrace. Jennifer frowned. She debated going out there, but they both needed time apart to simmer down, so she wiped at her eyes and decided to see who it was that couldn’t take a hint. Jennifer opened the door to find her neighbor who lived across the street from her. He was a short, balding man with gray hair and glasses who fancied himself as a type of neighborhood enforcer. She would often see him going through the neighbors rubbish bin, making sure they recycled and calling the cops for any excessive noise. “Mr. Fern, “ she said, plastering a fake smile on her face. He made no move to return the gesture. She let her smile fall and waited for him to talk. When no words came, she began with “Is there something wrong?” “Unfortunately, yes, there’s been a number of break ins along the street in the last few weeks, myself included. I'm going door-to-door to warn the others. I know it’s just you and the girls, so I wanted to let you know the neighborhood’s not safe anymore. Please make sure you lock your doors and windows.” “Oh.” Jennifer said with a frown. Her aunt had installed a security system in the midst of one of her manic episodes, but Jennifer hardly remembered to set it before bed. “Thank you for telling me.” He nodded his head in acknowledgement. “Did the police ever find out who was responsible for vandalizing your car?” “Oh, that. Just some neighborhood kids.” Jennifer lied before letting out a nervous chuckle. “I work at the school. Easy to make enemies when you’re the one handing out punishments.” “I thought you teach little kids?” he asked skeptically. “Oh, I used to, now I’m the headmistress. But breaking in? That's terrible!” He must be having a field day. Maybe now he’d stop harassing her about her rubbish bins not being a full meter from the curb. “How did they get in? I hope they didn’t break your window.” “No, um” he looked away, seemingly embarrassed. “I left my front door unlocked.” “This isn’t a ‘lock your doors’ kind of area, I understand.” At least it used to be. She couldn’t remember the last time she had heard about an actual robbery being committed on her street. “What did they steal?” He frowned at her question. “Nothing valuable.” “What kind of burglar doesn’t steal anything valuable? He wasn’t a very good burglar then.” “It was more unsettling.” He explained. Jennifer nodded. The thought of someone coming into her home uninvited and going through her things sent a chill up her spine. “They only took…” Please don’t say knickers. Please don’t say knickers. “Food.” She gave him a confused look. “Yeah, I think my wife scared him off before he could root through the place. Came downstairs and found some guy rummaging around in the fridge. She didn’t get a good look at him, ran upstairs and locked herself in the bedroom as soon as she saw him. He was long gone before the cops arrived. Only thing missing was a bag of deli meat and a jar of pickles.” “How odd. Do you think it was a homeless man?” “No, I think he was just brazen enough to make himself a snack before turning the place. It reeks of confidence. I think he’s done this before and didn’t expect to get caught. Mrs. Prett said she’s missing 200 pounds out of her desk drawer.” “How horrid! That's a lot of money!” She exclaimed. Her couple of years living destitute had taught her to appreciate living modestly. The most expensive thing in her home she had bought was the Nintendo 64 she had gotten the girl’s to celebrate her one year anniversary with Matilda. It was a much adored purchase by both children and the heartache of coming home from school to find someone had broken in and stolen it would break them. Not to mention it was her and Brian’s main tool to slip away unnoticed. Other than that, a burglar would be rather disappointed to break into her house. She had either sold, or given away most of her aunt's possessions, except the odd pieces she knew her aunt had an attachment to, like her Precious Moments porcelain figurines she kept in a glass cabinet. Those she smashed with a hammer in the backyard while the girls cheered her on and laughed. Hortensia had the right idea, smashing things to bits was cathartic. “JENNY! I NEED TO PEE!!” she heard bellowed from the back followed by the backdoor slamming shut. Jennifer winced. “Haven’t seen her in church for a while.” He said with a sniff. “Might behave herself better if you went to her church instead of your own. I bet she misses her church family.” What she missed was her real family. “We don’t go to church.” she said automatically. He looked scandalized at the very thought. “Well that’s why she’s misbehaving! All that yelling coming out of your house. She’s crying out for Jesus!” Jennifer’s eyelid twitched. “Take her back, see if she doesn’t straighten out. She never acted this way when her momma was around. She would have smacked that attitude right out of her.” It had been a rough few weeks. The whole street must know she had some kind of behavioral issue with her hollering. Police had even been called several times anonymously to do a welfare check, thank you Mr. “Your-Bins-Aren't-Two-Meters-From-The-Curb.” “You know Eve?” She asked. She didn’t even know he had known Hortensia before. “How well?” “We’ve gone to the same church for the last ten years.” Jennifer’s lips pursed. He went to that church. The one Hortensia had gone to. The one where Hortensia had been… And he wanted her to go back? “No, it’s not safe there, haven’t you seen the news?” Her posture had gone from defensive to offensive as he spoke. “Oh, that’s a lot of bollocks. I know him, he’s a good man! He’s the pastor's son! That family has been a part of that church for generations. Someone’s trying to run his name through the mud. It’ll all blow over once the police realize it’s just some kid telling stories. It’s all a lot of bollocks.” Jennifer’s eyes began to blur. “There’s a kid in my house going through hell because of him.” She said through clenched teeth. “Her?” He rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment in thought. “That explains things.” He didn’t say it with pity, but with understanding. “She’d be the type.” Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “Look, I’m not accusing her of anything.” He held up his hands. Jennifer gritted her teeth in anger, fighting the urge to slam the door in his face. She was an adult. She could control herself better than this. “This is a good man’s life we’re talking about. He’s an absolute staple of our church community, and Hortensia, well, she clearly has her problems. We want you to be sure, you know, before you do anything hasty. Wouldn’t want you to make a big deal of this and it blows up in your face.” “So this is why you’re here? To intimidate me?” Jennifer asked. “No, not intimidate you, just to, you know, warn you. I wouldn’t want you to go through all this for nothing.” “Go through all what?” “Well you know, victims of this kind of crime usually get their reputation trashed just as much as the perpetrator. Her history with these kinds of stories and behavior are going to come out.” “Are you threatening us?” she demanded.“She’s only eleven-years-old for bloody sake! She’s just a kid!” “I’m just telling it like it is. Everyone hates lawyers for a reason. Eve’s asked us all to keep Hortensia in our prayers for her behavioral issues for years. Any damn lawyer worth his salt is going to find that out.” So much for “Eve would have smacked the attitude right out of her.” “Do yourself a favor and drop the whole thing. Even if it did happen, other people are pointing fingers as well. Let them bring the case forward and save yourself the trouble.” “You need to go.” Jennifer said. She was shaking now. “You come here with your fake story about a break in, pretending to care about us, and threaten me.” “No, no, that part was real, which reminds me, where was she two days ago? Where does she go when she goes out on her bike?” “You said it was a man.” Jennifer had her hand on the door, ready to slam it shut. “They were in a hoodie, and like I said, she didn’t get a good look at him.” “It wasn’t her; she hates pickles!” She said before swinging the door shut. She stood in her living room for a solid minute shaking with silent anger. How dare he. How dare he. To accuse her of lying. As if she could fake those injuries… To accuse her of breaking into people’s houses to rob them? An eleven-year-old-girl? She went to the backyard to see if she had come back yet, but surprise, surprise, she hadn’t. She peeked in the downstairs bathroom, but she was nowhere to be found. Someone’s earning themselves an early bedtime, she thought numbly as she climbed the stairs. She peeked in her room, but she wasn’t there either. She paused in the doorway and sighed. So messy. “Have you seen Tens?” Jennifer asked, coming into Matilda’s room. “Is she hiding in here?” “Restroom.” Matilda said. She was lying on her stomach with her feet curled behind her, an open book resting in front of her “Ran in while you were coming up the stairs.” Of course. “You’ve earned yourself a restart of your twenty minutes.” she called, knocking on the bathroom door. “G-go a-w-aw-way!” Jennifer grimaced and softened her voice. “Would you come out so we can talk?” But there was no response, only sobbing. “Can I come in?” “Go away!” They went back and forth for a few minutes before Jennifer gave up. “Okay Tens, I’ll go, you can come out when you’re ready.” She went into Hortensia’s bedroom and sat on the bed and waited. She wondered if she was still crying over their fight, but when a cold chill came through the room and she looked up to find the window open, she had a feeling she wasn’t so fortunate. She stood up and slammed it shut. He was standing across the street in his front yard, watching her. He waved. She shut the blinds. She needed something to distract herself so she bent and started tidying up. Why was there so much trash in here? All these Crisp wrappers and banana peels. At least she’s not eating only junk … She bent and picked up a half empty bag of sliced bread. Odd taste in snacks, but okay. And then she decided to move the bed away from the wall. Food wrappers of all kinds fell to the floor. “Hortensia…” Jennifer sighed and bent down to start scooping it up. She was obviously hoarding food, but…why? And not just junk, but bread, yogurt, and granola bars. There was an empty protein shake for diabetics, a half eaten tomato, and cottage cheese. And then she saw it. The pickle jar. Jennifer sat on the bed, put her face in her hands and cried.

Yeah, sorry. Things are a little hectic on my end. We are in the process of moving so lots of construction to fix up the place. Hammers and drills don't make the best writing ambiance. 🥲

Matilda ground her teeth together. She was trying to be nice, but as she looked up from her own schoolwork for the fifth time to catch Hortensia doodling in her notebook instead of reading her assignment, she was losing her patience. Fast. “Mom isn’t going to let us stay home if you don’t do any of your work.” Matilda said. She liked going to school. She did. But this…was so much better. Hortensia let out a deep sigh and dropped her pencil before letting out an exaggerated moan. “How can you just sit there and do school work all day? It’s so boring!” Hortensia complained. She looked at the clock. Had it really already been three hours? “I guess we could take a break.” Matilda said. Hortensia threw down her pen and let out a cheer before launching herself up from the kitchen table. “My arse is killing me.” Matilda’s face fell. “God, not like that. Quit it. I hate when people look at me like that.” Hortensia groaned. “Like what?” “Like I’m going to break. No one talks to me normally anymore. I’m starting to actually want to go back to school and get treated like shite.” “Why?” Matilda asked with a sour face. “I spent all that time wishing to go to school only to realize I had it better just doing my own thing.” “I just want things to go back to the way they were.” Matilda realized it wasn’t school she missed, but her old life. But going back to school wasn’t going to get her mom out of prison, or change what had been done to her. “I told you to stop looking at me like that.” She growled. Matilda averted her eyes. “I can make a better lunch than the school can.” Hortensia perked up at the mention of food. It was only 10: 30, so brunch then. Even better, because school didn’t serve brunch. “I can make a quiche.” “What the bloody hell is a quiche?” “You mix a couple ingredients, like eggs and stuff and then you ba-” Matilda’s face fell. She wasn’t supposed to use the oven unsupervised. “Never mind.” she said glumly. “Sandwiches it is.” “Sandwiches? What happened to ‘I can make a better lunch than the school?’” “I’m not supposed to use the oven by myself.” Matilda said with a scowl. “You’re not by yourself.” Hortensia said with a shrug. Matilda shifted in indecision. “Quiche.” Hortensia cheered, fist high in the air. “You don’t even know what a quiche is.” “But now I want it.” Matilda groaned. She had opened up a can of worms she couldn’t get herself out of. Maybe Hortensia had a point. She went to get a bowl, but stopped. It felt too wrong. Matilda bit her lip. She didn’t like being bad unless she had to. “What? What is it?” “I don’t want to get in trouble.” Matilda mumbled. She had been fighting with Jenny on and off most of the summer, but things were finally good. She liked not being in the spotlight. No one was bothering her here. No one was interrupting her to ask what she was reading or marvel at her. Hortensia rolled her eyes. “You’re. Not. Alone.” Hortensia repeated. Matilda sighed. She’d feel better if she called and asked just in case. “Seriously?” Hortensia asked as she reached for the phone. “Where’s the fun in that?” “Fun?” Matilda scrunched up her face in confusion. “Getting in trouble isn’t fun for me.” “Not the getting in trouble part; it’s about the thrill of getting in trouble if you get caught.” “That just gives me heart palpitations.” She shook her head as Hortensia began to ask what that was as she dialed the number for the school. She had never needed the phone book. She only needed to see the number once in order to memorize it. “I’m entering it into our database now.” Jenny would say as she held up a piece of paper with a name and phone number for Matilda to see. A voice answered on the third ring, not her mom, but someone from the office. Naomi Stevens, 43, worked in the school office for thirteen years, and had the loudest speaking voice Matilda had ever heard. “Hello, Mrs. Steven’s, could I please speak to my mom?” She forced a smile out of habit which earned her an odd look. “Oh, Matilda! Hi, sweetheart! I heard you’re not feeling well! I hope someone’s there taking good care of you.” Watching out for her? She stared at the girl whose finger was currently knuckle deep into her left nostril. “Something like that.” Matilda said. “And I’m feeling fine, but thank you for your concern.” “Oh, always so polite.” Naomi squealed so loudly Hortensia could hear. She rolled her eyes. Hortensia didn’t like anyone from the office. She said they treated her poorly, but that was probably only because she was rude to them first. “Oh, is your mom’s boyfriend there?” Matilda scowled. “Uh, no, Hortensia. And I’m watching her.” “Hey!” Hortensia complained. Matilda grinned at her. “Hortensia? You don’t mean… Hortensia Smith?” Naomi said, sounding on guard. Matilda held a fist to her lips to keep from laughing. “No, I mean Hortensia Biedrzycki.” No one ever attempted to say her legal last name. “Yes, her.” Naomi said before tutting. “What’s she doing at your house?” “Umm, she lives here.” “She lives there?” “Yeah, she’s kind of my foster sister now, or something. Mom’s her guardian.” “Oh, is she now?” Matilda winced. She didn’t realize the office didn’t already know. She could hear the piqued interest in her voice. Matilda could picture Naomi waving the other women over and pointing at the phone in her hand as they eagerly hung on her every word. Only Naomi burst out laughing. Matilda stared at the phone in confusion before putting it back to her ear. “You're so well behaved you’ve lured your mum into thinking raising kids is easy, and now she thinks she can handle Mnt. Everest.” Matilda snickered. “So that’s why you haven’t been here? Is she sick?” “It’s complicated.” Matilda said. She didn’t fully understand what was going on, and Jenny had forbidden her from asking Hortensia any questions even though she was dying to probe. After a few more moments of polite back and forth, Naomi finally transferred her call. “Matilda, is everything okay?” Her mom sounded worried. “Mom! I’m really sorry bu-” “What? What is it? Is Hortensia okay?” “What?” She looked at Hortensia who stared back at her looking puzzled. “She’s fine, but I think I accidentally told Naomi she’s living with us before you did.” “Oh.” Her mom let out a relieved breath and a shaky laugh. “That’s okay, it’s not like it’s a big secret. What’s up?” “Well, since Hortensia’s here, and I’m not alone, I wanted to know if I could cook something?” There was a pause. “What were you going to make?” “A quiche.” Another pause followed by a drawn out sigh. Matilda grimaced. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked. “That sounds so much better than my leftovers.” “I could bring you some.” Matilda offered. A little bribery wouldn’t hurt. “No, you don’t have to do that.” A pause. “Would you?Do you think she’s okay to leave the house? Put her on the phone.” Matilda handed her the phone and gave her a thumbs up before getting to work. “I’m fine.” Hortensia said. Matilda peeked over her shoulder occasionally as she mixed the ingredients. She had gone quiet for a minute, only breaking up the silence with the occasional “okay” or “fine.” Eventually, she handed the phone back. “Make sure you hold her hand when crossing the street.” Jenny said. Matilda rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.” “I mean it. It’s for both your girls' safety. If she spaces out, you’ll need to guide her by the hand.” Matilda’s eyes briefly flicked over to her. She had seen Hortensia do that a couple of times since she had moved back in. She’d stop whatever it was she was doing and go rigid. It was…odd. She had never seen her do that before. She wouldn’t respond to anyone. Jenny usually took her upstairs for a bit until she snapped out of it. “What do I do if that happens?” “Call me.” “How do you usually snap her out of it? Does she come to on her own or…?” “Just…” Jenny said. “Call me if anything happens and I’ll try and come home.” “Okay.” Matilda said with a shrug. “And don’t forget to take a nap this afternoon.” Matilda clenched her jaw in annoyance. “But make sure the oven’s off before you do. Triple check please.” “Hortensia’s more likely to blow up the house.” Matilda grumbled. “We should give her cooking lessons.” Jenny said. “Oh, and maybe she could teach you how to draw.” “Oh no, I need both hands to make this quiche, I’m going to have to let you go.” Matilda said. “Ha. Ha. Okay, be safe. Call me if anything happens. I love you both.” “Love you too, bye.” Matilda hung up and shook her head. “She wants to teach you how to cook. You’ll blow the house up.” “I will not.” “Or poison us.” “I will not.” “Tsp and Tbsp aren’t the same thing!” “I know that much!” “They’ll find our corpses when they don’t hear from Jenny, half eaten cookies in all of our hands.” Hortensia pursed her lips together, but couldn’t keep back a chuckle at the image. “Is there even an ingredient I can mess up on that would cause that?” “Hmm, not unless you added something you weren’t supposed to, like arsenic, or cyanide, but that would be premeditated murder, not an accident.” “I meant like, if I misread and added too much of something? Could that kill us all?” “I think you’d have to purposely be trying to kill us. At worst, you’d make us all sick, with salmonella or something. There was a guy who got cockroach poison and saltpeter confused and killed a whole floor of patients in a mental hospital once during World War 2.” Hortensia made a face. “Then there’s Jim Jones, of course.” “Uhh, yes, of course….who’s that?” “You know, the cult leader from the 80’s who convinced over 800 people to drink poisoned Kool-Aid.” “Why do you know this?” Hortensia asked. “I read.” Hortensia narrowed her eyes. “And not from one of those boring documentaries on the History channel I keep catching you watching?” Matilda opened her mouth to retort, but shut it again. “Ha! See, you do like the telly.” “One channel,” Matilda mumbled. “Of course, you’d have to like the most boring channel on the network.” “History isn’t boring. You want boring; I’ll give you boring.” She hopped off the step stool and ran for the remote. Zinnia’s favorite. The Home Shopping Network. It would be on for hours! How anyone could sit and watch an hour straight about a purse… When she turned on the telly, it was a news report, the same one from this morning. She had been so busy with school work she hadn’t been paying attention, but now she stood and watched with rapt attention. No matter how many times Matilda had pestered Jenny, she had refused to tell her what exactly had happened. Something about a camp? She knew the gist of it, but as she listened to the news broadcast, the missing pieces fell into place. “I thought you were making food?” Hortensia asked, sticking her head out from the kitchen. “Is that what happened to you?” Matilda couldn’t stop herself from asking. Hortensia averted her eyes and shrugged. “I don’t know.” she mumbled. “How do you not know?” “I don’t want to talk about it.” Hortensia said. “Food!” “Let me finish wa-” Matilda stopped. The telly flicked itself off. “Food.” Hortensia repeated. Matilda looked for the remote, but it was still beside her. Had she sat on it? Or had the telly burnt out? She shrugged it off and stood before making her way over to the Scrabble board on the coffee table to play a quick word. The only person who could beat her was herself. The air was tense between them when Matilda got back to work on cooking. Every attempt at conversations was met with one word answers. Hortensia seemed to be lost in thought, but at least she hadn’t gone catatonic. “Are you okay?” Matilda asked as they sat across from each other at the table each with a piece of quiche. She had done it now. She had brought up the topic she had been forbidden from asking and now Matilda was desperate to make amends. “I’m fine.” Hortensia growled at her. “Quit it.” Her brain searched for something. Anything. “What do you think of Brian?” she blurted out. Hortensia shrugged. Matilda noticed she wasn’t eating. “And you’re okay with walking to the school?” Hortensia shrugged again. “Rescue me from them!” “From who?” “The office ladies!” At this, Hortensia’s eyes finally seemed to focus on her. “Pft, I don’t see them being bitchy to you.” “It’s worse than that!” “I don’t believe you.” ….. “Oh, Matilda! How sweet! You’re such a good girl coming over and bringing your mommy lunch!” Naomi squealed. Matilda’s eyes drifted to Hortensia and gave her a look that said, ‘see?’. “Uh, yeah, I’m going to go see my mom now. Have a nice day, Mrs. Stephens” Matilda said. “She’s so cute!” They both could hear as they headed towards the back of the office. “Where do you think you're going without permission?” Another voice boomed. The girls stopped in their tracks at a new voice behind them. Mrs. Henderson, the third year teacher. “To Miss Honey’s office.” Matilda said. The woman waved her away. “No, I know you are sweetheart, I mean you.” She gestured at Hortensia, “Why aren’t you in class? Let me see your hall pass!” the woman demanded. “I don’t have one. I haven’t-” “Detention!” Mrs. Henderson roared. “But I’m not-” “Do you want to make it two?” “I haven’t even-” “Another word out of your mouth and it will be three!” Hortensia’s shoulders slumped forward in defeat. Mrs. Henderson let out a “hmph” before pushing past. Matilda burst into giggles. “You’ve been here for less than a minute and you already have detention.” Hortensia grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Jenny what happened.” Hortensia looked like she had eaten something sour. They could hear whispering all around them. “She looks terrible.” Matilda craned her neck around. Mrs. Stephens and Mrs. Alto were huddled together staring at the two of them. “What do you think she’s sick with? Do you think she’s contagious? Did she say what was wrong with her?” “I was hoping she got expelled.” “Sush, I think she can hear you.” “You’re one to talk, loud mouth.” Matilda stopped walking and stared at them. They weren’t even trying to keep their voices down. She felt something heavy crash into the back of her. Hortensia hadn’t noticed she had stopped walking and collided with her, sending her crashing to the ground. Her eyes began to water from the shock of it. That was when the shouting started. “MISS HONEY’S OFFICE! NOW!” It was Mrs. Phelps this time, Hortensia’s teacher. She’d at least have noticed Hortensia’s absence, but the old woman had grabbed Hortensia by the back of her shirt and began pushing her forward like a prisoner. Matilda pushed herself up and staggered after them. What could she possibly be in trouble for now? At least Hortensia had been the one carrying the quiche, although Matilda could have done without getting smacked in the back of the head by the tray. When they turned the corner, she could see her mom coming out of her office. “Jennifer!” Mrs. Phelps said, a stern angry note in her voice that made Matilda cower despite not even being the one in trouble. “I just saw this one push your kid to the ground. You going to do something about her now?” Miss Honey’s eyes shifted from Hortensia to Matilda. “It was an acc-” Matilda tried to say, but the accusation had set Hortensia off. “I did not shove her, you blind old bat!” Matilda inwardly sighed. She always made things worse for herself. “Tens, stop.” Miss Honey said. She raised and lowered her palms in a settle down gesture, but this only seemed to infuriate her more. “What are you telling me to stop for? She’s accusing me of things I didn’t do! Again!” Hortensia had often said the school had it out for her, usually resulting in Matilda rolling her eyes. But now that she had seen how everyone treated her she was starting to wonder. “It was an accident. I stopped in front of her.” Matilda said. Mrs. Phelps turned to glare at her. “Do not interrupt me, young lady! I won’t hesitate to put you in detention with her. Children should not correct adults.” The shock of the threat was enough to reduce Matilda to tears. She had never been in trouble at school before. “Girls, go wait for me in my office.” Miss Honey said. So they waited. And waited. And waited. “Should have just made sandwiches.” Matilda mumbled. “Not like you ate any of it anyway.” At this, Hortensia peeled back the seal on the dish and cut herself out a small piece. “Happy?” Hortensia said through a mouth full. “Why don’t you eat anymore?” Matilda asked. She had witnessed her mom practically force feeding her since she had come back. They had gone from joking about enrolling her in a hot dog eating contest just to feed her lunch to not being allowed up from the table until she ate at least half a serving. “I’m not hungry.” Hortensia said. She was staring at the sliver in her hand. “Do I have to eat this?” “Do you not like it?” “I do. I just don’t enjoy food anymore.” Matilda frowned in thought. “Why? Is it the taste?” Hortensia shook her head. “The texture?” She shook her head again. “Do you think you’re fat? Are you anorexic? Is that why you’ve lost so much weight?” “What, no? I haven’t lost weight.” “You look like a zombie. Maybe you’re turning into a zombie. People food isn’t doing it for you anymore because you crave braaaiiinnnssss.” She stuck her arms out in front of her and mimed walking like the living dead. A hint of a smile appeared at the corners of Hortensia’s lips. “Maybe I should start with yours since it’s so big.” “No, no. Mine hasn’t fully formed yet, it isn’t ripe. You need a mature brain, like Mrs. Phelps.” Hortensia’s face soured. “Eww, that’s too old. It’s probably gone bad. What do you want to bet her brain looks like a shriveled nut sack?” “Eww.” Matilda said, before pausing in thought. “Is everyone always this mean to you?” She asked, changing the subject. Hortensia shrugged. “How do you deal with it?” Matilda was still shaken up. She had thought things would be better with the Trunchbull gone, that perhaps they were only cruel under her orders, but now she could see that was only wishful thinking. Nothing had changed. Mrs. Stephens and the other ladies in the office had seen what had happened and yet, none had come forward in Hortensia’s defense. Not with Mrs. Henderson and not with Mrs. Phelps. Matilda had tried to stick up for her, but it had only made things worse. Would Jenny make the situation right? Could she? Even if she was the boss, she often took a backseat to arguments, couldn’t handle confrontation. She hadn’t said anything to Mrs. Phelps when she had lashed out at her, had merely told them to wait in her office, and that had been, what? 20 minutes ago? What if Matilda had been in the wrong? What if she came back fuming at her for making Jenny look bad? “I’ve never been in trouble with the teachers before.” Matilda mumbled. With Jenny, sure. Matilda was self aware enough even at her age to know she could be…how did Jenny put it…stubbornly willful. Hortensia often called her a fucking know it all. Matilda liked to make up words that sounded like insults to hurl at her when they were fighting and giggle when she couldn’t find them in the dictionary. Once she had even made up a country when Hortensia demanded to know what language she was speaking. Matilda had even gone as far as to convince Brian’s kids to call her an “ovalarskin” and then look at her like she was dumb when she asked what that was. But damn it, she was her “ovalarskin” and she was feeling angry to see her so mistreated by all the adults around her. “That’s because they think you’re a little angel.” Hortensia said sarcastically. “With your ‘yes ma'ams’, and ‘please’.” “You get farther with them if you’re polite.” Matilda said. “But I think nice Matilda needs a break now.” Hortensia’s eyebrows went up. “Have you ever been in a hardware store before?” “Of course i’ve been in a hardware store. I don’t live under a rock.” “Did you know they sell li-” Matilda stopped talking as the door opened and Miss Honey entered looking exhausted and stressed. Without saying a word to either of them she unwrapped the quiche, cut herself out a large slice and collapsed into her chair. “I needed this.” She groaned through a mouthful. No one said anything as Miss Honey scarfed down nearly half the pan single handedly. Finally, she swiped at the crumbs coating her desk and brushed them into her hand. Matilda was starting to think she was going to eat those too, but she dumped them into the trashcan by her desk. She stared at the two of them and sighed. “What happened out there?” “That bi-” Hortensia started to say before Matilda cut in. “Maybe I should say, before you get yourself in trouble.” Hortensia let out an annoyed breath before waving her hand and motioning for her to talk. “They’ve been going after her since the moment we got here.” Matilda said. “Mrs. Henderson gave her a detention when Hortensia didn’t have a hall pass, and then another when she tried to explain why she didn’t have one. She didn’t let her say anything! Then the office kept gossiping about her like she wasn’t even there. I was so surprised when one of them said ‘I had hoped she had gotten expelled’ I stopped walking and Hortensia must have bumped into me. That’s when Mrs. Phelps started yelling at her about pushing me. Am I really going to have a detention? I didn’t mean to talk back, it’s just, no one was defending her at all and it made me mad!” “No, no one’s getting detention.” Miss Honey said before sighing. “I did have a long talk with the women in the office. Mrs. Stephens admitted it was only an accident.” “Then why didn’t she say that to begin with?” Hortensia said, throwing her hands in the air. “She saw the whole thing with Mrs. Henderson too!” “Matilda, how’s your head? I heard you got smacked pretty good.” “Hurts.” Matilda whimpered, rubbing the back of her head. In truth, Mrs. Phelps had caused her more grief than the dish to the back of the scalp, but she wasn’t about to admit that in front of Hortensia. Miss Honey gave her a sympathetic smile. “How about you go see Mrs. Rogers and get some ice. Oh, and bring this. See if she wants any.” She said before adding under her breath, “Before I eat it all.” Matilda giggled despite knowing she was being kicked out. She hadn’t seen her mom eat so much since she had gotten high. She obediently slipped out of the chair, grabbed the dish, and left the office. … “Now,” Miss Honey said once they were alone. She stared at Hortensia. “In your own words, tell me what happened.” “Bi-” “Without swearing.” “You said ‘in my own words’.” she grumbled before sighing. “No one wants me here. Do I have to come back?” “I think it’s still too soon.” Miss Honey said. “You’re still not eating and you still…” Miss Honey frowned in thought. “You’re not ready.” “I still what?” Hortensia asked. “You’re not yourself yet. I might have you do lessons here with Matilda for a bit, before I send you back to class. You’ve got some catching up to do. But when you are ready to come back, there will be some changes. In fact, starting now there will be changes.” Her tone had gone sharp. Hortensia sank down in her seat like a child being scolded. “I called a staff meeting while you girls were waiting. I made it very clear to them they will not be treating you like a criminal any longer. This is a school; not a prison. You are a child; not an inmate. Whatever happened between you and any member of this staff is in the past and they are to treat you like a new student with a clean slate.” “Like that’ll happen.” Horrtensia said sarcastically. “That goes for you as well, Tens. I want this to be an opportunity for you to start over. I know you’re a good kid. You are intelligent, brave, and a good big sister.” “I’m not smart.” Hortensia mumbled looking away. “You have picked up math faster than I thought possible this summer.” “A six-year-old can do it.” Hortensia said morosely. “You can’t compare yourself to Matilda, she’s in a completely different league than anyone I have or probably will ever meet. She operates on a different wavelength than the rest of us. We’re all tuned into AM/FM stations and she's broadcasting out to space. I’m not here to talk about Matilda though, I want to talk about you.” Hortensia shrugged. “I guess.” she mumbled. “Tens,” Miss Honey said, “Please look at me.” Hortensia slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with her. “I can neither make you let go of all the anger inside of you, nor can I ask you to. I can only warn you of what harboring hate for years will turn you into it. You’ve seen it in my aunt. I can not take away the pain or damage, although I desperately wish I could. I wish I could turn back the clock. I wish I could stop everything from happening to you, but I can’t. I’m only human. What I can offer you is love and a place in my mismatched, pieced together family. You’ll always be welcome, but you have a choice to make. It wasn’t fair what happened to you. It wasn’t fair what happened to you and it wasn’t fair what happened to me. You can silently hold on to this hate and let it make you bitter and cruel. Or you can take all this pain no one should have had to experience and channel it.” Jennifer reached into her desk drawer and pulled something out. Hortensia looked away as her shoulders slumped. “You want me to stop fighting with the teachers. I get it.” She grumbled. “No.” Jennifer said. Hortensia looked up at her confused. “I want you to fight them. I want you to be the biggest pain in their arse you can be.” Hortensia stared at her flabbergasted as Jennifer held out her palm to reveal a small golden letter “P” pin. “You’re crazy.” Hortensia said, looking from the pin to her. Jennifer laughed. “Who I want you to stop fighting with is the other students. Not everyone here has the courage to speak up for themselves. You know better than anyone how infuriating being treated unfairly can be. Now this doesn’t mean you get to unleash an army of ladybugs in a classroom because someone got their recess taken away for being late.” “I only did that one time.” Hortensia said. “And Mrs. Henderson is still finding dead ladybugs in her classroom three years later.” Jennifer said, causing Hortensia to snicker. “Where did you even get that many lady bugs from?” “You can buy them in a bag at the hardware store.” Jennifer shook her head. She remembered that day. It was her first year teaching and the sound of Mrs. Henderson’s screams had abruptly put a stop to story time. Jennifer had been appalled to hear that kind of language coming from a teachers mouth, and aimed at a student no less. “First you let me break things with a bat, and now you want me to talk back to the teachers?” “Within reason.” Jennifer pointed out. “That does not mean you get to call anyone names. I’ll be having this talk with all the prefects.” Hortensia stared down at the pin in her hand, closely examining it as she twirled it back and forth between her fingers. “I’ll just get in more trouble.” Hortensia mumbled. “They’ll give me detention the moment I open my mouth.” “And if you do and I find it unjustified I’ll over ride it.” Jennifer said. “But if I find out you called anyone a ‘bitch’ or ‘hag’ you better believe you’ll be serving whatever punishment they dish out. You can disagree with someone and still be respectful about it. But if I find out your abusing your position, I’ll take that pin right back.” Hortensia stared at the pin before holding it back out to her. Jennifer shook her head. “Keep it and think it over. I trust you.” And she did. She had discovered something interesting over the summer about her. The more she was treated like a delinquent, the more she acted like one. And being on hall moniter duty would give her additional time on her feet and a chance to expel the extra pent up energy that made her so disruptive in the classroom. “Any questions?” Hortensia didn’t respond, only stared down at her hand which was now empty. Jennifer craned her neck around her desk to see the pin on the ground, but Hortensia made no move to pick it up, only sat perfectly still and stared. “Hortensia?” Nothing. “Tens? Are you alright?” Jennifer turned her head sideways and put her head on her desk to look into Hortensia’s eyes. Blank. She was having one of her fits, which meant…. A wet gurgling sound soon followed. “Ah.” They would have to get to the bottom of this before Jennifer felt comfortable sending her back to class. She stood and made her way before lightly touching the girls shoulder. “Tens, can you hear me?” Nothing. She gave her shoulder a light shake. She didn’t react in the slightest. Jennifer gently lifted her face by the chin and it stayed there when she let go, eyes staring straight ahead at her, but there was nothing in them. She had gone someplace else, someplace safe. That’s what her psychiatrist said anyway. She hoped whatever this was was temporary. Jennifer picked up Hortensia’s backpack, hoping she had packed what Jennifer had asked her to. Good. There was a spare nappy. She pulled it out and rummaged around some more pushing aside empty bags of chips. Jennifer stared at them curiously for a moment. They were all cut open, laid out and looked like they had been cleaned. Hortensia had been saving them for some reason. They hadn’t been there before the hospital, but they hadn’t come from home. Jennifer tried not to keep too much junk in the house as she had found her own clothing becoming a little more snug than she was comfortable with. She wondered briefly where she had gotten them from, but it was a mystery for another time. At least she was eating something. She dug around a bit longer before checking the front pocket. There they were! Gloves! Or more like glove. She frowned. Only one. And no creams or wipes. “Looks like we’re going to Carol’s office.” “Looks like we’re going to Carol’s office.” Hortensia repeated in a flat monotone voice. Jennifer stared at her. “Hortensia? Are you awake?” “Are you awake?” “Can you hear me?” “Can you hear me?” Hortensia mimicked. Jennifer stared at her in surprise. This was… new. She waved a hand in front of her face before snapping her fingers. Hortensia didn’t react, just stared straight ahead with the same dead eyed expression. She put the nappy back where she had found it and slung the pack over her shoulder. She hoisted Hortensia up by the arms into a standing position before linking an arm with hers. Jennifer hated the idea of parading her through the office like this, but she wanted Carol to see. She ignored the curious glances as she slowly guided Hortensia through the busy front office, out the door, and across the hall where she found Matilda talking with Lavender. “Hi, Miss Honey!” Lavender called. “Hi, Miss Honey.” Hortensia repeated. The girls stared at her. “Is it recess?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia echoed the question. Lavender nodded, still staring curiously at the older girl. “Matilda, how about you and Lavender go out and play. I’ve got something I need to take care of. I’ll be a bit.” “I’ll be a bit.” Matilda looked from Jennifer, to Hortensia, and then back to Jennifer. “O-okay?” Matilda said, sounding more like a question than a statement. “Why are you repeating what we say?” “...what we say.” Lavender giggled thinking it was a game, but Matilda furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t know.” Jennifer answered truthfully earning herself an echo. “She’ll come to in a bit. Go play.” “Go play.” Matilda stared at them a moment longer before turning and heading out to the playground with Lavender. “Jennifer, thanks for the food!” Carol said, looking up from her book as they walked inside. “Thanks for the food.” Hortensia muttered. “You know if she gives up on being a doctor, a chef could be a good second.” “A chef could be a good second.” “See, she agrees with me.” “She agrees with me.” Carol rolled her eyes. “A little too old to be mimicking people.” Hortensia repeated her admonishment. “Problem.” Jennifer mouthed over her head and pointed at her. Carol stared at her curiously before wrinkling her face. She covered her nose and waved a hand in front of her face. “She usually zones out when she has an accident, but now she’s repeating everything she hears.” Jennifer whispered in Carol’s ear. Carol looked Hortensia over for a moment. “Are you sure she’s not messing around?” “Are you sure she’s not messing around?” Jennifer nodded and bit her lip. There was no life in her eyes, and the way she repeated everything in a flat monotone pitch… Something about it made the hair on Jennifer’s arms rise. It was unsettling. Carol leaned down in Hortensia’s face and began to make silly gestures, even going so far as to stick up her middle finger, something Jennifer didn’t appreciate, but Hortensia failed to react at all. “Hortensia? Can you hear me?” Carol asked before receiving an echo in reply. Carol frowned before shrugging. “Does she usually snap out of it on her own?” “Once I change her. Can I have some wipes and gloves? She packed a spare but nothing to clean her with.” “Have you ever let her stay like this and see if she wakes up on her own?” Jennifer nodded and held up a single finger. Never again. “What happened?” “Started screaming like she was having one of her fits, but more…” Jennifer frowned trying to come up with the right words. “Like a toddler having a meltdown.” Feet, arms, fists, legs and poo flying every which way. “It’s better to take care of it before it gets to that point. I have to manually move her, but she’ll stay that way, see.” Jennifer lifted up Hortensia’s arm and it stayed in the air. Carol’s expression turned grim. She looked like she wanted to say something, but shook her head and went to retrieve the supplies. When Jennifer finished, she came back out to find Carol combing through a very large volume. It was the same one she often caught Matilda going through, the nursing textbook with all the graphic pictures. “Has she come to yet?” Carol asked without looking up. “Takes a bit usually, ten minutes at most, but she’s often very disoriented. I try and be there when she wakes up.” “Have you talked to her doctor about this?” “Yes, her psychiatrist says her spacing out is a trauma response.” But Carol shook her head. “That’s not ‘spacing out’.” She slid the book over so Jennifer could read the paragraph. She bent down and read the headline. Akinetic Catatonia. She breezed though the article, not understanding half the medical jargon, but stopped when she saw the list of symptoms. “What’s negavatism?” Jennifer asked as she read through the list. She didn’t like how much this sounded like her. She liked the treatment and causes even less. Schitzophrenia? Brain tumors? Electro convulsive therapy? “You saw how she didn’t respond when I was making faces and talking to her.” Jennifer pinched the bridge of her nose and slid the book back. “Jen, she might need inpatient care.” “No.” Jennifer said. “I am not leaving her at some mental hospital and wiping my hands of her. She’s a child!” “I’m not saying drop her off and forget about her, it’s just something you might need to consider. She needs help.” “And i’m getting her help.” She could feel herself growing defensive. She took a deep breath. “It could be as simple as a change in medication. I’m only talking worst case scenario, i’m not a psychiatrist.” Carol said. They both looked up at the sound of rustling plastic. She was coming to. Jennifer went to her side as Hortensia slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Easy. Easy.” Jennifer whispered as Hortensia wobbled and held her head in her hands. “Do you know where you are?” Carol asked. Hortensia nodded. “Do you know how you got here?” Hortensia nodded again. “Can you speak?” “Yes.” She mumbled before staring at Jennifer. And then she said something that made her stomach drop. “You’re poisoning me.”

Her mom was crying. Hortensia’s mind was going blank from the stress. She sat across from her at a table in the prison visiting center. “Why didn’t you tell me?” her mom asked, doing what she had referred to as “ugly crying”. Hortensia sank down, glad for the nappies extra cushion on the hard bench seats. She was trying to hide her watering eyes. She didn’t want to do this in front of everyone. Miss Honey, Brian, Matilda, Hazel, Zach, Nick, Aiden, Cynthia, Mrs. Rodgers and a police woman with a notepad were all here, having a “brainstorming session.” It was her moms idea, like a police interrogation with everyone, all at once, pointing fingers at each other and a cop taking notes. Her mom wanted to feel involved in the investigation and the warden allowed it given the “special circumstance”, so long as the officer in charge of the investigation was present. She wanted to meet them all before her transfer in two days. Wanted to meet Brian. And anyone else male Hortensia had been spending time with. All four of them had tested negative. She couldn’t believe her mom had made an eleven, and thirteen-year old get tested for an STD. Now everyone knew. And they demanded answers. Answers Hortensia didn’t have. “I don’t know.” Hortensia mumbled for what felt like the hundredth time. She looked down, chipping away at the fake wood table’s finish with her fingernail. “Sometimes, I just hurt.” There were specific times she could point to where something hadn’t been right. Like that summer a handful of years ago. She kept… sharting herself. That happened sometimes when she farted, but it had been happening worse than usual that summer. And her arse had been killing her. They had even sent her home from camp over it, and lectured her about her personal hygiene. “That’s why your fanny hurts so bad; you're sitting in poo and your skin got irritated.” The camp nurse had said. Her mother had not been happy to drive four hours round trip to pick her up. All because she’d been sharting herself and not wiping properly? But she couldn’t help it. The pain had been unbearable. She couldn’t stand the thought of one more hot and sticky, bug infested night in the forest. She couldn’t do any camp activities. She couldn’t sit for meals, and she couldn’t sleep. Finally, she had broken down in tears mid tennis match and demanded to go home. Everyone told her it was because she wasn’t wiping properly, but Hortensia had been sure the pain had started before the accidents. No one ever took her seriously. It made her blood boil. She had always wanted people to listen to her, and now that everyone was here hanging on her every word, Hortensia wanted to duck underneath the table and hide. This week had been humiliating. So many questions. So many people in her personal space. When would this all end? “You must have some idea!” her mom said. “I can’t.” Hortensia mumbled. “Tens, no matter what you say, you’re not going to get in trouble.” Jennifer said. “You wouldn’t believe me.” This meeting had been a mistake. Everyone had been at each other's throats. Her mom blamed Brian and Jennifer, Jennifer blamed Aiden, and Aiden and Cynthia blamed just Jennifer. “You’re the one who needs to be tested!” Cynthia shouted, pointing a finger at Miss Honey, who gawked. “I would never lay a hand on her!” Miss Honey hissed. “Never lay a hand on her?” Cynthia scoffed, “your hands have been all over her this whole time!” “That’s not the same thing!” Miss Honey argued, but Hortensia could feel Miss Honey remove her hand from her back just the same and put them under the table. Hortensia reached for it, and Miss Honey gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “What do you have against her?” Hortensia demanded. Cynthia looked surprised. They both gave Miss Honey dirty looks. “Why’d you make me beat up her car?” “Nobody made you beat up her car, you’re just refusing to take responsibility for your actions.” Cynthia said. “Aiden hit me in the face and told me if I didn’t make her quit he’d have the guards beat up mom!” “Oh, not this again!” Eve groaned. “It’s stories like this that make us not believe you.” “There’s no way for me to even get the guards to do that even if I wanted to. Your story telling needs work.” Aiden said, with his massive arms crossed across his ginormous chest. “Yeah it is! You could bribe them or something, I don’t know!” Hortensia said. “With what money? My business just went under!” “There was a day we found Hortensia with a bloody lip right before the incident with my car.” Miss Honey said. “I had assumed it was a teacher she had had an altercation with, but the teacher denied it.” “And we saw you at her house right before she went mental.” A voice threw out. All eyes turned to Zach and Nick who had remained quiet until now. “He’s the massive bloke we saw fighting with her.” Nick chimed in. “No! Th-that wasn’t me!” Aiden said. “How many 300 pound Islander men are there in this town?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. “Quite a few.” Cynthia growled. “His whole extended family is here!” “So you're throwing your own family under the bus?” Mrs. Rodgers asked, eyebrows raised. Cynthia went quiet. “I’d like to know what you have against Jenny as well. This whole time you’ve been dragging her through the mud. It feels personal.” Hortensia could see her mom’s eyes flicker between her and Aiden. “You were telling the truth?” Eve asked so quietly, Hortensia wouldn’t have heard if she hadn’t been staring directly at her. Hortensia nodded. She turned to Aiden. “Why did you tell my daughter to break Jennifer’s car?” “You can’t believe this garbage, Eve, you know how she is. She has those temper tantrums and loses control.” Aiden said. “And I didn’t tell her to break her car!” “They saw you there.” Eve said. “You aren’t someone who can be easily mistaken.” “I was just there checking up on her, and she got mouthy.” “So you hit her in the face?” Eve asked. “A spanking I could understand, but…” “It was a slap! Open palm!” Aiden said. “She was bleeding.” Miss Honey said, glaring daggers at him. “My ring must have caught her lip.” Aiden mumbled. Her mom stared at both Aiden and Cynthia as if seeing them for the first time. “Honey, what did Aiden tell you, exactly?” “He told me if I helped him get rid of Miss Honey he could keep you from getting transferred, and if I didn’t, you’d get hurt.” “Why?” Eve asked him. Hortensia could see the cop in the corner furiously scribbling down their conversation. “Because she’s a dyke who shouldn’t be allowed to run a school full of children!” Cynthia spat. “All that work to get rid of the first dyke, only to get replaced by another!” The room went silent. “Why does everyone think I’m a lesbian?” Miss Honey asked. “Everyone knows you had an incestuous relationship with your aunt!” Cynthia said. “My aunt abused me!” “You know,” Mrs. Rodgers said calmly. “ I really have my doubts that Jennifer's sexual orientation has anything to do with this. See, the only reason you’d know Jenny was being abused is if you saw a certain letter they found in your best friend’s safe. So either you helped Eve blackmail Agatha Trunchbull, or you two are the ones who did and framed your best friend. How about you tell us about this company that went under? You wouldn’t happen to be in the publishing business, would you?” Hortensia could see the color drain from both of their faces. “What was that company called again?” “A.C.R Publishing.” Miss Honey said. “Ah, yes, and that wouldn’t happen to stand for Aiden and Cynthia Redding Publishing, would it?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. “We don’t have to sit here and take this bullshit anymore!” Cynthia shouted. They both stood up. “No, my mistake.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “It’s not Aiden and Cynthia Redding Publishing, is it? It’s Aiden and Christopher Redding Publishing.” She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket and tossed it on the table. “Jennifer, did you know there’s this thing called the internet where you can look up almost anything? Like businesses, and criminal records.” Hortensia picked up the piece of paper and blanched. It was a mugshot of a familiar looking man. “You leave my brother out of this! He’s turned his life around!” Aiden shouted. Cynthia was trying to pull him away by the arm. “Hortensia, what was it you were going to say?” Jennifer whispered in her ear. “You said, you didn’t think anyone would believe you? Now’s the time to say it.” Hortensia nodded, took a deep breath, and shouted to be heard over the arguing. “Do you remember that time you sent me to summer camp?” Everyone stared at her. Hortensia sank down in her seat. “When you had to drive four hours to come pick me up because my arse hurt.” she mumbled. “I remember that!” Eve said, but then frowned. “You don’t think it happened there, do you?” “I don’t know.” Hortensia said at the table, but it was her best guess. “I just woke up after the first night hurting.” “Camp Summercrest?” Matilda asked. Hortensia stared at her. “How’d you know?” “There was a shirt for it in the lost and found box. I was wearing it when you had to take me home that one time when I…” Hortensia let out a weak chuckle. She saw Miss Honey reach for the paper next. “It’s him.” Miss Honey said, dropping the paper as if it burned her. “Who is he?” “His brother.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “And?” she was staring at Hortensia and motioning with her hand for her to continue. “The youth pastor at our church.” Suddenly the room exploded in a cacophony of voices. Her mom and Cynthia were screaming at each other. Aiden had run. The cop taking notes was yelling for guards to stop him. Hortensia put her hands over her ears. She wanted to go home. Her stomach cramped. She could feel the nappy filling with hot liquid and she began to cry. … “You did good, sweetheart.” Jennifer said. “I know it’s hard to answer all those questions, but I’m so proud of you for being brave.” They had just gotten back from a real police interrogation where they both gave victim testimonies. She wiped her hands clean with a wet wipe and bunched up the soiled nappy before tossing it into a garbage bag. “I don’t remember.” Hortensia said. “I do.” Jennifer whispered. She knew he was the one who had assaulted her all those years ago. “There’s something called DNA. When you were in the hospital, and they did all those invasive tests, they took samples from you. They found male DNA inside you, and they’re going to test it against the samples they took from him.” “Okay.” Hortensia said softly. “And you know who else is in a lot of trouble?” Jennifer said, a slight grin on her face. “Cynthia and Aiden.” Hortensia smiled slightly. All thanks to Hortensia’s drawings. Jennifer had finally peeked at copies of them at the police station, but they hadn’t been what Jennifer had expected. They were horrific, but it wasn’t a story of Hortensia’s abuse, it was of Billy’s. The story featured a young blonde girl riding on her daddy’s shoulders. She liked being up high, and being able to see things she wouldn’t normally see. Like the inside of vehicles. And as the father and daughter were walking down the street, the little girl noticed something strange. “Daddy, what’s he doing with Billy?” The little girl asked. The tall, blonde haired man looked to where she’d pointed. He quickly removed her off her shoulder and put her on the ground. “Run home as fast as you can.” The man said. The little girl ran, but not home. She ran behind another car and watched. She saw her daddy nearly rip the door open and drag the man out. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” Her daddy screamed. But the man pulled something black out of his pocket. There was a loud bang and suddenly, her daddy was on the ground. There was a red puddle forming around him. He stared up at her with wide vacant eyes, with a hole in his face. One of his eyes was gone. Jennifer knew that face well. She had seen it all over the pages of notebooks. The strange man did not know the girl was watching him. He was panicking. The man was large and strong, just like his brother. He picked up her daddy and threw him in the back of his truck along with Billy and covered them with a tarp. Then he got out and walked across the street to a familiar looking house. Aiden’s house. Hortensia had witnessed her father’s murder as a very small child. Too young to understand what she had just seen, but traumated none the less. Jennifer sighed and laid down on the bed next to her before wrapping her in a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you when you go back home.” Jennifer said. “You’re like my second daughter.” “You think mom will get out?” “As long as she doesn’t follow up on her threats to hit Cynthia over the head with a crowbar.” Jennifer said. “Speaking of…” she let go of the girl and rolled onto her feet. She offered Hortensia a hand up. “I have a surprise for you in the backyard.” Jennifer led her out blindfolded to where Brian, Matilda, Hazel, Zach and Nick all stood around eagerly before removing the blindfold. Hortensia looked around, frowning in confusion. “My surprise is a junkyard?” Hortensia asked with a laugh. The backyard was covered in tarps, and on them was a mismatched assortment of broken tellies, cracked statues, chipped vases, and other damaged items. “Yep.” Jennifer said, a wide smile on her face. She picked up a pair of safety goggles and put them on Hortensia’s face. “You’ve been going through so much, I figured you needed to blow off some steam by partaking in your favorite pastime of…” Jennifer handed her a bat. “breaking stuff.” Hortensia stared wide eyed at the array of junk and then at the bat. “You mean I get to…” Hortensia grinned. The first real smile Jennifer had seen in a long time. She gestured to the pile of junk. “Go nuts.” Jennifer watched the kids go nuts taking turns smashing things to bits. She even took a few swings herself before joining Brian on the patio. “Thank you for finding all this stuff.” Jennifer said. They had been going from yard sale to yard sale buying cheap, breakable looking items for the last month. “Half of it was in the dumpster behind the Salvation Army.” He grinned. Jennifer smiled at him before taking his hand. “I bet they won’t notice we’re gone.” She said. He chuckled and held her close for a moment. “What did you have in mind?” He asked. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “What is it?” “My test results.” She said. “If she can do it, so can I.” He took the paper and read it before grinning, eyebrows raised. “Were you afraid of needles?” “That was not a blood test.” She shuddered. He laughed and kissed her. “And what would my brave girl like to do?” “Everything.” she whispered. “Ana-” “Okay, maybe not everything.” He laughed and took her hand before kissing it. “You’ll tell me if you want to stop, right?” She nodded. He put his forehead to hers. “I love you, Jenny.” “I love you too.” she whispered before taking him by the hand and leading him upstairs. … “Thank you Rachel, that’s right. I’m standing in front of West Bishop Church off London Ave where a local youth pastor has been taken away in handcuffs. Residents in this town are in an uproar. The man in question, Christopher Redding, is under suspicion of using his position to commit sexual acts against children. An investigation was launched when one of the children in his congregation was brought in to the local hospital where she was found to have several injuries consistant with sexual assault and a high level of a unnamed prescription sedative in her system. Police investigated Mr. Redding after a tip from another victim where multiple bottles of this same medication were found in his possession. The police believe Mr. Redding was slipping the sedatives into the grape juice used for communion and giving them to pre-selected children. Now police are asking for the cooperation of the public. Parents who have attended this church are being asked to sit down and have a difficult conversation with their children. A special task force has been formed as numerous potential victims have begun to come forward. Other members of the Redding family have also been taken into custody at this time on suspicion of aiding and abetting, blackmail, falsifying official documents, hindering a police investigation, second-degree murder, and abuse of a child under fourteen. Police have also confirmed Mr. Redding has been named as the prime suspect of the slaying of the nearly half- dozen bodies found earlier this summer. Dubbed as the Buckinghamshire Boy Butcher for his preferred choice of victims, this serial killer has left the city gripped in terror over the summer, but tonight, that fear may finally be over. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time. If convicted, the DA has announced he will be pushing for the death penalty. Back to you in the studio.” “Prayers? Psh, what a load of shi- Oww.” Hortensia grumbled and rubbed at the side of her head. Miss Honey turned off the tv. “Pay attention.” Matilda said, arms crossed across her chest. “Who left you in charge?” Hortensia grumbled. “I did.” Miss Honey said. “You’ve been out of school for a while, it’s time to catch up. I have to go to the office for a few hours. Poor Mr. Trilby’s been dragged out of retirement to help keep the place running since I’ve been gone.” “Where did your class leave off?” Hortensia pointed to a chapter. Matilda scoffed. “How were you only in chapter twelve? I’m going to graduate highschool before your class gets through this.” “Fine smarty pants, what chapter are you on?” Matilda scoffed again. “I finished that thing a month ago.” “A month ago? It hasn’t even been three full months into the school year. This is supposed to last all year. It’s a textbook.” “And this is why I pulled her out of the classroom.” Miss Honey said. “You guys were so slow!” Matilda groaned, her fingers dragging down her face for emphasis. “It was torture.” “You thought Mr. Larson’s class was slow?” Hortensia asked, eyebrows creased in disbelief before snorting. “What level of hell did you think you were in when you walked into Miss Honey’s class for the first time?” Hortensia chuckled. “The fourth.” Matilda admitted. “You didn’t like my classroom?” Miss Honey asked. “I did once you started giving me my own work to do, but those first few days.” Her eyes opened wide in mock horror. Miss Honey laughed. “I thought school was going to be educational. I walked in expecting to see the periodic table of elements, and got hit with the Abc’s.” “Maybe in high school. You couldn’t possibly have thought all the other runts were as smart as you?” Hortensia asked. Matilda shrugged. “I didn’t know I was smarter than them. It’s not like I had ever spent time with other kids my age.” Matilda said. “You had an older brother. Didn’t you see his homework?” Matilda scoffed. “As if he ever did his homework.” … Jennifer poked her head into Carol’s office. She was sitting at her desk staring down at a book. Jennifer knocked on the door as Carol slammed the book she was reading closed. “Jen, you’re back.” Carol said, a guilty smile on her face. “Slow day?” Jennifer laughed. She didn’t care if Carol was reading if it was slow. She wasn’t her boss. No wait, yes she was. “Two paper cuts and a crushed pinky finger.” Carol said with a shrug. “Not much to do without our problem child sending me skinned knees and bloody noses. How is she?” Jennifer sighed. “About as well as you can be going through something like that. Still incontinent though.” Jennifer said. “At least I’ve managed to get over it. Poor kid’s embarrassed enough without me gagging in front of her.” Carol grimaced. “At least she’s older and you don’t have to change nappies.” Jennifer grimaced. “Jen, she’s eleven-years-old. She is more than capable of cleaning up after herself.” Jennifer shook her head. “It’s complicated.” Jennifer said. “What’s complicated about it? Tell her where the cleaning supplies are. What are you babying her for?” Jennifer knitted her eyebrows together. “Because she isn’t capable of it.” Jennifer said. “The pain is gone, but it’s like her soul leaves her body the moment it happens. She’s like an empty shell until she’s clean. I have to literally lead her by the hand. She says she doesn’t remember the attacks, but our psychologist thinks the sensation of the sudden, involuntary, uh, pooping and the feeling of not being in control is triggering flashbacks.” “Her body remembers.” “Yeah, something like that.” Jennifer said. “It’s… hard to see her like this. ” “You’re like the Patron Saint of Lost Children.” Jennifer clenched her teeth. “I’d rather not be associated with any religion.” Rumors were spreading amongst the community of prior allegations. “They knew what he was doing with those kids. They were protecting him. Not the kids, but him.” “There’s more than a few people ready to scalp him.” Carol said. “Did you see that interview they aired of one of the parents?” “The one they had to bleep out every other word?” Jennifer asked with a slight smile. “He’s either getting lynched or murdered the moment the guards look away. He’ll get what’s coming to him. Even the other inmates don’t tolerate crimes against children.” “That’s what Brian said.” Jennifer said. Speaking of… She looked around the room. “Is there anyone here?” She whispered. Carol shook her head. “We, um…” Carol raised her eyebrows. “Had sex.” Jennifer mumbled. Carol grinned. She pushed a chair towards her. “You should have led with that. Sit. Spill.” “Oww!” Was all Jennifer could say. Carol gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’ll get better.” “The second time was better.” Jennifer agreed. “Third was the best.” “Third?” Carol nodded her head in approval, a large smile plastered on her face. “Look at you! Was it as scary as you thought it would be?” “The first time was. I was nervous he’d think I was too grotesque.” But he had gone out of his way to show her the scarring didn’t bother him. She blushed. She’d keep that memory to herself. “What was his reaction? Did he say anything?” He wasn’t talking, but his mouth had been plenty busy. “Umm, no.” “You use a condom?” “Carol!” She sighed. So nosey. “Neither of us have anything and it’s not like I can get pregnant.” “And did you get that verified by a licensed doctor like I told you to?” “Umm, no.” Jennifer admitted, shrinking back under her gaze. “Getting tested was bad enough. The nurse took one look, called the doctor in, who called another doctor in. I felt like half the clinic was staring at me. I was starting to wonder if I should start charging admission to come into the room.” “Well, I’m relieved to hear you don’t have Syphilis, and I’m proud of you for getting checked. It can cause much more serious health risks than a few sores if you leave it this long untreated.” “Not so loud!” Jennifer said with a cringe. There were already enough rumors about her without STD’s added to the mix. The women who worked in the office were gossip mongers. “They’ll hear you.” “Oh yes, you’ve missed all sorts of juicy gossip.” Carol chuckled. “I’ve been hearing all kinds of things about you and your boyfriend all week.” “He visited me at work one time.” Jennifer cringed. He hadn’t done anything. “And how would anyone know anything about him? He looked like any other parent with their kid.” She stared down Carol. “Unless someone let something slip…” She crossed her arms, fingers tapping anxiously. “Carol…” Carol shifted her eyes, a guilty grin twitched at the corners of her mouth. “I walked in on some ladies chatting in the teacher’s lounge.” “...And?” “I was only trying to help set the record straight…” Ignore it. Ignore it. Just ignore it. “What were they saying?” Jennifer asked, taking the bait. She was going to regret this. “That you were dating a woman from the bank.” Jennifer let her head fall in an exaggerated show of dismay. “Why does everyone think I’m a lesbian?” “So I told them the bloke with the kid the other day was your boyfriend.” “Oh, is that all?” She sank down in her chair in relief. “Want to hear my favorite one? These girls have quite the imagination.” “Fine, out with it.” “He’s been your secret lover for years, and he killed Agatha Trunchbull on your orders so you could openly be together.” They stared at each other in silence before erupting in laughter. “Hey, can I ask you something weird?” Jennifer asked. “There’s something I had been meaning to ask you since the revelation of the drugged juice.” “What’s that?” “It brought up a memory of getting something similar poured down my throat.” “Something to knock you out so you don’t fight back or make a commotion.” “Yeah, but I was wondering, something you told me about back then made me wonder. Did you have any memory gaps around the time you were held hostage?” She saw a strange look in Carol’s eyes. “Why do you ask?” “ I figured I had been drugged and that’s why I don’t remember much. But there is something I do remember. My aunt kept a bottle of expensive tequila in her desk drawer. I remember him finding it and pouring himself a drink.” “Is it still there? Party in your office?” “No, I think…we already drank it.” Jennifer said, studying her confused face. “I wasn’t watching what he was doing with it, but I remember he was holding it at one point. I was so angry at her I stole the bottle a few days later and put it in the vent in my room. You told me we drank it all when we were held there.” “Are you saying you roofied me?” Carol asked before letting out a sigh. “That…explains a few things.” “Like what?” “Like how I woke up with no idea where I was for the last five days with enough drugs in my system to sedate a horse. The hospital accused me of either stealing the drugs and going on a bender or trying to commit suicide. One day I was sitting in my car and saw you riding your bike and it started coming back, bit by bit.” “So you didn’t come back because…you forgot about me?” Jennifer asked. Carol grimaced and hung her head. Jennifer began to laugh. She couldn’t help it. This whole situation was so crazy. “I don’t know why, but that makes me feel better. Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been going around this whole time thinking you abandoned me, well, since you told me about it.” “How is ‘I forgot you existed’ any better? I’ve felt terrible about it. Then I thought it was because of the carbon monoxide, but five days wouldn’t cause that, you’ve been breathing it in for years.” “Maybe it was both? Like a perfect storm of events. Drugs, carbon monoxide and trauma.” “Traumatised? I wasn’t the one traumatized. You and the kid, yes, but-” “You were held prisoner for five days with three other people eating nothing but expired MRES and beat up. Of course you were traumatized. It isn’t a contest.” Jennifer said. “Eve said we all thought we were going to be killed.” “It was looking that way.” Carol admitted. “At least the kid was young enough not to know what was going on.” “I saw her pictures at the police station.” Jennifer said. “Those were…” Carol let out an exaggerated breath. “No wonder she’s so messed up.” “She said she only drew a recurring nightmare, but our therapist thinks there’s truth to it. I think he’s the adult body they found with the kids.” “Yeah, yeah, I think so too.” Carol said. “Well,” Jennifer said standing up. “I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. I’ll let you get back to your book.” “Is she coming back to school soon?” Carol asked with a stretch. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. She keeps having these dissociative episodes. I might have to do what I did with Matilda and put another desk in my office and have her do independent studies.” Carol snickered. “Good luck getting anything done.” “No kidding.” Jennifer said as she walked out the door. The office staff greeted her warmly when she walked in. They asked her how her “vacation” was. One woman even thought she had gone to the Bahamas with her boyfriend. “One of my kids is sick.” Jennifer explained. They wished Matilda a speedy recovery. Jennifer didn’t correct them. She sat at her desk and scowled at the large pile of forms waiting for her. She was starting to understand why Agatha kept tequila in her desk. She really hated paperwork. Jennifer was only halfway through when the phone rang. Please don’t be Matilda. Please don’t be Matilda. It was.

All Hortensia could do when she opened her eyes was cry. She couldn’t move. The pain was intolerable. She had tried to sit up, but it felt like everything was ripping open inside her. She could feel something warm and thicker than urine sliding in between her butt cheeks. Blood. Fear gripped her. All she could picture was a nappy full of gore. They had tried to hide it from her, but she had seen. It had bled a lot when she had scratched the odd lump she found open a couple of nights ago as well. “Miss Honey!” She cried out. Her voice had a panicked whine she didn’t recognize. Miss Honey bolted up, took one look at her face and lunged for the pill bottle. “Water…water…I’ll get you some more.” She ran to the bathroom and came back with a little cup. Hortensia raised herself to her elbows and swallowed the pill down. “It broke open! I’m bleeding!!” she cried. Miss Honey ripped the blankets off her and yanked the nappy open in the back before letting it slide back into place. “You’re okay, sweetheart.” Miss Honey said softly behind her head. “You’re not bleeding anymore.” “But I can feel it! It opened up when I tried to move!” “It’s not blood, it’s alright. You’re okay.” It’s not blood. It wasn’t, there’s nothing there. “Were you able to get any sleep?” The woman's hand had begun stroking her hair. Hortensia shook her head, too busy trying to fight back down the frightened tears to answer. She must have dozed off at one point because Miss Honey had no longer been reading to her, but had been asleep beside her. Most of Hortensia’s night had been spent listening to Miss Honey talk in her sleep. In any other circumstance it would have been amusing. Matilda hadn’t been kidding. You really could have a whole conversation with her in her sleep. “I’m sorry.” The hand that had been running through her hair was yanked away. “I promised I wouldn’t push myself on you and here I am doing just that.” “Do I have to go to school today?” Hortensia asked into the pillow. “It really hurts!” “No, honey, don’t worry about school right now. You need time to heal.” Hortensia let out a relieved breath. She had been dreading school all night. How could she be expected to sit still in a hard plastic chair all day? She could hardly push herself up. “Do you want to try getting up?” She did not. She shook her head and closed her eyes. “You need to get cleaned up sweetheart, you can’t stay like that. It will only make it hurt worse.” Hortensia grimaced and pulled the blanket up over her head. “Tell you what, let me go say good morning to everyone and call the school. Then I’ll come back and we’ll get you in the shower. How’s that sound? It’ll give you a chance to get your bearings a bit before we get you on your feet.” Hortensia grunted in acknowledgement. Anything so she could go back to sleep. “Don’t fall asleep; I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sure. Sure. “Tens, sweetheart. It’s time to get up.” The blanket was pulled off her. Hortensia’s eyes slowly opened. “You don’t want a rash on top of everything else.” Psh. A rash. What was a rash compared to everything else? “Give me your hand. We’ll take it nice and slow.” Reluctantly, she grabbed for Miss Honey’s offered arm and pulled herself into a sitting position. “That’s it. How do you feel?” “Dizzy.” Hortensia mumbled. The infernal burning had turned into a dull ache. “Hold onto my arm, you’re almost up. Take your time.” As Hortensia was making her way to her feet, she was aware of more warmth accompanied by a faint noise, like a wet gurgle. She could feel the color draining from her face. She let out a strangled cry. Miss Honey’s eyes darted left and right, searching for the source until they finally fell on her. “Are you sure it’s not blood?” Hortensia asked in a small shaky voice. “It happened when I tried to get up.” “Doctor said that could happen if you strain.” Miss Honey said gently. “I wasn’t pushing it out!” “No, not straining to go, but straining your body, like if you cough or sneeze. The muscle in charge of keeping everything… contained needs a bit of R and R and is taking a little break. I know it’s out of your control right now.” “I can’t go to school like this!” “I told you not to worry about school. One thing at a time.” She was led by the arm into the bathroom where Miss Honey turned on the faucet. She stared at her for a moment as she shuffled around. “Do you think you’ll need any help?” Hortensia remained silent. It was a simple question, but she couldn’t get herself to say no. Her mind had gone blank. She didn’t want to make a decision or answer any questions, she just wanted to go back to bed. “Tens?” She could feel her eyes begin to well with tears. “It’s alright, honey, let me help you.” “I want to lie down.” Her body felt heavy and sluggish, like she was moving underwater. She felt her shirt get lifted over her head, leaving her standing naked except for the soiled nappy. “Soon. You don’t have to take a full shower, I’m just going to rinse you off. It’ll be real quick. See? Look at this.” Miss Honey eagerly pulled the shower head off the holder. “They make detachable ones now!” “Yeah,” Hortensia mumbled as Miss Honey let it dangle on its cord. “We had one at the house. I had to hose Matilda down with it.” “Hmm, maybe we should get Matilda to come clean you up, seems only fair.” “No!” “I’m only joking.” Miss Honey said gently. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” Hortensia watched her dig around in a couple cabinets before tearing a plastic bag off a roll. “Go on and step in.” She clung to Miss Honey’s arm for balance as she slowly lifted a leg over the rim of the tub before repeating the process, wincing with pain as she did so. Miss Honey held the bag open in front of her. Hortensia stared at it, then up at the woman who flashed her a sympathetic smile. “For the nappy.” Hortensia reached for the tabs and froze. Another gory image crossed her mind. Panic welled within her and she shut her eyes, sure now more than ever Miss Honey had lied to her. Her throat constricted with emotion. “Do you want me to do it?” Hortensia nodded her head, eyes still shut tight. She heard the crinkle and rip of the tabs. “Oh, this isn’t bad.” “Is there blood?” “Is that what you're afraid of?” “I’m not scared.” Hortensia said, though her voice came out sounding meek and fearful. “There’s a little bit, but it’s nothing like it was.” Miss Honey said. “Do you want to see?” Hortensia shook her head. She could hear crinkling plastic before feeling warm water begin to spray at her waist. “Does the water feel okay? It’s not too hot or cold?” “It’s fine.” Hortensia mumbled. Miss Honey turned her this way and that, but Hortensia still refused to open her eyes. “Do you want to try going potty?” Hortensia thought of the toilet, imagined sitting on it, imagined organs coming out. “No.” she whimpered. She was starting not to care if Miss Honey thought she was being childish. She wished her curiosity hadn’t gotten the best of her when Miss Honey collapsed. She had nearly lost it herself. She had even puked all down the front of her gown. “Are you sure? You were dry. You must need to pee.” She did. The running water wasn’t helping. She let out another scared whimper and nodded. “That’s what I thought. I’ll dry you off and you can sit on the toilet for a bit.” She adamantly shook her head. That would make her organs come out easier. “Are you hurting too much for that?” She nodded. It wasn’t a complete lie. It did hurt, but the pill had kicked in now. It didn’t eliminate the pain, but it took the edge off, made her feel less like she had taken a jagged knife up her arse and more like she had had the biggest, dryest shit of her life. “It’s alright, you can pee there, just, can you turn to the side and squat down? I don’t trust that booty of yours. Hold on to the railing with your other hand. That’s it. You can open your eyes, there’s nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart.” Hortensia shook her head again and slowly lowered herself down sobbing as she did so. She had only meant to pee, but her back end had relaxed as well and she could feel it burning as it exited her. Hot blood. She began to sob harder. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” Miss Honey kept whispering. “It’s only liquid. You’re not hurting anything. Go on and let anything that needs to come out, come out.” She was too afraid to push. What if a piece of her was only hanging by a thread? What if that was all it took? What if she started pooping out an intestine? She had to feel herself just to be sure nothing was hanging out, letting out a hiss of regret. “No, no. Don’t touch. Try and keep your hands off. I know it’s hard when you know you’re not supposed to.” Hortensia slowly opened her eyes and stared up at her. “There’s those pretty blue eyes. It’s okay. Are you all done?” Hortensia nodded and pulled herself up. Miss Honey rinsed her off with the shower head one more time before shutting off the water. She dried her off with frantic speed and led her back to the bedroom. Probably afraid I’m going to shit on the floor, Hortensia thought. Yep. She was pulling out another nappy and motioning for her to lie down. The other ones were better, she mused. These reminded her of hospitals and old folks' homes. What was that word Matilda used to describe old people? Geriatric. “Do you want to put your medicine on, or do you want me to do it?” Hortensia motioned for her to do it and closed her eyes. Bed. Her eyes popped open as Miss Honey began applying something cold somewhere she was just told not to touch. She’d do it herself next time. “This is Lidocaine, it’s going to help take away some of that burn.” She felt the sprinkle of powder before the sides came up. Now she could go back to sleep. “Do you want to come downstairs or do you want to sleep?” Hortensia slowly rolled over into her sleeping position. “Sleep.” she said into the pillow. There was added weight to the mattress as Miss Honey sat down beside her. She opened her eyes and stared up at her. “Can I ask what’s scaring you at this moment?” Miss Honey asked. “It’s dumb.” “I very much doubt it's dumb if it got you this worked up.” “I-I keep thinking it’s blood and intestines coming out.” Hortensia admitted. “I saw, last night, after you fell.” “Oh, sweetheart, no, that’s not dumb. That scared me too. And when you said you thought it had opened up and was bleeding… I’ve never been so happy to look down a child's pants and see poo.” Miss Honey said with a smile. Hortensia let out something between a laugh and a sob. “If it makes you feel any better I don’t think...” Matilda wandered into the room. “You can poop out your intestines.” she finished. Matilda stared at them with a look that said what conversation did I just walk into? “Your butt hole can turn inside out.” Matilda offered. “It’s called a prolapsed anus.” “Matilda!” Miss Honey hissed. “Not the time!” “You’re the one talking about pooping out organs! And it’s not like we're eating.” Miss Honey sighed and shook her head before whispering, “Get some sleep. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.” … Jennifer was about to ask Matilda how her night was when Hazel appeared at the landing. “Daddy’s making breakfast.” She screamed up the stairs. Jennifer winced. Too early. How could such small kids yell so loud? Breakfast was a sweet gesture, but Jennifer didn’t think she could eat. Her stomach was still churning after dealing with Hortensia. She was proud of herself for not gagging in front of her. It wasn’t Tens’s fault Jennifer was squeamish. She sighed. She survived her first poopy nappy, she just didn’t think it would be for a pre-teen. “I’m not hungry, but thank you.” She said when she sat down at the kitchen table. Brian was at the stove making everyone pancakes. “How is she?” He asked. Jennifer put her head in her hands and shook it. She was so terrified of seeing blood she kept her eyes shut and cried the entire time. Her throat constricted. “She’s overwhelmed.” Jennifer managed to croak out. Brian sat back down at the table and let out a heavy sigh. “I couldn’t stop thinking about Hazel last night.” Brian said softly. “Who am I letting around her? Do I really know them? It wasn’t just The Neighbors, it was her moms best friends.” I’ve had to rely on people to watch her a lot this year. To think it was the person you trusted the most.” “I suppose that's why Eve’s pointing the finger at you, easier to believe it's a stranger.” “Pointing the finger about what?” Matilda asked. Jennifer went quiet. Little ears were listening. “About what?” Matilda asked again, more frustrated. She didn’t like being treated like a child. But this wasn’t something she was going to share with the kids. “Eve thinks she picked something up while she was staying with us.” Jennifer said. “But I think she picked it up from the neighbors. If she picked it up there, that means she gets to live with us.” “But what if she got sick here?” Hazel asked. Her eyes locked with Brian’s. “Then someone’s going to die.” She said softly. Brian chuckled nervously. “I believe it. You were pretty angry last night.” They could hurt her, but touch her children and there would be hell to pay. “But don’t worry, we know she didn’t get sick here, because the test shows she has had a history of getting sick at home.” “That’s sad.” Brian said. Matilda wrinkled her nose. “Is this what’s been making her poop her pants? Your room smelled like a barn.” Jennifer scowled as the girls giggled. “Matilda, I need you to be mature about this.” She never thought she’d be telling Matilda to be more mature. “Tens is very sick and can’t help it. She needs our love and support right now.” “Okay.” Matilda mumbled. “And whatever happened between you two. I need you to let it go.” Matilda remained silent. “I’m serious. She really needs a friend right now.” “Fine.” Matilda grumbled. "Do you think Hortensia will want any pancakes?” Brian asked. “Oh, no, she’s slee-” “Yeah.” Jennifer snapped her head up to find Hortensia standing in the kitchen entrance wearing a very mismatched skirt and blouse from her closet. “What are you wearing?” Matilda giggled. “I don’t have any clothes.” Hortensia said. “I’m not coming down naked, so I guess I’m a teacher today.” “A blind teacher.” Matilda giggled. Jennifer was surprised she had come down at all. She looked wobbly on her feet, with a glazed look in her eyes. “I thought you wanted to sleep.” she jumped up and offered her her seat. Hortensia slowly eased herself down. Jennifer heard a soft crinkle and breathed a sigh of relief. That was her favorite skirt. “I heard there was food. I’m starving.” Hortensia mumbled. “Haven’t eaten since yesterday.” “Yeah, that’s how breakfast works.” Matilda snorted. “Of course you’d come down for food.” “Meant lunch.” She sat hunched over, eyes closed, head held up by her palm. “It’s hard to talk.” “You can take my seat.” Brian said, returning to the stove. “How many would you like? Three? Four?” “One.” Hortensia said. “I thought you said you were starving?” Matilda scoffed. Jennifer frowned with concern. She had seen Hortensia eat. She had been feeding her all summer. It was like feeding a horse. “Are you sure you only want one?” she asked. Hortensia nodded. “How about two? Do you think you could eat two?” Hortensia shrugged. “Two it is.” Brian said. “Jenny?” “Fine, I'll eat one.” “Two it is.” Brian repeated. When he set a plate of them down in front of her she nearly gagged. They had large brown spots all over them. Not the best morning for chocolate chips. “They're good!” Matilda exclaimed. And they were. Jennifer set her fork down with a groan. “I haven’t had this much sugar for breakfast since the time Matilda tried to roofie us.” Jennifer said. “Umm, what?” Brian asked. “You know, when she mixed in those edibles. I told you the story.” Brian’s lips creased into a tight line as he avoided eye contact. “That’s not what ‘roofie’ means.” He whispered the rest in her ear. Nope. Nope. That’s not what happened. But there was something about that… Her vision began to swim. He was handing her a flask, telling her to drink it. “It’ll help you relax. It’ll hurt if you don’t relax.” “No, please don’t!” He grabbed her by the back of her hair and pulled her head up. He began to pour something like extra bitter grape juice in her mouth. She swallowed it down and choked. “I just wanted you to get me out!” she cried as she backed up as far as she could away from him. “I’ll get you out, I just want a small favor first.” “Jenny?” Brian asked. “Are you okay?” “Yeah, yeah. I just ate too much.” Jennifer said. “I think I need to sit on the couch for a bit.” She looked over at Hortensia’s plate. She had barely eaten. “Did you not like them?” “You nearly licked the batter bowl last time I made these.” Brian said. “Wasn’t hungry after all.” Hortensia mumbled. “Do you want to go back up stairs?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia shook her head. She looked like she was going to drop. “Do you want to come sit on the couch with me?” Hortensia nodded. “Yeah, let’s go sit down.” She grabbed her lightly from under the arms and helped her to her feet. “Why are you making that face?” Matilda asked. “Cause it hurts.” Hortensia grumbled. “I thought you were sick.” Matilda scowled. “Matilda, can you get the dishes, please.” Jennifer asked to distract her. “Can I use my powers?” “Yes, fine.” Matilda let out a woop and dishes began to fly. “That never gets old.” Brian said. “It does.” Several voices said at once. Jennifer stopped in her tracks. Her living room was full of ghosts. Jacob, Amber, Billy, and three boys she didn’t recognize. They all stared at her expectantly, in various stages of thereness. All the boys were transparent, but both Billy and Jacob seemed to be barely visible, almost blinking in and out of existence. The only one who seemed the most whole was Amber. Jennifer wondered if it was because she was the most recent. Had time taken away the other's lifeforce? “It’s a little crowded here.” Jennifer mumbled. “What?” Matilda asked. She looked around the room. “There’s no one here.” Her face fell. “Are you telling me to leave?” “No. No, sweetheart, you’re fine. Why don’t you put on a movie for Tens. Something happy.” They had been collecting more and more family friendly VHS tapes from yard sales. Didn’t want another episode of walking in on the kids watching Silence of the Lambs again. She had had to explain to Hazel it wasn’t actually about baby sheep. Matilda had been sent to her room for putting it on knowing full well it was not a farm movie like Babe or Charlotte's Web. “Land Before Time?” Matilda suggested. “That’s not happy.” Hortensia mumbled. “Not Littlefoot's mom. That makes me cry.” Hazel said. Matilda’s face paled. Of all the movies she could have picked… Jennifer dug through her stack of videos. Fox and the Hound? No, not the scene of Todd being left in the forest. Charlotte’s Web? No, she dies and the babies leave him. The Never Ending Story? That gave Matilda nightmares about horses for weeks. Homeward Bound, Forrest Gump, Air Bud. Why were all these so depressing? “The Princess Bride, Hook or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!” Hazel exclaimed, jumping up and down as she karate chopped the air. “Hey! Settle down!” Brian said, walking in from the kitchen. “Let Hortensia pick since she’s not feeling well.” “Nightmare.” Was all Hortensia had managed to get out. Nightmare Before Christmas it is, Jennifer thought, looking for the case amongst the pile she had amassed over the summer. She looked down and groaned. “Girls, you need to rewind the tapes after you finish watching them.” She slipped out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that too was unwound. She slipped it in the VCR just in case she got it backwards, but the credits popped up on the screen when she hit Play. Matilda bent and picked up The Nightmare Before Christmas. “Race you.” she said, gripping the tape in both hands. “Let’s see who's faster, the VCR or me.” Jennifer’s eyes flickered to the eager faces, both living and dead. She hit rewind. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles won by a landslide. Matilda couldn’t use her powers without moving her eyes. They kept going round and round with the tape. Hazel, Matilda and four dead boys sat on the floor in front of the telly. “You can stretch out on the couch if that’s easier for you.” Jennifer said, taking a seat on the couch. “If you put your head in my lap you can lay down.” Hortensia seemed to weigh her options before slowly easing herself down. “There you go.” The girl leaned against her shoulder, but seemingly ran out of gas and stopped. It didn’t look very comfortable, so Jennifer re-positioned her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder so that she was cradling her against her chest. Hortensia’s eyes had closed and within minutes, she had fallen asleep in her arms. She absentmindedly brushed her fingers through Hortensia’s hair as she studied her features. She thought of the girl trembling in fear in her bathtub and sighed. Matilda had gotten bored with the movie and had wandered away, Brian was asleep in the armchair, but Hazel and the ghosts were watching intently. Amber was sitting on the arm of the chair beside him staring longingly at her daughter. It was the first time Jennifer had seen her not preoccupied with the only two living people who could interact with her. She was different from the other ghosts, she was still non corporeal, but she could interact with objects and touch her while the others could not. “Hey, Hazel.” Jennifer said. The girl bent her head backwards to look up at her. “Why don’t you go get in your daddy's lap.” The little girl stood and catapulted herself into Brian. Not quite what she had meant. Jennifer winced as Brian let out a startled cry of pain, but she couldn’t keep the amused grin off her face. “Hi,” Brian said. Hazel was giggling but suddenly stopped. “It got cold all of a sudden. Is the AC on?” He asked. Jennifer shook her head. Amber was trying to hold them both. His face suddenly fell. “Is it okay that she’s getting into that stuff?” Jennifer looked away from the bittersweet scene and followed his gaze. Matilda was sitting cross legged on the floor going through the contents of a bag. Hortensia’s hospital bag. She was reading through the after visit summary. “Matilda! Get out of there!” Jennifer shouted, but the look on the girl's face told her it was too late. She had already seen. “That’s not a stomach virus.” Matilda said. “No, it’s not.” Jennifer said softly. “Get out of that stuff, come sit with us.” “What-” Matilda started to ask, but Jennifer put a finger to her lips and pointed at Tens, who was fast asleep in her arms. Matilda stared at the two of them for a long time. “Does this bother you?” Jennifer asked. Matilda was silent for a moment before shaking her head. Jennifer scooted over as much as she could leaving a small gap between her and the armrest. She patted the spot, Matilda stared at her for a moment before laughing. “I’m not going to fit.” But she climbed up anyway and made herself fit. Jennifer put an arm around her and held both girls tightly against her chest. “How?” Matilda whispered. “I don’t know.” Jennifer whispered back. “Hasn’t she said?” “Let’s not talk about this.” Jennifer said. Brian stretched before meeting her eyes. “I’m going to do that test today.” Brian announced. “Would it be too much trouble to leave Hazel here with you? I know you have your hands full.” “Not at all.” Jennifer said. “What test? I like tests.” Matilda said. “Only you.” Hortensia mumbled, eyes still shut tight. “I don’t think you’d like this test.” Brian said. “It’s a medical test.” “Oh.” Matilda said.. “Do you really have to stick a q-tip in your ure-” “Okay, no more of that topic.” Jennifer said. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you read Carol’s old textbooks.” “Yeah, that…that’s umm…” Brian scratched at his head before shuddering again. “Unsettling.” he mumbled. “I like knowing stuff.” Matilda said with a shrug. “I know you do, but it’s a very inappropriate topic for you to be spouting off about.” Jennifer said. “Especially at your age, and in front of the other children.” She waved her hand amongst the sea of confused faces. “Hazel is a child, not children.” Matilda said. “Remember what I told you about keeping topics age appropriate.” Matilda rolled her eyes. “And not asking Brian inappropriately personal questions.” “Fine.” Matilda grumbled. “I think it’s a blood test.” Brian said before adding. “I hope.” His eyes darted from Jennifer to Hortensia. “Is that what they stole my blood for?” Hortensia mumbled. Brian visibly relaxed. “Maybe.” Jennifer said. “Are you going now?” “Yeah, best to get it out of the way. Peace of mind,” he looked around the room. “For everyone.” Jennifer wanted to assure him she didn’t think it was him, but still, she’d feel better about his presence around the kids with hard evidence. Her mind had been haunting her with “what iff’s” since she heard of Eve’s accusations and it scared her. Scared her that the possibility of Brian being a predator had never crossed her mind even once. She really had sent someone else's child off with him without a second thought. No wonder Eve was angry with her. Would she have thought twice about it if it had been Matilda? When had she let her guard down so much? Because he had kids? Or was she just being biased because she had fallen in lo- “What?” Brian asked. “What’s that face for?” “N-nothing.” She said quickly. She busied herself by kissing each girl's head. Once Brian had let himself out, and the movie had ended, Hazel’s attention had turned back to them. “Where’d daddy go?” Hazel asked. The girl had been so transfixed with the screen she had tuned out Brian’s goodbye’s and explanations. “He has to go get blood work done.” Jennifer said. “He hopes.” Matilda snickered. “Why?” Hazel asked. “To make sure he’s not sick.” Jennifer said. “Why?” “Because Tens is sick and we need to know where it came from.” “One time, this girl came to Sunday School sick and she got everyone else sick too.” Hazel shared. “It’s important to stay home if you're not feeling well.” “I hate church.” Hortensia mumbled. “They make me go.” “Was never a fan of it myself.” Jennifer admitted. “You’d never know Miss Trunchbull was deeply religious, but she was.” “The pews hurt my butt, and it’s boring.” Hortensia mumbled. Jennifer patted her back. She finally didn’t say arse. Small miracles. “Are we going to school today?” Matilda asked. “Not today. You girls might be doing school work at home, or Hortensia will be joining us in my office.” “Why?” Matilda asked with a frown. “Because she’s not feeling well and it hurts her to sit.” “Syphilis doesn’t hurt.” Matilda said. “Faker.” “There’s sores in my butt.” Hortensia said softly. “They hurt.” And on the front. “Matilda,” Jennifer hissed. “She is not faking it. And how would you know if it hurts or not?” “Sure.” Matilda said unconvinced. “Because I read. The sores aren’t itchy or painful.” “It does if you scratch it open.” Hortensia groaned. “It’s infected.” Jennifer said. How she had even found it in order to scratch it open Jennifer couldn’t understand. It was a knuckle deep, at least. No way she had found it wiping, like she had said. But would Jennifer have been able to get her out from their care in time if she hadn’t been in pain? Probably not. “Oh.” Matilda said. “Your infection…got infected?” “Something like that.” Jennifer said. “Let’s not talk about this right now.” Not in front of Hazel. “I’m sorry I laughed at you for getting a tube up your butt.” Hortensia lamented. “It hurt so bad!” “Why’d you get a tube up your butt?” Matilda asked, face wrinkled in disgust. “Remember what happened when you were constipated?” Jennifer whispered. Matilda shuddered. “What did they do that for? We all know you can poop just fine.” Matilda snickered. “Stop it.” Jennifer hissed. “Miss Honey fainted.” Hortensia said with a soft chuckle. “You did?” Matilda asked, shocked. “Why?” “I, umm, got a little woozy.” She figured it was a mix of seeing the blood and hearing Hortensia screaming in pain. “They put it in wrong and cut me.” Hortensia said. “A whole bunch of blood came out.” Matilda’s face paled. “That’s because you jumped when they put it in. It’s a very sensitive area. The slightest thing could open it up, that’s why it’s important to lie still. ” She held up one of Hortensia’s arms, which was covered in bruises from the Iv line. “How many times did they try to put an Iv in before they got it?” “Twelve!” Hortensia hissed. “And were you lying still and letting them try?” Hortensia grumbled under her breath. She’d take that as a no. Thankfully, the subject had soon changed. Jennifer was in the middle of listening to Hazel’s description of her classroom when she felt moisture on her arm. She looked down and found Hortensia’s face buried in the crook of her arm. She had either fallen back asleep and started drooling or… Jennifer could see her body violently rising and falling with choked sobs. “Honey, are you okay?” Jennifer whispered as she rubbed her back. “Do you need a change?” she asked after a pause. Hortensia shook her head. “Did the pain pill wear off already?” She looked at the clock. She couldn’t have any more for at least another hour. Again, she shook her head. “Would you tell me what’s wrong?” Shake. “Matilda, could you take Hazel up to your room and play?” She watched as the girls slowly ascended the stairs and turned her attention back to the distraught lump in her lap. She had started off leaning against her chest, but over the course of the morning, she had slowly dragged herself into Jennifer’s lap without her noticing. All promises of Jennifer keeping her hands to herself had gone out the window. It had been a dumb thing to say anyway. Hortensia wasn’t an adult who needed space, she was a child. A broken child who needed to be loved and comforted. “Please talk to me.” Jennifer whispered, running her fingers through Hortensia’s hair. “E-e-e-very-thing’s a-a-always m-my f-f-f-ault!” Hortensia sobbed. “No, Tens, this isn’t your fault.” Jennifer said softly. “It’s my fault for picking at it! It’s my fault it bled! It’s my fault they couldn’t get the Iv in!” “Sweetheart, I wasn’t blaming you. I just wanted you to understand why you need to stay still. I know it’s hard to do when you’re scared. I’m sorry I made it seem like I was blaming you.” Hortensia didn’t respond, only cried until she didn’t have the energy left in her to cry anymore. “You’ve been strong for so long.” Jennifer whispered when Hortensia had finally settled down. “How have you been keeping this to yourself all this time?” She didn’t answer. “When I was only a few years older than you, I asked a very large man for help. Instead of rescuing me, he took advantage of me.” Jennifer explained. “What do you mean?” Hortensia mumbled. “He raped me, and the person who was supposed to look after me let him.” Jennifer said. “Does this sound anything like your situation?” Hortensia shook her head. “So Cynthia wasn’t letting Aiden…” Hortensia shook her head again. “I wasn’t raped.” Hortensia said. Jennifer shut her eyes. Hortensia didn’t understand. She was in denial. “Whatever he told you, whatever he made you believe to get you to agree, it was still rape. It’s called grooming.” Hortensia shook her head. “They got it wrong. I wasn’t raped. I’ve never been raped.” Jennifer frowned. “Sweetheart, even if you agreed to have sex…” The doctor had told her it was definitely an adult. “I’ve never had sex.” Hortensia said. “I didn’t even know what sex was until Mrs. Rodgers gave me that talk.” she shuddered. “Tens, you don’t need to lie anymore. You’re not in trouble, you’re safe.” “I’m not lying! I- I don’t, I don’t know what’s going on!” Fresh tears were sprouting in her eyes. So Jennifer did need to explain. “Tens, you have a sexually transmitted infection. Those sores came from someone else who has sores. Their genitals had to have come into contact with yours. And no, you couldn’t have gotten it from a toilet seat or bath water. Whether you agreed to it or not, they are in the wrong. An adult did this.” Hortensia looked confused. “I didn’t.” Hortensia said. “What about when you were little? When you told people Aiden…” Hortensia shook her head. “I was stupid and didn’t know what ‘rape’ meant. I had heard the word and asked mom what it meant. She said it was when someone touches you when you don’t want them to. Aiden was tickling me and I didn’t want him to…” “And no one explained?” “Everyone started making a big deal out of it. I was too scared I’d get in trouble to explain. Mom took me to the doctor, and they said it didn’t happen. Then I had to go to church for counseling, and they said I had made it up because I was upset over dad leaving us.” “So then Aiden…” Hortensia shook her head. Jennifer wasn’t sure she believed her. Was she protecting him? “Tens, I’m going to be blunt with you. Someone raped you, repeatedly. We know this for a fact, there is no mistake.” “But…no. I couldn’t have been. I’d know.” “Yes, honey.” She could hear the phone ringing. “I need to get that. It’s probably your mom.” “Don’t tell her.” Hortensia mumbled into Jennifer’s arm. “She already knows.” Hortensia reluctantly wiggled out of her lap and Jennifer raced upstairs to get the cordless phone. She winced as the prerecorded message played from the jail. It was Eve alright. She accepted the charges and tore the phone away from her ear. “JENNIFER! WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?” The voice on the other end of the line screamed. “She’s here.” Jennifer said once she thought it was safe to put the phone to her ear again. “She’s with me.” “And your boyfriend…?” She growled. “It isn’t him!” Jennifer defended, but stopped. “He’s getting tested now. He’s not here. I’m not taking any chances.” “You keep him away from my daughter!” “Eve, it’s Aiden.” She said softly. “Is that what she told you?” Eve demanded. “Well, no, but-” “It’s. Not. Aiden! You think I don’t keep an eye on who I let watch my only daughter?” “I-I’m not saying that, but-” “He tested negative.” Eve said. Jennifer felt her stomach fall. If not him…who?

Ugh! Yes! I was struggling over trying to think of that word!

Jennifer felt her heart splinter when she saw her. Hortensia was lying on her side in the fetal position, blanket up over her head to shut out the world. Jennifer pulled up a chair by the bed and sat. She reached a hand toward the lump and froze. Jennifer wanted to hold her, and comfort her, and cry with her, and tell her everything would be alright. Instead, she let her hand fall back down in her lap. If she touched her, Hortensia would panic. “How did you know?” a voice behind her asked. Carol was sitting in a chair in the corner. Jennifer hadn’t even noticed her. “You told me she never said she was being abused, but you still knew.” It was in the way she flinched when she was touched. Jumped when her name was called. The rages, the bedwetting. There were so many red flags. “There were signs.” The lump on the bed rolled over and stared at her. Jennifer tried to study her face, but it gave no hint to how she was feeling. She just looked tired. “Don’t ask me anything.” Hortensia demanded. Jennifer bit her lip. She had so many questions, but she nodded and remained quiet. “There’s been a lot of people in and out.” Carol explained in a low voice. “Want to take a walk?” “In a little bit.” Jennifer said. She wanted to sit with Hortensia for a while. She dug in her backpack and pulled out her stuffed dog. “I brought you someone.” Her wall fell for just a second and Jennifer could see the vulnerability and fear in her eyes before her face went rigid and emotionless again. Still, Hortensia accepted the dog and brought it under the covers with her. “I do have one question for you.” Jennifer said softly. “No.” Hortensia said flatly. “Were you the one who made me those pictures hanging in my office?” She knew she had. She had seen the evidence in her backpack, but she wanted to hear it from her. Slowly, Hortensia nodded. “Do you like them?” “I love them.” Jennifer said. “I had no idea you were so talented.” Hortensia shrugged before gesturing to her backpack. Jennifer handed it over. She watched as Hortensia dug through it and produced two envelopes. She handed one to Jennifer and kept the other in her lap. Jennifer opened it to the picture she had seen before. She re-read the note in its entirety. She let out a sound between a half laugh and half sob. She had signed the note Hor-paininthearse-sia. “You are not a pain in the arse.” Jennifer said firmly. “You are a wonderful girl who has been through something no one should go through, especially not as a child.” Hortensia didn’t look convinced. “You’re coming home with me. You’re not going back. You’re not moving away. You’re not going to that camp.” She wasn’t even sure there was a camp anymore. “You’re safe.” “I don’t want to talk about it.” Jennifer was about to ask if she could hug her, but Meaghan had strolled in rolling a cart with something that looked awfully familiar. “It’s time. Are you ready?” Hortensia stared at the contents of the cart and sank further into a ball. “Why?” Jennifer asked. “Doctor has ordered an anoscopy.” Meaghan spoke low so only Jennifer could hear. She must have seen the confusion on her face. “It’s a test so he can get a better picture of what’s going on inside, but we need her to empty her bladder and bowels first. This is standard prep.” “I already went.” Hortensia grumbled. “Remember?” She gestured to the bed. Jennifer didn’t want to know. Why did kids have super hearing only when you didn’t want them to? “We need you completely empty, so we’re going to give you a little something to help speed up the process.” “Am I going to have to drink something nasty?” Hortensia asked. Jennifer stared at the bag of fluid and tubes sitting on the cart with an uneasy feeling. “You won’t taste a thing.” Meaghan said with a sympathetic smile. “I promise.” “Ready for that walk?” Carol asked. Jennifer looked from Hortensia to Meaghan. “Coffee isn’t half bad in the cafeteria.” Meaghan offered. Jennifer went to Hortensia’s bed side. “Do you want me to stay or go, honey?” Hortensia’s eyes were darting around the room looking from face to face for answers. Jennifer could tell she sensed something unpleasant was about to happen. Someone else came in pushing a commode and left. Hortensia’s face soured. “In here? In front of everyone?” “Only who you want.” Meaghan said. “Nobody!” “You’re very brave.” Jennifer squeezed her hand and stood. “Why am I brave for taking a shit in a bucket?” She saw the tubes. Jennifer could see the gears spinning in her head. “They're going to do what they did to Matilda!” Her face filled with panic. “No! No!” She was scrambling to get away. The facade was gone. “Don’t let them! No! DON’T TOUCH ME!” She was trying to get out of bed. “I NEED ASSISTANCE IN BED SIX!” “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Jennifer was trying to keep her from bolting. She was hooked up to the I.V. line. She was going to rip it out if she tried to make a run for it. “It’ll only be uncomfortable for a minute.” Meaghan said. She was flanked now by two orderlies. “Tens, it’ll be over soon. They’ll do their test, and then we can go home and you can soak in the tub.” “It has to happen, kiddo, this is important. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way like the Iv.” Jennifer didn’t want to imagine what it took to put an Iv in her. But Hortensia wasn’t listening, she was thrashing against the orderlies who were pinning her down on the bed and sobbing. Jennifer stood horrified. “Isn’t there another way? Can’t she drink something, or wait for it to come out on its own?” Jennifer asked. “No, sorry, we need to get this done as soon as possible for the investigation.” Meaghan explained as she hung the bag of saline on the Iv pole. “It’s only going to hurt if you fight. You need to relax.” One of the orderlies had rolled her onto her side where Jennifer could see a soiled hospital gown and pad. “If you want any kind of privacy, you’re going to have to stop fighting, or this is going to happen in front of a whole room of people holding you down.” Jennifer bent and picked up the dog that had rolled onto the floor. “Hold your dog and it’ll be over soon.” Jennifer whispered. She sat in the chair. She knew she’d regret staying, but she couldn’t get herself to leave. She reached out and grabbed one of Hortensia’s hands. “Or squeeze my hand.” Hortensia was still sobbing, but at least she had stopped thrashing. She felt a hand squeeze hers. Jennifer nodded to Meaghan. “Do the men need to stay and hold you down?” With a sob Hortensia shook her head. “That’s a brave girl. It’ll be okay.” Jennifer whispered. “Do you want me to leave or stay?” Hortensia let out an unintelligible sound. “I’ll be in the cafeteria.” Carol said. “Are you going to stay with her?” “Don’t go.” Hortensia said in a pitiful small voice. “Do you want me to stay?” Hortensia nodded and wiped her face. “Let’s move these papers out of the way.” Meaghan said. She reached for the folder but Hortensia snatched it before she could grab it. “Do you want me to put them in your backpack?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia nodded. Jennifer took them. She was about to slide them in when she froze. The ghost man was standing in the doorway pointing at the folder in her hands. This is what he had wanted her to get. “I’m going to start.” Meaghan said. Hortensia let out a nervous whine. “It’ll be okay.” Jennifer said, squeezing her hand and slipping the folder into the pack at her feet. She could look at it later. Meaghan handed her a green bag. Jennifer took it. Her eyebrows creased in confusion as she looked it over. “I remember you from last time. You looked a little green.” Jennifer forced a smile. “I’m not going to throw up.” “She’s not going to make it to the commode. Don’t watch this.” Meaghan whispered before placing another pad on the bed. “I’m going to clean you up a tad. This might be a little cold.” She said, turning her attention back to Hortensia. “A LITTLE?” Hortensia shouted, nearly jumping. “Try and stay as still as possible for me. I’m going to put it in on the count of ten, alright? One-” Jennifer was aware of two things. Hortensia’s screams of pain and the bones in her hands being crushed. “I know it hurts, and I’m sorry…” “TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OUT!” “I can’t; I’m sorry. It’ll be over soon, just try and bear with it, just a little longer.” “IT HURTS! IT HURTS!” “You’re hurting her!” Jennifer said, horrified, It wasn’t like this for Matilda! What was happening? “Is this because of the sore?” “The doctor will tell you more when he takes a look.” Jennifer stared at the bag, willing it to drain faster. She had never heard a child scream like this. Her body broke out in a sweat, her slippery hands nearly sliding out of the girl's crushing grasp. Go faster. Go faster. “Whatever you do, don’t look over here. Stay in your seat as you are.” “What’s going on?” Jennifer asked. Was something wrong? Was she going to be okay? Then the smell hit her. She began to cough. She could taste bile. Jennifer tried to take slow deep breaths, but began to gag. “Make sure it gets in the bag.” Meaghan said without looking up. “I’m fine.” Jennifer choked out before dry retching. She could do this. She could do this. The girl screaming and sobbing was enduring far worse. She should be concerned, not grossed out. “We’re all done. You did it. I’m going to pull it out.” She could see Hortensia’s body visibly deflate. There was indeed no hope of making it. Matilda had been different. Why wasn’t she making her hold it and watching the clock? “There you go. I bet that feels better now.” “I can’t. I can’t move.” Hortensia cried. “It’s alright hun, I knew this was going to be messy going in. Go on, let it out there. We’ll get you cleaned up in a bit and then I’ll get you something for the pain.” “Pain first! Pain first!” Hortensia begged. “I’ll get you situated, don’t worry. You finish up and I’ll put in the order, but I can’t inject it into your Iv until everything’s sterile again. Meaghan exited out the curtain as she heard another patient complain about the smell. “You did it. You’re done. It’s all over.” Jennifer said softly to the crying girl on the bed. She lightly brushed her thumb over her hand. “It-it hu-hurts so ba-ad.” “She’s getting you something. You’ll feel better soon. You might even be able to sleep for a few minutes.” It was getting late. She wondered if Matilda was in bed, or if she was trying to stay up waiting for them. She pictured her asleep alongside Hazel, oblivious to the evils of the world. She could feel her eyes burning with tears. “I’m so sorry, Tens. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” “D-did Ma-Matilda cry t-t-too?” Hortensia asked. “Yes, she did.” Jennifer said with a sniffle. “She couldn’t hold it either.” It certainly wasn’t to this extent. “I’m surprised they didn’t have you on a bedpan like they did her.” “Hurt too much.” Hortensia said letting out a shaky breath. “What is it that hurts?” “My arse!” “I know that, but where? Is it the outside, inside? The opening?” “I don’t know, it just hurts! Stop asking me questions!” “Alright, I’m back. Are you all emptied out?” Meaghan asked, coming up behind Jennifer. Hortensia nodded. “Have you peed? I don’t see any pee.” Hortensia shook her head. “I need you to pee as well.” “On myself?” “Hun, we aren’t saving any of this. I mean, if you really want to go in the commode, but at this point, let’s just contain the mess to one place.” “I’m not looking.” Jennifer said. She could see Meaghan digging through drawers for supplies as she flexed her now free hand. “You’ve got quite the grip.” “Have you peed yet?” Meaghan asked, slipping on fresh gloves before setting down a package of wipes, a fresh gown and more pads on the counter. “I-it’ll g-g-get on and h-hurt more.” Hortensia cried. “I can fix that. Lift up your top leg.” Meaghan slid a folded pad in between her legs. “There, no problems now?” Hortensia shook her head. “Good, there you go. All done? Can I take it out?” Hortensia nodded. “If you want to go to the cafeteria and get some coffee now you can while I get her situated. The doctor should be here in about thirty minutes. We won’t start the test without a guardian present.” Jennifer bit her lip and stared at the tear streaked girl’s face. Her stomach was roiling from the smell, and the thought of fresh air was tempting…but no. She wouldn’t leave. “I’ll wait with her.” Meaghan nodded and began filling a pink tub with water. “Alright, Hortensia, I’m going to get this gown off you.” Hortensia curled herself back into a ball, now naked and shivering. “Are you cold, honey?” Jennifer asked. The girl nodded with a sniffle. “She’ll be done in a few minutes, and then you can have a fresh blan-” her words trailed off as she saw her old gown. Meaghan had quickly bunched it into a ball, but not fast enough. It wasn’t just brown, but bright red. Jennifer jumped to her feet. “No, don’t loo-” Something foul was burning her nostrils. She let out a soft moan and opened her eyes. Her head was pounding under the bright fluorescent lights. Someone she didn’t recognize was waving something small and white under her nose. She turned her head to get away from the acrid smell. “She’s coming around.” they announced. “Told you not to look.” Meaghan said, coming into view before bending down and helping her into a chair. “How’s your head? You hit the ground hard.” “I’m fine.” Jennifer mumbled. “I just wasn’t expecting…so much blood.” Meaghan put a finger to her lips. “Don’t scare her more than she already is.” She whispered. “That’s the thing with injuries in and around the anus. The skin is very thin, tears easily, and bleeds like the dickens. That’s why it’s so easy to get an STD. I would have kicked you out had I known you were this squeamish.” “I’m fine.” Jennifer grumbled. She stared at Hortensia, who was already now clean, and wrapped in a blanket. “How long was I out?” “Only a couple minutes.” “You work fast.” “Not as fast as a dose of Hydromorphone.” Meaghan gestured to the bed. “She’s asleep?” Jennifer asked, surprised. Good. She frowned for a moment in thought. Her chair by Hortensia’s bedside was now occupied by the dead man. He looked so… sad. She didn’t know ghosts had any feelings, but his body posture alone seemed to prove otherwise. Jennifer pulled up her chair beside him and studied the two of them. What was his connection to her? Why did all the ghosts seem to stick to her in particular? Was it because she was closer in age to most of them? She had said they had wanted her to play with them. “Who are you?” Jennifer whispered. His victims were the sick and vulnerable, but he looked neither, apart from being dead. Was he gay? Did he get murdered after a one night stand? Aiden clearly had a preference for boys. Hortensia’s eyes slowly fluttered open. “Hi, sweetheart, are you feeling any better?” Jennifer asked, but her eyes weren’t focused on her. “Daddy?” Hortensia whispered. Jennifer felt her heart sink. Daddy. Her vision was beginning to blur with tears. She grabbed Hortensia’s backpack and stood. “Honey, I’ll…I’ll be back.” Tears began to freely fall as she stood in the elevator and put her head against the wall. So that’s what happened to Hortensia’s dad. That’s where he’s been all this time. Dead. And less than a hundred feet from where his daughter played. How could life be so cruel to one person? A child no less. She found Carol sitting alone with a to-go cup of tea at a table. She flopped down in the chair across from her and put her head in her hands. “Why?” Jennifer asked, wiping her eyes with her wrist. “Why did this have to happen to her?” “Sometimes the monsters in this world aren't the shadows in our closets, or underneath our beds. The monsters are the people hiding in plain sight. Our neighbors, or our own family members…you know this.” “I know.” Jennifer sniffled. She felt Carol rub her back. “Hortensia has always been, and most likely will always be, a very troubled girl.” Carol said. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Jennifer looked up at her horrified. “Of course I want to do this! How could you ask me that?” “This isn’t going to be like taking in Matilda, and you have to consider her safety as well.” Carol said. “You can’t think of her as a project either. You can’t fix this. She will most likely carry this for the rest of her life.” “She’s not a project! She’s a person! A child! A deeply wounded child.” Jennifer said before sighing. “She reminds me of Agatha. She was also the victim of incest. She’d get drunk and tell me all about it. I often wonder, would she still be the vile monster she was if someone had stepped in and showed her even an ounce of kindness?” “Nature vs. nurture.” Carol said. “Sometimes monsters are made, others are born evil.” “I’m not going to let her be consumed by hate.” “That’s up to her, not you.” Carol said. “The police were asking me questions about Brian.” Jennifer looked up from rummaging in Hortensia’s backpack. “Why?” “Eve’s pointing the finger at him.” “WHAT?” “He is on their radar, so don’t be surprised if he tells you the police dragged him in for interrogation.” “But..but…no! He would never! How could she think that?” “You did leave her daughter in the care of a man she didn’t know.” “But-” “I don’t think it’s him, relax. A test for Syphilis will rule him out. He doesn’t have any sores on his penis, does he?” Jennifer adamantly shook her head. Carol nodded. “I think this is something that’s been going on for a while. I won’t be surprised if they find old wounds that have already healed.” “Her dad’s not in prison. He’s dead.” “She told you that?” “It’s his bones they dug up.” Jennifer shook her head. “I think Aiden killed him and has been the one pretending to be him to manipulate her.” “Obey Aiden. Listen to Aiden. Do as you're told. I thought there was something off about those cards.” “What if Cynthia put the letter in Eve’s safe to frame her? She was alone with the kids in Eve’s house when Matilda was injured.” She began dumping the contents of the backpack into the table. She found the folder she was searching for and pulled it out of the cluttered mess. It was much thicker than the one with the single picture. She opened the folder and then shut it immediately. She stared at Carol wide eyed. “It’s him. The tall man.” She couldn’t look at him. Carol took the envelope from her and opened it. She flipped through the pages with a stoic look on her face before setting it down. “And that’s who assaulted you?” Jennifer nodded. “He’s massive.” “What was in the folder?” “Nothing you want to see.” Carol stood up with the folder in her hand. “There’s the cop who was asking me about your boyfriend. I’m going to give it to him. They need this.” … “There you go. You’re almost inside.” Jennifer whispered. She had her arm looped around Hortensia’s for support as she slowly waddled up the walk. “We’ll get you upstairs, and then you can soak in the tub before bed. You can use the one in my room, it’s bigger.” She pushed her front door open and tiptoed inside. Nothing but the glow of the television illuminated the house. Jennifer would have smiled if she didn’t feel so numb. The girls were sacked out together on the couch and Brian was asleep in the arm chair. She led Hortensia upstairs, wincing with every step as Hortensia did. She started the bath and added a cup of epson salt to the bottom. Next she helped her get out of her clothes and out of the diaper, wincing as she saw more blood. She balled it up before Hortensia could see and threw it in the trash. “There you go. How’s the water?” Jennifer asked as she helped ease her into a sitting position. Hortensia shrugged and stared straight ahead. “How’s your pain?” “It hurts.” She mumbled. “I’ll give you a pill after your bath.” Jennifer said, kneeling by the tub. “It’s going to be okay.” she whispered before kissing the side of her head. “I’m going to help you get through this. You’re not alone.” “Do you understand what’s going on?” Jennifer asked as she lathered up a washcloth. “Why you had to go through all this tonight?” “I’m sick.” Hortensia said softly. “And do you understand how you got sick?” Hortensia nodded. “This isn’t your fault, sweetheart. I want you to know that. You did nothing wrong.” Hortensia hung her head and began to sob. Jennifer’s throat ached with emotion. “No matter what he told you. You did nothing wrong. You didn’t deserve what happened to you.” “I-I- I don-don’t w-want-t-to- talk a-about it.” “I understand, sweetheart, I do.” She quietly washed her hair before pulling the plug on the bath. “But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’ll always be here for you.” She offered her a hand up and helped her out of the bath. “Where do you want to sleep tonight?” She asked as she toweled Hortensia’s hair dry. The girl remained quiet. “Would you like to stay with me tonight?” She slowly nodded her head. Jennifer led her to the bed and laid the towel down. “Go on and lay down. Whichever is most comfortable for you.” She dug for the supplies they had sent her home with. It was as Carol said. This was not a one time thing. They had found evidence, both vaginal and rectal, for current and past abuse. It was a miracle they didn’t find more permanent damage. It was going to take at least two months to heal physically. Emotionally was an entirely different story. She rubbed the medications and ointments on before sealing up the diaper. The both of them were going to have to get used to this routine. Her sphincter would take time to heal and strengthen. A wave of guilt crashed over her for her teasing. Hortensia had, in her own way, been calling out for help all this time. The list of injuries were extensive. Fissures, tears, scars, sprains, lacerations, the list went on. No wonder she couldn't stay seated. She handed her a shirt from out of her closet to wear and tucked her in. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go talk to Brian and let him know we’re back.” She turned to go, but stopped. She had to make sure. “Was it him? Brian?” Hortensia shook her head. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way downstairs. “We’re back.” She whispered in his ear. He jumped awake. “You’re welcome to stay on the couch. It’s already three.” He rubbed his eyes and looked around. “How is she?” Jennifer shook her head. “It’s bad. I’m surprised they released her. They gave her a shot of penicillin. Lots of very invasive tests, questions, and procedures. She’s a mess.” “How are you?” “Also a mess.” She answered honestly. Tears had begun to slide down her face. He stood up and gave her a long, tight hug. She needed that. “How could someone do that to her?” She quietly cried into his shoulder. “Did she say what happened?” Jennifer shook her head. “She shuts down every time someone asks, but she had these drawings. I couldn’t get myself to look at them. Carol said I didn’t want to see them.” She clung onto Brian for a few more minutes before letting go. “I need to go give her pain medicine and go to bed. She’s sleeping in my room with me, so don’t come in.” She bent down and kissed Matilda’s head. The little girl stirred, but remained sleeping. “Goodnight.” She whispered and waved before heading back up the stairs. She got a cup of water from the bathroom and a pill before handing them over. “Did you get it down? It’s big.” Hortensia nodded and handed her the cup back. “Good girl.” She set it down on the nightstand next to her and climbed into bed before rolling over to face her. “I don’t know what the right thing to do in this situation is.” Jennifer said softly. Hortensia opened her eyes and stared at her. “I know what I want to do. I want to hold you, comfort you, and cry with you, but that might not be what you want. So I’m not going to touch you unless necessary. Everyone deals with this differently. But if you ever want or need to cuddle, or need a hug, or just need some affection. Come to me. Come climb in my lap while I’m in the recliner, put your head in my lap when I’m on the couch. And if you need space while you process all this, I’ll give you your space. Whatever you need Tens, don’t be afraid to ask.” “Will you read to me?” Hortensia asked softly. “Of course.” She reached for the book she had been reading on her nightstand and froze. Err, maybe not that one. She got up and went to Matilda’s room and pulled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz off the shelf. She slid back into bed and began reading until she could hear Hortensia’s deep even breaths beside her. Jennifer tore a piece of paper off a notepad and stuck it between the pages before turning off the light and shutting her eyes. “Goodnight, Tens,” Jennifer whispered. “I love you.”

There's been one person who's guessed everything right, and i'm like... damn it xD

I was afraid of it getting pulled after all the work I’ve put into it cause it’s a sketchy topic, but it’s been kind of obvious it was going in this direction for a while

He’s Cynthia’s husband. The neighbors

Just one more hour, Jennifer thought as she stretched. Who’d have thought being the boss would be so… boring. It was nothing but paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. “How’s it going over there, Matilda? You’ve been so quiet today.” Jennifer asked. “Hmm?” the girl looked up from her textbook. Jennifer wished she could tune out the world so easily. Everything was so distracting. The window, where she could see the kids outside playing. How she wished she could join them again. To be able to turn off her mind and forget about the world for thirty minutes, where nothing else mattered but the ball in your hand or the jump rope under your feet. “Is Hazel co-” Matilda started to say, but stopped when the ringing phone cut her off. “Yes, they're coming over tonight.” Jennifer said, butterflies beginning the swarm in her stomach at the thought. She picked up the phone. “Hello? This is Miss Honey.” She frowned. The top form teacher. Now what? Hortensia. Disruptive. Again. What a surprise. Jennifer shut her eyes in annoyance. Why couldn’t she deal with her for once? She was leaving in two days. If she wouldn’t stay seated in her chair then make her stand in the corner or something. But before she could even get a word in, Mrs. Pearl was already sending her to Jennifer’s office. Great. “Guess who’s coming?” Jennifer said sarcastically after hanging up the phone. Matilda snorted. “Maybe she just misses us.” Matilda giggled. “Should I open a window just in case?” Jennifer pressed her fist to her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Carol said she had been sent home for soiling her clothing again yesterday. She sighed when she heard a knock on the door. “Come in.” Jennifer called out. She put on her best rigid and strict face. A feat which was getting easier with her everyday. She was done playing around. But the face that poked their head around the door wasn’t Hortensia. It was Brian. Jennifer stared at him, eyes wide and grinned. “What are you doing here?” Not that she was complaining. She stood up and came around the desk to give him a hug. “Thought I’d come by a little early.” He held out an iced coffee to her. “Thank you!” She gasped, as her eyes widened. “Woah, that’s a lot of pictures!” a small voice said from around Brian’s legs. Hazel was staring wide eyed around the room. “We wanted to add our own.” Jennifer beamed. “Go on and show her what you drew for her.” Brian coaxed. Hazel handed over the piece of paper. Jennifer looked it over eagerly as Hazel pointed to every stick figure in her family, standing and waving in front of her house. Underneath it had her name and age. “And that’s you, Matilda, and Tens next door.” Jennifer’s smile faltered a moment. She did understand Hortensia was not her kid, right?” “I love it, sweetie, thank you. I’m going to hang it up here with my other favorites.” She taped it up next to the framed oil pastel portraits and giraffe. “Woah, who did those?” Brian asked. He came closer and examined them. “Did you buy these? No, wait, that’s Matilda in this one, isn’t it?” “Someone set them on my desk. I have no idea who. I wish I knew, I’d have them teach art classes.” “You’d think someone this good would put their name on the bottom.” Brian mused. “Where’s Tens?” Hazel asked. There was a knock on the door. Jennifer grinned and opened the door. It was time for her first round of punishment. “Hello, Hortensia, please, come in.” “Ten’s!” Hazel cried excitedly, bear hugging the girl the moment she stepped inside. Hortensia let out an audible “oof”. The older girl looked very uncomfortable. “Not so tight!” Jennifer warned. Didn’t want the kid to soil herself again. “Hi.” Hortensia managed to get out. She had her backpack dangling from one arm and a pained grimace on her face. “Will you come over and play a game with us after school? Please, we’re playing Dungeons and Dragons!” Hazel said. “Dungeons and Dragons?” A new voice asked. “Oh! The boyfriends here. Jen, you do realize you're dating a nerd, right?” “Hi Carol.” Jennifer said. “And yes, he is a nerd.” She was well aware of this fact. She found it endearing. “Did you need something?” “Oh, is that iced coffee?” She asked. “It’s so hot.” Jennifer cradled her cup protectively to her chest. “I’ll settle for the key to the supply cabinet, thanks.” Jennifer tossed her a keyring. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work, just wanted to give you our offerings and let you know we’re in the area earlier than expected.” Jennifer smiled and held up her cup. “Very much appreciated.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I was really bored with this.” She gestured to her desk. “I can’t concentrate today.” “Maybe a quick kiss will help.” He put his lips to hers before pulling away. “This is very…” Jennifer grinned before kissing him back. “Very distracting.” she whispered. “Will you come?” Hazel pleaded. “Please.” “You’re welcome to come over, if you want.” Jennifer said. Hortensia bit her lip. “I can’t.” Hortensia mumbled. “I’m grounded.” That’s right. Tens was here for punishment. She had gotten distracted. “Have a seat and wait for me. I’ll deal with you soon.” She walked Brian and Hazel out to their car, and told them to go ahead and let themselves in. She headed back to her office with a spring in her step. Fifty more minutes. Her head was so full of thoughts of cuddling up with him on the couch that she almost ran head first into a man standing in the hallway. “Oh, I’m so sor-” Her voice trailed off. She spun around. Where had he gone? One second he was there, and the next… “Are you alright, Miss Honey?” one of the prefects asked. “Have you seen a man in here? Just now. Tall. Blonde.” “No, Miss Honey, I haven’t seen anyone.” Jennifer rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was tired. She hoped she had the energy tonight to stay up. Last time he was over she had fallen asleep on his shoulder during the movie and drooled on his shirt. He was still teasing her about it. Maybe that’s why he had brought her coffee. “Nevermind, I’m imagining things.” she walked towards her office, an uneasy feeling now in the pit of her stomach. She opened the door and jumped. He was there, standing over Hortensia, staring down at her. “Can I hel-” He vanished! She let out an inaudible moan. Another ghost! Why? Hortensia slowly turned in her seat to stare up at her. “Did you see that?” “See what?” “That man standing behind you! I just saw him out in the hallway, and then just now.” She let out another yelp. There was a transparent woman sitting in her desk chair with her finger to her lips. She heard a faint “shh” in her ear before the woman vanished. Boring, yes, she missed her boring day already. How nice of her boyfriend to stop by and bring her coffee and the ghost of his dead wife. “Don’t go.” Hortensia said softly. Jennifer looked to her and then to her empty desk chair. “You saw her?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia nodded. “That’s Hazel’s mom. I like her.” she said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I met her when I was staying there. She visits me sometimes.” Jennifer's mouth hung open. “She visits you?” Why were different ghosts attracted to her? Amber and now this man Amber didn’t want her discussing. Not like she was going to take orders from a ghost. “Who’s the man?” “You Da man!” Jennifer let her face fall into her palm. “There was another ghost when I walked in standing behind you.” “There was?” Hortensia looked around the room. “Have you seen other ghosts besides her?” “A couple of kids.” “I’ve seen a kid in animal pajamas.” “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen her too, but she’s not one of them.” “Do you know who these children are?” Hortensia slowly nodded her head. “Well?” “The kids they dug up.” Jennifer felt her stomach flip. “Billy’s one of them.” “Billy? I-” Her words failed her. “It’s hard to focus in class when four ghosts want to play with you.” Jennifer opened her mouth and then shut it. All the talking and disruptive behavior… She’d be sending her off to a psychiatric consult if she hadn’t herself been haunted by her boyfriend's ex. “I haven’t seen them.” Jennifer said. “Yeah you have, you tried to get one of them to solve the math problem you put on the board.” Hortensia said. Jennifer couldn’t remember. She had been so focused on showing Mrs. Pearl Hortensia was smart. Very smart. Not Matilda smart, that was a whole nother level of intelligence, but if she could just apply herself, she’d easily get top marks in her grade. Jennifer put her head in her hands. This was too much. “There’s one right behind you.” Hortensia said. Jennifer spun. “Just kidding.” Oh this kid… Why had she been sent to her again? “ I can’t sit anymore.” Hortensia stood up and leaned against the wall, knocking a few pictures to the floor. Jennifer scowled. Now she remembered. She was refusing to stay seated. “Sit. Down. Hortensia.” Jennifer growled. The girl frowned and stared at the chair. Finally she shook her head. “Really?” This girl was getting on her nerves. Insinuating circumstances or not. “It hurts.” she mumbled. “What hurts?” “My ar-my butt. It burns.” Jennifer pinched the bridge of her nose and looked up at her. She frowned. She could see the grimace of pain on her face as she shuffled in place. Jennifer looked at the clock. Thirty minutes left. “Have you talked to Mrs. Rodgers about this?” “Why? She only has ice.” “Not this year. C’mon, follow me.” Jennifer stood up, “Matilda, we’re going to Carol’s office, I’ll be ba-” She stared at the girl hunched over on her desk, face planted in a book. Jennifer grinned. Don’t need a nap, huh? So that’s why she was so quiet through all this. She left her office, Hortensia shuffling along behind her. “Jennifer, hello, what can I do for you? Ready to share that iced coffee with me?” She was not. “I brought you a present.” She nudged Hortensia forward. “My butt hurts.” Hortensia moaned. “How thoughtful.” Carol said, lips pressed together as she eyed her. “Have fun.” Jennifer grinned. … “Alright, you know the drill.” Carol said. She hitched her thumb back towards the beds. “I guess you can lie down until school lets out.” Hortensia shuffled in place. “Do you have anything for it? It really hurts.” Carol frowned. “Not really much I can do. Your best bet’s soaking in the bath when you get home.” “There’s only a shower.” “There isn’t a tub in the house?” “In their bedroom, but I'm not allowed in there.” “Not even if you’re hurting?” Hortensia shook her head. “Does it itch?” She nodded. Carol scratched the back of her head in thought. “Alright, here.” She went to her desk and dug in her purse. “Go in the bathroom and wipe yourself down with this.” “A wet wipe? That’s all you have?” Hortensia scoffed. “It’s medicated, and it's mine.” “What’s it for?” “Piles.” “What’s that?” “Hemorrhoids, it’s an older person's problem, nothing for you to worry about. You probably didn’t clean yourself well enough, and that’s why it’s irritated.” “Does it cause sores?” “Hemorrhoids? Yes, quite painful.” “I think that’s what I have.” Carol scowled. “You’re a little young for that. Have you been constipated?” Hortensia shook her head. “I scratched it open and now it hurts!” “Rule number one: Keep your fingers out of your arse. I can’t believe I have to tell an eleven-year-old this. Go, go clean it. And wash your hands!” Hortensia glared at her before marching to the bathroom in the office. Carol sat at her desk and made a note of it in Hortensia’s folder. She frowned as she looked through all her past notes. This kid sure had been in her office a lot recently for butt related stuff. First soiling herself, now this. She was positive this had to do with hygiene, but she had said there was a sore. She flipped through the older notes. Reason for visit: Skinned knee. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Twisted ankle. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Crushed fingers. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Upset stomach. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Hurt feelings. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Panic Attack. Given Ice. Nothing unusual last year, but the year before that was interesting. Reason for visit: Rage attack. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Rage attack. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Rage attack. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Painful urination. Given Ice. Reason for visit: Pink Eye. Given ice. Reason for visit: Rage attack. Given ice. Reason for visit: Rage attack, Given Ice. Reason for visit: Soiled self. Given ice. Reason for visit: Pain in rectum. Given ice. Why so many rage attacks that year? She went back another year. Her stomach began to sink. She was noticing a pattern. Pain. Rage. Pain. Rage. She could hear a moan coming from the bathroom followed by crying. Shit! She didn’t like what she was seeing. Why hadn’t she noticed this before? She got up and knocked on the door. “Everything okay in there?” More sobbing followed by a “NO! It hurts!” “Come lie down when you can. I need to talk to you.” The bathroom door opened and a tear streaked face emerged. She followed her back to the beds and pulled up a chair. “You were in here for rectal pain two years ago. What caused it?” “I don’t know.” Hortensia said. “You were in my office for five rage attacks that month alone.” And that wasn’t counting all the attacks where they didn’t send her in. “Did something happen?” Hortensia shrugged. “This is important. We need to know.” Hortensia shrugged again. “Damn it, Hortensia! If something happened, you need to tell me!” Carol let out an agitated sigh. The girl had shut down. She went back to the cabinet and pulled out a pair of gloves. “Take off your pants. I want a look at that sore.” “I didn’t realize you were a arse doctor.” Hortensia said sarcastically. “You want to go to Camp Indoctrination?” Hortensia shook her head. “Then take off your pants, underwear too.” Carol locked the door as the girl got undressed. She bent down and looked. It was irritated, but that’s all. “I don’t see a sore.” “It’s inside.” Carol wanted a raise. She slipped the gloves on and spread it open. Fuck, that wasn’t a hemorrhoid. That almost looked like a…Her stomach dropped. She ripped off the gloves and collapsed in the chair. She had seen this plenty of times in her career. She felt numb. She stared at the girl before patting her on the back. “Get dressed. You need to go to the clinic.” “What? Why?” “Because you’re sick.” “Cynthia’s never going to take me.” “I’m taking you.” Hortensia stared at her a moment before sliding her underwear and pants back on. “If I’m not home in an hour I'll get in trouble.” Carol couldn’t make any promises, but if her hunch was right she wouldn’t be going back. She prayed she was wrong. …. “Jenny…” Him moaning her name was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. She had him pinned down on her bed, stroking him. Jennifer squeezed him harder, as she pulled away from his face and gasped for breath. She let out a soft disbelieving chuckle. She wanted him. It wanted him. Slow down. There were other things she still hadn’t tried. She reached into her nightstand drawer and felt around. She pulled out the bottle of cream. “Give me your finger.” she whispered. She squirted a glob of gel on it. “Put it on me.” He clumsily felt around, until she remembered what Carol had said. She moved his finger in place. Her head fell limply onto his chest. Her hand was on top of his keeping him in place. It was so warm. The difference was like night and day. She let out an involuntary groan. “Yes. Yes. Like that. Right there.” She moaned again. She was vaguely aware he had finished. She tried to resist the urge to wipe it off on him. “You’re so vocal tonight. It’s hot.” He whispered. “We’re definitely using that stuff again.” The phone was ringing by her head. She ignored it. They could leave a message. She was close. He was rubbing small, tight, circles. The feeling from the other night was coming over her. A moment later there was a knock on the bedroom door. She gritted her teeth. Not now Matilda! “MOM, MRS. RODGERS IS ON THE PHONE!” “TELL HER I’LL CALL HER BACK!” Jennifer shouted. She could hear a muffled voice outside her bedroom. “SHE SAYS IT’S AN EMERGENCY!” Reluctantly, she reached for the phone with her non sticky hand. “Hello?” She tried to keep her voice as normal and even tone as possible, but his fingers were still doing their thing. She listened. Hortensia was in the emergency room? She removed his hand from her panties and sat up. “Why? What’s going on?” She had only sent her to Carol’s so she wouldn’t have to deal with her. She didn’t know it was serious. “I will explain when you get here.” She hung up and jumped out of bed. “Everything okay?” “No, it’s Tens, she’s in the hospital.” She searched the room for her pants as visions of a mangled child splayed out in a hospital bed danced through her mind. Oh, what if she got hit by a car walking home? Or a bus? “I need to go.” “I’ll drive you.” They both threw their clothes back on and hurried down the stairs. “There you guys are.” Matilda said, sounding annoyed. “We’ve been waiting for you. How long does it take to show him your coin collection?” “Sorry, I’m very passionate about coins.” Brian said, a sheepish grin on his face. “Can we play now?” Hazel asked. “Sorry, change of plans. Hortensia’s in the hospital. I need to go see if she’s okay.” Jennifer said, grabbing her keys off the counter. She looked up and froze. The ghost man was back, now in her kitchen, gesturing impatiently for her to go. “Please tell me someone else sees him.” Everyone looked around before staring blankly at her. She’d take that as a no. They all piled into his van, ghost man included, as Jennifer gave directions. But as they got to the intersection, the ghost began pointing and gesturing to go left. Jennifer frowned. To get to the hospital, they’d have to turn right from here, not left. He continued to point left. The only thing left of here was the school, but why would he want her to go back there? She didn’t have time for this, but the man seemed desperate. Curiosity won out. “Go left, to the school. I left something there.” The ghost nodded his approval. If it wasn’t important, she could always grab her stuffed dog. “I’ll be right back.” The ghost also got out and gestured her forward. She followed him to her office. Everyone was gone now and the school was eerily quiet. She put the key in the lock and opened the door. She went to her desk and retrieved the worn stuffed animal. “Is this what you wanted me to get?” No. He was pointing down at the floor. She came around to the other side and saw a backpack sitting by a chair. Whose was this? She picked it up and opened it. She recognized that notebook. “You wanted me to get her backpack?” Jennifer asked. The ghost nodded and gestured for her to leave. “Why?” He again pointed to the door. Okay, okay. At least one of them cares about her homework. She piled back into the car with the stuffed dog and backpack and directed him to the hospital. When she got out of the car the ghost had rushed inside ahead. She hurried along after him, feeling like a dog owner getting pulled along by the leash. When she got inside she frowned. Carol was waiting for her. Along with a female police officer. She came forward, and before Carol could get a word out, the officer spoke. “Are you Jennifer?” “Yes?” She asked, confused. She looked to the officer then to Carol, who stood quietly with a grim stoic expression on her face. “I have some questions I need to ask you regarding Hortensia.” “Is she okay? What’s going on? Did she do something? Is she in trouble?” “She’s being removed from her current residence pending an ongoing investigation. You have been listed as her emergency contact. Are you prepared to take her in? If not, she will be placed in a group home.” “Yes. Yes! I’ll take her!” Her heart swelled with happiness. Finally! But… why? “Did something happen?” “You were right.” Carol said somberly. Jennifer’s stomach dropped. No! “Bruises?” Jennifer asked. That’s what she had been on the lookout for. “No, I’m afraid it’s much more serious than that.” She could feel stomach acid rising in her throat. “I found a sore in her anus.” Jennifer grimaced. “What? Is it serious? Is it infected or something?” “Yes, and yes.” Oh, no. She must be really sick. “I brought her here as soon as I saw it. I wanted a second opinion just to be sure it wasn’t a hair follicle or zit she scratched open or something before I raised any alarm bells.” “Okay?” “But the test came back positive.” “Positive for what?” Carol averted her gaze. “Positive. For. What?” “Syphilis.” … “I’M GOING TO KILL HIM! I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!” Jennifer was straining, fighting, screaming and kicking to get out of Brian’s grasp. They were in the parking lot. Security had kicked her out. He had her pinned in place with his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. The more she thrashed the tighter he held on. “You need to calm down!” “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. I’M GOING TO KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH!” “You’re going to get yourself arrested!” “I’M GOING TO GUT HIM AND FEED HIS ENTRAILS TO THE PIGS!” “And who will look after her when everyone she cares about is in jail?” “SHE DESERVES TO BE THERE! HOW COULD YOU NOT LISTEN TO YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?” She went limp and began to sob. “H-how could t-they not know? I-It was so obvious!” It had happened to Jennifer just once and it had broken her. Hortensia was…Hortensia just a kid. And how long had this been going on for? He had… he had even sodomized her. He liked children. He liked the vulnerable. And what was more vulnerable than a girl with no more family left or an abused teenager asking for help? She flinched. His dead wife was in front of her, hands on Jennifers shoulders smiling sadly at her. A cancer patient. “Brian.” Jennifer asked softly. “Was your wife assaulted?” She could feel him stiffen against her. His grip laxed around her shoulders so that he was less restraining, more holding her against him. “In the parking garage of the hospital.” He said sadly. “She was already so weak from the chemo. She went downhill fast after that.” “So that’s why I can see you.” Jennifer whispered. His dead wif- Amber nodded. “And Hortensia.” She let out a yelp and jumped. She was suddenly surrounded by children on all sides. She recognized only one. Billy. He was the one she had called on in class. She looked around and gasped at the realization. He wasn’t just a child predator. He was a serial killer. He was the Buckinghamshire Boy Butcher, named for the four dead boys they dug up in the field. Four boys and one man. Her eyes searched for him, but he wasn’t in the crowd of restless spirits. It was odd, He didn’t fit Aidens MO. He had been so urgent for Hortensia to have her backpack. She still had it gripped in her hand. She should go see her. She hoped they would let her in now that she had calmed down. Jennifer wiped at her face. “You can let go. I’m okay.” He held her tightly for a moment in an affectionate embrace before rubbing at her shoulders. “You sure?” “Yeah, I need to go see her. I think i’ve calmed down enough now that I’ve got it out of my system. ” For now. She stared at the backpack. “She needs this for some reason.” She opened the zipper and reached inside for the dog. She pulled it out and frowned. Something green was all over its paw now. She rubbed at it, but it only smeared. Something…oily. She peeked further inside and pulled out a pack of strange looking crayons. “Oh, oil pastels, I haven’t used those in forever.” Brian said. Oil pastels? She opened her backpack all the way. She had seen a beige folder when she had shoved the dog in. Like the kind that had been left on her desk. She pulled it out and opened it. There was a note inside along with a painting of a woman sitting in a chair with a book next to a girl in a bed. Jennifer stared in amazement for a solid minute before she looked at the note. Dear Jenny, I’m sorry I broke your car and that I’ve been a pain in the arse all summer, even though you let me stay with you. I wish I would have had you as my teacher. You just make everything make sense. Mrs. Pearl kept accusing me of cheating on my math tests, until she saw me do that problem you put on the board. Did you see the look on her face? I wish I could still live with you instead of moving. You treat me like I matter. Cynthia acts like I’m a plague. The thing that I miss the most is you tucking me in at night and reading. (Don’t you dare tell anyone!) Jennifer couldn’t read the rest. Her eyes had begun to blur with fresh tears. She put the envelope back inside her backpack and zipped it up. “Would you mind watching Matilda for me? You can go back to my house and start the game. I don’t know how long I’ll be.” “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I’ll call the house if I need a ride.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders one more time and whispered, “The police will handle this. He will get what’s coming to him in prison. They don’t take too kindly to pedophiles.” She walked through the automatic hospital doors and made her way to the front desk. The security guard who had thrown her out stepped in front of her blocking her path. She didn’t have time for this. She held up her hands. “I’m good now. I’m calm.” She was anything but. He had his arms folded across his chest eying her. “Please, I need to be with her. She’s just a kid.” “Steve, let her go.” He stared at her for a few more seconds before he backed down. She stepped around him and over to the window where a middle aged woman in scrubs was working. “Thank you.” she said softly. “What room is Hortensia…uhh…Smith?” She went by Smith, her mother’s maiden name, but it wasn’t her legal last name. It was her father’s last name, German and hard to pronounce, even harder to spell. “Or Bol, err Bul-” “I know who you’re looking for, I’ll take you back there.” Thank God for small towns. “If that was my kid i’d be raising hell too.” she said as they walked into the Emergency room. Jennifer stopped as she noticed a familiar face. “Matilda better not be hurt again.” The nurse who had looked after her daughter the last few trips playfully said when they met eyes. Jennifer shook her head. “I’m here for Hortensia.” The nurse's face fell. “I’m her guardian starting today.” “Can you take her for me, Meaghan?” her guide asked. The nurse, Meaghan, nodded before gesturing her off to the side. “She’s my patient.” “Has she said anything? And you know for sure it’s…sexual?” “Yes,” she said solemnly. “It’s sexual. She tested positive for Syphilis.” “And is there no other way to get it?” “It can be passed from mother to child at birth or through breastfeeding…” She saw a ray of hope. “But the signs of physical trauma indicate rough sexual intercourse with an adult male.” Jennifer shut her eyes. Him. “I want you to know we’re taking this very seriously.” “Has she said who?” She must have for them to take her out of Aiden’s house. “She was talkative when she was first brought in, but the moment the doctor started explaining what her symptoms were from, she shut down. She hasn’t said a word, not to me, the doctors, or the police.” Jennifer nodded in understanding. “I believe it’s her former guardian. She often claimed she hated it there. Her mother told me Hortensia had made allegations against him in the past.” Meaghan’s face crumpled in confusion. “If your kid is saying someone is hurting them, you get them away, you don’t make them their godparent.” “THANK YOU!” Jennifer said, clasping her palm to her forehead. “The police have to know about him! He’s a monster!” She watched Meaghan walk to the nurses station and pick up a clipboard and pen. “What’s this guy’s name?” “Aiden Redding.”

Im losing my touch lol

“What happened a couple weeks ago?” Jennifer looked up from her paperwork. She rotated her cramped wrist. An hour on the adding machine and she was ready to chuck it out the window. “What do you mean?” she asked. She knew what Matilda was asking, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to share. “You were…” Matilda stopped to think, “inconsolable.” There were a few days she didn’t think she’d ever escape the pit of despair she had found herself in. She wasn’t out. But she was stable. Everyday was a step forward. Sometimes there were setbacks. Matilda had come back from recess and caught her crying last week. She still didn’t like being alone in her office. A plea to the kids for artwork had helped. Now her office was full of drawings of rainbows, animals, cars, people, and one very inappropriate rendering of Miss Trunchbull’s burning corpse. She kept it in her drawer for private viewing. Although there was no name printed on the bottom, she had a feeling she knew where it came from. But her two favorites she had framed. Matilda’s giraffe, even though Matilda vehemently opposed the idea, and another. She had found it on her desk the next morning. It was beautiful. Whoever had created this had amazing talent. It had to have been done by one of the staff members, all the student drawings had their names on the bottoms, like she had asked. It was a picture of Matilda bent down over her school desk in her cubby. Purple and yellow flowers were sprouting beneath her feet and all around her. Green leafy vines were running up the legs of her desk.. And next to her were the broken scattered remains of the chokey lying on the ground. Jennifer loved it. She had hung it in her line of sight. It reminded her she wasn’t in this alone anymore. She had someone in her life she had to keep going for. Someone in her life who made her “keep going’s” feel more and more like “living.” Her first thought would be an art teacher, but they didn’t have an art department. Or even the subject. Only a small handful of people even knew Matilda was back there, and all of them were staff members. Well, most of them. She had spotted a few top forms who were in trouble taking a peak, wanting to know what it looked like without the Chokey she supposed. Also, the picture had been done in oil pastels, and she doubted the school had any of those lying around. She had asked Carol if it was her, but she had laughed at the idea and explained she was more autistic than artistic. Her words, not Jennifer’s. “I found an old journal of Agatha’s in the air vent.” Jennifer said after silently debating with herself. “It made me remember some painful stuff.” “Oh.” Matilda said with a weak laugh. “I thought you were upset over Hortensia.” “I lost a baby.” Jennifer said. “They would have been a couple years older than you.” “You never told me you were pregnant! And…and…you had to have only been…” she began counting on her fingers. It was the only time she had ever seen Matilda struggle to wrap her head around a math problem. “I was young.” Jennifer said, fiddling with her pen. “I’m sorry.” Matilda said softly. She must have read the room because she didn’t ask anymore questions. No “Why didn’t you tell me?” or “Who was the father?” It was always hit or miss with her. Sometimes Matilda was so insightful Jennifer was certain she could read her mind. But then she’d follow it up with something so off the wall and out of left field (not to mention inappropriate) that Jennifer could relax knowing her own thoughts were safely inside her head. Dr. Renfield speculated it was due to Matilda’s heightened sense of nearby emotions she wasn’t able to yet distinguish from her own. Jennifer was thankful she had gotten the hang of tuning them out. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Matilda said. Jennifer smiled at her, an action which was becoming less forced and more natural everyday. “What happened last weekend?” “Last weekend?” Jennifer asked with a sickening feeling in her stomach. Please no. Please no. “I don’t think it was my own emotion.” She said, a puzzled look on her face. “Was it?” “What were you doing?” “Playing Playstation with Hazel.” Well, almost had them tuned out. “Wh-what did you feel?” “Hmm…” Matilda said. “Euphoric?” “Well that’s a big word for someone your age.” Mrs. Rodgers said as she poked her head in. Jennifer eagerly waved her in, welcoming the change of subject. “Who’s feeling euphoric?” “Matilda. Hazel was over last weekend and brought her Playstation. Matilda’s never played with one before.” Jennifer said. “She was having fun.” She explained, eyeing the girl. “I don’t know if it was me though. I was losing. What were you doing?” “Yeah, Miss Honey, what were you doing while the kids were distracted?” Carol whispered. Jennifer glared at her. “Talking with Brian in the backyard.” Jennifer lied. … “They won’t notice we’re gone.” He whispered in her ear. So they had gone out to the backyard at her insistence. There were no radios back there. They had climbed onto the porch swing together where she had let him stick his hand in her pants. It was nothing like the romance novels. Or like the other night on the phone. As soon as it would start to feel good, he would do something else or his hand would slip. Maybe her expectations had been too high after the other night. Or worse, what if she was into being watched? Either way, it had left her feeling disappointed. She had been excited to experience that again but eventually, she got too sore to keep going and it never happened. She didn’t tell him that though. …. “Oh, my girl’s already faking her first orgasm; they grow up so fast.” Carol said as they sat in her car on their lunch break. Jennifer groaned. “I’m still so raw.” Jennifer complained, shifting in her seat. She let out a sigh. “I thought…” She wasn’t sure how much she was willing to share. Carol eyed her eagerly like a puppy begging for food. “It would be better.” she admitted. “It’ll happen, don’t give up.” Carol said. Jennifer massaged the back of her head sheepishly. “It kinda, already did.” Carol clung onto her arm. “Jen!” She grinned. “So you two are sleeping together? It is getting serious!” Jennifer sank down in her seat. “No, I didn’t mean that, I meant…” Her eyes went wide. “The thing that happens…” She circled her wrist, hoping to be able to gloss over the details. No such luck. “Spit it out.” Carol teased. Jennifer slumped forward. “...Finish?” she asked with a grimace. “Or-gas-m.” Carol said, sounding it out as Jennifer shook her head. “Say it.” Carol said with a teasing grin on her face. “Orgasm.” Jennifer mumbled in embarrassment. “Well, don’t leave me hanging.” Carol said when Jennifer didn’t elaborate. “We, were, umm, talking on the phone, and he started talking about stuff.” “Stuff, huh?” Carol grinned. “Go on.” “Our night together may have come up.” Jennifer explained. “Yes?” She gave her a pleading look, but Carol wasn’t going to drop it. She sighed in defeat. “We were masturbating.” She finally mumbled. “And, yeah. It happened. So I thought him touching it would feel even better, but it didn’t. It kind of hurt, and he didn’t go inside! I wasn’t ready for that, and now I feel even less ready than before.” “Was he touching the right spots?” “No.” “Did you tell him where they were?” Jennifer sunk back down again. “Jen, you can’t expect him to get it right the first time going in blind. You have to give directions. The package isn’t getting delivered if you don’t give the address.” “Let’s talk about something else.” Jennifer mumbled. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with you, okay? All guys have trouble finding the clitorus, it’s a universal problem and for the rawness, use that cream next time. It’s hard to get in the mood when it’s uncomfortable. ” Jennifer wanted to smack herself. That’s what had been different. That little bottle of cream. Had her long fought nemesis had just become her new best friend? “So then who was feeling Euphoric? It certainly wasn’t you.” Carol laughed. Jennifer buried her head in her hands. “Him.” She mumbled in embarrassment. “Oh! Oh!” She felt Carol slap her on the back. “Wait, don’t tell me he came in his pants just from touching you.” “Eww, no.” All over her decorative pillows they had been canoodling behind. She hadn’t expected… so much of it. Touching it wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be. And seeing the look on his face, head back and eyes closed utterly lost in the moment, had been rather thrilling. She was worried she wouldn’t be any good, or would somehow manage to hurt him, but he seemed to be enjoying himself just fine. “I, umm, returned the favor. ” Carol grinned, her desire for gossip now satiated. Jennifer stared out across the parking lot watching the kids at recess. She was slowly learning all their names. She had kept her aunts scheduled visits to the classrooms, not to show the teachers anything, but just to get to know the students. The younger children had been excited to see her, but to the older ones, she was a foreign entity. Her favorite visit had been last week to the top form classroom to teach math. She had written a rather difficult math problem on the board and asked if anyone could solve it. She offered extra credit to anyone who could, but none came forward. Eventually, she started calling on people, and when she had asked Hortensia, the classroom burst into giggles. Hortensia had given her a rather dirty look, but reluctantly came forward. You could hear a pin drop as she worked it out on the board, and when Jennifer announced it was correct, even her teacher was left speechless. It was the only time she had ever seen Hortensia smile since she had moved out. In the blink of an eye it was gone, but it had been there. “Good job, I’m proud of you.” Jennifer had said softly as she made her way back to her seat. Hortensia had looked almost startled at the words. It was clear that was not a phrase she had often heard. She scanned the kids in search of her, but frowned when she couldn’t find her. “Tens isn’t out here.” she mumbled, more to herself than anything. “She’s been spending her lunch in my office sleeping.” Carol said between bites of her sandwich. Jennifer scowled. “Why?” “Kid came in last week looking like she was going to drop. I offered to let her sleep during lunch and she’s come in every day since.” “But why? Isn’t she getting enough sleep at home?” Come to think of it, she had frequently been in trouble for sleeping in class. “Maybe they aren't as strict as you about bedtime.” Jennifer frowned. She couldn’t imagine that being the case. The bell rang signaling the end of recess. She’d get to the bottom of it another time. For now, it was time to go back to work. She rotated her sore wrist a few more times before reluctantly getting out of the car. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to the adding machine. She spotted Matilda making her way down the steps with her old classmates, but she was trailing behind, not interacting with them. Her frown deepened as she watched. She had a feeling she was missing Hortensia, even if she refused to admit it. Jennifer had been inviting Hazel over more and more so Matilda could have someone to play with, even if the only thing they had to bond over was video games. Work could wait a bit. She strode over to the playground, much to the delight of her old class. “Miss Honey!” They cheered. Jennifer smiled as a group of children ran up and gave her a hug. “I miss you all.” Jennifer said. She listened as Alice told her about her new backpack, and Nigel told her about his summer. “What do you guys think of the new equipment?” She gestured around. “It’s so big!” “Cool!” “I love it!” Jennifer beamed. She looked around the playground and spotted Matilda off by herself watching her. She waved her over. Hesitantly, Matilda came over. “What are you doing all by yourself?” Jennifer asked. Matilda shrugged. She looked around the group. “Do you guys want to play a game before I have to go back to work?” An excited cheer went up through the group. “Alright, you guys pick.” They decided on Telephone. Jennifer leaned down and whispered “I like Rose’s new haircut.” in Nigel’s ear. He passed the message on to Amanda and she passed it on to Eric, and on and on it went until the last child repeated a nonsensical babble of syllables. The group of children giggled. “Can we play Red Rover, Miss Honey?” Nigel asked. “I have to go back to work, sorry.” Jennifer said. The children let out a collective groan of disappointment. “Alright, alright, a couple rounds.” They cheered as they formed two separate lines and began to call each other over. Jennifer laughed. They always tried to get through her for some reason. Michael managed to barrel through two girls on the opposing side, who had more or less jumped out of his way in fright of getting their arms smashed. Now it was Nigel’s turn. He made a dash towards their line. She grimaced. He was heading straight for Matilda. She silently worried she’d block him with her powers and Jennifer would have to make up an excuse as to why he felt like he had run into an invisible brick wall. She bit her lip anxiously as she watched, half expecting him to fly backwards before he ever made contact. At the last second, he changed directions and went for Matilda’s other side where she was holding on to Lavender’s hand. Both girls strained to keep hold of each other, but Nigel broke through. Jennifer let out a relieved breath and smiled as the three of them laughed together. Mission accomplished. She winked at Matilda before she excused herself. She really had to go back to work now. Jennifer gave a final wave good-bye before returning to her office. She should play with the kids more often, she thought to herself. That was fun. Her smile faltered a moment as she made her way to her desk. There was a large beige envelope addressed to “Jenny” waiting for her. Curious, she picked it up. It didn’t look like anything official. Anything school related was usually addressed as “Headmistress” or “Miss Honey”. Not many people called her Jenny here. She carefully undid the little metallic clasps and opened it before pulling out the contents. She let out a gasp. It was another oil pastel rendering. Her smile returned, even larger now as she took in the artwork. It was of two hands clasped together, one big and the other small. The detail was amazing. She stared at it a moment longer before taking it out to show the other staff members in the office. Now she was more curious than ever to know who had done this, but no one saw anyone go into her office while she was at lunch. “Maybe you have a secret admirer.” Carol laughed. “Your boyfriend’s got competition.” she said when Jennifer went in there to ask her. Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Hey, what if it is your boyfriend?” “I don’t think so.” Jennifer said. Although she’d ask him tonight just to cross that off her possible list of suspects. “I never told him about asking for artwork.” And she’d know if he was this talented at drawing. She’d played Pictionary with him a few weeks ago. He was not. How that blob was supposed to be a chair, she’d never know. “Maybe it’s Hortensia.” Carol suggested. Jennifer snorted. The level of detail and thought that went into these. The emotion. Someone had put their heart and soul into these. All she had ever seen Hortensia draw was that hideous face. And the picture of her aunt's charred corpse sitting in her drawer. “It’s an adult.” Jennifer said. “That’s not something a kid could draw.” Carol shrugged. “Maybe it’s Hortensia, what?” A groggy sounding voice asked. Carol winced. “I forgot she was still here.” Carol whispered before turning towards the back of the room. “Time to get up and go back to class, sleeping beauty.” “Five more minutes.” “Up. I forgot you were here and gave you an extra fifteen. You’ll be lucky if your teacher doesn’t give you a paddling for being late.” Jennifer could hear the scrambling creak of sanitary paper before stepping in front of the door to stop Hortensia’s retreat. “Why are you sleeping during your breaks?” Jennifer asked, slightly taken aback by the dark circles and bags underneath her eyes. She looked exhausted. “I’m tired.” Hortensia mumbled. That was an understatement. “Are you staying up too late? What time are you going to bed? You're not playing your GameBoy when you should be sleeping, are you?” Jennifer asked in rapid succession. Hortensia opened her mouth to argue, estimated it was too much work and finally shook her head. She took a step and stumbled. “Honey, are you feeling okay? You look like you can hardly hold yourself up.” “I’m tired.” She mumbled again. “But I can’t sleep.” “Why can’t you sleep?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia looked uncomfortable. She gazed over at the boy who was holding an ice bag to his wrist. “You know what, come to my office.” Hortensia hung her head and followed along. “You’re not in trouble.” She threw in. “Oh, usually when someone tells me to go to your office…” “I just want to talk. Matilda’s at lunch.” Jennifer said motioning for her to sit down and shut the door. “Why aren't you sleeping? What’s going on?” “I don’t know. I toss and turn all night.” Hortensia said. “And I can’t stop thinking about that stupid camp!” Hortensia roared, but without steam to power her, it sounded more like a desperate mewl. “How long until you go?” “Why? Are you counting the days?” Hortensia scoffed. “You’re not in trouble now, but keep up that attitude and you will be.” Jennifer said, arms crossed. Hortensia deflated in her seat. “Five days.” she said softly. “Maybe sooner.” Jennifer sighed. She was out of ideas. She had called around asking the city on how to get Hortensia back, but these people had already taken legal custody of her. It wasn’t a matter of bribing the kid to want to stay with her, Hortensia didn’t have a choice. And there was nothing Jennifer could do about it. Unless they were found to be legally unfit, Eve’s wishes won. She had tried to voice concerns of her safety, but they said they had already investigated and found the claims to be unsubstantiated. What it boiled down to was proof. It made her furious, why wouldn’t you err on the side of caution when it came to a child? She had been keeping an eye on Hortensia from afar, going as far as to ask her teacher to report any odd behavior or visible injury. She seemed to have taken this to heart because she didn’t hesitate to send Hortensia to her office for the slightest infraction. “Are you taking your medicine?” The look on her face told her she hadn’t. “It will probably help. It might be the reason you can’t lie still at night.” “Cynthia took them. I told you.” Hortensia said, but her eyes shifted away. “Ten’s… I’m serious. You can go through withdrawal sickness if you suddenly stop taking them. How have you been feeling? How’s your stomach been?” “Have the shi- the runs a lot.” Hortensia mumbled. “Keeps leaking in my pants.” There was too much information. “Well, if you happen to find them, you know, lying around, start taking them again and I’ll bet you’ll feel and sleep better.” Hortensia seemed to consider this. “I like staying the night in a tent in the backyard though. Cynthia leaves me alone.” Jennifer chuckled. “It’s nice of them to let you play in their tent during the summer. That does sound fun. Less bugs than the lake.” Hortensia laughed too but it was a different sound. “They don’t let me, they make me. It’s the quarantine tent.” Jennifer’s face paled. Would Cynthia really go that far to avoid germs? I mean, the temperature was fine now, but what about when it snowed? “Oh, I fake sick all the time to stay in it. It’s fun, unless you’re actually sick, then you fake well. Unless it’s like winter or something.” Jennifer let out a breath of air. “So you’re faking sick to avoid them?” “At least until last night when I soiled her dining room chair.” Hortensia said before shaking her wrists for added sarcasm. “Careful or she might put you in a nappy too.” “Nah, just got yelled at and sent outside.” Hortensenia said before scowling. “I didn’t even know I had had to go. I just got up out of my seat and it was all over my pants.” Jennifer wrinkled her nose at the imagery. It was almost like she could smell it. “And how are you feeling today? Do you feel sick at all?” Just in case it wasn’t the medicine, she couldn’t risk her passing around another case of the stomach bug to the other students. “I don’t feel sick, I’m just tired.” Hortensia said. “Not like normal tired. Like tired tired.” Like she was one minute away from falling out of her chair tired. Like she was going to collapse mid conversation tired. She was leaning precariously to the side of her chair. “Here,” Jennifer said, suddenly standing up. “Come lie down over here. This is Matilda’s nap spot.” She grabbed the padded mat and laid it on the floor. Matilda wouldn’t have an issue with skipping a lie down anyway. Hortensia slowly pushed herself up with great effort and clumsily made her way over and collapsed onto her stomach. Suddenly she giggled. It sounded a bit delirious. “What?” “I was in the Chokey around this time last year. Never thought a year from now the headmistress would be putting me down for a nap in the same spot.” “If you have the energy to make jokes, you have the energy to go back to class.” Hortensia immediately shut her eyes and went quiet. Jennifer silently laughed. She pulled a drawer open and retrieved a certain stuffed dog before getting up and placing it down next to her. Hortensia’s arms shot out and wrapped the dog in a tight embrace. She had been using it to comfort any crying children who found themselves in her office. “I’ll give you an hour, but then you have to go back to class.” Jennifer said. The only thing she heard in response was Hortensia’s snores. She didn’t even wake up when Matilda came barging back in from recess thirty minutes later. Matilda wrinkled her face at her desk. “Did you fart?” she asked half giggling. “No.” Jennifer chuckled, but sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything.” She went back to work, but then the smell hit her. “Hey, hey, don’t be trying to pass that off on me. That is all you missy.” She waved a hand in front of her face. “It isn’t me!” “I told you i’d be happy to pack you a lunch too. God, what are they serving you here to eat? No more cafeteria food for you.” “Uh, mom, c’mere.” “No way, so you can gas me?” Matilda shook her head and pointed. Jennifer stood up and looked. She frowned. Hortensia had soiled herself in her sleep. There was a medium sized wet spot on the back of her pants. She bent down and shook her. Hortensia groggily lifted her head and looked at her. “You need to go to Mrs. Rodgers office. You’ve had an accident.” Jennifer whispered. Hortensia’s eyes widened in panic as she patted her front. It was dry. “Other end, sweetheart. You’re sick. You need to go home.” “I’m too tired to walk home.” She grumbled. She felt her backside and froze, her eyes becoming more alive. “Why does this keep happening?” she said softly. “I don’t feel it.” “I can’t take you to the doctor, but I can take you to our school nurse, c’mon.” She patted Hortensia’s back and pulled her up. She saw the grossed out look on Matilda’s face. She didn’t want to know. “You brought her back.” Carol said, confused. “And what’s that smell?” “Can you call her guardians? She’s sick.” Jennifer peeked at the seat of her pants, which were now trailing liquid down the back. Carol came around and looked. Her face scrunched up, not in disgust, but curiosity. She’d leave her to it. She had windows that needed opening in her office. “Feel better, Tens.” “Yeah, I’m not laying on that.” Matilda said when she came back to her office. Matilda had already opened the window. She didn’t blame her. Jennifer found a tub of disinfecting wipes and got to work cleaning it. It didn’t look like any had gotten on anything, but just in case. She even flipped it over, but Matilda still refused. She picked the stuffed dog up and put it back in her drawer. … They hadn’t been playing together enough, Jennifer thought as she looked up from her book at Matilda, who was curled up with a book of her own on the other sofa across from her. Jennifer stuck her hand in the popcorn bowl and pulled out a few pieces. She watched her target carefully, before sending a piece flying and landing on Matilda’s head. Jennifer quickly looked back down at her book, and tried not to laugh. She could see Matilda out of the corner of her eye searching for an explanation. Eventually, when she looked back down, Jennifer sent another piece soaring at her. She repeated the process, until she saw the bowl begin to levitate next to her. It rose high into the air as Jennifer tilted her head up curiously and followed it, until it upended itself over her head. She stared at Matilda, who stared right back. “Oh, it’s on.” They both dove for bits of kernels and began chucking it at each other in an all art war, both of them giggling like mad. At one point Jennifer was on her back, Matilda straddling her waist, hands locked together in front of them as Matilda had ten projectiles hovering in the air above them. With no way to block, one by one they hit her forehead in rapid fire. “No, that’s cheating!” Jennifer laughed. “It’s not cheating, I’m just using what I got.” Matilda said with a grin. The room was a disaster, tiny crushed pieces of popcorn were everywhere and as they both laid together on the floor panting, Jennifer didn’t care in the slightest. “Sorry I’ve been so distant lately.” Jennifer said. “I miss this, just the two of us laughing.” “That’s what happens when you get a boyfriend.” Matilda said with a sigh before laughing as Jennifer smacked her with a pillow.” “You like him.” Jennifer said. “He’s not as bad as I first thought.” Matilda relented. Both Hazel and Matilda had been wrestling with him in the backyard the other day. It was the first time she had seen Matilda, not just tolerating, but playing with him. Jennifer nearly had a stroke when she saw him pick her up and dangle her in the air by a leg, but the laughter coming from her had made her pause. Now, Jennifer thought, if only they could do something about those ghosts.

A happy chapter? *narrows eyes* suspicious… 🤨 xD

Brian was right about one thing. Cordless phones were the way to go, Jennifer thought as she stretched out on her bed with the phone to her ear. No more standing in the kitchen glued to the wall trying to hide from Matilda. She had let him talk her into upgrading and she was glad she had. She had never spent so much time on the phone since she had met him. Telemarketers were usually the only calls she had ever received. “So how was your first week as the boss?” he asked. “Stressful!” Jennifer answered. She didn’t much fancy being the one in charge. Everyone was now coming to her with problems she didn’t have the answers for. Budgets, testing, and organizing fundraisers to start after school clubs. It all made her head spin. “I miss being in the classroom.” Her biggest hurdle then was getting the kids to share and not catching the flu when it made its rounds. “How’s it having Matilda with you?” “It’s been good. She’s so quiet I hardly remember she’s even there. She’s flying through work as usual though.” The hardest part was getting her to lie down for a nap. It was always, ‘one more chapter.’ “I don’t know how you get anything done with your kid right there. Hazel would be complaining she’s bored within the first ten minutes and Zach and Nick would be making a mess of the place.” “Oh, she’s a handful in her own way.” Jennifer said. “The girls got into a fight the first day back and she yanked Hortensia off the monkey bars with her powers.” She could hear him laughing on the other end and smiled. “I still can’t believe she can do that. I thought maybe because she was so smart she could make it look real, like sleight of hand or something, but nope. Levitated the couch, with me still on it, straight into the air.” Jennifer groaned. “She knows she isn’t supposed to use them on people, but I swear it’s like preaching to a brick wall. It feels like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other.” That was a problem with living with a little genius. She thought she knew better than everyone else. It didn’t help that she probably did. “She’s had free reign of them in the summer, but she’s having a hard time remembering to hide them.” “Is she really forgetting?” Brian asked with a laugh. “Probably not.” Jennifer agreed. Although she knew she was guilty of sending mixed messages. “She makes a great personal assistant though.” “How’s Hortensia?” Jennifer let out a long exaggerated groan. “She’s in trouble almost everyday. She’s giving her teacher attitude, blowing off homework assignments, late coming back in from recess, sleeping during class, getting in fights with other students. All the progress we made during the summer. Gone.” Jennifer let out another groan. “It’s like she’s a completely different kid. She’s so angry all the time. I asked her if she was keeping up with her medicine and she said her neighbor threw it all out.” “It might be why she’s so irritable.” Brian suggested. “You can’t just stop that stuff cold turkey.” “Yeah, but I don’t know if Cynthia really threw it out or Hortensia just stopped taking it.” Both were possible. “I’m so glad it’s the weekend.” “Any big plans?” “Not a one.” She said with a happy sigh. Matilda would probably want to go to the library. Or the arcade. Or both. The house had been so quiet with Hortensia gone. Jennifer had assumed she would relish the peace and quiet after all the chaos she had brought. The telly rarely turned on. Everything was spotless. But she found the quiet unsettling rather than calming. She could hear the house settling at night. Jennifer had even gotten up to yell at Hortensia to go back to bed, only to remember when she descended the stairs into an empty and dark living room. “What about you?” She asked. “I’ve got a project for work I need to do in the morning, but that’s about it. Nothing fun…unless you want to come over and change that.” He hinted. “You’ll have to come over here.” She reminded him. “Knowing your dead wife is watching us make out is unsettling.” He laughed. “Some people are into being watched.” He teased. “I’m not interested in a throuple.” “So, then, what are you interested in? Hmm?” Jennifer swallowed. “I-I don’t know.” She admitted. “You like kissing?” “I do.” “And cuddling?” “Yes.” “What about” he paused for emphasis, “spanking?” Jennifer nearly choked on air. Where had that come from? She could feel the heat begin to rush to her face. “Uhh, what?” He began to chuckle and she relaxed a bit. He was joking. Right? “Have you given it any more thought? The role play thing?” “N-not really.” She mumbled. “Kind of got distracted by the whole haunted house.” “You like the pajamas, didn’t you?” “They were cute.” She admitted. “But I'm not entirely convinced you didn’t plan that just so you could see my breasts.” They both laughed. “They were lovely breasts.” He said. Jennifer had to clamp a hand to her mouth to keep from letting out an embarrassed moan. She didn’t particularly see anything “lovely” about her body. “I would quite like to make their acquaintance again.” He chuckled. “Maybe I could touch them next time.” Jennifer let out a nervous laugh. She had been wondering why he hadn’t last time. Did he think they were too small? Too big? Too average? Too weird looking? “Why do guys like them so much? They're just balls of fat.” “Because they're forbidden.” He whispered. “It’s a good thing guys don’t have breasts, we’d be fondling ourselves all day. We’d be using them as stress balls in the middle of meetings.” “Pfft.” Jennifer laughed. She thought of the boys squeezing themselves in the middle of tests. “You lot are already fondling yourselves all day. I can’t say I’ve ever had the desire to touch them.” “That’s just what someone who wants to touch them would say. Go on, give them a squeeze. Tell me touching breasts is not one of the best feelings in the world.” “I can think of a few better feelings.” Jennifer said, amused. The best feelings were a piece of new chalk in between her fingers. It was the feeling of a book in her hands. The taste of ice cream on a hot day. Running her fingers through Matilda’s hair. The feel of Brian’s bare chest against her cheek as she listened to his heart beat. The feeling of kissing him. Of his hands exploring her skin… She cleared her throat. Where was her mind going? She could hear him laughing. “What?” “I asked what you thought was a better feeling. I guess you were busy imagining what those might be…” He teased. “Maybe.” “Oh, so what is it?” he asked in a teasing, sultry voice. “New chalk.” she said quickly. “New chalk? What kind of answer is that? How boring.” He chuckled. “That’s just because you don’t know the pain in your wrist from trying to write with only a nub left.” She said, feigning indignation. “ Much more satisfying than holding onto these lumpy things.” “Lumpy things?” He asked with a laugh. “Oh, yes, describe them more.” “Got little bumps all over them, and this weird dark circle in the center, oh, and sometimes you have to pluck hairs that grow around the nipples.” “Ohh, hairy nipples, oh yes, you're great at this. Mmm.” They both snorted. “Great at this? Great at what?” she asked with a laugh. “You know, phone sex.” Jennifer laughed. “Phone sex? What’s phone sex? Is that a thing?” “Of course it’s a thing.” He chuckled at her confused babble. “It’s like, when you start describing what you're wearing and doing. You use your imagination and words to set a scene.” “You can have sex with words? People really do that?” She asked. “Yeah,” he said more seriously now. “Obviously touching yourself doesn’t feel as good as being touched but…” “Touching myself? Is that what you do? I thought it was just pretend?” “Well, you can make it up as you go, but it wouldn’t be very intimate or fun for you.” “So it’s like audio guided masturbation?” She asked with a crinkled face. He laughed. “That’s a very clinical way of looking at it.” “Is that why you wanted me to get a cordless phone?” she teased. “Yes.” He answered bluntly. Jennifer held her breath in surprise. She had only been joking. “If you're interested. I thought maybe it might help your anxiety about it.” “I- still don’t really understand how it works.” “Where are you?” “In my room.” Jennifer asked with a confused smile. “Sitting on my bed.” “Are you alone?” He asked, his voice soft and serious. Jennifer let out a nervous laugh. “Yes?” “Matilda’s gone to bed?” “Yes? It’s after ten.” “And is your door closed?” “It is.” She said before swallowing. “A-and you?” “I’m in my room with the door closed in bed as well.” He said. “I’m not in bed. I’m on my bed.” She laughed. “Not that it matters.” “What are you wearing?” She looked down at herself and let out a nervous laugh. “My nightgown.” “Is it sexy?” He teased. Jennifer chuckled. “Absolutely not.” “Describe it.” “Uhh, well, it was blue at one point, but now it's more grayish. It has moth holes on the back, and the front has kind of a flowery design on it. It’s apparently uncomfortable on the skin, so I’ve been told.” “Oh, interesting.” He said, slow and drawn out. “Not really.” Jennifer giggled. “It has a Ben and Jerry’s chocolate stain on the front. The first couple days last week I couldn’t eat anything, then I couldn’t stop binging. It wasn’t pretty. I think I threatened to throw Matilda’s doll into a volcano if she touched my ice cream at one point.” “Where does it come down to your legs?” He asked, although she could hear his voice shaking from laughter. “When I stand, below my knees.” She wrapped a piece of thread around her finger and pulled. “Where is it now that you're sitting?” She looked. “Mid thigh.” He went silent for a moment. “What’s it look like?” She chuckled. “My thighs? Like…thighs?” “Light Meat or dark?” “What am I, a chicken?” “You both have thighs and breasts.” “I don’t think I’m ever going to think of chicken breasts the same.” “Chicken titties.” “Ok then, what are you wearing?” “Absolutely nothing.” He chuckled. “Not even boxers?” Jennifer asked, nose wrinkled at the thought. “Don’t you worry Hazel will come in?” “Hazel’s usually good about staying in bed, besides, we're not talking about the kids right now.” “Oh? Right, we're talking about, what did you call them, chicken titties?” Jennifer asked with a wry smile. “Oh yes, yes, very sexy. So wet and, “He paused. “Moist.” Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Don’t get yourself too worked up thinking about that chicken.” Jennifer teased. “Hmm, too late for that.” He said. “How could I ever compete with a slab of juicy, wet and naked chicken?” “While it does sound appealing, I’d much prefer some wet and naked Jennifer.” She felt her cheeks flush. “Eww, why would you want me all sweaty, or do you mean out of the shower?” “Not what I meant, but I'll take both.” He laughed. “Then what did you mean?” She asked with a confused sort of giggle. “You’re playing with me.” “I’m not.” “You’re…not?” “No.” She said with a wince. “Oh, I am going to have so much fun corrupting you.” He let out a playful maniacal laugh. “Women get wet when they get turned on, you know, down there.” “Oh, right.” Jennifer said. “My mind just wasn’t going there. Sorry, I don’t get umm, wet.” He seemed to find this amusing. “What?” “Yes you do.” “It doesn’t work right.” He began to laugh again. “What?” she asked. “My thighs beg to differ.” “Your thighs?” “Yeah, you were sitting on them while we were making out.” “I-I was sweaty. It was hot!” She said mortified. “You. Were. Soaked.” He teased. “I was not.” she mumbled. “God, and the way you were staring at me when I was kissing your stomach. So hot. And then when you told me about your dream, I wanted to yank your panties down right there and finish you.” Jennifer let out an embarrassed moan, but her stomach fluttered at the thought. “I’m hard right now just thinking about it.” “W-why?” she blurted out. “Because you’re sexy as hell.” “N-no, I’m not, i-if you saw you’d understand.” “Does that mean you’re going to show me sometime?” “You’d leave, if you saw.” Jennifer said softly. “If I saw, I’d get down on my knees and finish what we started earlier.” Brian crooned. Jennifer's breath caught in her throat. “Are you thinking about it?” She remained quiet. “Are you?” “Yes.” She admitted softly. Her stomach fluttered again. Her skin felt hot. More sensations she wasn’t familiar with. Her nightgown felt like it was clinging to her arms. “And how does that make you feel?” “Like it’s too hot for this nightgown.” “Then take it off.” She eyed her bedroom door before she pulled the material up and over her head. She breathed a sigh of relief as the cool air met with her skin. “What are you wearing now?” “Panties.” “What do they look like?” “It’s the same ones I was wearing then. Purple cotton. The kind that comes in a six pack from the store.” “Oh, I hope they’re as wet as they were then. Are they?” “No.” “Did you check?” “No.” she giggled nervously. “How do you know if you don’t check?” Hesitantly, she reached down. Dry. ish. “Not wet.” she informed him. “I think we need to change that.” He said. She let out another nervous sounding laugh. “Relax, get comfortable, close your eyes.” She did. “Do you ever play with yourself?” “No.” “Not even a little?” “Not in…a long time.” “What’s a long time?” “Seven or eight years.” “That is a long time. Did you finish?” “No.” “Why not?” “My aunt walked in.” And ruined her life. “Awkward.” “Something like that, first and only time I ever tried without being told.” “Do you remember what turned you on?” “A book I was reading.” “What were you reading?” “I don’t remember. A romance novel.” “You like to read romance novels?” “Sometimes.” He snickered. “You know full well women get wet if you read that kind of thing.” Busted. “I just wanted to hear you say it.” she admitted. “Naughty girl.” He teased. “So had you been reading one of those kinds of books when you had that dream?” “Maybe.” she mumbled. “What would you want to be doing with me if I was there right now?” “Kissing you.” she said and added in a softer voice. “Touching you.” “Touching me where?” “Your hair. Then your neck. Your shoulders, chest, stomach…” “Alright, I like where this is going.” He sounded pleased. “And what are you going to do when I get hard? I hope you don’t freak out everytime.” “I…” She didn’t know what she’d do. “What do you want me to do?” “I liked the part where you pulled my pants down.” He said. “I’ve been informed by the experts that putting a sock on it was not the correct course of action.” He laughed. “Can’t say I’ve been able to look at my socks the same way again.” Jennifer grinned. “What do you imagine?” “You look into my eyes as you slowly unzip my pants. You reach inside and poke around. You tell me how big it feels. You pull it out and slowly run your hand up and down, like I am now.” Jennifer crinkled her nose. “You’re touching it?” “Ever since you started talking about plucking nipple hair.” He joked. Jennifer couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously?” “Since I started thinking about how wet you were.” Jennifer grimaced in embarrassment. “How wet I want to make you next time I see you.” There went her stomach again. “You still have that cream my daughter so kindly decorated your car with?” “I do. I’m glad she didn’t get hurt from it. I tried it once and it burned. Apparently you’re not supposed to put a whole glob on.” “Oh? You tried it? I thought you said you didn’t touch yourself?” He asked, amused. “I got curious to see if it would do anything.” “Did it?” “Carol came in right after I put it on. I tried to have a conversation with her, but then it started burning and I jumped off the bed in my underwear. She thought it was hilarious.” “You have the worst luck.” He said with a laugh. “How about you put a little bit on?” “Right now?” “Yeah right now.” She leered at her nightstand. She had thrown it in the drawer and forgotten about it, but being homeless had made her leery of tossing anything. She reached over and felt for it. Her fingers clasped around the now sticky bottle and she pulled it out. “I found it.” She stared at the bottle hesitantly. She clicked her tongue in thought. Eventually, she flipped the lid open with her thumb and placed a much smaller amount on her finger. She was just going to see what it felt like, it didn’t mean she was going to play with herself. She dipped her hand into her panties and cringed. She had left dry-ish territory behind. She was plunging into the unknown. “It’s on.” She breathed. “Where’s your dominant hand?” Still in her panties. “Beside me.” “Close your eyes.” “Alright.” “What do you feel?” “Kind of antsy.” Itchy? She jostled her thighs a bit. “Does it burn?” “No.” There was that at least. “Now think about the night you stayed over. Think about what we were doing. How you were feeling.” Her body pressed against his. His tongue intertwined with hers. The building pressure. Her fluttering stomach. His mouth inching down her belly. “Now when I say I’m doing something, I want you to do it and pretend it's me, okay?” “O-okay.” she said softly. If things got too weird she’d just stop. “The very tips of my fingers are sliding down your chest.” She followed along. Odd, but doable. Across her stomach. Down one leg and up the other. Around a breast, grazing a nipple. Why were they sticking out? It wasn’t cold. Goosebumps were rising on her arms. His voice was lulling her into a trance. And when he finally suggested she take her panties off she didn’t hesitate. “I’m scared.” She mumbled truthfully. “Do you want to stop?” “No.” “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” But there was. What if she was too messed up down there to feel anything? What if it made her feel gross? What if she had a flashback? So many what ifs. “We’re going to start slow, alright?” She followed his voice. Up, down, across, circling but not touching. An unknown feeling was coming over her. And when her fingers finally brushed the tip, she gasped. “Does it feel good?” She wasn’t sure if it was good, bad, or meh, but she felt something. Around and around her fingers went. His voice was fading. She could hear static coming through the phone, followed by faint music. “You're breaking up.” She said, although her fingers didn’t stop. She turned onto her side, knees up to her chest, phone held to her ear between her pillow and shoulder. The music was getting louder. An electric guitar was strumming. Her fingers matched the rhythm. “Are you playing the music?” “Music?” She heard through the static and drums. “I don’t hear any music.” No. No. No. But she didn’t want to stop. She couldn’t stop. She had crossed a line she couldn’t come back from. This feeling was so new. “I love myself I want you to love me When I feel down I want you above me I search myself” A female voice sang. No! No! Not here. Not now. “I want you to find me I forget myself I want you to remind me” Jennifer grimaced and writhed on the bed. It was happening. She let out moan. “Well, that’s hot.” She hid her face behind the crook of her arm as reality settled back down. She hung up the phone and groaned again, not in pleasure but embarrassment. She had just orgasmed while his dead wife listened in. Her radio chirped on. “I don't want anybody else When I think about you I touch myself.” And she was making fun of her.

I have so many drafts and handwritten pages scattered everywhere over the years. I keep having to go back and read what I have posted here because it's had so many abandoned story points. That's part of the reason its so long 0.o

Thank you, I always look forward to your reviews Hortensia has always believed her dad is a truck driver and travels all over for work and sends money home, when in reality, he (according to Eve) left the family when she was little without a word. Eve doesn't know where he is, although she has also heard rumors he was in prison, but it is a small town and rumors are easily spread. Carol, one of the more gossip prone characters, believed the rumors and jumped to conclusions that he was in prison when she heard Agatha's 911 call on the news and told Hortensia he was most likely in prison. No one yet knows his true whereabouts or why Agatha accused him and Eve of blackmail.

“There was nothing you could have done.” Carol said, sliding Jennifer a fresh mug of tea. They had just returned from dropping off the last of Hortensia’s things at Cynthia’s. Hortensia had refused to even say goodbye to her. She couldn’t get last week out of her mind. The hurt look in her eyes. “What if they hurt her?” Jennifer asked. She hung her head and stared at the floating tea bag in her mug. “But what if they're not?” Carol asked. “You did the right thing. There was nothing you could have done but get the police involved. And it wouldn’t have ended in your favor.” “How could you assume they're not?” Jennifer asked, staring at her. “Someone needs to investigate! She wouldn’t lie about something like this!” “Jenny,” Carol said. “The fact that they are so used to these accusations… What’s more likely? A mother who’s close family friend is raping her daughter? And taking his word over her own daughters to boot? Or an 11 year old acting out? You know she’s never been what we’d call stable.” “I can’t take that chance.” Jennifer said. “Have you ever heard of something called the “Satanic Panic”? It happened over the course of the last decade in the states.” “No, what?” “It was a phenomena of kids of all ages accusing their parents and neighbors of sexual acts against them, even though none of them committed any. They were being locked up left and right simply because a child pointed at them. And the general assessment was ‘Kids don’t lie about something like this so it must be true.’ “But why would they say they did if they didn’t?” “It all had to do with the way they were questioned. They were putting words in the kids mouths, and interrogating them for hours until they said they were being molested. The investigators were causing false confessions.” “I don’t see how that’s possible.” “Like this, the investigator would go up to a small child and ask. Is anyone sticking their penis in your vagina or your butt hole? Is anyone touching your vagina or butt hole?’ Really straight forward graphic questions to ask a small child. And they’d ask over and over and over, until the child realizes the only way to make it stop is to tell them what they want to hear. So the child would make a statement like “so and so touched my penis and made me stick it in his butthole.” Jennifer grimaced. She didn’t like graphic words, no matter how many times Carol told her they weren’t graphic, they were “correct”. “So then the investigators would go, ‘Oh no, why does the child know about sticking a penis in a butt hole? They must be being abused! Kids wouldn’t lie about something like that.’ Maybe for some reason, Hortensia feels pressured to say she was. Or maybe she’s just being manipulative to get her way. There could be so many reasons.” “That’s not what’s going on here.” Jennifer insisted. “How do you know?” “Because she never said she’s being abused.” Jennifer said. Carol wrinkled her face in confusion. “Not to me or her therapist.” “Okay, then she’s not. See?” “But she is.” Jennifer insisted. “I don’t follow.” “You didn’t see what I saw.” “You don’t know what you saw, remember? Jen, all I’m saying is, stop feeling like you sentenced her to death. There’s nothing you can do. You went above and beyond for her, given what her parents did to you.” “What her parents did?” “Well, if it was Hortensia’s dad who attacked you, then that answers the question of whether Eve is innocent or not. This case has nothing to do with our hostage situation and everything to do with your letter and attack. You got pregnant, Agatha panicked when you wouldn’t get an abortion. People would ask questions. She took matters into her own hands, you just got caught with your hand down your pants at the time. Agatha panics when she realizes how much she’d hurt you and calls the only other person in on it. Jacob. He then sends his medical student wife to go clean up the mess. She knew you were being abused for three months and blackmailed your aunt instead.” “If she knew she wouldn’t have brought Hortensia with her.” Jennifer said with a sigh. “But I get it. I think she’s guilty too.” “So then why were you watching their pain in the ass kid? For free.” “She suffered with us. My aunt broke her arm and traumatized her. She called me for help. I couldn’t look the other way.” Carol smiled at her. “You took her in before you knew it was her.” Oh. Right. She had. “So how have you been this week? Was this the first time you left the house?” “No, I went out yesterday. Matilda walked me to the library.” Jennifer said with a faint smile. “I’m going to try going to the office tomorrow.” Back to where it happened. “School starts soon and I still have things to do.” “Do you want me to come with you?” “No, I’ll be okay.” Jennifer said. In truth, Brian had offered to go with her and she had taken him up on it. Matilda had been talking up their new awesome playground and Hazel wanted to see it. The boys had been glued to Matilda’s side since she had demonstrated her powers and they were challenging her to lift bigger and heavier things. She had walked in on her making Hazel hover in the air and almost had a conniption fit. The phone rang snapping her from her thoughts. She stood and answered it. It was Eve. Reluctantly, she accepted the charges. What did Eve have to say now? “Jennifer?” she asked. “Yes, Eve, is there a problem?” She asked a little more colder than she had meant. “Hortensia says she’s missing a bag of letters and cards.” “It wasn’t in with the stuff we dropped off?” She wondered why Hortensia didn’t call her herself and ask. Still mad at her, she assumed. “No. She’s worried about them.” Eve said. “Do you think you could look? They’re important to her. It’s all her letters from her dad.” “Sure, I’ll look.” “...And Jennifer, thank you for looking after her all summer. I really mean it. I’m sorry I put you into this position and made you look like the enemy.” Jennifer remained quiet for a moment. “Are you sure she’s safe?” She finally asked. “I trust these people with my life. Aiden, he’s really stepped up and been like a father to her.” Eve said. “All the neighborhood kids love him. He’s known her all her life. He’s taught her how to ride a bike, took her Trick or Treating for me when I had to work late, helped her with her homework. Both of them volunteer at our church with the kids. Hortensia, she gets mad and says and does things without thinking. She’s never been able to control her temper. When she was six she started telling me he had cornered her at her own birthday party and assaulted her. You should have seen the crushed look on his face when I confronted them. He was so hurt. He had even just splurged, and bought her this bike I couldn’t afford. Then when I pressed her for more information, she started changing her story until it was no longer plausible. Another parent said they saw her on the trampoline around the same time this attack was supposedly going on. Come to find out, Hortensia and Cynthia had gotten into this big fight over, I don’t know, telling her to turn off the telly and do her homework. Something trivial. She has a tantrum, she gets spanked, and next thing you know, she tells the other neighbors he raped her and she hit her when she tried to tell on him. It’s the same thing. She gets in trouble, gets angry, makes up a story that can easily be disputed.” Eve said with a sigh. “I’ve tried your approach Jennifer, I really have. I’ve taken her to therapy before. Of course I raised alarm bells. I took her to be examined. I’ve taken her to our church's pastor for counseling, and they all told me the same thing. She’s being vindictive. She acts out when she doesn’t get her way. I just- I really thought she had outgrown this. Cynthia was right to register her.” “Register her?” Jennifer asked, snapping back from her thoughts. “Her and Aiden are sending her to a program hosted by the church. They call it The Salvation Station. It’s a boot camp for girls with behavioral problems. They tear them down and build them back up. They’re going to pay for it with a little of the money from selling their house.” “And how long is this program?” Jennifer asked. Her lip was already curled in disgust at the words “church” and “bootcamp..” She wasn’t fond of the religious community. “If she finishes the program, October until January.” “Four months!” Jennifer said, horrified. She had been cringing at the thought of a weekend retreat. “Three months. If they feel she hasn't been rehabilitated, they’ll add another three months, and so on, but that’s only the extreme cases. Hortensia isn’t an extreme. She’s not into drugs or pregnant. She'll be done in the first round. They have their own medical center there and everything, given how many parents send their kids to detox or have babies.” “Uhhh, that sounds a bit unnecessary. She’s only eleven.” Jennifer said, mind reeling in shock. They were going to lump her in with the older kids? How did they think being in contact with drug addicts was going to help her daughter? Hortensia didn’t need something that extreme. And she hadn’t ruled out the possibility of abuse. The red flags were still high in the air. “We’re all at our wits end with her. Something drastic has to change.” “But, but what about school? And you said you wanted her to be closer to you!” “From what i’ve heard from Aiden, she’ll continue school there. And of course I want to see her, it's just…” Eve let out a sigh. She sounded exhausted. “I don’t know what to do anymore. You’re right, she is only eleven, but what about when she’s twelve, or thirteen? Fourteen? Fifteen? What kind of trouble will she get into then? Her behavior is getting worse, not better.” Jennifer remained silent. She didn’t like the idea of sending Hortensia away. What kind of schooling would she possibly get at a religious camp? Indoctrination wasn’t the answer. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She finally said. “What if they break her down and can’t build her back up? She already looks so broken.” “It’s an act Jen, it’s all an act.” Eve said. “You’ve had one summer with her. I’ve had eleven years. I know her pattern. I’m her mother.” Jennifer supposed she was right. Maybe she was being played. Maybe she did have it backwards. Maybe her tough, and uncaring outward exterior was her real self and that shy, timid and fearful girl was the act. “She never told me she was being abused.” Jennifer said as she climbed the stairs. “She never fed me a sob story.” “Really?” Eve sounded surprised. “Really, I’ve even asked her directly if she was. She always said no.” Jennifer said. That’s one of the things that was bothering her. “Well, that makes me feel a little better.” Eve said. “But then, why did you say you thought she was being abused if she didn’t tell you?” “Our therapist mentioned something to me. 70% of people with these kinds of episodes have been the victim of some kind of abuse. I don’t know whether or not it’s sexual, physical or emotional, but I have my suspicions that something's going on.” And now she was about to break her number one promise. She shut her eyes in a grimace. “Has Hortensia ever been a bedwetter?” “Oh God yes, It didn’t start back up, did it?” Jennifer sighed. Hortensia had told her she hadn’t been. So she was being lied to the entire time. “Yeah. It’s been almost every night since she moved in.” “Damn it.” Eve said. “She managed to go a couple years without. She made me promise not to say anything, or I would have explained I had dealt with something similar when you were dealing with Matilda’s.” “I see.” Jennifer said. She let out a humorless laugh. “She told me she’d never had this problem before and begged me not to say anything to you or Cynthia. That’s why I took her to the doctor that one time.” “You see what I mean now?” “I’m starting to.” Jennifer admitted, although it pained her too. While she looked around the room, she couldn’t help but notice the new damage to the walls. Had she punched them? She felt a pang of annoyance and with it the realization maybe it was best Hortensia moved out. She could focus more on Matilda and her studies. More on the school itself. She could have peace and quiet again. Have the nights to herself when she put Matilda to bed. “Why am I so gullible?” “Because you’re a good person and want to see the best in every child.” Eve said. Jennifer cringed. She hadn’t meant to say that outloud. She pulled out drawers. Opened the closet and looked underneath the bed. Nothing. “I don’t see them.” “Hmm, well thanks for looking.” “I’ll keep an eye out for them. If I find them I’ll bring them to school.” She hung up and eyed the room one last time. There was one place she hadn’t checked. She pulled the bed out from against the wall and heard her prize fall with a soft thunk. She kneeled on the bed and reached her hand over between the space against the wall and the bed. Her hand came into contact with something plastic. She pulled it up. Jackpot. She was about to get up when she noticed something else. She reached down and brought the fuzzy stuffed animal into view. Oh, Spot. Hortensia would want him back as soon as possible. She wondered if this is what she was really after. She went back downstairs with the objects in her hand and set them on the table. Carol began to rummage through the bag almost at once. Jennifer frowned. It seemed like an invasion of her privacy. “What are you doing?” Jennifer asked. “I noticed something.” Carol mumbled as she examined handfuls of cards. “What are these?” “Cards from her dad.” Jennifer said. She picked one up and examined it. “Liverpool.” she read in the top left corner. She picked up another one. “Wales. Manchester. Dublin. Belfast. He sure travels a lot.” “Someone’s going to be pissed when she realizes these didn’t come from her dad.” Carol mused. “They didn’t?” “No, probably her mom pretending to be him to save her feelings.” “That doesn’t sound like something Eve would do.” Jennifer said with a frown. She stared at the card. Eve and Cynthia were all about Hortensia growing up. “Why would you say it wasn’t from him?” “Because these haven’t been mailed. There’s no postmark on any of these.” Carol said. Jennifer looked again as she flipped through the envelopes. She was right. Not a single one had been mailed, only made to look like they had. “Why?” “Maybe Eve didn’t want Hortensia to feel abandoned.” Jennifer pulled a card out and examined it. It was a cheap, generic looking card from the drugstore. She read it. Happy Birthday, You’re growing up so fast. Scotland is beautiful. I wish I could show you. I love you, -Dad P.s. Remember to always do what you're told. Jennifer pulled out a few more and read. P.s. I hear you’re causing your neighbors trouble. Make sure you listen to them. P.s. Listen to Aiden and do what he tells you. What an odd thing to add to birthday cards, she thought. She sealed them back up in their original envelopes and put them back in the bag. Carol was right. They clearly hadn’t been sent by her dad. Carol slid something across the table. Jennifer picked it up and examined it. A little blond girl was riding on a very tall man’s shoulders with a wide smile on both their faces. She stared at him. “Is this her dad?” Jennifer asked. She had never seen a picture of him. “Is that your Tall Man?” Just when she thought she had all the pieces to her story… “No.” … Jennifer stood on the front porch holding the bag on cards in one hand and the much loved stuffed animal in the other. She rang the bell and waited. A curtain shifted to the side to her left. A moment later she could hear a lock unlatch and the door opened. Cynthia stuck her head out. A disappointed pang rang in her chest. She had hoped Hortensia would answer. “Is Tens here?” Jennifer asked. “I have her things.” Hortensia came into view behind the large woman. Her eyes widened. She shook her head as she eyed the dog. “You’re not bringing that germ infested, ratty thing in this house.” Cynthia said, turning towards Hortensia. Jennifer could see her shoulders slump. “I thought you threw that thing away years ago. You’re too old for stuffed animals.” “Maybe you could give it to Matilda.” Hortensia mumbled. Jennifer handed her the bag of cards. “Thanks.” “How are you?” Jennifer asked. Hortensia shrugged and looked away. “Would you like to come with us? We’re meeting Brian and the kids at the school.” “She’s grounded.” Cynthia answered for her, arms crossed with a scowl across her face. “Oh, okay.” Jennifer said. “Well, give me a hug then and I’ll see you when school starts.” “Not after you’ve been touching that dirtbag. Go, go inside.” Cynthia ordered her. Hortensia gave Jennifer what looked like a desperate pleading look before turning and headed back inside. “You’re always welcome over.” Jennifer called before the door closed on her. … “Ugh, when are you going to fix your car?” Matilda complained as they walked to school. She didn’t like having to get up this early in the morning. She could have at least slept in an extra thirty minutes if they didn’t have to walk. “Walking Is good for you.” Jennifer said. “We used to walk everywhere together, don’t you miss it?” Matilda grumbled. The sun wasn’t even out yet. “Come inside with me for a bit.” Jennifer called out when she tried to make a beeline for the playground. Matilda slumped her shoulders in disappointment. What was the point of being dragged to school so early if she didn’t get extra time on the playground? The world just seemed so much brighter sitting atop the monkey bars. “Feels so strange not going to the year 1 room.” Jennifer said as they walked towards the office. “What year am I in?” Matilda asked. She knew she wouldn’t be going to any classrooms with the other students, but to a desk in Jenny’s office to work at her own pace without the distractions of the classroom. “I have you registered in the top form.” “So I’m in Hortensia’s year?” “Yes.” “Will we have the same work?” “For as long as she can keep up with you.” “The first ten minutes in each subject, then.’ Matilda said. “She got fairly caught up to you in math.” Jennifer said. “She’ll make it at least twenty minutes.” “Why were you making her do all those worksheets anyway?” Matilda asked. She had been surprised when she had taken a peek at it one day. She had expected basic arithmetic problems, like multiplication and long division, but she had seen algebra equations. “I wanted her to get caught up before school started. I saw her grades from last year and she said math frustrated her.” “Were those the problems she had a hard time with last year?” Matilda asked suspiciously. She hadn’t seen any questions like that when they had been in the same class. “Uh, well, she caught up faster than I thought she would.” Jennifer admitted. “She was catching on so fast that I just…kept going.” “So what year of math were you giving her?” Matilda asked. “Year eight.” Jennifer admitted with a guilty grin. “You went through three years of math over the summer?” What had Jenny done? Put her through mathematical boot camp? “She’s quite clever when she isn’t stressed.” Jennifer said with a shrug. “I tried to take the stress out. I’m hoping I won’t see her in my office as much as Ms. Trunchbull did.” But that wasn’t to be the case, Matilda soon realized. She was sitting at her desk tucked away in the corner when Jenny got the call. “Hortensia.” Miss Honey said with a sigh. She sat at her desk while Hortensia sat in front in a little fold up chair. “It hasn’t even been an hour in the new school year and you’ve already been sent to me.” Matilda couldn’t see her from her position. No one would know Matilda was even there unless they walked behind Miss Honey’s desk and peeked into the space off to the side. It was kind of strange knowing her desk was where the Chokey used to be. “I understand you’re moving and you don’t think your time here is important, but it is.” Jennifer went on. “I know it’s early, and it’s hard to get back into the routine of getting up, but can you try and stay awake? And when your teacher tells you to wake up, please refrain from responding with ‘get bent.’ 20 lines. “I will be courteous, polite and respect my teacher’s authority.” Matilda doubted Hortensia even knew how to spell courteous. She snickered quietly in the corner while she studied her text book. Maybe working out of the office could be fun if she got to eavesdrop on everyone who got in trouble. “Matilda, what year do you want to go to lunch with?” “You’re letting me pick?” Matilda asked, surprised. Jenny had just spent the walk to school reminding her just because she was Headmistress didn’t mean Matilda would be getting special privileges. Says the woman who had practically pulled her out of school to work independently in her office, Matilda thought. “Can I trust you’ll stay out of trouble?” Jennifer asked. “No using your powers to play kickball or anything like that.” Matilda quickly shook her head with her fingers crossed underneath the desk. She thought about it. She didn’t really want to hang out with Hortensia, they had been together all summer, but she didn’t really want to spend time with her old classmates either. Lavender would probably be telling them how much trouble Matilda had caused at the summer camp. They never really saw Matilda as one of them anyway. “When are you going to lunch?” Matilda asked when she couldn’t make up her mind. “I’m going to meet Carol for lunch around noon. Do you want to go to recess then?” “Oh, umm, I guess.” Matilda said. She had been hoping they could have lunch together. “Who goes to lunch then?” She watched Miss Honey pull a schedule out of her drawer. “Top form.” “Technically my class.” Matilda said. “Think you can keep Hortensia out of trouble?” “Doubt it.” Matilda grumbled. The day had gone by so fast and she was so entranced in her work, she didn’t notice Miss Honey had been calling her until a shadow loomed over her desk. Matilda looked up as Miss Honey laughed. She hadn’t seen her mother so much as smile all week, let alone laugh. Matilda put down her pencil and stretched her limbs. She was stiff from sitting in the same position for hours on end. She stood and went to the restroom, a feature she quite fancied about her new study arrangements. She could just get up and go whenever she wanted. No more asking for permission and being denied. No more pull ups. No more hallway passes. No more being accosted in the halls by prefects on power trips. “Oy, you there. Shrimp.” Matilda stopped in the middle of the hallway on her way to the playground. She turned around. Never mind, she thought glumly. Here’s one now. The older boy stepped in front of her blocking her path, a shiny Prefect pin on his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Recess.” Matilda said, stepping aside to move past him. He stepped in front of her again. “I don’t think so. It’s not your time up.” He said, crossing his arms. “You need to go back to class.” “I’m not in a class.” Matilda said. “Obviously.” The freckled boy said, rolling his eyes. “Where’s your hall pass?” “I don’t have a hall pass.” Matilda said. “I’m going to meet my class on the playground. I’ve been told to go to lunch. ” “Everyone needs a hall pass, and like I already told you. It’s not your time for recess. Go back to class and I’ll let it slide since it’s the first day and you must be new here.” “Roger, let her through.” Miss Honey said. “I told her to go to recess.” “She doesn’t have a hall pass, headmistress.” “Oh, right, sorry, I forgot to write her one.” She ducked back into her office and came back with a note and handed it to Matilda. “You can stop with all that headmistress stuff.” Jennifer said, waving her hand. “Miss Honey is fine, and if you run into other prefects, you can tell them my daughter has permission to be out in the hallways. I might be using her for small favors throughout the year.” “Your daughter?” The boy named Roger asked. He looked Matilda up and down again. “I think I remember you now.” “I was in your class for a few weeks last year.” Matilda said. “Right.” Roger said, looking uninterested. Matilda left eying the note Miss Honey had written for her and bit back a smile. Unlimited hallway privileges. So much for no special treatment Matilda thought with a snicker. She put the note in her pocket and joined the other kids on the playground. She spotted Hortensia sitting atop the monkey bars, her feet dangling over the edge while her friends surrounded her. Unsure what else to do, Matilda made her way over, imagining Hortensia begging for her forgiveness as they made eye contact. Only, when their eyes met, Hortensia didn’t look happy to see her. “What are you doing here, runt?” Hortensia demanded. The kids surrounding her laughed. Runt? “I’m in top form too, and it’s lunch time” Matilda said, gesturing around. “You’re not in top form.” Another boy sneered. “You weren't in our class. What are you, a first year?” “What? Did Miss Honey send you to spy on me?” Hortensia grumbled. Matilda shrugged. Yes, she was pretty sure she had. “Well you can tell Miss Honey this.” She stuck both her middle fingers up. Matilda scowled as the other kids laughed. “You didn’t act so big when Miss Honey was tucking you in every night and reading you a bedtime story.” Matilda said. The other kids went quiet. Hortensia’s face was beginning to glow red. “Dude, I thought you said you were at a friend's house all summer.” One of the boys said. “She was.” Matilda said. “My house.” “Dude, you were living with the headmistress and her pet?” Her pet? Matilda scowled. “You're no friend of mine, pipsqueak. Get lost.” Hortensia said icily. Matilda grabbed hold of one of Hortensia’s dangling legs with her powers and lightly tugged it. “Take it back.” Matilda threatened. “Or what?” One of the boys laughed. “You gonna run and tell mommy?” Hortensia was glaring at her. “I’ll do it.” Matilda said calmly. The other kids began to snicker. “No you wouldn’t.” Hortensia said. Matilda yanked and Hortensia fell off the monkey bars. “Smooth one.” One of the boys said. He offered her a hand up but Hortensia smacked it away before pushing herself up and getting into Matilda’s face. “Don’t mess with me.” Hortensia growled in her ear. “You think I care if I get in trouble? I have nothing left to lose.” She pushed Matilda back, but not so forcefully Matilda couldn’t stay on her feet. She pushed her again and again until they were both outside of the playground perimeter. “Go pick a different lunch time.” Hortensia mumbled, but gentler this time before returning to her friends. “Dude, you know she’s going to tell on you.” Matilda heard someone say. “I don’t fucking care.” Hortensia snapped. “Trunchbull didn’t scare me. You think some pushover like Miss Honey is going to?” Yes, Matilda thought. “She pushed you?” Miss Honey exclaimed when they had gotten back from lunch. “Called me a pipsqueak and told me to go pick a different recess.” Matilda said. She hadn’t realized how much the interaction had hurt until her mom had asked how lunch was and Matilda started crying. She felt a little smug as Miss Honey called Hortensia into her office. At least until Hortensia had told on her for using her powers to knock her down in front of her friends. She hadn’t seen Jenny look so furious with her. She made Matilda come out of her cubby and sit on the other side of her desk with Hortensia. “What is going on? Both of you! It is the first day of school and you’re already at each other’s throats!” “She told my friends about you reading to me!” Hortensia seethed. Jennifer’s eyes bore into Matilda as she sank in her seat. How had this turned so horribly on her? “You are not to tell anyone about anything that happened this summer.” Miss Honey said slow and firm. “That was between Hortensia and I.” Matilda quickly nodded her head. She pulled out the schedule and sighed. “Second years are having lunch now. Go.” Matilda blinked in confusion. “Go!” Matilda stood and made her way out of the office. … “She gets a second lunch break? No fair!” Hortensia complained. Jennifer eyed her for a long moment before sighing. “I thought you two got along better than this.” Hortensia scoffed. “You sent her to spy on me.” Miss Honey was about to argue but thought better of it. She sat quietly in her seat for a moment. “How are you?” She finally asked. Hortensia scoffed again. “Drop the attitude.” “How do you think?” Hortensia seethed. “Stop pretending you care.” Jennifer shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “I do care, Tens.” “You let them take me.” There it was. “It wasn’t up to me.” Jennifer said. “I tried to get your mom to reconsider…” “You know they're sending me to some religious camp for bad kids?” Hortensia said. Jennifer could see her eyes turning red. “Maybe if you are on your best behavior they’ll reconsider.” Jennifer said. Hortensia looked insulted by the idea. “We have one month to change their mind.” “We?” “I’m not giving up on you, Tens.” Jennifer stood up and came around to the other side of the desk and sat across from her in a folding chair. “Why do you hate it there so much? Would you tell me the truth?” Hortensia remained quiet, avoiding her gaze. “Tell me about the birthday party.” Hortensia’s head shot up. Her eyes were wide. She suddenly stood up. “I’m going back to class.” Hortensia said, slowly backing away. “Tens…” “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Tens, wait!” But she was gone.

It had been three days, Matilda thought glumly as she stared at Jenny’s closed bedroom door. She had tried everything she could think of to cheer her up. She had cooked, something she wasn’t normally allowed to do without supervision, but everything she made sat uneaten on Jenny’s nightstand. Matilda had no idea what was wrong, but everytime she entered Jenny’s room she could feel the sickening weight of sadness and grief. It was overwhelming to her. She didn’t want to go in anymore. She didn’t want to see her mom looking so…so broken. It was time to break out the big guns. She took a second to compose herself. The energy in the room always made her feel like crying. She opened the door and stepped in. Jenny was lying in bed hugging her pillow. She didn’t look up or acknowledge her. She looked like a zombie. Matilda swallowed the lump in her throat and pressed forward. “Mommy?” Matilda quietly asked. If that didn’t get her attention, nothing would. Her eyes flicked up and fell on Matilda’s worried face. “Hi baby.” Jenny said softly. She pushed herself up into a sitting position as Matilda cautiously approached. “Are you feeling any better today?” she asked. “Maybe we could go to the library.” “Not today. I’m awfully tired.” Jennifer mumbled. “Maybe if you came downstairs and ate something.” Matilda suggested. She eyed the untouched salad from last night. “I could make you some eggs.” “Thank you, but I’m not hungry.” Jennifer said lying back down amongst the used tissues that coated the bed. The air in the room was stale and pungent. Matilda walked to the window and opened it. Maybe some sunlight would help. “Mommy, what’s wrong?” Matilda asked. “Just feeling a little under the weather, that’s all.” Jennifer said. She closed her eyes. “Do you want me to make you a doctor appointment?” “No, I’ll be alright. Just let me sleep.” She mumbled. That’s what Jenny always said. She just wanted to sleep. Feeling discouraged, she gave her mom a kiss on the cheek and took the uneaten dish down to the kitchen. What could she do? Who could she call? Mrs. Rodgers? Or Brian? Jenny might be angry if she called Brian over, but maybe it would motivate her to take a shower at least. Eventually, she settled on Mrs. Rodgers. She seemed to know the most about what was going on. “Please help me.” Matilda’s voice cracked as Mrs. Rodgers picked up. “Matilda?” she asked groggily. Matilda looked at the clock. It was 9 in the morning. Not her too. “Yeah,” she said with a sniffle. “What’s the matter?” “It’s Jenny. She won’t get out of bed. I don’t know what’s wrong.” She could hear a sigh come from the other end. “She needs time to process everything. She’ll come around.” “She won’t eat.” Matilda said. “And process what?” “Do you want me to come over?” Mrs. Rodgers asked. Matilda noticed she avoided her question. “Please.” Matilda mumbled. Both her and Brian had been leaving messages on the machine. At first he was calling her to check in on Jenny, but then he started calling about Hortensia. He kept saying she was acting funny, but Matilda didn’t care much about her at the moment. “Alright, we’ll be there a little later.” She heard Mrs. Rodgers yawn. “It’s early. We’re still in bed.” “It’s nine.” Matilda said. “Like I said, it’s early.” “Whose ‘we’?” Matilda asked. “My boyfriend.” Matilda wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” “Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I don’t have a social life. Besides, you know him.” “Mr. Trilby? Eww.” She couldn’t help but say. He was so old. She could hear Mrs. Rodgers let out a snort of laughter. “She says ‘eww’.” Matilda heard her say. “Hi! I meant, Hi!” She said in a panic. Mrs. Rodgers laughed again. “Hang tight, we’ll be over soon.” … There was a knock on her bedroom door. “Jenny?” she heard. “It’s me. Can I come in?” Oh no. What was she doing here? She let out a groan and buried herself underneath the blankets despite the warm air. She heard her door open. “Are you decent?” Jennifer didn’t answer. She heard footsteps approaching. “C’mon, Jenny, it’s time to get up. It’s already noon.” Jennifer mumbled. “I want to sleep.” “I heard you’ve had more than enough sleep.” Jennifer curled herself into a ball. “Your daughter is worried about you.” Jennifer let out a grunt of acknowledgement. “I’ve brought you some food.” She heard the crinkle of a bag. “I’m not hungry.” “When was the last time you ate?” “Matilda made me a sandwich.” “You mean the one sitting here untouched?” She meant the one two days ago, which she had promptly vomited soon after from sobbing too much. Now she couldn’t cry if she wanted to. She felt numb. She felt like someone close to her had died. But someone close to her had died. It may have been six years ago, but to her, it felt like it had just happened. She felt the blankets get yanked off her and covered her head with her arms. When did the room get so bright? Carol began to cough. “Bloody hell, when was the last time you showered?” She began to cough again. “Up, Jenny.” “Leave me alone.” She groaned. “Don’t make me drag you out of bed.” Jennifer sighed. “Fine.” She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and stopped. The room was spinning. “I’m dizzy.” She felt a bag get thrust into her abdomen. “Eat.” “I’m not hungry.” she mumbled, but the smell was making her mouth water. “You have to eat.” She sighed and opened the bag. Fish and chips. “Do I need to feed you like back then?” Jennifer stared at her. “No.” She picked up a piece of fried fish and held it in her hand. Reluctantly, she took a small nibble. “At least it’s not a veggie omelet.” Carol said. Her stomach churned at the memory. Jennifer took another nibble and set it down. “More than that.” “Carol, I don’t need you to baby me.” “Uh-huh, so Matilda called me to say you weren’t taking care of yourself because…?” “I’m fine.” Jennifer said with a scowl. “I’m just sick or something.” “Jen”, Carol said, brushing away balled up tissues with her hand before taking a seat on the bed next to her. “Call me next time. Don’t let it get to this point.” “I’m fine.” “You’re not fine. You can admit when you’re not okay. I haven’t seen you this depressed since before Matilda.” “I’m not depressed; I’m sick. See?” She held up one of the nearby balled up tissues. “Too sick to return anyone’s calls?” “Yes.” She insisted. “Well, I better call and make you a doctor appointment then.” “I don’t need to go to the doctor, just… leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” “Not until you prove you can be trusted alone.” Carol said. Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jennifer demanded. Carol shot her arm out and grabbed hold of Jennifer’s wrist. “That’s what I’m talking about.” Carol said. Jennifer scoffed and tried to tug her arm back, but she was too weak. “I’m not sixteen anymore.” Jennifer said. “I just don’t want to talk about it.” “Fine, we don’t have to talk about it. We can talk about something else, as long as you eat.” She didn’t want to talk at all. She sighed and took another bite. “Thanks for the food.” she mumbled. “So…” Carol said, eyebrows raised. “How did your sleepover go?” Jennifer shrugged. “Did he try anything?” “No.” “Bummer.” “I tried to kiss him and almost broke his nose.” Carol snorted, but suddenly frowned. “Damn it, now I owe Matilda five pounds.” Jennifer gave her a questioning look. “I thought it would be at least a week before you hurt him. Don’t give me that look, you are the most accident prone woman I’ve ever met.” “I pulled his pants off by accident.” She said through a mouthful of fish. “Boxers and all.” Well, she had meant to take his pants off. His underwear, not so much. “Accident, sure.” Carol chuckled, making air quotes with her fingers. “So, what are we talking?” Jennifer tilted her head to the side. “You know, how big was it?” Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, sorry.” Carol grinned. Jennifer sighed and motioned with her hands. Carol nodded her head. “Not bad.” “Never saw one before.” Jennifer mumbled. “It was all…” She made a pyramid with her hands. Carol chuckled. “And, uhh, what were you doing when the, umm, ‘accidental’,” there were those air quotes again, “removal of the pants took place?” “On the couch.” Jennifer said softly, “snogging.” “Oh, Jenny!” She felt Carol playfully elbow her. She was like a teenager wanting to be served the latest gossip, Jennifer mused. “So… did you touch it?” “Eww, no I did not touch it.” Jennifer said before mumbling, “I put a sock on it.” “Did I just hear you say you put a sock on it?” Jennifer shrugged. “A sock like, for your feet, or a condom?” “For your feet.” Carol began to laugh. “Was it your sock? Does he have, like, a foot fetish?” “His.” She reached down into the bag and pulled out another piece of fish. Jennifer scowled. “He asked me to role play.” Carol snorted. “Did you?” “Not really, just wore what he wanted me to.” Carol began to stare at her in shock before giggling. “What did you wear?” She asked. “Sexy teacher? Sexy doctor? Leather?” “Uhh, no, pajamas.” “I think that’s called lingerie, Jen.” Carol snickered. “A dalmatian. It was cute. It had ears and a tail.” “Were you a…sexy dalmatian?” “No.” Jennifer said before hanging her head. “He did see me topless though.” Carol’s eyebrows shot up. “I overheated while we were kissing. That’s where I was when you called, half naked in his fridge.” Carol shut her eyes and shook her head, a look of amusement on her face. “He has all this baby stuff.” Jennifer said. “But it’s all like, for adults. He said his wife would pretend to be a little kid to make being sick easier.” “Uh…sure, that’s why.” Carol said. “I had a patient into that. I had to go in and pull a baby rattle out of her vagina.” Jennifer grimaced. She didn’t need to know that. “He asked if I wanted to pretend to be little too.” Jennifer said softly. “Are you?” “No.” Jennifer said quickly. “That’s weird. I’m twenty three years old.” Carol shrugged. “Is he trying to pressure you into it?” “No.” Jennifer said through a mouthful of chips. “He asked if I wanted to try it as a kind of therapy. He said we could…” she paused and cleared her throat. “Nevermind.” “What?” Jennifer shook her head. “What were you going to say? Spit it out.” “It’s embarrassing.” Jennifer mumbled. “More than admitting you put a sock on his penis?” “Well, I told him I didn’t think I’d be able to be um, intimate with him, and he said it would be a way to be intimate without actually…’ She entwined her fingers together. “Don’t write it off. You still can.” “I- I don’t want to.” Jennifer mumbled. “Now even more so.” Carol sighed. “Do you know who it was?” Jennifer stiffened. She had been trying to force the memory to go back in the recesses of her mind where it came from. “Sorry, I know you don’t want to talk about it.” “No, I don’t.” Jennifer said, staring ahead at the wall. “Know who it was, I mean. I just know he was big.” They sat quietly for a minute as Jennifer’s mind whirled. “Do you think it was Hortensia’s dad? I heard he was pretty big.” Jennifer stared at her. She hadn’t considered the possibility. There had been rumors going around the school that he was in prison. It always drove Hortensia crazy. “Maybe.” Jennifer admitted. It made sense. No one had seen him since then. It would explain why she couldn’t recall ever seeing her attacker since given the small town. “Will you be okay with Hortensia?” Carol asked seriously. “Knowing that it's his daughter.” “She didn’t rape me.” Jennifer mumbled before letting out a dry humorless sounding chuckle. “I’ve had this memory that’s been replaying in my head for years of me lying on my office floor blubbering like an idiot and bawling my eyes out. I never knew why till now.” Jennifer said, her voice beginning to crack. “It’s kind of funny, in a way, Hortensia living here with me, considering I was pregnant with her half sibling.” She let out another sound somewhere between a laugh and a hiccup. “I bet you can guess the name I had picked out.” “Anastasia.” Carol mumbled. “You knew you were pregnant then? Why didn’t you tell me?” “Why didn’t you?” Jennifer asked. “I was rather rapidly getting the impression you were in danger.” Carol said. “Your aunt was right there. I thought you’d be safe before you ever started showing and we’d deal with it then. I was going to tell you when she was out of ear shot, but then things got a bit complicated.” “She kept giving me pregnancy tests and calling me a whore. Another memory that makes more sense now. She kept trying to make me go have an abortion.” Jennifer snorted. “Said she’d even pay for it. I kept refusing. I had always dreamed of being a mother, I was scared, but I wanted her more than anything. I didn’t care how it had happened.” “Miscarriages are very common in the first trimester. Between the shock to your body and the pain and stress you were under…I wasn’t surprised when it happened. We were more focused on trying to keep the five year old from going into shock. Boy did she pick the wrong time to walk by. I know you're broken up over this, and it might sound insensitive, but it was for the best.” Jennifer gave her a pained look. “Even if that baby made it to term, the chances of birth defects would have been astronomical. And what kind of life would they have had in captivity, subjected to what your aunt put you through? Would your aunt have even taken you to the hospital when it was time? I think she would have left you alone to give birth in your bed. And given what you had just been through, trying to have a vaginal birth with no medical attention. You could have died.” “I don’t know why I’m so upset. It was a long time ago.” Jennifer whimpered. “Jen, that was horrific. Of course you're upset. No person could go through what you did and come out unscathed. You’ve been betrayed at every turn.” Jennifer didn’t respond. Instead she reached her hand into the bag to busy herself but came up with nothing. She looked inside, but it was empty. Had she really eaten everything? “Aww, you ate all your food. Who's a good girl?” Carol teased. Jennifer gave her a look that said “really?” She could tell Carol was fighting back a grin. “Can I go back to bed now?” “No, it’s time to get up and take a shower.” Carol said standing. “Up.” “Fine.” Jennifer mumbled. “Can I have some privacy?” “Can I trust you?” She asked suspiciously. “Carol, I am not a child.” She said exasperated. “Leave and I will get up and take a shower.” She seemed to be thinking it over. “If you're not downstairs in thirty minutes I’m coming back up to check on you.” She warned. Fine. Whatever. Just leave. She watched as Carol left before falling back down on the bed. Finally, she thought. She’d get up in a few minutes. She just needed a minute. Her eyelids felt so heavy. She closed them. So tired… “JENNIFER!” Her eyes sprang open. She looked up. Carol was standing over her, hands on hips. “Wha?” she mumbled groggily. “You were supposed to get up and take a shower.” “I will.” She mumbled. “I gave you thirty minutes. Times up.” “You just left.” “No, you went back to sleep.” Did she? Her mind felt too fuzzy. She felt herself get yanked up into a sitting position. Her head spun at the sudden change. It wasn’t until she felt her nightgown getting removed that her mind snapped into focus. “What are you doing? Stop it!” Jennifer said, holding her nightgown down. “I gave you a chance. You went to sleep instead.” Carol said. “You have until the count of three to get up, or I’m stripping you and throwing you in the shower myself. Jennifer gave her a disbelieving glance. “One…” Carol began to count. Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Two…” With an exasperated sigh, Jennifer forced herself up, hanging onto a bed railing for support. “I’m up, happy?” she growled. “It’s a start.” Carol said. “Go. Bathroom.” She pointed. Jennifer took a few steps before stumbling. “Are you alright?” “I’m dizzy.” Jennifer lamented. “That’s because you’ve been in bed for three days.” Carol said, holding her under the arm and walking her to the bathroom. “After your shower, you need to call your boyfriend back. He’s left you a dozen messages. He most likely thinks you left him with your problem child and ghosted him.” Carol turned on the shower faucet and turned to rummage through her dressers. “Matilda says he’s worried about Hortensia.” “Did she talk to him?” Jennifer asked, standing awkwardly in her bathroom. “What did he say?” “I think she’s been letting the answering machine get it. I don’t think she’s too thrilled with her.” Carol said and stopped in the bathroom with an arm full of clothes. “What are you waiting for? Get in.” “For you to leave.” Jennifer said. “You had your chance, now get in.” So Jennifer did, nightgown and all. She heard Carol let out an exasperated sigh. She stripped off her now wet nightgown and underwear behind the curtain and threw it over with a wet splat. She was feeling even more self conscious now than usual. The thought of being seen, of being touched… She wanted to go back and hide underneath her blankets. It had happened years ago, but it felt so very fresh, like it had only happened days ago. “I've seen it all before, remember?” She’d rather not. “I-I can’t. I can’t do it.” Jennifer admitted. She pressed her forehead against the shower wall and closed her eyes. “I feel naked.” “You are naked.” Carol said. “That’s typically how showers work.” “Even when I’m dressed. I just want to hide under my blanket so no one can see me.” “No more hiding; the girls need you. ” Carol said before adding, “I’ll wait for you in your bedroom then. Your clothes and towel are on the counter.” She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Carol's footsteps retreating. She stood under the hot water for a minute longer before cleaning herself up. Once she was done, she reached for her towel and paused. She stared at the mirror. All the progress she had made. Gone. “Carol, are you there?” She called out. “Yes, did you need something?” “Could you turn off the light?” “Why? “Please.” Jennifer said softly. The bathroom was plunged into darkness. She opened the curtain and stepped out, blindly reaching for her towel. “Over here.” Carol said softly. She reached out and made contact with her outstretched hand. Then suddenly, she was back. He was leering at her, pushing her to the ground. His weight was on top of her. She couldn’t move. “No!” Jennifer yelled. She turned to run, slipped on the wet floor and fell to the ground with a crash. She curled herself into a ball with her hands over her head. The light flicked on. “Don’t touch me!” She sobbed. “Jenny, it’s alright. It’s just me.” Carol whispered. She felt something get draped over her. The towel. “Can you sit up?” Reluctantly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. “No more lights off.” “It keeps happening.” Jennifer said into her knees. “I didn’t want Matilda to see. She gets worried.” “She’s worried now. Luckily, she’s smart and reached out for help. Something you need to learn from her.” Carol said. “You may have been alone then, but you’re not anymore.” “You read what happened when I asked for help.” “That wasn’t a person, that was a monster.” Carol sighed. “But I understand now why it’s difficult for you.” “She let him.” Jennifer sniffled. “And you know what she did when she came back? She spit on me.” “I’m going to touch you.” Carol said. Jennifer remained silent. She felt the towel begin to slide up and down her body. “Look up.” She slowly lifted her head out from under her knees as Carol began to dry her hair. She reached for the towel to do it herself, but her hands were batted away. “We’ll take it slow, alright. Think you can stand up?” Jennifer nodded and took her offered hand. “I want to go back to bed.” Jennifer whimpered. “No, no more bed. Let’s try and go downstairs for a little bit and say hello. Let’s get you dressed.” Carol said, handing her her clothing one article at a time. “There, you’ve eaten. You're clean. You're dressed. Do you feel at least a little better?” Jennifer shrugged. She was marched outside her bedroom, Carol pushing her forward from behind her like a prison guard. It was when she was halfway down the stairs and heard a male voice that she tried to make a break for it. She turned and tried to sprint back up the stairs, but Carol was holding her in place. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s only Mr. Trilby.” Carol whispered in her ear. “Let me go back to bed, please.” Jennifer cried as she twisted and fought. “It’s only Mr. Trilby. He’s not going to hurt you. It’s okay. In fact.” Carol raised her voice and shouted down the stairs. “MR. TRILBY WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE MATILDA FOR ICE CREAM.” “I WAS?” A voice shouted back. “YEP, AND THEN THE MOVIES.” “She doesn’t like the movies, It’s too loud.” Jennifer said. “She can stay. It’s okay. Maybe being around her will help.” “UMM, SCRATCH THAT, MR. TRILBY WILL BE TAKING MY PURSE AND GETTING ICE CREAM AND BRINGING IT BACK.” “MR. TRILBY IS VERY CONFUSED RIGHT NOW!” He yelled back followed by Matilda's laughter. “WHY DOES MR. TRILBY HAVE TO CARRY YOUR PURSE?” More laughter. Carol playfully rolled her eyes and muttered what sounded like “men.” “Can you come say hello?” Carol asked. Jennifer hesitated. “I’ll be with you, it’s okay.” She took a slow step down and then another. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Her eyes scanned the kitchen as they entered, Carol holding her in place by the arm. “Mommy!” Matilda said, a wide smile on her face. Mommy. “Hi, honey.” She bent down and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.” she whispered, before her eyes darted around searching for the other occupant. “What do you all think?” Mr. Trilby asked, Carol’s purse held up high on his shoulder as he entered the kitchen and struck a pose. Matilda burst into giggles. “Oh, you silly old man. Give me that.” “She called me old.” Mr. Trilby fake cried as Carol yanked her purse away before pressing a crumpled bill in his hand. “What does everyone want?” “Pralines and Cream.” “Chocolate.” He turned to look at Jennifer. “O-oh, uhh, n-no thank you.” she managed to choke out. “She likes Rocky Road.” Matilda said. Jennifer collapsed into a chair when he left. “It’ll get easier.” Carol said, sitting down at the table to her left. “Now,” she pulled her phone off the wall and handed it to her. “Call your boyfriend back before he drops Hortensia off at the nearest fire station.” With trembling fingers, she punched in the number she already had memorized. She held her breath as she listened to the other line ring. He’s not home. He’s not home, she silently chanted, but when she heard his voice answer, she panicked and hung up. “Jenny…” Carol said. “He wasn’t there.” Jennifer lied. The phone began to ring in her hand. She jumped and stared at it. “Answer it.” She shut her eyes tight and answered it. “Jenny?” It was him. “H-hi.” She said in a shaky voice. “Is everything okay? I’ve been calling you.” “I’m sorry. i-I haven’t been downstairs much.” “How are you doing?” “Better.” She lied. “How is everything there? How’s Hortensia?” “Well, let me, um, go to the other room for a second.” Jennifer winced. That was code for stuff was going down. “I’ve noticed a bit of odd behavior.” He said after a minute. “My daughter has this toy, a Furby…” “Did she break it? I’m so sorry. I’ll pay to replace it.” Jennifer said. “No, no she hasn’t broken anything. She hasn’t had any of those events you described either.” “Oh?” Well that was a relief, but it wasn’t like they were everyday occurrences. “I’ve seen Hortensia talking to it.” “Talking to it? Isn’t that how you play with them?” “No, I mean like, having a full conversation with it. And she brings it everywhere with her. To garden, to meals, she sleeps with it. She stays in Hazel’s room all night and doesn’t talk to my kids at all. Even when I said they could work together, she goes off by herself.” “Oh, that’s umm…” She didn’t really know what to make of it. “Is she talking to the ghosts?” He cleared his throat. “I’m being serious.” “So am I.” Jennifer said and pinched her eyes shut. “The ghosts, they, uh, took an interest in Hortensia when we were there.” “What are you talking about?” “Your wife and the little girl. I saw them.” “You saw them?” Brian asked, suspicion evident in his voice. “She was talking to me through the radio.” He was silent for a moment. “Haven’t you seen them?” “No.” He said solemnly. “Things move around sometimes. Things I thought I lost appear on the counter. Coffee mugs get knocked over. The thing you saw with the magnets…”He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. “It was the most active i’ve ever seen. To be honest, I was scared.” “You were right though. It is her.” Jennifer said. “I saw her when you went to check on Hazel. She was with Hortensia, sort of like she was looking after her.” “Why would she show herself to you and not me?” Brian demanded. Jennifer was taken aback. He sighed. “Sorry, it’s just, we’re her family. Why would she show herself to strangers and not us?” “I don’t know. I only saw her for a second.” Jennifer admitted. “Maybe I imagined it. We were just looking at her picture.” Although she knew she hadn’t. “What time do you want me to drop her off?” “What?” “For her appointment. It’s Wednesday.” Jennifer winced. She had forgotten. She looked up at the clock. “Now.” When she hung up she grimaced and looked at Carol. “I need a favor.” Jennifer admitted. “What?” “We have an appointment today with the therapist.” Carol looked pleased. “Good. You need it.” She said. “I need a ride. My car is…” “That’s fine. What time?” “In an hour.” “Some air will do you good. Now what’s this I hear about a ghost?” “Yeah,” Matilda said. She had been watching Jennifer intently while she had been on the phone. She filled them in. “That’s umm, different.” Carol said after listening. Jennifer shrugged. “A ghost mom, really?” Matilda asked. “You move things with your mind.” Jennifer pointed out before sighing. “And I, uhh, might need you to give a demonstration of that.” She was getting the feeling he thought she was nuts. “Hey, Carol?” “Hmm?” “In your…field, can you tell if someone was abused by looking?” Carol’s eyebrows went up. “Sometimes.” Carol said slowly. “Why do you ask?” “I saw something.” Jennifer whispered, coming closer so Matilda couldn’t hear. “On Hortensia.” Carol’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know what it, uh, is supposed to look like, but I saw something. Could you-” “No,” Carol said flatly. “If you’re concerned, you need to take her to a doctor.” “But you are-” “I’m not.” Carol insisted. “But you did it for me.” Carol brushed it away. “One, you are a consenting adult. Two, I told you to see a real doctor, and three,” Carol said before pausing. “I just wanted to see how it healed.” Jennifer deflated. She didn’t want to take her back to the doctor after the fiasco she caused last time. “What if I ask her and she says yes?” Jennifer tried. Carol made a dismissive noise. “She won’t.” “If she does?” Carol sighed. “Fine, but if I see anything, you have to take her to a doctor. Why were you looking there anyway?” “I was helping her with a nappy.” “A nappy? You put her in a nappy?” Carol asked, eyebrows raised. Matilda was laughing. “She wets the bed.” Matilda snickered. Jennifer gave her a hard stare until the girl sank down in her seat. “That’s a sign by itself.” Carol mused. “You really should get her checked out.” There was a knock on the door. Jennifer lifted her head and stared. It was too soon for it to be Brian. “Matilda, can you get the door?” Carol asked. Jennifer sank back down in her seat. She wasn’t ready to interact with someone trying to push a vacuum on her. Matilda stood and left the kitchen. Matilda came back a moment later with a sour look on her face. “Who is it?” “Cynthia.” She said. Jennifer let her head fall in her hands. She was not in the mood to deal with that woman. “What does she want?” She groaned. “She says she’s here to get Hortensia.” Jennifer frowned. “I’ll deal with her. You sit tight.” Carol said. Had Hortensia made plans with her? She couldn’t imagine she had. Jennifer looked up expectantly when she heard footsteps approach. “I think you need to hear what she has to say.” “Let her in.” Jennifer sighed. … “We’re moving soon.” Cynthia said as Carol set a couple mugs of tea down on the table. “We’re planning on taking Hortensia with us so she can be closer to her mom. We’ve already made the arrangements.” “Arrangements? What arrangements? Eve is okay with this?” Jenny asked doubtfully. “Yes, it was her idea.” Cynthia said as she picked up a mug and stared at her massive son who was hunched in the corner playing with a bug. “I don’t think Hortensia wants this.” Jennifer said. Cynthia let out a chuckle. “It doesn’t matter what she wants.” “No.” Jennifer said. Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “No?” “She’s not going with you.” Jennifer said. Cynthia let out another demeaning laugh. “It’s not up to you. You’re not her parent. As far as Eve’s told me, you’re not even her legal guardian. She’s just your daughter’s friend staying for the summer. Now where is she? We’re planning on having her move in today.” “Today? But, you’re not moving today, I thought you said you wouldn’t be moving for a few months!” “Is that your car I saw out front?” Cynthia asked cooly. “Did she do that?” Jennifer began to stammer. “You can’t control her.” Cynthia said. “She needs a firm hand, and I’m sorry, but from what I’ve heard, your gentle approach isn’t what she needs right now.” “No.” Jennifer whimpered. The phone began to ring. “Aren't you going to get that?” Cynthia asked. “I’ll get it.” Carol said. Jennifer’s mind raced as she tried to think of something to say, but she was drawing a blank. “Yes, she’s here now.” Carol said through gritted teeth. “A heads up would have been nice.” she muttered before handing over the phone. “It’s Eve.” “Eve, what are you doing?” Jennifer demanded. “Why is Cynthia trying to take Hortensia? You know she doesn’t want to go with her.” “She is my daughter.” Eve said. “I’m being transferred and I want her to be closer to me. Is that so unreasonable?” It wasn’t but… “Eve, I-I think something bad is happening to her there.” She whispered into the phone, her hand cupping the receiver. Eve snorted. “Don’t believe it for a second.” Eve said, sounding exasperated.. “She’s been making up shit about them since she could talk.” “Then why are you allowing it? Why would you let them have any contact at all with her? Those are serious accusations!” “Jennifer, you don’t know Hortensia like I do. She makes up stuff to try and weasel her way out of trouble. You know what she told me on our last visit? That Aiden made her break your car or he’d get the guards to beat me up. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” “But did he?” Jennifer asked. “NO!” Eve shouted. “Jennifer, look, I appreciate everything you’ve done so far, I really do, but I can’t afford for anything like this to happen again. I can’t afford to pay damages if she breaks anything. I have no money!” “I- I’m not asking you to fix it.” Jennifer said numbly. “She really is making progress.” “Jennifer, please. She’s too out of control for you. She needs a stricter living situation. She can’t be allowed to run amok and do whatever she wants. Please put her on the phone.” “She’s not here.” Jennifer said. “She’s at a friend's house.” Eve let out a groan. “This is what I'm talking about. She broke your car and you let her go hang out with her friends?” “N-No,” Jennifer said back pedaling. “She’s with my boyfriend doing yard work as punishment.” “You just said she was at a friend's house. Which is it?” “She’s friends with his kids. She’s staying with him to give each other a break. He’s putting her to work.” “She’s staying with a man I don’t know?” Eve said, sounding appalled. “How long have you been dating him?” Jennifer shut her eyes and remained silent. The doorbell rang again. Jennifer winced. She was tempted to tell Brian to take Hortensia back. “She’s here.” Jennifer mumbled into the phone. Hortensia walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Cynthia. “Go pack your things.” Cynthia told her. Hortensia’s eyes fell on Jennifer, a look of deep hurt etched into her features. Jennifer handed her the phone where a screaming match soon ensued. Jennifer let her head fall into her hands. There was shouting, swearing and crying. Hortensia angrily slammed the phone. She stared at Jennifer with a tear streaked face. “You promised.”

Hortensia had never felt as alone as she did now. Matilda refused to talk to her. Jenny had locked herself in her room and didn’t even say goodbye. Mrs. Rodgers was busy on the phone all afternoon and to top it all off Zach, Nick, and even Hazel treated her like a pariah once they had learned the trouble they were all in. Hortensia hadn’t made them participate. She was only doing what she had to for her moms sake, but alas, she had refused him and this was her punishment. Hortensia hadn’t thought Jenny would take it so personally. She was so startled when she had caught Jenny tearing up. Hortensia had almost admitted it had been her on the spot. She hadn’t wanted to make Jenny cry. It was nothing personal. She quite liked Jenny, for a school teacher anyway, even if she did get on her nerves from time to time. (Who made kids do homework in the summer?) When Hortensia’s mom had told her of the possibility of being transferred last month, Hortensia was willing to do almost anything to stop it. He was counting on it. He had found her sitting alone outside the school gates when Professor Bitch had chased her out. Sure, she had hit her with the paddle, but it hadn’t hurt her. It was more of a warning slap. Hortensia had gotten the message. That’s when he pulled up and got out of his car. He said he had connections. All it would cost her was a favor. She looked up at him from her spot on the ground and told him to go eat shit, earning her a kick to the face. He was in one of those moods. You didn’t refuse him when he was in one of those moods. Defeated, she asked if he wanted the usual. He did not. What he wanted was Jenny gone. She didn’t ask him why. “I don’t care what you do. Bully her. Beat her. Harass her. Frame her. Just get rid of her from this school.” “Why should I? I like her.” Hortensia had spat. He kicked her in the stomach. She never could keep her mouth shut. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her to his face as Hortensia whimpered in pain. “My connections can help her.” He whispered. “Or they can hurt her. People get jumped in prison all the time. People also die in prison all the time.” Then he had dropped her unceremoniously onto the ground and left. Hortensia had racked her brain. Maybe if Jenny thought vandals were in the area she’d want to move to a better area for Matilda. This was the worst school in the district for a reason. Only, Jenny seemed obsessed with making the school better, not leaving it. And she had blamed Matilda. It hadn’t been her intention at all. Every kind word and action made Hortensia feel worse and worse. She felt like she might drown from the stress. This would be so much easier if Jenny just treated her like everyone else in her life had. Then he had found her again yesterday and reminded her of their deal, and by reminded her, threatened her mom. He had demanded to know what she had done so far, so she had told him about the graffiti. He told her to do it again, but make it worse. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes. If her car isn’t destroyed, Eve will be finding herself in the infirmary.” She had been so angry it had been easy to smash the windows out. Only the first one she had smashed with her fist. She was sure she had broken her hand. She hadn’t meant to drag them into it. And it was all for nothing. Her mom was getting transferred anyway. She felt like she wanted to scream, or throw up. Or both. They ended up having a huge fight on top of it. It was Hortensia’s specialty afterall. Ruining everything. She had been ecstatic when her mom told her Cynthia and Aiden had put their house up for sale. He had lost his job and couldn’t afford to stay here anymore. Hortensia had seen a sliver of hope. Could her nightmare be over? No. Her nightmare had only just begun. They were looking to move Swansea, where her mom was being transferred, and they were offering to take Hortensia with them when they moved. “Fuck no!” Hortensia blurted out. “I’m not living with them!” “What? What do you mean no?” Eve demanded. Hortensia could see the look of hurt on her face. “Don’t you want to visit me?” “I can visit you from here.” Hortensia said. “And we can still talk on the phone.” “Tens, it’s not the same thing. I want to be able to see you regularly.” “No! I’m not going anywhere with them!” Hortensia nearly yelled. “I hate him!” Eve had only rolled her eyes. “Not this again. You’re going to have to get over it. You don’t have a say in the matter, I’m still your mother!” Hortensia hissed. “You have no idea what your asking!” “I don’t want to hear any of your stories! He has been like a father to you! If you’d stop being so ungrateful for five minutes- Hey where do you think are you going?” “I’m not going with them!” Hortensia screamed. “Yell one more time and you’re out of here!” A guard shouted. “I want to stay with Jenny.” Hortensia said. “Oh, so you’re going to pick her over me? Is that it?” Eve said coldly. “At least she listens to me.” Hortensia said. She could feel hot tears sliding down her face. She was choosing their friendship over her daughter. Again. “It’s because she doesn’t know any better! I bet you’ve got her wrapped around your finger with all your stories, don’t you?” “Do you have any idea what i’ve done for you? He made me smash her car or else he’d get the guards to beat you up!” “What do you mean you smashed her car!? This! This is what I’m talking about! You have no consideration for anyone but yourself! That woman took you in and this is how you repay her!” “He said he had connections from when he was in prison! He said he’d get the gaurds to-” “You’re so full of shit.” Eve said with a scoff. “Just try and pull this crap with them. They’ll set you right. I knew Jennifer was too soft on you.” “I hope you get beat up! Maybe then you’ll listen to me!” Hortensia furiously wiped at her eyes as she rode in the van in silence. Her broken hand, at least she thought it was broken, ached like a bitch from trying to pull weeds with it. She had opted to leave her stuffed dog behind, but now she was regretting it. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with him and cry herself to sleep. How had she gone and fucked everything up so badly? “You’ll be working by yourself in the back yard.” Brian said as he led her past the kitchen and out into the yard. Hortensia’s stomach nearly dropped. There were so many weeds. “You’re not here to hang out and have fun.” “My hand hurts.” Hortensia mumbled. “And it’s going to hurt worse by the end of the week. The trash cans on the side of the house.” Brian said. “I’ll come get you when dinners ready.” He left her alone to stare at the yard. She sank onto the edge of the porch and let her legs dangle. It wasn’t even noon. By 2pm she was drenched with sweat. Her back ached and she was so thirsty, but she had already drank so much warm water from the hose she could hardly move. She wanted to kick the trashcan in frustration. Two hours non stop and it looked like she hadn’t done anything! It was slow going pulling with her left hand and everywhere she looked there were spiders crawling in the grass. When he had finally said she could stop for the day around six, every muscle ached. She dragged herself to the table. “Did you wash your hands?” Brian asked all of them. All Hortensia could do was grunt. She was caked in dirt and sweat from head to foot, but the thought of hauling herself up seemed like too much work. Reluctantly, she pried herself from the chair with a wince and staggered to the kitchen sink. She scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, frowning at the top of her right hand. It wouldn’t get clean. It wasn’t until she stared at it under the kitchen light did she realize the discoloration wasn’t dirt, but a bruise from her knuckles down to her fingertips. “You look exhausted.” Brian chuckled at her halfway through dinner. Hortensia shrugged, but she could feel her eyelids drooping. “Hazel, would you mind giving up your room for a bit?” “Why?” Hazel asked, mouth full of pasta. “So Hortensia has somewhere to sleep.” “But what about me?” “You can sleep on the couch.” Brian said. Hazel glowered for a moment. “But it’s my room.” she said arms crossed. “Why can’t she sleep on the couch?” “Because she’s nearly a teenager and she needs her privacy.” Brian explained. “I’ll let you watch telly until you fall asleep.” Hazel perked up at this and eagerly agreed. “You can shower first. You look like you’re going to drop. I’ll get you fresh bedding after dinner.” He said to Hortensia, but she wasn’t listening. She had fallen asleep sitting up. He shook her awake and grinned.“How about I get you situated now.” He stared at the boys and told them to do the dishes, and ignoring their complaints, he led her upstairs. She grabbed her clothes from her suitcase and followed him to the bathroom. She let out a soft groan from underneath the hot water. She could stay here forever. “THERE’S THREE OTHER KIDS WHO NEED TO SHOWER AFTER YOU! DON’T TAKE ALL THE HOT WATER!” She heard hollered from the other side of the door. Or not. Reluctantly, she turned the knobs and stepped out into the steamed bathroom. She flicked the lightswitch to turn on the fan and threw her towel over her head. She was ten seconds into vigouroulsy rubbing her hair dry when she froze. She let the towel drop to the floor. She stared at the mirror stunned. In the condensation on the glass, someone had taken their finger and written two words. I KNOW Hortensia stood rooted to the spot. Had someone come in while she was showering? She hadn’t heard anyone, and she had made sure to lock the door. She eyed the knob. Still locked. She stared at the words before letting out a sigh. She picked up her towel to clear off the condensation, but when she moved it aross the mirror, the steam remained. She let out a gasp of fright and fell against the wall. The words had changed. HE WILL PAY “You alright?” Brian asked. “I heard a crash.” Hortensia looked to the door then back to the mirror. The words were gone. Now a clear streak from where she had wiped the mirror was visible. “Ye-yeah, I fell.” Hortensia said. She hastily threw her clothes on and stared at the mirror one last time before opening the door. She hurried to Hazel’s room and shut the door behind her. What was that? Her imagination? She was about to let herself collapse onto the bed when she saw a package lying on the bed. Her eye twitched. He knew. Jenny had told him. She sighed and stared at the package of nappies lying on the bed. No way! Uh-uh! Not after last time! She sat on the matress and heard the crinkle of plastic. Here she had thought he had given her Hazel’s room to be nice. He was just protecting the couch. She looked around Hazel’s room and sighed. Not a single stuffed animal. Go figure. She hugged the pillow to her chest for a moment before letting it go. It just wasn’t the same. Something caught her attention sitting on the shelf. She grinned as she picked up the black plastic toy and sat back down with it. “Bop it!...Twist it… Pull it!” Hortensia strained in concentration as she followed the commands. “Pull it!” She pulled the blue lever sticking out the side. “Pull it.” She pulled the lever again. Faster and faster the commands came. “Bop it!” “Bop it!” “Twist it!” “Bop it!” “Wear it!” She paused and stared at the toy as it gave out a pained shout at her loss. She pressed the button to play again. “Bob It!” “Bob it!” Bob it!” “Wear it!” What the hell…? She pressed the button to play again. “Wear it!” Again. “Wear it!” Again! “Wear it!” She threw it down on the bed. What the hell was wrong with it? Did it need new batteries or something? “Ka-boo Koo-doh!” Hortensia jumped and looked up. Oh great. It was one of those. She shuddered. Hortensia had two fears. Spiders. And Furbies. She had heard rumors they liked to talk unprompted. In the middle of the night. Without batteries. “Ahh-noo?” The tan animatronic asked. Hortensia stared at it. “You’re creepy.” she lamented. “Boo-tay! Boo-tay! Boo-tay!” “Shut up.” She groaned. “If you start talking in the middle of the night I’m throwing you out the window!” “Boo-dah!” Suddenly the bedroom door opened. Hortensia jumped again. It was Hazel wearing those ridiculous animal pajamas. Hazel silently went to her dresser drawer and began to dig for something. “Your Furby keeps talking.” Hortensia said. Hazel looked up at it. “That’s what their supposed to do. Duh.” Hazel said with so much attitude Hortensia was taken aback. “Boo-dah Bay-bee! Oh-too-mah. Boh. Bo-tay!” The Furby said. Hazel scowled. “That’s what I’m talking about!” Hortensia said, pointing at the fuzzy monstrosity. Hazel went to a different drawer and pulled out a book. Hortensia looked at the cover. Oh geez, they had their own dictionary? After a minute Hazel shrugged and tossed her the book before leaving and shutting the door behind her. “Take your evil hairball with you!” Hortensia called, but no luck. “Boo-tay!” The Furby chirped again. Hortensia sighed and picked up the dictionary. “Change.” she read out. Change? “Wear it!” The Bop It shouted. Hortensia let out a nervous chuckle. The hell? Both the Bop It and the Furby began to chant their words in unison. “Stop it!” Hortensia said. She was getting scared now. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” “Dah-boo. Dah-ay-loh-nah-bah!” No Goodnight. “Boo-tay!” Change. “What do you want me to change? This?” She held a nappy up and waved it around. She hadn’t expected a reply. “Boo-ee-tay.” That’s right. Hortensia sprang up and grabbed the Furby. She marched downstairs and found three out of the four of them sitting on the couch. Hazel was tucked under Brian’s arm. They all stared at her. “Hey, I didn’t think i’d see you the rest of the night.” Brian said. “Your welcome to watch a movie with us.” “Your thing is creeping me the hell out!” Hortensia said. She set the Furby on the counter “And knock next time. I was about to change.” “I’ve been down here.” Hazel said looking confused. “No, you weren’t. You just barged in and tossed me your Furby dictionary.” “She’s been here with us.” Brian said. Hortensia stared at her. Where did her pajamas go? Hortensia began to back away. “I thought you said you didn’t get scared?” He asked with smile mixed with sympathy and amusement. “It’s just a toy. Take it back and throw it in the closet if you don’t want it around you. Don’t leave it out here.” He dropped his voice conspiratorialy. “I hate those things too. There should be an off switch on the bottom.” She flipped it over and shut it off. “Is everything alright?” He asked. “No, it’s not alright!” Hortensia wanted to yell. She could feel her eyes burning. “I’m fine. Just tired. I’m going to bed.” She stalked back to the room and shut the door. “Boo-tay!” She opened the closet and chucked both the Furby and Bop it in. She had had enough of talking toys for one night. She sat on the bed and stared at the nappy. With a sigh she wiggled out of her shorts and spread out the nappy. She sat in the center and tried to fasten it, but nothing she did worked. Was she supposed to fasten it around her hips or her belly button? She was growing more and more frustrated with every attempt. She could feel her temper boiling over. Another thing she couldn’t control. Great. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She buried her head in her arms and began to sob. Something cold was touching her head. She looked up. No one was there. She waited. There it was again. She felt something brushing her hair. It was like a cool hand was stroking her head. She eyed the space around her. What was this? Hortensia let out a gasp. She could feel a pressure on her chest, like a hand pressing against her. She was too startled to fight against it. She fell backward on the bed. She let out a low cry of fright. In the mirror hanging on Hazel’s closet door she could see the reflection of a woman hovering over her. Hortensia began to stammer. The invisible woman was now leaning over her. She shut her eyes tight. This was it. This was the end of the line. This was how she died. Cool lips pressed against her forehead. Hortensia opened her eyes. The pressure holding her down was gone. She looked in the mirror. She was alone. Hortensia sat up and stared. The nappy was now perfectly in place around her waist. Her eyes scanned the room. She was filled with a mixture of both fright and curiosity. She thought of the words on the mirror. “Who are you?” Hortensia asked the empty air. Something began to rattle on the nightstand. A picture frame. She picked it up and examined it. A smiling family looked back at her. It looked like a professional photoshoot you could get done at Christmas time at a department store. There was Brian, Zach, Nick, Hazel and… the woman! “You’re their mom?” The room remained quiet. Hortensia swallowed the lump in her throat. Her eyes began to water. “Please don’t go.” she whimpered before adding barely audible. “I’m scared.” She felt the bed shift like someone had sat down. She was alone in the mirror, but she could feel another presence beside her. Something was tugging her down again. She let it. Something cool to the touch was lying beside her. Hortensia scooted closer until her own body was enveloped by the chill. It felt wonderful in the hot room. “Thank you.” She whispered. She could smell a faint flowery scent in the air mixed with something she couldn’t quite place. It was comforting. She was too embarrassed to ever admit she missed Jenny tucking her in. She hadn’t known what to make of Jenny at first. Hortensia was suspicious of her. Everything always came with a price. But as the the days turned into weeks, Hortensia was starting to realize Jenny’s kindness didn’t come with a price tag and it made her feel even worse. Now she was scared. Scared that she had ruined their relationship. Scared of being sent away. Scared of him. He wasn’t always bad. That’s what angered her the most. He was smart. Witty. He’d offer to help her with her homework. He could be like a giant teddy bear. And he was generous with her. That’s all her mom saw; A kind father figure. But sometimes, when they were alone, he wanted repayment for his generosity. He’d ask. He’d beg. He’d guilt. He’d threaten. He’d take. Then he’d guilt again. Right now, he was in a taking mood. The realization that she had fallen into his trap made her sick. It had all clicked into place the moment Jenny had told her she was being thrown out. He had wanted her to come crawling to him with no where else to go. He wanted her to feel trapped. To feel alienated and cut off from anyone she could reach out too. Why would guards listen to an ex-con? No wonder her mom thought she was full of shit. But she had been so desperate to believe he could make her stay. And now her own mother wanted to serve her up to him on a silver platter. A soft musical chiming snapped her from her thoughts. She lifted her head and searched for the source. It was coming from both everywhere and nowhere at once. The light went out, plunging the room into darkness. She felt something cool touch her cheek, like a hand gently cradling her face. Her eye lids began to droop. She was too exhausted to be frightened. Her adrenaline had run out. She laid back down and listened to the soft music. She knew this song. Something to do with time. Jenny was humming it last night, at least she had thought it was Jenny. Now she wasn’t so sure. So this is what they had meant when they told her she could go back if she needed to. The house was haunted. But weren’t ghosts supposed to be scary? That’s how they were always depicted in comics and movies. She reached her hand out to the space beside her where a larger cooler hand met hers. In the darkness it was like she was really here lying beside her. “I’m scared.” Hortensia said softly. She wasn’t talking about the ghost. The invisible hand gave hers a reassuring squeeze before letting go. The bed began to creak. She felt arms wrap themselves around her torso. Her body began to sway. “Tell her!” The Bop It from inside the closet said. “I can’t!” Hortensia said. She could feel more tears begin to stream down her face. Finally, she gave in to the raging storm of emotions inside of her and began to sob. “I’ve pushed everyone away.” She began to hear a quiet voice softly sing along with the music. “...If your lost you can look and you will find me, time after time…” Maybe two weeks here wouldn’t be so bad.

(Tw: Sexual assault.) Long hours? Fine. Near impossible deadline? Great. Low pay? Awesome. But for the love of all that was good and just in this world, would someone empty the damn porta potty? Greg had opened the door and nearly vomited. The field it was. “John! See a doctor, would ya?” Greg hollered at the last construction worker he had last seen exit the death box. John promptly gave him a one fingered salute. Greg gave a sharp whistle and a large ball of fur came barreling towards him. He patted the dog on the head and trotted towards the field, or rather what was left of it. They had been making quick progress with the new school. All that was left for them to do was pour the asphalt. Greg stepped into the dirt and headed out twenty paces. He picked up a stick off the ground and threw it. Radar, his Golden Retriever went charging after it. As he waited for his companion to return, he unzipped and went about watering the weeds. Radar charged back, eager to return to his game of fetch and dashed in front of the stream, earning himself a golden shower and disgusted moans from his owner. “Dumb dog.” Greg groaned. “I thought you were supposed to be smart.” He tucked himself back into his pants and paused. “What’s that you got there?” He looked his dog over and what he had clenched in between his jaw. That wasn’t the stick he had thrown. He reached out and freed the object as Radar danced in place eagerly awaiting his master to chuck it again. Only Greg didn’t throw it. He held it in his hand in horror as he looked it over. It was a bone. And it appeared to be human. … Matilda had gone from having a great day, to sitting in Mrs. Rodgers' spare room alone sullenly. She was seething when she learned who was responsible for the car. How could she? They were friends! And Hortensia had let her take the fall! And then Mrs. Rodgers had found that book, and suddenly the atmosphere had abruptly changed. She didn’t want to play Scrabble, or chess. Not even cards or a puzzle. She just sat there reading that dirty old book. Matilda could appreciate a good book, but she had never seen Mrs. Rodgers so transfixed on something. It made her curious. She tried to get in her lap and read it with her, but Mrs. Rodgers had pulled it away and told her to go read something else. When Matilda had asked if she could read it when she was done, she had coldly said “no”. And when she had asked what it was she was reading, she refused to say and told her to go play in the other room. Matilda had demanded to know why she couldn’t read it, Mrs. Rodgers had snapped and threatened to spank her. What was that book? Matilda’s curiosity was burning. Was it something dirty and adult? A romance novel? Was she reading something sexual? Matilda had read one of them once, but she didn’t really like it. Or understand the appeal of copulation. Jenny sure has weird taste in books. She said she likes the relationship between the characters and skips over the dirty parts, but Matilda wasn’t so sure anymore. It didn’t look like a novel though. It looked handwritten. A diary perhaps? Was Mrs. Rodgers reading Jenny’s diary? Oh she was so going to rat her out if she was. Their therapist was always telling all three of them to keep a diary, but Matilda hadn’t. She didn’t like the idea of her personal thoughts out there for anyone to read. It had been bad enough when she had caught Jenny reading one of those stories she hadn’t meant anyone to see. The only one she knew for sure was keeping a diary was Hortensia. She had seen her writing in it when she had gone in her room without knocking and nearly had it chucked at her head. That girl has some serious anger management issues. She leaned back on the bed and groaned. She was so bored. She couldn’t get into the books she had brought with her, the measly two. She’d get a few pages into it, but then her mind would wander off. She hoped Jenny tore into Hortensia, she could be scary when she wanted too. Matilda sat up when she heard something crash into the wall out front. She slipped out of the room and found Mrs. Rodgers sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. She saw the diary lying disheveled against the opposite wall. “Don’t even think about it.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “I wasn’t going to.” Matilda lied. Mrs. Rodgers stood and snatched up the leather bound book. The older woman looked like she had been crying. “Is it sad?” Mrs. Rodgers looked like she was going to tell her off again, but she didn’t. Instead, she sat with a heavy sigh and seemed to sink into the sofa. “It is.” she answered after a brief pause. Matilda was glad she was feeling more talkative. “What’s it about?” Matilda asked, taking a chance. Her curiosity had never been quenched. “It’s about how the world failed a teenage girl.” Carol said. And then she surprised her by asking Matilda a question. “Has your mom ever mentioned someone she called ‘The Tall Man’?” Matilda racked her brain. “She told me once she thought she wrote a letter and gave it to the biggest person she could find, but nothing ever came of it.” Matilda said. “And a few times in her sleep, but she says a lot of nonsense in her sleep.” Sometimes she missed sleeping with Jenny, but boy was she glad to finally have her own room. Not much was as terrifying as being woken up at four in the morning by a blood curdling scream. “What kind of nonsense?” “One time she sat bolt upright and hollered, ‘I FORGOT TO BUY CHEESE!’ and then laid back down.” Matilda frowned. Mrs. Rodgers hadn’t even cracked a smile. “She also asked me to let the goats outside.” Still nothing. “Whose diary is that?” “Agatha’s.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “Is it…bad?” “Very.” “Was she as mental as everyone thought?” “No, worse.” Matilda couldn’t picture a worse version of the Trunchbull. The last time she had seen the woman, she had tried to strangle her. Matilda probably would have died if it hadn't been for Jenny charging in with a chair. She touched her neck at the memory. It had been an agonizing few weeks until she could talk pain free. “What has Jenny shared with you?” “That she was abused.” Matilda said solemnly. “She recently told me about the burn. I had seen them before, but I never asked until we went camping.” “And my part in it?” “You saved her.” Mrs. Rodgers snorted and waved it away. “Basic first aid. I did what I could with what I had.” Carol said. “Do you think the gas leak is what caused Miss Trunchbull to go crazy?” Matilda asked. “Or was she born evil?” “I don’t know. I don’t know what she was like back then. I only know what I saw, and what she wrote.” Carol said with a sigh. “I think the house took its revenge in the end.” “She tried to kill me.” Mrs. Rodgers gave her a pitying smile. “She did have a certain colorful vocabulary when she mentioned you.” “She mentioned me?” “In a passage or two. She blames you for losing her control over Jenny, and she’s absolutely right.” Matilda beamed. She liked hearing how Jenny had changed, even more so how she was in a way responsible for that change. “What was Jenny like as a teenager?” Matilda asked. “I don’t really know. I didn’t meet her under the best circumstances, but I know she was kind. She was in tremendous pain, and still she was entertaining Hortensia.” Matilda considered this. “Did something happen to Hortensia then?” “She had her arm broken, and she saw something she shouldn’t have.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “Is it that face she draws?” “You’re observant.” Matilda tried to get her to tell her more, but Mrs. Rodgers stood and announced they’d wait for Jenny at her house. Fine by Matilda, she was dying of boredom here. Mrs. Rodgers was in an irritable mood and her own room sounded like paradise in comparison. She didn’t even have Whoodini to keep her company. He was off at that strange school in the countryside Matilda couldn’t find on a map. She was standing in the kitchen waiting to go when she heard something on the telly that caught her attention. Matilda went back to the living room where Mrs. Rodgers was staring transfixed at the news. Hey, wasn’t that Crunchem Hall in the background? Matilda listened intently. Her eyes grew wide with surprise. Human remains? They found human remains in the field? “The missing kids?” Matilda asked. “Most likely.” Mrs. Rodgers said. “I was waiting for this to happen.” Matilda stared at her, but she didn’t elaborate. “Police are asking if anyone in the public has any information to please contact the tip line. You can see the number on the bottom of the screen here, now Charles, police are saying they believe the remains are of an adult, possibly a male, but further testing will need to be performed to be sure. Building of the new school behind me has been ground to a halt as police investigate the area…” The news anchor went on. “Not a kid?” Matilda asked. “I didn’t see that one coming.” Mrs. Rodgers said. … “You’re leaving me here?” Hortensia asked in disbelief. “You are kicking me out!” “No, I’m not kicking you out. But I do think we both need a break. It’s only until school starts, maybe things will be better after a fresh start.” Jennifer said. Brian and her had talked it over last night and it had seemed like a good idea. At least until the ghost had made its presence known. She had been going back and forth all morning. But leaving Hortensia in a haunted house seemed the safer of the two options. Something was going on at home. It didn’t feel right. She wanted to separate Hortensia from whatever, or whomever, was the cause. Hide her away where they couldn’t find, or influence her. “Are you sure you can handle her?” Jennifer asked for what felt like the tenth time. He had three of his own children to deal with all by himself. “If you want to back out…” Brian only laughed. “It’ll be fine. Now I can put all four of the culprits to work.” He said before cracking his fingers. “It won’t be a vacation.” He warned Hortensia. “You can still go to your neighbors.” Jennifer knew the answer before she asked. “I’ll stay here.” Hortensia answered immediately. “What about my stuff? My clothes?” “You’ll come back with us, pack a bag and go back with them.” Jennifer explained. “But just know, if something happens, I'll come and get you. I’m only a phone call away. I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you here.” “Something happens?” Hortensia asked. “What’s going to happen?” “I don’t know. If you don’t feel safe or get scared.” Jennifer offered. Hortensia snorted at this. “I don’t get scared.” Hortensia said, arms crossed. Still putting on a show, Jennifer thought. She remembered her barreling down the stairs screaming because there was a spider in the girls’ bathroom. “Not even the dark?” Brian teased. Hortensia looked offended. “No.” She said. “Clowns?” “No.” “Then I’ve got a movie for you later.” Jennifer cleared her throat. “After hard labor.” Brian added. “What about ghosts?” he asked. “Ghosts aren’t real.” Hortensia said, rolling her eyes. Jennifer gnawed at her lip. She hadn’t said anything about what she had seen. She was still trying to process it. Jennifer didn’t think the entity was dangerous, just mischievous as Brian had said. And the woman. She seemed kind. But if she was wrong she was always welcome back early. At least Jennifer would get a few days of peace. She'd use the time to try and mend her and Matilda’s relationship. It had been a while since it had been just the two of them. And she still had tons of things to do to prepare for the start of term. How she was going to do all that without a car… “Oh, by the way…” Brian said with a slight smirk. He dug in his pocket and produced a bottle and handed it to her. “I think this is yours.” Jennifer could feel the heat all the way to the tips of her ears. A mostly empty bottle of clitoral stimulation cream. That wasn’t lube. “It was in Hazel’s room.” “I-it was full.” Jennifer stammered. Brian frowned. “I’m sorry, I’ll replace it, of course.” No. No. No. That wasn’t what she meant! Her face felt warm enough to light a fire on a dry hot day. … Jennifer had nodded off on the drive back. She was startled awake by a hand on her arm. She let out a panicked shout before realizing her surroundings. She was home. “Sorry,” she mumbled. She wiped at the corner of her mouth. Oh geez, was she drooling? How embarrassing. They exited the van and she stood in the driveway staring at her wrecked car. The spray paint with the offensive words were gone at least. She’d have to thank Carol for that. She lifted the potted plant in the corner and took her spare key out, but she found the door was already unlocked. Had they forgotten to lock it on the way out? She pushed open the door. Jennifer was surprised to find Carol waiting for her on the couch, most likely wanting to know how her sleepover had gone. “We need to talk.” Carol said. Jennifer’s stomach fluttered. She felt like a child about to be scolded over something. “She’s breaking up with you.” Brian stage whispered. Carol’s eyes flicked over to Brian. “Alone.” she added. Jennifer was taken aback. “I mean, without the kids.” she threw in. Jennifer turned towards Hortensia. “Why don’t you start packing?” Hortensia shrugged and climbed the stairs as Brian instructed his kids to start pulling weeds out front. Once they were each seated around the table with a mug of tea, Carol asked if they had seen the news. Jennifer hadn’t. “Four bodies?” Jennifer stammered. “They found four bodies at the school? When? Where? Who?” “The field.” Carol explained. “One adult and three children. They're looking for more, but it looks like someone was using it as a dumping ground.” Jennifer’s jaw clenched. “Agatha.” She spat. Only Carol shook her head and dug in her purse. She pulled out a book and set it on the table between them. “Have you read this?” “Isn’t that the book we found in the air vent?” Brian asked. It was. She was about to reach for it, but Carol pulled it out of her reach. “I don’t think you should read it.” Carol warned. “It’s…bad.” “I’m not a child.” Jennifer said. “Your aunt wasn’t well.” “I’m aware.” Jennifer said feeling annoyed. “I want to know what happened to my father.” “Cyanide.” Carol said. Jennifer froze. “He had asked her to leave the night before because you seemed unhappy. So she poisoned him.” She tried to remember that night, but it was too long ago. “Show me.” She demanded. Carol flipped through the journal until she found the spot and slid the book over. Jennifer’s eyes watered as she read. Agatha talked so casually about it, like murder was an unpleasant chore that needed to be done. Like sweeping the floors and doing the dishes. Agatha complained more that Jennifer's cries were grating on her ears than anything else. Of course she had cried. She was only five and had just lost the only family she had. “We were right though.” Carol said as Jennifer leaned back in stunned silence. “She was being blackmailed before I ever came into the picture.” “For the murders?” Jennifer asked. Carol shook her head and eyed Brian for a moment. “It’s fine. He knows everything. I told him.” “Did you tell him,” Carol asked before pausing “about your baby?” Jennifer stared at her. “What baby?” “The one you lost.” Jennifer felt a chill run through her. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I’ve never been pregnant, and I was only fifteen then. I’ve never…” she dropped her voice. “Had sex with a man.” “Agatha did horrible things to you.” Carol said. “She wasn’t well.” “I know that.” Jennifer said exasperated. She wasn’t making sense. “So when you saw a very strong looking man, you asked him for help.” Carol said. Her eyes were full of pity. “You wrote him a letter.” “He didn’t do anything. Nothing came of it.” Jennifer said. Carol shook her head. “Jenny…he raped you. And Agatha let him.” She felt her mouth go dry. “N-no!” “And you got pregnant.” “No!” “So she threw boiling water on you to make you miscarry.” “NO!” Jennifer yelled. She felt Brian grab her hand, but she pulled it away. “That didn’t happen! There’s no way that happened!” Carol was sliding the book towards her at another open page. With trembling hands, she picked up the book and began to read. Her brain began to fill in the gaps. She was doing odd jobs at Crunchem Hall over the summer. Grading papers, cleaning, and getting ready for the new school year. She looked out the window and saw him. He looked terrifyingly strong, even bigger than Agatha. She bet he could even pick her up and toss her. She eyed her backpack. It had the note detailing her abuse. She grabbed it and rushed out. He would help her! There’s no way someone that strong looking would be afraid of Agatha. She caught up to him and handed it over. She tried to tell him not to read it here, but he opened it anyway and began to read. “Is this true?” He asked after a minute. “Does she really do all this to you?” Jennifer nodded. “Where is she?” “Her office.” Jennifer mumbled. “Please, you have to get me out. Everyone’s too afraid of her!” He took her by the hand. It was so large! Safe! She would finally be safe! But why was he leading her towards the office? They needed to go the other way! “Going to make a couple copies of this.” he explained. She eyed the empty office warily. She was right on the other side of the door. She could hear her barking orders over the phone. He pocketed the copies and led her to the door. She tried to pull away. What was he doing? He turned the knob and entered. “WHAT!?” Agatha barked. “How dare you barge in without knocking! Who the hell do you think you are?” The man only smiled and handed over the letter Jennifer had written. No! What was he doing? She picked it up and read it. Her face turned white and then green. Finally, she ripped it into pieces and glared at him. “Get. Out.” “I have copies.” He said casually. “What do you want?” Agatha hissed. “50,000 pounds.” He looked to Jennifer, who was standing there in shock. “And a turn.” “Get out of my office you miserable sack of shit!” Agatha’s face had gone red in fury. “Do you have any idea what’s buried in that field of yours?” He smiled and rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet. He pulled a flier from his pocket and dropped it on the desk. A red headed boy smiled up at her along with the words MISSING. “You did this?” Agatha asked. “No, you did.” He smiled. “At least that’s what the police will think when I tip them off along with a copy of a letter detailing what you like to do to young girls. Who do you think they're going to believe? A pedophile like yourself?” Agatha’s face began to turn purple. “Leave us.” He leered at Jennifer. What was happening? Agatha took a swing at him. He caught her arm with ease and sucker punched her. She spat blood into her palm and stared at him. She could see true fear on her face. “Leave us.” Agatha stood and stared at her. “Aunt Trunchbull, what’s going on?” Jennifer asked. She was scared. What did he mean he wanted a turn? “You brought this on yourself you miserable, ungrateful brat!” She turned to him. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes. You better be gone or I’ll cut you into little pieces!” He seemed amused by this. “And you can make the check out to A.C.R.” She slammed the door behind her. “Aunt Trunchbull!” Jennifer called. He was advancing towards her. “AUNT TRUNCHBULL!”

Jennifer didn’t want to open her eyes. She was comfortable and warm, but she could hear footsteps coming. Probably Matilda wanting breakfast. But the sound was footsteps coming down the stairs, not up. “Daddy, I’m hungry.” she heard. Daddy? Jennifer opened her eyes to find a little girl standing over her, but she wasn’t Matilda. She looked around the room, confused. This wasn’t her house… And that wasn’t her daughter. She looked down and let out a gasp before pushing herself up as the memory of last night came to the forefront of her mind. She hadn’t been sleeping on a bed, she had been sleeping on a man! “G-good morning, Hazel.” Jennifer said in a shaky voice. At least she had put her shirt back on before she fell asleep. Hazel was staring at the two of them. Jennifer tried to disentangle herself from the sheet and stand up, painfully aware of both their lack of appropriate attire. She picked up his pants and handed them to Brian, who was slowly stirring himself. Once he saw Hazel, he quickly pulled them on and stood up, leaving the sheet for Jennifer to wrap around her waist. She made a mad dash for the bedroom, where she had left her clothes from the previous day on the foot of his bed. She stopped at the door and paused. The memory of last night replayed in her mind. She hesitated for a moment before turning the door knob and peeking inside, relieved to find the coast clear of any other worldly beings, real or imaginary. It had to be a dream. Or a delusion. Or a trick of the light. Ghosts weren’t real. It was a hallucination brought on by stress and sleep deprivation. They had just been looking at her picture and she had imagined seeing her. But at the time Jennifer was sure it had been Amber. It had to be a dream, because if it wasn’t… His dead wife had been watching them fool around on the couch. She didn’t want to think about that. And wouldn’t she be watching over her own kids? She thought of the magnets. Help Her Who was she talking to? Her? Him? Both? Why would she care about a kid who wasn’t hers? “Jenny? Is that you?” She heard a panicked voice call out. Jennifer hurried into the room and closed the door behind her. “Are you alright?” Jennifer asked. She had sounded in distress. She came around the corner and froze. She looked in distress. “Where have you been?” Hortensia whimpered. She was bent at the waist with her legs as close together as she could get them. Her hands were clenched into fists at her side. “I can’t get it off! I’ve been up for over an hour trying! I’ve been calling for you!” “Can’t get what off?” Jennifer asked, looking her up and down. “This!” Hortensia nearly yelled in a panic, motioning to her waist. She was tugging violently at the nappy, but it wouldn’t budge. “It should just tear off.” Jennifer said. This was weird. Oh, right! She had safety pinned it on. “It’s not!” Hortensia said. “I remember. There’s pins in it.” “I know! That’s what won’t come undone!” Hortensia whimpered. She bicycled her legs up and down. “I’ll get them,” Jennifer said. She knelt for a minute, but she couldn’t unpin them with Hortensia dancing from foot to foot. “Stay still.” “I can’t stay still!” Hortensia growled. “Well, why didn’t you come find me? Why did you wait until you got to this point?” “I’m not wandering around in a nappy!” Hortensia exclaimed. “My pants don’t fit over it!” Jennifer pinched the pin as hard as she could, but it wouldn’t budge. It was like it was rusted shut. She pushed and strained until her finger ached. Nothing. She pulled her hand away and waved her fingers about in pain. “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” Hortensia begged. “You made it through the night I see.” Jennifer offered. Hortensia moaned. Jennifer strained against the pin again, ignoring the ache in her fingers. She tried bending it, twisting it, and ripping it directly off. Nothing. She had been trying for fifteen minutes and she hadn’t made any progress. Her fingers felt raw. She could feel blisters forming. Her eyes were watering from the pain. She looked up and stared at the reflection In the mirror. She could see the reflection of a little girl sitting on the bed in a leopard onesie giggling against her closed fist. When did Hazel come in? She hadn’t heard her. Jennifer spun around and faced the bed, but there was no one there. “Di-did you see that?” Jennifer asked. She looked from the mirror, to the bed and back again. Nothing. “No, what? Was it a spider?” Hortensia was eying the floor and walls distastefully. “No, it was…my imagination. My own hair. Must have fallen in front of my eye. I thought I saw someone sitting on the bed.” Jennifer explained. Hortensia peeked her head out and searched the bedroom before shrugging and pacing around the bathroom. “What if you laid down?” Jennifer offered. “Maybe it’s the way I put them in.” Hortensia gave her a pained look. She didn’t look like she could lie still without… “Tens, you know…” Jennifer grimaced and shrugged her shoulders. “What?” Hortensia snapped. “If you really can’t hold it, you could just…” “I could just what?” Hortensia demanded. Jennifer motioned to Hortensia’s waist and gave her an apologetic grimace. She was only delaying the inevitable at this point. Hortensia gave her a horrified look as her eyes began to water. “NO!” She shouted. Jennifer raised her hands before gently lowering them. They didn’t need a fit this early in the morning. “It’s not a big deal. I’m just letting you know it’s an option. I can see you’re getting worked up over this.” “I’m not getting worked up!” Hortensia snapped. “I have to pee!” “Then pee!” Jennifer said exasperated, stepping away. “Do it! Get it over with! I don’t care!” “No!” Hortensia shouted, glaring daggers at her. Jennifer glared right back. Now wasn’t the time to be having this battle of wills, but it was too early to deal with her attitude. She could feel her frustration bubbling over. Her fingers stung and ached. She was tempted to leave Hortensia to deal with it herself, but she stopped herself. She took a deep breath and turned away, giving herself a moment to think about the situation rationally. She had a thought, but… it didn’t make much logical sense. She eyed the bed again where she had seen the figure… Brian had said she liked to cause mischief… No! The pin was stuck on something! Both of them were just stuck… “I’m sorry, let’s both calm down.”Jennifer said, gentler now. “It was only a suggestion. I will keep trying.” “Okay.” Hortensia said. “It’s just, you’re only dragging it out. Why not?” Jennifer asked. “It’s kind of what they're for.” “I don’t want to wee myself.” Hortensia said. Then she surprised Jennifer by breaking down in tears. “It's like the Chokey.” She spit out. “Standing in there all day having to wee yourself.” Jennifer stood in stunned silence. She didn’t know what to say. The only time Hortensia had ever spoken of the Chokey was if she was bragging about how many times she had been in there, like it was a badge of honor or something. She had never brought it up. Not in the therapy or during their nightly talks. It was a dumb suggestion, but she blurted it out anyway. “What if you sat down?” Jennifer said quietly and pointed to the toilet. “You can’t do that in the Chokey.” “I hate having to pee, but I hate feeling cold and wet.” Hortensia said with a sniffle. Jennifer closed her eyes and remembered her own long agonizing hours in the Chokey. The build up of pressure as you hoped and prayed it wouldn’t be much longer. The cuts and lacerations from the nails as you fight to hold it. The realization no one is coming. Resigned to your fate, you relax your sore tired muscles, fighting the urge to flinch in disgust and impale yourself. There's relief. At least you don’t have to wee anymore. But then comes the wait in your cold, damp clothing. “I don’t think it’ll be like that.” Jennifer said softly. “I don’t think it’ll be like going in your knickers.” “Matilda says it feels awful and you're miserable all day.” “That’s because Matilda insisted on pull ups. Those are meant to be uncomfortable to teach kids to use the lou. That’s more like a baby nappy.” Jennifer said, gesturing at her. “That doesn’t make me feel better!” Jennifer patted the toilet before lifting the lid so she could sit like she normally would. Hortensia looked at it skeptically with her lip curled. “If I can get you out in time, you're that much closer.” Jennifer said. “And if you decide it's not worth the effort or can’t anymore…” Hortensia groaned in a mixture of indecision and desperation. “I probably couldn’t even tell if you do or not.” Jennifer lied. “Since it’s not like wetting your pants. As soon as I get the pins unclipped, I’ll walk away. It’s be like Schrödinger's Nappy.” “What?” “You know, like Schrödinger's cat? The cat is both alive and dead? The nappy is both wet and dry.” Hortensia looked at her horrified and shook her head. God she missed Matilda. “You know, you like science fiction, right?” “Yeah…” Hortensia said suspiciously. “Well, there’s some physicists out there who believe in the idea of parallel universes.” She guided Hortensia down onto the toilet, who soon began to squirm. Jennifer tried again to get the tabs open while she talked. She focused her efforts on ripping it off. She wasn’t sure what these were made of, but they were tough! “Like an alternate timeline with differences.” “Yes!” Jennifer said, surprised. “How’d you know?” “It’s like the whole plot of the book you’ve been reading me.” Hortensia said. Huh, so she had been listening. “So try and imagine what’s going on in a different timeline. I could be trying to free you from a blow up pool flamingo floatie instead.” “Or I’m the one trying to save you.” “Could be.” “And you have to shit.” “Okay, that’s disgusting.” Jennifer said. “And stop swearing.” She looked up at her. “Do you?” “No!” If that were the case, she’d burn this thing off. But she could maybe cut it off… She opened his bathroom drawer searching for scissors. She didn’t see any, but she did find more condoms. Not that she was looking. She opened another drawer and found beard trimmers. This would have to do. “Are they hurting you?” Jennifer asked as she tried to snip away the fabric. It squished in between the blades, but wouldn’t cut. “I don’t know.” it wasn’t a no. “I think you do.” “You think there’s a parallel universe where I’m a boy?” Hortensia said changing the subject. “If you were a boy, Brian would be the one trying to pry you out of this.” Jennifer said before mumbling under her breath. “I’ve seen enough penises for one day.” Jennifer said. Hortensia gave her a disgusted look. “Whose penis did you already see? It’s not even eight!” She wasn’t supposed to have heard that. “Tens,” She sighed. “Look, I thought about it last night, and I talked it over with Brian. I decided I’m not going to send you to Cynthia’s, but-” Jennifer didn’t get a chance to get the rest out. Hortensia had thrown her arms around her. Jennifer blinked in surprise before bending down and returning the embrace. She rubbed Hortensia’s back a few times. “Whatever’s going on, I’m here for you.” Jennifer whispered. She kissed the top of her head. “But you’re still in deep S-H-I-T-E.” Hortensia groaned. “You broke my car…” “I know, this is just really gross!” Hortensia lamented. Her body had gone rigid. Jennifer stepped away and busied herself replacing the beard trimmers. “Gross gross gross.” So much for not knowing. “It’s all warm.” “The descriptions are unnecessary.” “I can feel it running down my arse!” Jennifer sighed and shook her head. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?” Jennifer spun. “Language!” Hortensia was holding something in her hand. The pins. Jennifer came forward, stuck a finger under the tab and tore it free with ease. Hortensia did the same with the other side. They stared at each other. “They were both sticking out unlatched when I looked down.” Hortensia said. Jennifer picked up one of the pins and stared with fascination. She pinched the pin. She had no trouble opening and closing it now. Was it her position? “I could have made it.” Hortensia groaned. She leaned her head against the wall and let out a defeated sigh. “If I had just looked down thirty seconds sooner.” “It’s not like we were planning on saving it anyway.” Jennifer offered. “Who cares if you weed in it or not?” “I care!” Hortensia groaned. “It’s embarrassing.” she mumbled. “If anyone at school found out…” She shuddered. “Then don’t tell them.” Jennifer said. She put the pins back in the drawer. “Go ahead and get cleaned up. You can take the first shower. Bag it up and throw it outside in the rubbish.” She left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She paused by the door for a moment and frowned. She could hear quiet sobs coming from the other side a few seconds later. “That wasn’t nice.” She said to the empty room. She was going crazy. Two “episodes” in one day, and now she was talking to a ghost. She didn’t expect a response. Static began to fill the room. Her head snapped to the source. His alarm clock sitting on the nightstand began to speak. The local radio DJ began to talk of sunny skies and sweltering temperatures. The station changed. A plumbing commercial. It changed again. Faster and faster the dial turned. A lawyer offering compensation for injuries. More static. She could faintly hear music beneath the distorted angry hiss of out of range stations. Then it became clear. Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” began to play. Jennifer stared at the clock. It was a coincidence. It was all just a coincidence. She felt frozen. Her eyes flicked to the bathroom door. Maybe she should grab Hortensia and go downstairs, but she could hear the water from the shower turn on. She had had to pee for the last fifteen minutes, but it seemed tasteless to run off and relieve herself while Hortensia was suffering. Now the shower reminded her. She threw her leggings on and headed for the bedroom door, thoughts of the second bathroom dancing in her head. She pulled on the doorknob. It wouldn’t move. She stared at it. She tried again. The knob wouldn’t turn an inch. She could feel her palms dampen. More static filled the room. “Where Do You Think You’re Going?” by the Dire Straits. Jennifer’s mouth began to go dry. Her heart began to beat in rapid succession. She felt a chill go down her back. She could feel someone standing directly behind her. Goosebumps began to form along her arms. She slowly turned. There was no one there. The radio changed again. Did she just hear the DJ say this was a London station? How? The music was changed back to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Was she playing with them? A blur of a little girl in a cheetah onesie was sitting on the bed laughing. She appeared like an after image. Jennifer blinked. It disappeared. That…that wasn’t Hazel she had seen. Her mind went to the woman brushing Hortensia’s head. There were two ghosts! Two. Ghosts. Ghosts. Jennifer let out a dry, nervous sounding laugh. Her sanity was slipping away day by day. “Okay… you got us.” Jennifer said. “You had your fun.” She reached for the door knob again. Still it wouldn’t turn. “Are you the one who messed up the kitchen?” She heard shouts coming from the bathroom followed by the tearing of the shower curtain. “OH THAT’S COLD!” “Not her!” Jennifer shouted before turning towards the bathroom door. “Are you alright, Tens?” “The bloody hot water ran out! Ugh! This is not my morning!” Jennifer couldn’t say it was any better out here. She eyed the empty room with her back leaning protectively over the bathroom door and quietly addressed the entity. “Please, we would like to leave. I know you're having fun, but you’re scaring me and you’ve upset her. She didn’t want to pee herself. That wasn’t a very nice thing to do.” She was talking to it like it was a little kid, but that’s what she had seen. She could hear a small girl's laughter in her ear. Jennifer spun. “Are you talking to me?” Hortensia called from the bathroom. The radio chirped to life. Robert Deniro’s voice. “Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?” followed by static. “Uh, ye-yeah, I was just asking how you were.” “Great.” Hortensia said sarcastically. “Can you hand me my clothes?” Jennifer’s eyes darted around the room until they fell on a discarded pile of clothing on the floor. If she stepped away from the door, would it make a move against her? Would Tens be safe? Did it even matter if she was there at all? It didn’t need to be bound by physics. Did it? She didn’t know anymore. Could a ghost pass right through her? She crossed the room and grabbed the clothes. Now came the moment of truth. Could she get the door open? She twisted her wrist. The knob turned. With a sigh of relief Jennifer passed the requested items through the crack in the door. “You know Tens, you’ve also seen me in compromising situations.” Jennifer said. “Like at the lake…” She could hear Hortensia let out a snort of laughter. “Your arse was, like, massive.” Hortensia chuckled. Jennifer could hear the radio begin to tune. “Oh. My. God. Becky. Look at her butt. It is so big…” A girl over the radio said. Jennifer’s jaw clenched. When Hortensia emerged from the bathroom, Jennifer was sprawled across the nightstand rear high in the air, as she reached for the plug while Queens. “Fat Bottomed Girls” played. “I would appreciate it if I didn’t hear rumors of a ‘Headmistress Baboon’ at school.” Jennifer said as she emerged from behind the nightstand.“You don’t tell anyone what happened at home and I won’t either. Deal?” “Well, that technically didn’t happen at home…” “Tens…” “Okay, okay. Don’t tell anyone about…any of this.” She motioned at her waist. “Or that you’ve seen me cry.” Hortensia mumbled. “Or about freaking out over getting a shot. Or just anything about this summer!” “No baboon jokes about my butt. You don’t know anything about my past. You DID NOT see me snogging a man in the back of his van.” Jennifer stuck her palm out. Hortensia shook it, but then grimaced in disgust. “Like a Virgin, touched for the very first time…” The radio sang, springing back to life. “Let’s go downstairs.” Jennifer said. She could feel a sudden surge of adrenaline. She grabbed her dress and shooed Hortensia down stairs. She could finish changing in the other bathroom. At least it hadn’t locked them in. … “Damn it!” Carol yelled. She threw the dusty book against her bedroom wall and let her face drop into her waiting hands. She knew Agatha had been a monster, but god damn it. The woman was mad. Mental. Off her rocker. The dustball hanging off the threaded bookmark had brought it to Carol’s attention when she had let the worker in to examine Jennifer’s vents. Once she realized what it was, she had taken it overnight in hopes of finding answers. Now she knew for sure. There was someone else out there who deserved to rot in hell. But first, it was time to tell Jennifer the truth. Agatha didn’t throw boiling water on her because she was masturbating. Agatha threw boiling water on her because she was pregnant.

The change that had come over Hortensia was startling. She wasn’t livid or thrashing about. Instead, she curled into a ball and began to cry with loud racking sobs. Jennifer paused for a moment, fighting the urge to take her words back and make it stop. She was serious. She meant it. She had tried to help Hortensia, but she had thrown it all back in her face. She had gone out of her way to hurt her, and her relationship with her daughter. And over what? Because she didn’t want to go to therapy and do a single page of math problems in the afternoons? But…something about that sound… those types of cries. It wasn’t quite physical pain or hurt feelings. The room began to lose focus. No, not now! She groped the wall and slid down. She was both in the room and lying on her office floor at the school, choking wailing sobs coming from both Hortensia and her past self. “Jenny, hey? Is it the heat?” Brian asked her. She shook her head and hid her face. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” Two in one day? Not good. She wiped the tears from her face and tried to stand back up, but he stopped her. He looked between Hortensia and her. “Maybe you should sleep on it.” He whispered. She felt a pang of annoyance. Was he telling her how to parent? But as she thought about it, maybe he was right. She was re-acting. “I’ll think about it.” She announced loud enough so Hortensia could hear, but it did little to stop her. She was babbling something Jennifer couldn’t quite understand at first. She felt another annoyed pang in her chest. “Anywhere but there! Anywhere but there!” She wasn’t upset at being kicked out. She just didn’t want to go to Cynthia’s. “I said I’ll think about it.” She repeated. “Now go upstairs to bed so I can think!” She didn’t feel very authoritative from her spot on the floor, but Hortensia stood and rushed upstairs, much to the other kids' relief. They looked just as surprised and uncomfortable with her outburst as she did. “You too, Hazel.” Brian said. “ Go to bed, I’ll deal with you later.” That left the two boys. Once Hazel was out of ear shot he stared at the two of them. “Which one of you did it?” The boys stayed quiet. “Which one of you jacked off in her car?” He demanded. The two boys both wrinkled their faces in disgust. “No one.” “Then why is her front seat covered in semen?!” They wrinkled their faces again. “Hazel was squirting a bottle of something around.” Nick offered. “Some kind of gel or…” “It’s lube.” Jennifer mumbled, clenching the bridge of her nose. “There was a bottle of it in my purse. She must have been looking for more lotion.” “What happened?” Brian asked. “Tens just went crazy and started beating on the car.” Zach said. “Then Hazel started doing it because she was doing it.” “And how did your boy's pocket knives end up in her tires?” Brian asked. “She asked us too.” Nick said. “She asked you too?” Brian said in a disbelieving voice. “So you just did it?” “The car was toast by then anyway.” Zach said. “So you just stood there and let it happen? Why didn’t you come get us?” “I was too surprised.” Nick said. “It was like she just went crazy and started bashing the car with a rock.” So it was a fit. Not that it made much of a difference, but knowing it wasn’t calculated eased her rolling gut a bit. “It happens with her.” Jennifer said. “She does suddenly snap and start attacking the first thing she sees.” Jennifer explained. “It’s hard to react when you see it happening.” “That doesn’t mean they had to join in.” True. “Did she threaten any of you?” Jennifer asked. They shook their heads. “So she just…asked?” “Well, not really, it’s more like, she… came back? Like… it wasn’t her and then… it was.” Nick said. “We had shown her our knives earlier and we were talking about how hard it would be to cut through stuff. I had wondered out loud how hard it was to slash a tire, cause you see it in movies and stuff. She kind of stared at the car for a minute, and was like ‘may as well test your knives, cause the car’s toast anyway.’” “Okay, so Hortensia beat the windows, Hazel squirted lube around, you guys slashed the tires…Who spray painted the car?” Brian asked. “That’s what Tens was freaking out about. None of us did.” “What?” Jennifer asked, pushing herself up. “It was weird.” Nick said. “She beats the crap out of your car and is like, ‘oh well’ but she freaked out about you thinking she was calling you names. Got super pissed and yelled at us for it, but it wasn’t us. We were all together.” “Was there someone else there?” It was probably Hortensia, but she might as well try. “N-no, wait yeah, Tens was talking to that massive bloke that walked by before she went mental, they were having some kind of fight, cause she flipped him off after he’d turned around and left, but other than that. No. So some man told her off about something and she had a fit. But it still didn’t explain the spray paint. At least there was no sexual predator after her, just a pre-teen with anger management issues. Jennifer shrugged. She was still livid and a little hurt, but she supposed she should be grateful she hadn’t attacked someone. A car can be fixed. Maybe Eve was right. Maybe therapy wasn’t helping. Maybe it was time she admitted defeat and passed her off to Cynthia for their tough love approach. Jennifer didn’t have it in her anymore. “Go to bed, both of you.” Brian said. “I need to think about what I’m going to do with you tomorrow.” He sighed and looked at her. “I am so sorry. I’ll pay for new tires and clean the upholstery.” “It was a junker anyway. I only recently learned to drive during the year. New tires might cost more than the cars worth. I may not have even noticed all the extra dents if not for the spray paint, tires and windows being smashed out.” “Even so.” “Maybe it was your wife who painted my car.” Jennifer said with a laugh. “The cop did say it looked like the work of a jealous lover.” he grinned but shook his head. “She was gentle, she wouldn’t call anyone those kinds of names. She doesn’t want to cause harm. This is just her way of causing mischief and letting me know she’s here.” Jennifer frowned. That wasn’t what she had picked up with her experiences of otherworldly forces not caused by Matilda. “I can see you don’t believe me.” Brian said. He was grinning, but he looked sad. “I have felt and seen unexplainable things. Of course I believe you. “ she gestured to the kitchen. “Falling in the skatepark, the pots and pans, you getting me out of my shirt on a first date. All unexplainable things.” The tension between them broke and he chuckled. “I need to tuck in Hazel, will you be up for a while? I can put in a movie.” He suggested. “We’ve had enough drama for one day.” She smiled and shook her head. “I think I’m going to call it a night. I still have a kid to interrogate.” She said. “Thanks for the shirt.” She said with an embarrassed winced. He snickered and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. “Feel free to come back down if you can’t sleep. Goodnight.” He went to Hazel's room and she kept going. When she opened the door she could hear Hortensia sniffling, but the body wracking sobs had stopped. She sprawled out on her back on the bed with a pillow over her face. She saw the nappy sitting on the bed beside her. “Tens, I know we’re both upset right now. A lot has been going on. Let's talk about this in the morning once we’ve both calmed down.” Jennifer said. There was no response from the girl on the bed. “I know you're not asleep. I can hear you.” Still no response. She let out an annoyed breath. “You need to put this on tonight.” She held up the nappy. Nothing. “Hortensia! I’m serious, you need to wear this.” Now she was getting frustrated. She didn’t feel like playing this mind game with her. “If you don’t get up and put this on, I’m going to put it on for you! You want me to diaper you like a baby?” She ground her teeth together. Fine. She’d call her bluff. Jennifer picked up the nappy and unfolded it. It really was like a larger version for a baby. She loudly crinkled it to show Hortensia what she was doing, but she just laid there. Alright, she had warned her. Jennifer gripped the waist of Hortensia’s pants and yanked them down. “WHAT THE FUCK?” Hortensia sprang up, fist in the air and headphones dangling off the side of her head. Loud music filled the space between them. Hortensia glared at her but lowered her fist when she saw who it was. She hoisted her pants back up and seethed. “I am so sorry, I thought you were ignoring me.” “So you pulled my pants down?” Hortensia demanded. “No, It-it was an accident!” The last thing she wanted was rumors about her being inappropriate with a student to circulate. “How do you accidentally pull down my pants?” Hortensia asked with a scoff. Jennifer held out the open diaper. “You need to go put this on.” Hortensia snatched it from her hand and left for the bathroom in a huff. “I told you three times to get up and put it on. And then I said ‘I'd put it on for you if you ignored me one more time….’” “I wasn’t ignoring you! I didn’t hear you!” she heard followed by a series of crinkling, thrashing and frustrated grunts. “I realized that.” Jennifer said with a wince. She stood outside the bathroom and waited. The number and volume of grunts were increasing. Jennifer frowned before she heard a bang against the wall. “Tens, take a deep breath and relax.” “How am I supposed to relax right now?” Hortensia grunted. “The stupid thing won’t go on.” “Well, first thing you need to do is wee, cause it’s not coming off till morning.” Jennifer warned. “They don’t refasten and I’m not risking you leaking in his bed.” “And what if I need a wee in the night? Then what?” Hortensia asked as the toilet flushed. “Better hope you don’t.” Jennifer said, but then thought better of it. She supposed she could always safety pin it back on. She’d have to ask Brian if he had one lying around. “Do you usually need to?” “Haven’t really had that luxury in a while.” Hortensia said sarcastically. “Now what?” “Come out so I can help you..” “No!” Hortensia said. “You're getting frustrated. I don’t want you having another fit. Just let me do it so we can both go to bed.” She could hear Hortensia let out a low whine. “I know, I won’t say anything at school.” She heard another whine. “Or Matilda. It’ll stay between us.” There was a final low hesitant grumble before the bathroom door unlatched. “Go lay on the bed like you were before.” She opened his bathroom drawer. Jackpot. She picked out a few bobby pins off a pile of them and walked over. “I’ll let you do the honors this time.” She gestured to her pants. After a moment of hesitation, she slid out of them. “Underwear too.” “Put it over.” Hortensia mumbled. “You want to go home carrying wet knickers in your pocket?” Hortensia visibly deflated. After a second of considering this, she shimmied out of them as well. “Hurry up.” she barked. Jennifer rolled her eyes and gave her a look she had been practicing, Hortensia cowered a bit and added, “Please, it’s embarrassing.” Jennifer sighed. “I know, i’ll hurry. Turn on your side. Hortensia rolled over and Jennifer paused. She stared. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing. She was torn between investigating and respecting Hortensia’s privacy but the first instinct was winning. What was that? “Bring your top leg up to your chest.” Jennifer leaned in closer and bent to take a look. “What are you doing?” Hortensia demanded scooting away. “Stop looking there.” “Sorry, I thought I saw something.” “What? Hair?” She said sarcastically. “Sorry, i’ll put it on.” She silently fastened it with the tapes before double securing it with bobby pins. “There, all done.” “Now we both look like babies.” Hortensia lamented into her cupped hands. Jennifer didn’t say anything. She was lost in thought. The bad feeling in her stomach grew. She kicked off the pajamas the rest of the way and climbed into bed, She had gotten the best of both worlds. The pajamas and his shirt, but they were the farthest thing from her mind. “Please,” Hortensia pleaded after a few minutes of silence. “Not them.” Jennifer yawned. She didn’t realize how tired she was. She rolled over and shut her eyes. “I’ll think about it.” Jennifer mumbled. “I’m out of options Tens, your behavior… I tried. I want to help you, I want to see you do well, but it feels like nothing's working. This wasn’t like breaking a mug or a vase. You destroyed my car, and you got other kids in trouble too. And you made me think I was being stalked.” “I didn’t want to! It wasn’t my idea!” Hortensia cried. Jennifer sighed. “Go to sleep.” “He made me do it!” Hortensia bawled. “I said ,‘no’ but he said- he said…” Hortensia couldn’t finish the sentence. Jennifer rolled back over and eyed her. She would have ignored this for a desperate attempt to pass blame, but the boys had mentioned a man. “Who told you this?” Hortensia looked at her before averting her gaze. “Who told you this?” “I can’t tell you.” She cried into her pillow. “The boys mentioned there was a m-.” “They didn’t see anything!” Hortensia said, looking up. “Forget I said anything. I made it up.” Her eyes were wide, begging, afraid. “Not them. Please.” “Why not Cynthia? Would you tell me? ” Jennifer whispered. She knew she didn’t like her, Jennifer wasn’t all that fond of her either, but Hortensia’s reaction was startling. She had seen her cry before, but not like this. Hortensia mumbled a name into her pillow. “Aiden?” Hortensia nodded and curled into herself. “This Aiden person, was he at the house earlier today?” Hortensia didn’t respond. Wait. She knew that name. Why did she know that name? “What’s Aiden’s last name?” She asked. “Redding.” “And is this Aiden Redding married to a Cynthia Redding?” Jennifer growled. “Yes.” Hortensia sniffled. “Tens,” she asked gently. “Did he do something that upset you earlier today?” But Hortensia would say no more. Three hours in and Jennifer still couldn’t sleep. The digital alarm on the dresser read a little after midnight. Her mind was whirling. Was this just a convenient cover up story? She had told her to forget it, told her she had made it up, but Jennifer wasn’t sure. Why was Hortensia this scared of Cynthia’s husband? Did he beat her? Was their ‘tough love’ approach anything like Trunchbulls? Use the rod and beat the child? “Tens? Are you still awake?” she whispered. She received a grunt in response. Jennifer rolled over to face her but was greeted with the back of her head. “You’d tell me if someone was hurting you, right?” She waited for a response, but after a few minutes she heard soft snoring coming from the other side of the bed. Finally, Jennifer gave up. She got out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs. She hoped Brian was still awake. She needed to talk to someone. The light from the telly illuminated the room as an advertisement for a blender played. He was lying on the couch on his back, but she couldn’t tell if he was awake or not. She stepped closer. And closer. Just as she was about to peek at his face, her foot came in contact with something on the ground and she crashed forward on top of him. He let out a startled yell and jumped. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t mean to wake you! Or fall on you…” Jennifer said in a panic. She was in the process of pushing herself up, but arms wrapped themselves around her back and pulled her down on top of him. “Hi.” He said with an amused grin. “Couldn’t sleep?” “Too much on my mind.” Jennifer admitted. She was awkwardly splayed out on top of him. It was both the most uncomfortable and most wonderful place to be. His hand was gently cupping the side of her face. “You look even cuter in just my shirt.” He said. First, she had wandered around without a shirt, now she wasn’t wearing any pants. “I seem to be unable to keep my clothes on around you.” she mused. He chuckled “I don’t mind.” His smile was infectious. He pushed himself up a little and met her lips. She had wanted to talk, but this was alright too…Who knew an infomercial for a blender could be so romantic? His stubble rubbed against her face as they kissed. She found herself exploring his chest with her hands. She felt like she was overheating again. Beads of sweat were rolling down her chest. “It’s so hot.” She lamented when they finally broke apart for air as she sat up, straddling him. He chuckled. “You can always take off your shirt again.” He teased. She stumbled over her words in embarrassment and shock until he began to laugh. “I’m joking.” he said, holding one of her hands. “Jen, you don’t ha-” his words fell away as she tossed his shirt to the side. He wasn’t ogling or leering at her. More like slowly taking her in. No one had ever looked at her like that before. He slowly traced a finger down her scar from her abdomen to the top of her panties. “It’s hideous.” Jennifer mumbled. “None of you is hideous.” He said. He pushed himself half way up with one arm and clung onto the insides of her thighs for support. Then he began to softly kiss her abdomen, gradually inching down the scar. Jennifer let out a gasp. He grinned as he looked up at her, lips still pressed to her skin. “I dreamed about this once.” she said softly. “About you, doing this.” Her stomach felt funny. It had felt funny since she had come downstairs to see him. But seeing him like this. She couldn’t get the image of her dream out of her head. Her stomach began to flutter even more. “Oh, having those kinds of dreams, are you?” he teased. “What happened in your dream?” He kissed her lower. “I was in your tent back at the pond. Except naked. My clothes were disappearing even then.” He chuckled in between kisses. “I was scared of you seeing me, of seeing it, but then you started kissing it and going lower.” She could feel herself shaking. He was almost at the edge of her underwear. “And then what happened…?” “You were kissing…something else.” She mumbled. His eyes glanced up at her and held her stare. “Another time.” He whispered. “I’m not trying to take advantage of you.” He laid back down and stretched out, offering his arm out in invitation for her to lie down. “Especially not after everything that’s happened today.” “It was a bit of a mood killer.” Jennifer agreed. She let out a shaky laugh. What was she just about to do? What had come over her? She had told Carol she wasn’t that kind of woman, and twelve hours later she was straddling him in just her panties hoping he would…what exactly? She laid down with him, chest to chest and rested her head against his neck. This. This was what she had come down for. His arms wrapped around her in a hug. She let out a content sigh. It would be perfect if… “I took off my shirt, you could at least take off your belt. It’s poking me.” Jennifer mumbled into his neck. His large chest began to rumble and she rose and fell as he laughed. “What?” The weight of an arm left her back and she soon heard a jingle. She looked over and found his pants dangling from his hand, belt still fed through the loops. Oh. So they were both in nothing but their underwear. “So what is it? Am I lying on the remote?” She swiped her hand between them and found something. She felt up and down, feeling more and more perplexed. He let out a soft gasp. “Je-jenny, I-I thought you wanted to take this slow.” He said. “Yeah?” “Hardest request of my life then, but please let go of me.” He said. She frowned. “That was you? Was I hurting you? I’m so sorry!” “Nope. Nope. You weren’t hurting me.” he said with a grimace and a chuckle. Confused, she pushed herself up and looked. She flinched away in surprise and jumped up. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it wasn’t… that. “No, don’t leave. It’s okay! See?” He stood up and began pulling on his pants from the floor as Jennifer slowly backed away. “ He reached out his arm to her. “Sorry, I was surprised.” “You don’t have to apologize.” “O-of course you’d ha-have one, th-thats normal. Totally normal” She said as if trying to stun him with her extensive knowledge on the workings of male genitalia. “We were snogging, it’s not like we were at one of our kids piano recital.” “Or a funeral.” “Your sister's wedding.” “School book report presentation.” Brian winced. “Ah, nope that one actually happened.” He said. Jennifer burst into giggles. “Hey, that was very traumatic, I'll let you know.” Brian chuckled. “I went around with the nickname Boyscout Brian for years. That’s what I get for wearing sweatpants.” “BoyScout Brian?” “Yeah, for being the kid who pitched a tent in class.” Jennifer couldn’t breathe. “Wh-why?” “These things have a mind of their own. One minute you're having lunch with your inlaws and the next thing it's reaching out like it wants a bite of your dinner.” “It must have smelled something it liked.” Jennifer said, trying to catch her breath.“I shouldn’t laugh. I’m a school teacher.” Jennifer said, though she showed no signs of stopping. “Apparently Little Brian has a thing for Fettuccine Alfredo,” he said. He mimicked an animal sticking its head out and sniffing around. Jennifer giggled and sat back down on the couch. She patted the seat next to her. “Sit down.” She said before adding with a snicker, “BoyScout.” He feigned hurt before joining her with a salute. She could make out the outline of Little Brian saluting as well. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak out earlier.” “You apologize too much.” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Lay back down with me.” he whispered. She eyed his waste tentatively. “He’ll stay in his cage, I promise.” He chuckled. She let him guide her back down until she was lying out across his chest. “You can go back to your boxers, if you want.” Jennifer offered. His jeans were uncomfortable against her bare skin. “I’m starting to feel underdressed.” “He might poke you.” He teased. “As long as he doesn’t bite. Don’t make me muzzle him.” She reached down and lifted up one of his socks. Brian laughed and began to unbutton his pants, but struggled to get them off with her on top. She pushed herself up on her knees and grabbed the material. She had only meant to help pull his pants off. But after a firm yank, she had pulled everything off. She sat staring at what she could only describe as one of those monsters from the movie Hortensia had been watching about the underground earth worms that were wreaking havoc on the town. A Graboid. Jennifer began to stammer in embarrassment. “It was an accident.” She muttered. She had never seen one before. So gross. But she couldn’t stop staring. “I seem to be the one underdressed.” He stated calmly. She snapped herself out of her trance. She bent down and picked up his sock. “Hey, you’re not actually going to…” She did. “He’s in jail now.” She stated. “What did he do?” He asked with a frown. “He broke out of containment.” “I believe he had an accomplice. I witnessed it. You sprung him out.” “I don’t know what you're talking about.” Jennifer said. She handed him his underwear back and he slipped them on, but not before removing the sock. She got another peek at it before it disappeared back into his boxers. She let out a relieved sigh. They had gone far enough. Much farther than Jennifer was comfortable with. She bent down and put her shirt back on, laughing at his frown and curled up with him. This was more her speed. “Have you decided what you're going to do about her?” he asked. She was lying on her back this time, his arms wrapped around her chest. “I don’t know.” She groaned. “I can’t control her.” “I don’t think you should kick her out.” Brian said after a minute of silence. “Mmm, why’s that?” she asked. Her eyes were closed and she was growing more and more tired. The late hour was catching up to her and his rhythmic breathing was calming. “Because the Jenny I've come to know would never give up on a child in need.” He said. “I think it would eat you.” “What would eat me?” “Regret.” Jennifer let out a long sigh. He was right. “I think there’s something going on between her and her neighbors.” Jennifer said. “It’s just a hunch, but I’ve never seen her act so… I don’t know how to explain it. She tries so hard to put on this tough persona, so for her to throw it away in front of everyone at the mention of going to her neighbors. It doesn’t sit right with me.” “The ones who act tough are usually the ones who feel the most powerless.” He said. “Go with your gut. If you think something doesn’t feel right, maybe it isn’t.” “I think he was at the house.” she whispered. “I think he was the one the boys saw her talking-” There was a sudden crash coming from the kitchen. They both laid there, now wide awake. Jennifer stood and let him up to investigate, trailing slowly along behind him. Was someone breaking in? He stopped in the entrance way. Jennifer peeked around him and let out a relieved sigh. It was just magnets and pictures. They had fallen off the fridge. Except not just one or two. His fridge had been covered with family photos, notes, grocery lists, and appointment reminders. Now they all littered the kitchen floor. Everything except a small handful of colorful alphabet magnets remained. “What in the…” he muttered. He bent and picked up a magnetic advertisement for a local pizza establishment, but when he went to stick it back on the fridge, it wouldn’t stay. He tried a magnetic giraffe which had lost its head in the fall. Again, nothing. Jennifer picked one up and tried herself. It was as if they had all been demagnetized all at once. “I had no idea the alphabet ones were such good quality. I have a classroom full of them.” Jennifer said. Whatever had happened, it hadn’t phased them. They both squatted down and began collecting photos and scraps of paper off the ground. Jennifer picked up a picture and stared at it. A woman with shoulder length brown hair and wide smile was holding a toddler in her arms in front of the zoo entrance. “Was this Amber?” Jennifer asked. She handed over the picture as he stared at it. “Yeah, with my oldest, Zach. He had to have been two. I remember that.” Brian said before laughing. “Right after that picture was taken, he had the biggest blow out all over her shirt.” Jennifer scrunched up her face in disgust. “Started potty training him right after.” “Maybe I dodged a bullet after all.” Jennifer said. She stared at the picture of her. “She looks so healthy.” “It came on very suddenly, and this picture’s almost 10 years old.” He explained. She knelt back down and began to reach for a receipt when a quiet squeaking noise caught her attention. She looked up at the fridge and stared. The alphabet magnets! They were moving! Not just sliding down but slowly rearranging themselves. “B-Brian! L-look at the fridge!” She whispered. “It’s her.” Brian whispered back. Jennifer didn’t have an explanation. They watched silently as the letters began to spell out a phrase. HELP HER “Hazel!” Brian said. He took off at a run towards the stairs, Jennifer behind him a few seconds later. He rushed into Hazel's room, but Jennifer hung back in the hall listening. She didn’t hear any trouble. That was a relief. She frowned in thought. Her feet began moving towards the master bedroom. She peeked her head in to make sure everything was alright and gasped. In the glow of the alarm clock she could see a translucent woman sitting on the bed beside Hortensia. She gently stroked the girl's hair back while she slept before meeting Jennifer's eyes and vanished.

Jennifer hadn’t noticed Hortensia had returned until it was too late. She let out a startled yelp when the van door slid open. “Eww.” Hortensia cringed. “Were you two snogging back here?” Jennifer stammered, red faced as she hurried back to her place in the front seat. Brian merely chuckled and took his time. If someone had told Jennifer she would be making out in the back seat of a van with a man in the parking lot of a prison a month ago, she would have thought they were insane. She felt more like a teenager who had just been busted by an authority figure than ever. “N-no. We were just talking.” Jennifer mumbled. She peeked at her reflection in the visor's mirror before quickly trying to flatten her hair. Well, they had started out talking anyway. She glimpsed Hortensia’s sullen expression from the front seat. “Did you have a good visit?” “No.” Hortensia mumbled. Jennifer turned to face her, startled to see remnants of tears which had not yet dried. “Mum’s being transferred to Swansea.” “What? Why?” Jennifer asked. That was almost four hours away. Hortensia shrugged and remained silent the rest of the drive to the arcade, opting to stay in the van instead of sneaking in a few games while they tried to round up the other kids. They found the boys hammering away in front of a Mortal Kombat cabinet. “Hurry up and finish.” Brian said. He looked around and frowned. “Where’s Hazel?” “Dunno.” One of the boys said, eyes still glued to the screen. “What do you mean you don’t know?” Brian asked exasperated. “You were supposed to be watching her!” He let out a frustrated grunt and began scanning the rows of machines. “She was right behind us a minute ago,” His brother said. “She can’t have gone far.” Jennifer said. They walked around the arcade searching the crowd, but she wasn’t to be found. She could see his face crumple in worry. “I’ll check the restroom.” She went inside the woman’s room and called her name, but there was no reply. They looked by the snack bar. Nothing. She wasn’t sitting in one of the driving games either. Or by the bank of pinball machines. “She likes to wander off.” Brian said. She thought he looked ready to start shouting her name. “Are you looking for someone?” A teen girl in a blue polo shirt with the name tag that read ‘Ashley’ asked her. “Yes, a little girl. She wandered off from her brothers.” Jennifer said. Brian had hurried off to check with the boys again. “Black hair mid back?” the girl asked. “Yes! Have you seen her?” Jennifer asked. “Photobooth by the snack bar. We’ve been trying to coax her out for the last thirty minutes.” Ashley said. “My friend Tina’s with her. I’ve been trying to find who she belongs to. Figured I'd run into panicked parents somewhere.” “Thank you!” Jennifer said. So much for being behind them a minute ago. Ashley led her over back towards the food court. She scanned the crowd of teenagers, children and parents looking for Brian. She found him dressing down the boys. She’d leave him to it. She’d probably be tearing into Hortensia if she lost Matilda. “Hey, I found her mum!” Ashley hollered towards another teen standing by a metal booth with a small space concealed by a curtain. “SHE’S NOT MY MOM!” Jennifer heard coming from behind the curtain in a shrill whiney voice. “I’m with her dad.” She explained. “Do you know what happened?” “A couple reported a crying toddler in the photo booth.” The girl named Tina said. “NOT A TODDLER!” “Hazel, is that you?” Jennifer called out. “Go away!” she heard followed by sobbing. “I’m opening the curtain.” She said softly. She opened it a few inches but was met with resistance. Little fists were clenching it shut from the other side. Jennifer could always force it open if need be, but she didn’t want to accidentally hurt her. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter? What happened?” She asked gently. She listened for a reply but all she heard was hiccuping wails. She made eye contact with Brian and pointed to the machine before holding up her hand to stop him. She had sat with many a-crying children of Hazel's age.. Those weren't the cries of injury. Those were much more intense and drawn out. These were more sporadic, low and choked. These were the cries of hurt feelings. And nothing hurts a child's feelings worse than a bigger kid being mean. “Was it your brothers?” Jennifer asked softly. She must have guessed the magic password because the defiant resistance fell away. Jennifer gently opened the curtain and poked her head in. “Th-they we-were call-lling me n-n-n-ames.” a sobbing girl hunched in the corner said. “Well that doesn’t sound very nice.” Jennifer said. “Why don’t you come out of there and you can tell me all the mean things they said.” “I’ll I’ll get in trouble!” Hazel cried. “I can’t!” “You’re not in trouble, why would you get in trouble?” Jennifer asked. “Cause… I-...” The rest was unintelligible gibberish, but Jennifer got the gist with the wet stain down her front. Jennifer paused in thought. It reminded her of the time Matilda had gone missing at the daycare. Jennifer had been furious with her when she found out she had been hiding the whole time. She had assumed with Matilda’s intelligence it was some personal vendetta against her over her ground rules. But as she looked down at Hazel weeping in the photo booth, the truth hit her. Hazel wasn’t doing this to hurt Brian or make him worry. She was just a scared six-year-old afraid of the consequences. Intelligent or not, hadn’t Matilda been too? “Here, this will help.” Jennifer slid off her thin cardigan and handed it to Hazel. “Tie it around your waist and no one will know. See? It hides everything.” It hid nothing. Hazel didn’t need to know that. She offered her her hand. “Your daddy’s looking everywhere for you.” She led Hazel out by the hand where Tina? Or maybe Ashley? One of them was explaining the situation to Brian. “Thirty minutes!” He growled at his sons. “You didn’t check to see where she was for over thirty minutes?” “They were making fun of me!” Hazel insisted, piling on the guilt. “No we didn’t, you pissed yourself and ran off crying.” One of the boys grumbled, earning himself a smack upside the back of the head. “And you let her just run off?” Brian demanded. “In the car. All of you.” He said, staring at each child in turn. He spoke more gently now, but Jennifer could still hear a stern ring in it. “Hazel, you know the rules.” “No! Daddy! I’m sorry! No!” She whined on the walk through the parking lot. “What’s going on?” Jennifer whispered once they were all in the van. “Back to pull -ups for three days. She knows the rules.” Jennifer crinkled her face. “It was just an accident.” “It’s been a lot of accidents.” He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s not fair! They wouldn’t take me to the lou!” Hazel complained. “You little liar! You never asked!” One of the boys said. “Do you think they’ll fit Hortensia?” Jennifer whispered. He gave her a puzzled look before laughing. “No.” He chuckled. “Why would she need-” Jennifer motioned with her hands to lower her voice. “She has issues at night.” Jennifer leaned over and whispered. “And I don’t have anything to protect your bed. Or any money on me.” He seemed to consider this a moment. He checked the rear view mirror before replying. “There’s something I can give you at the house.” Jennifer let out a relieved breath. Sorry, Hortensia. She didn’t have a choice. She had to warn him. “You three! Go get ready for bed.” “But it’s only eight!” Zach complained. “Now!” Brian said. She watched them all trudge up the stairs. He eyed Hortensia for a minute before sighing. “You can hang out with them upstairs if you want. Or you can stay downstairs with u-” Hortensia was already halfway up the staircase before he finished his sentence. “Does she not like me either?” He laughed. Jennifer smiled. “She’s…in a rough place right now. Don’t take it personally.” She explained. “Something’s been eating her.” “Oh, right, let me get you that thing.” Brian said, heading up the stairs. He stopped and looked at her for a moment. “You can come up if you want. I’ll show you where everything is.” She followed him, feeling slightly nervous. Being in the van with him was one thing, but now she was following him to his bedroom. Her mouth went dry. It wasn’t like that, right? But just in case… “Hortensia,” Jennifer called. The preteen poked her out of one of the upstairs rooms. “He’s going to show us where we’re sleeping.” She beckoned her to follow. He led them into the master bedroom, where he got on his hands and knees and slid out a clear plastic bin from underneath the bed. He opened it, where Jennifer could see blankets, pajamas, and other assortment of childish items. “Are these Hazel’s?” Jennifer asked. “Uhh, no.” Brian said, grabbing something before quickly shutting the lid and sliding it back under the bed. He was avoiding her eyes as he handed the item over. Hortensia was busy studying a picture. “My wife’s.” Jennifer looked at the item in her hand puzzled. It was a nappy, but she didn’t know they made adult ones so… “But they have butterflies on them.” Jennifer said. “They sell adult sized ones with designs? Did you get these from the pharmacy?” “Uh, no. Umm, a catalog.” Brian said. “She liked…cute things.” “Well, when I’m old and in the nursing home, make sure they give me the cute nappies.” Jennifer said. Brian smiled. “You remind me of her.” He said before adding. “I hope that’s not too weird of a thing to say, telling my new girlfriend she reminds me of my dead wife.” The only thing Jennifer caught was “girlfriend”. She looked up. “We are, aren't we?” He asked. Her face flushed as she smiled and nodded. “Good.” He smiled back and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’m out of here.” Hortensia groaned and stalked out of the room. Jennifer set the nappy back on the bed for later and let him guide her through working the shower and where the extra blankets were if she got cold. She doubted it, it was another hot and humid night. “Do you want a T-shirt to sleep in or..” He paused for a moment. “Do you like cute things too?” He looked amused for a moment before he shook his head. “Nevermind, it’s too hot for that.” “Too hot for what?” She asked curiously. “Pajamas. They're, uh, cute. Might even fit you.” Well, she did like cute, but she kind of liked the idea of sleeping in one of his shirts. She didn’t know why. “A shirt is fine.” Jennifer answered. “Aww, but they have a hood with ears.” He laughed. “Pajamas with ears?” Jennifer asked. He got back down and slid the box out. He held it up. Jennifer’s eyes went wide in surprise. “That’s adorable.” She said. “I didn’t know they made pajamas like this for an adult.” He shrugged. “You can find almost anything if you know where to look.” He held them out to her. She held them in her hands. So soft. “I guess I could try them on…” She mused before frowning. “Are things going to start flying if I do?” She had her reservations about the whole “ghost of his dead wife” thing, but she had no explanation to give about what transpired in the kitchen. He was silent for a moment as he pondered it. He shook his head. “She liked having playmates.” “Playmates?” Jennifer asked. He winced slightly before clearing his throat. He looked uncomfortable with the topic. “I’ll explain another time.” He said with an apologetic smile. “I don’t want to scare you off.” “I’m not going anywhere.” Jennifer chuckled. “If I stayed put after your kitchen turned itself upside down…” “True.” He grinned. “Fine, go try it on and I’ll tell you.” She headed to the ensuite bathroom feeling even more confused than ever and stripped. She unzipped the back and stepped in, marveling at how it even had the feet. Where on earth had he found these? She fed her arms into the holes and reached behind her and pulled the zipper up. They fit, but she was roasting. She stepped out and stared at herself in the mirror. They were a little baggy in the waist, but otherwise they fit. She fingered the buttons on the sides. What were those for? “How are they?” He asked. She stepped out and showed him. He grinned wide and approached her. He flipped the hood up over her head and laughed. “Oh, it’s a Dalmation.” she chuckled. “You make a very cute Dalmatian.” He led her back downstairs where she found Hortensia sitting on the couch by herself, a CD player resting on her lap and headphones over her ears. She made eye contact. Hortensia lowered the headphones around her neck and scoffed. “What in the world are you wearing?” Hortensia asked, eyebrows raised. “Why? You want to wear some too? I have another pair.” Brian asked, laughing at Hortensia’s expression. “You can match.” Hortensia scoffed and stood up. “I think i’ll go upstairs after all… before you try and put me in a bib.” “So what’s the story?” Jennifer asked, taking a seat on the couch. “Well,” he said, clearing his throat and taking a seat next to her. “Amber was…She had a hard time when she got ill. She was a very independent person, and she had to give up a lot of that independence. She fell into a depression, like many people do, until we stumbled on this.” He gestured to her outfit. “On pajamas?” Jennifer asked. Brian shook his head. “Age play,” he explained. “We were already into the role playing scene, someone suggested it, we tried it, and she fell in love with it. Thirty- eight year old Amber may have had a hard time being taken care of, but three- year- old Amber didn’t.” “What’s role playing?” “It’s like the adult version of playing pretend.” He said. “It can be sexual,” He saw the look on her face and quickly threw in a “or not. We didn’t, you know, do anything adult when she was in toddler mode.” “Toddler mode? So she had a split personality?” Jennifer asked. “No, no. It was all pretend. She found it comforting and it helped her. She was a brat and I was her daddy.” “Uhh,” That sounded kind of mean. “It’s a personality type. She’d act like a brat. Knock things over, disobey, wreck havoc when left unsupervised. It was all for fun.” He chuckled, seemingly lost in the memory. “That's why I think It’s her.” He said, gesturing to the kitchen. “Still out there knocking shit off the counters and making a mess.” Jennifer remained silent. It had seemed more intense and angry than simply knocking things off the counters. Pots and pans had shot out, not been simply “dropped”, but she didn’t argue with him. He took her hand in his. “Does this weird you out?” He asked. “The ghost or...?” “The ageplay.” He said. “No, I mean, if it helped her, good for you for going along with it.” Jennifer said. “I was wondering…” He said softly. “I’ve been thinking about what you went through.” “Oh no, don’t.” She said. She didn’t like people thinking about it. She didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. “I was wondering if you would be interested in, umm, playing pretend with me?” He asked. “You…want me to act like a three-year-old?” Jennifer asked doubtfully. “I want you to act however you want.” Brian said. “I know you said intimacy would be difficult for you…” “So this is about sex?” Jennifer asked with a frown. “No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to show you there are ways of being intimate without sex.” He explained. “I really like you Jenny…” He said softly. “I like you too.” She said. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I didn’t think it was possible for me. It’s just…everytime I think about sex, I panic and then I have these episodes, and I don’t think I could ever enjoy it with the pain.” “I told you, there’s no rush.” He squeezed her hand again. “We could share something, just the two of us, without it. You don’t need to be afraid.” She leaned her head against his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of being held. It was still such a foreign feeling to her. She would have been in heaven if it wasn’t for these pajamas. They were making her sweat. He was right, it was too hot, but she didn’t want to get out from underneath his arm. “What pain?” He asked after a minute. “I’m,” she paused and sighed. “Not normal down there.” “It’s okay.” He whispered before pausing. “You don’t have a penis, do you?” He asked conspiratorially. Jennifer laughed and shook her head. “No!” she said firmly. “It’s a burn.” She held a hand to just under her navel. “From here,” She moved it down to the top of her thighs, “to here.” He frowned. “Were you in a fire?” “No.” She whispered. “My aunt wanted to punish me. I was doing some inappropriate things, and she threw boiling water on me.” “Jenny.” He whispered horrified. “That's why the idea of sex…I just-I can’t.” She said, lowering her eyes. “Not now. Maybe not ever.” “Does it hurt?” He asked. “Sometimes.” “How old were you?” “Fifteen, I think. I only remember bits and pieces.” The phone began to ring. She wondered who was calling him this late. She eyed him curiously. “The answering machine can get it.” He said. He pressed her tighter against him. It was a comforting gesture, but she couldn’t do it anymore. She stood up and felt beads of sweat make its way down her chest. She stumbled a bit. She was feeling dizzy now. “Are you okay? Your face is all red. Water! You need water!.” He jumped to his feet and pulled her along to the kitchen. Next thing she knew a glass of water was being thrust into her hands. He opened the large double doored fridge and gestured her forward. She took a few steps and he positioned her in front of the open doors.. She shut her eyes and leaned into the cool air. Then she heard the back zipper sliding down. “Hey, no , stop, I'm not wearing a shirt under this!.” She called. “You need to cool down. You’re overheating.” She groaned. She hated being a damsel in distress, but still. It was such an odd feeling, being cared for… So she didn’t fight him when he continued to unzip her. He worked her arms out and she covered her chest as he slid it down to her waist. “Drink water.” He said, before he turned around and faced the other wall. She took a few sips from her glass, left arm covering herself as she inspected the contents of his fridge as a distraction. She heard an electronic beep followed by Carol’s recorded voice behind her. She spun her head in order to hear better and listened to the message. Her jaw fell open in shock. Her eyes went wide. She forgot her current state of dress and came forward, arms down by her side as she listened. Brian stormed out of the kitchen and halfway up the stairs. “EVERYBODY DOWN HERE, NOW!” He stomped back to the kitchen and froze. Jennifer was staring at him with wide concerned eyes…No, It couldn’t be… He opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. “Is something wrong?” She asked. He was looking at her a bit oddly. She could hear a hoard of footsteps making their way down. He snapped back into focus before tugging off his shirt and handed it to her. She covered herself in a panic in realization and snatched his shirt. She spun around and threw it on herself before shutting the doors to the fridge and turning back around. She felt her face radiate heat, but was unsure if it was from heat exhaustion or embarrassment. “What?” Nick asked. Jennifer saw all four kids staring at them from the landing. “On the couch.” Brian said. “All of you.” Jennifer stood off to the side still feeling stunned. The kids sat and stared up at him expectantly. Hortensia kept bouncing between him and her. looking for some kind of explanation but Jennifer couldn’t meet her eye. “Why did we just get a call about a group of children being responsible for the damage to Jenny’s car?” Brian demanded. “She made me!” Hazel cried. “She said she’d beat me up if I didn’t!” “You little liar!” Zach said as Hortensia yelled, “No, I didn’t!” She flashed Jennifer a panicked look. “I didn’t!” She said again more earnestly, almost desperately. “I didn’t threaten her.” Her hands were lifted in a defensive posture as if Jennifer was going to charge. Jennifer felt like charging. Threatening was her hard no. “And her car?” Brian asked. “Are you the group of kids?” Hazel had already confirmed it. “No!” They all chimed, except for Hortensia. “It was me.” She said softly. She knew it wasn’t only her, but she didn’t care right now. “And Matilda? Was she a part of this?” Hortensia shook her head. “So the first time?” “Me.” She mumbled looking down and wiggling in her seat. “Why?” Was all Jennifer could say. Hortensia shrugged. “No, tell me why you wrote those things on the car and let my daughter take the fall?” “I was angry, I had an attack.” Hortensia said. “Bollocks!” Jennifer said, making Hortensia look startled. “If you had just damaged my car, I might have believed you. You made this personal! I-I told you things! And you used them against me?! Were all those talks for nothing!?” “N-no I was-” Hortensia began to stammer but Jennifer didn’t want to hear her excuses. She knew she was angry about the medication the night of the first event. What had she done to piss her off today? She felt hot tears of betrayal begin to slide down her face. “I tried Hortensia. I wanted to help you. I really tried, but I can’t do this anymore.” Jennifer said. “Go to bed, and when we get home tomorrow, pack up your stuff. I’m taking you to Cynthia’s.”

So it was carbon monoxide, Jennifer thought as they all stood around by her destroyed car. All the headaches and mood swings. She stared at her house. Now what? “Well, looks like Hortensia’s getting her wish.” Brian said. Jennifer whipped her head around. “You can’t stay here.” He said looking at her confused face. “But-” “It’s called the silent killer for a reason.” “Yes, but…” Where would she go? And her purse with her checkbook and bank cards were still inside. And her car. She couldn’t just walk away with only the clothes on their back. She supposed she could go to Carol’s… “Do you have anywhere to stay?” He asked. “Can’t we just air it out and not turn on the A/C?” she asked. “You’ll be miserable!” He said. He shook his head. “You can stay at my place. We’ll call someone to come out and take a look at everything in the morning.” “N-no, I- I couldn’t.” She stammered. She took in Hortensia’s worried expression. She was torn between not wanting to be a burden, and wanting to make Hortensia feel safe. “Carol will be home in a few hours. Maybe you could drop us off there and we can wait for her.” “A few hours.” He scoffed. “I’m not leaving you on someone’s porch to wait for a few hours. What if they decide to stay somewhere else? Then what will you do?” “Okay.” She said with a sigh. “Or I could just run inside real quick and grab my-” “No.” he said firmly. “It’s not worth your life.” Her brain felt foggy. She knew she could come up with further reasons to say ‘no’, but her mind just wouldn’t co-operate. She still felt in shock from the day's events. So she nodded in agreement and they all piled into his van. At least this time she was able to sit. “Hortensia.” She said on the drive. The girl gave a grunt in response. “Since we’ll be in Aylesbury, maybe you can visit your mom.” She saw the girl’s head perk up from the rear view mirror. She winced. “My ID. I can’t go inside the prison without it.” “I can go by myself.” Hortensia said. Jennifer bit her lip. “I don’t think I want you going into a prison by yourself. What would your mom think?” Hortensia snorted. “She wouldn’t care. She thinks you hover too much anyway.” Hortensia said. Oh does she… Jennifer clenched her fists. Jennifer knew she hadn’t been thrilled to hear about her taking her daughter to therapy. She thought it was a waste of time. Her thoughts seemed to be aligned with Cynthia’s. Hortensia didn’t need to talk about her feelings; she needed to grow up and take some responsibility for her actions. Jennifer thought it was a bit harsh. She was only 11 and she had had a difficult time of things. Jennifer thought she had been making wonderful progress. She had opened up about the things that were eating at her. She talked about never being able to meet Eve’s expectations of her rage episodes. How Eve just expected her to simply “stop having them”. She had also talked about the loss of her father, and her frustration with the teachers at school. The biggest change Jennifer had noticed was at night. She no longer laid on the farthest side of the bed staring at her as she read to her. She actually laid out on her back and closed her eyes. Hortensia had even fallen asleep a few times. Whatever odd night time paranoia had possessed her seemed to have passed. But no matter how much Hortensia opened up, Jennifer couldn’t shake the feeling Hortensia was holding something back. All Jennifer could do was hope that she was opening up during her private sessions. There was something so familiar about the way Hortensia jumped at loud noises and flinched when she was touched. It was what made Jennifer's heart hurt for her. Maybe Agatha hadn’t sexually abused her, but she had certainly left her mark. Perhaps she had been thrown in the Chokey one too many times, or sucker punched, or humiliated. Or been the victim of any number of bizarre, awful and traumatizing things. Like poor Issac Jacobs, who was terrified of bees. The poor lad had jumped from his seat in fright when one had made its way in through an open window. Unfortunately, it had been during one of the afternoons the Trunchbull taught his class. She threw him in The Chokey. She threw him in The Chokey with the bee. Issac needed 17 stitches when he was let out. It wasn’t just that Agatha was mean. No. She was cruel. You’d better not let her find the thing that scares you or makes you visibly shudder. She’d use it against you in a heartbeat. Like Peter, a fifth year boy who had been late getting back from recess. Where she had shown just how cruel and wicked she could be. Why had he admitted that to her? Had he blurted out the truth in a panic? Cracked under her awful stare? But somehow, some way, she had learned why he was late. Peter was shy. Too shy to wee when someone else was in the lou. So he had waited until everyone had left. So she waited. She waited until his teacher called and gave her the signal he had asked to be excused. Then she called an assembly. If watching a boy stuff his face with chocolate cake had been hard to watch for Jennifer, it was nothing to watching what happened to Peter. She called him up onstage like she had done to Bruce. But instead of coming out with a cake, Agatha had come out with a bucket. No one could leave until Peter peed in it. Up on stage. In front of the school. While facing them. It was his worst personal nightmare. He had held out for three hours. He was bawling so hard none of it had made it into the bucket when he finally unzipped. It had been so unnecessarily cruel. Jennifer had always wondered why he hadn’t just weed himself instead. Wouldn’t that have been better? At least he wouldn’t have had to expose himself. But maybe Agatha had quietly threatened to smash his penis in a desk if he didn’t do it. He never came back to school after that. She didn’t blame him. If that’s what she did to someone who got out of their desk without permission and was five minutes late to class, what had she done to someone who routinely poured maple syrup on her desk chair? Jennifer tried to flash her a reassuring smile through the mirror, but Hortensia was staring out the window. Jennifer frowned. No matter what the Trunchbull did to her, Hortensia had never backed down. So what had happened to make Hortensia beg to leave? She swore she hadn’t seen anything, but Jennifer wasn’t so sure. Nothing about this situation was sitting right with her. “It’s beautiful.” Jennifer said when she looked up. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t realized they were here. There were so many flowers, plants, hedges, and trees circling the house. There was so much green. Jennifer inhaled. It was so calming, even if it was a bit overgrown. She would have loved to spend more time gardening her own home, but she had been so busy she hadn’t had the chance to do anything with the large yards. “Thanks, gardening was one of my wife’s hobbies, especially towards the end.” He added softly. “It’s calming.” Jennifer said. “I’m afraid the weeds are winning at the moment. I haven’t had the time.” Brian said. “Are your kids as addicted to the arcade as mine are?” Jennifer asked with a raised brow. “Oh god, yes, they’ll do anything for a few pe-ah.” He grinned. He turned to the hoard of kids following behind them. “Anyone who wants arcade money for tonight. Weeds.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the overgrown garden. The kids rushed forward. Except Hortensia. “You don’t want arcade money?” Jennifer asked. “Could I go see mum instead?” Hortensia asked. “We could drop the others off.” Brian offered. “I don’t have my ID.” Jennifer said. “I could walk her in and we can wait for her in the van.” Brian said. Jennifer swallowed nervously. Alone in the van with Brian. She looked towards Hortensia’s pleading face. She couldn’t say no. “Okay.” Jennifer said. “Let me call and set it up.” “Thanks.” She turned towards the garden but Jennifer stopped her. “You don’t have to pick weeds for this, come inside.” “I could just pocket the money for later.” Hortensia said after looking hesitantly behind her. Jennifer grinned with relief. Whatever it was that was bothering her wasn’t enough to completely crush her spirit. “Sure.” Brian chuckled. “Probably doesn’t want to be alone with us old people.” Jennifer laughed. “You know, we are the same age difference apart as you and her.” Jennifer began to stammer. “You’re sure this is okay?” He asked softly as he led her inside. It was the first mention of their relationship since she had nearly broken his nose. “If you don’t mind...” She searched for the right words, “me.” She had an ever growing weight in her gut telling her she wasn’t going to be an easy person to date. He gave her a questioning look. “I mean,” she let out a dry laugh. “You’ve already had to rescue me from camping, carbon monoxide in my house, a sexual predator, and…” He cut her off with a quick kiss. Her eyes darted around the room in a panic. She pulled away and gripped his arm for support. She waited for the tell tale dissociation that came with her flashbacks. She shut her eyes tight, expecting to hear her aunt's booming voice in her head. But nothing happened. “Are you alright?” he whispered, arms wrapped around her. She opened her eyes and let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Nothing happened.” She said before giggling. “Nothing happened.” She couldn’t begin to explain the immense relief she felt. “Nothing at all?” He asked with a frown, tucking a strand of her hair back. “No fireworks? No sparks?” She kissed him back. “No flashbacks.” She kissed him again. “It’s just us.” And again. “In the present.” “Good.” He grinned down at her and pulled her deeper into the house and into the kitchen. He leaned her against the counter and continued where they left off in the hall. Except this kiss was different. It was slow and deep and Jennifer…didn’t hate it. She could feel her stomach doing little flips. Her legs were trembling and when they broke apart she was breathless. And she couldn’t stop giggling. She felt like she was going mad. “I think there may have been some sparks afterall.” She said with a laugh. “Yes, I agree.” He said with a beaming smile. He leaned in for another kiss when a sudden eruption of noise and chaos stopped him dead in his tracks. Jennifer let out a startled shriek and nearly jumped into his arms. Every cabinet had opened. Every drawer had shot out of its track. Pots, pans and cutlery littered the kitchen floor. Broken shards of dishes made it impossible to move. Jennifer's heart began to race as she took in the chaos. Even the chairs at the kitchen table were knocked over. She’d be chasing Matilda down right now. Only problem was she wasn’t here. “What just happened?” Jennifer asked. The kids came in to see what the commotion was and froze. She looked to Brian expecting to see fear in his eyes, but he looked resigned, almost sad. He flashed her a guilty sort of smile before frowning and averting his gaze. “You’re going to think I’m mental but, I…I think…” he swallowed and let out a humorless laugh. “I think my house is haunted.” Jennifer began to stammer. “Or more like, well, I think my wife is haunting me.” “W-what?” Was all Jennifer could manage to articulate. She didn’t believe in an afterlife. Or a God. Or ghosts. Or really in any unexplainable invisible force. At least she didn’t until she had met Matilda. The girl had knocked everything she had believed about the world askew. “She’s been following me.” He said. He looked resigned, like he expected Jennifer to grab Hortensia and bolt. “Haven’t you noticed all the unexplainable things that've been happening when we're together?” Jennifer had. Like getting shoved off the skateboard, his windshield cracking, the damage to her car… “It’s been Matilda.” Jennifer said. “All the drawers getting pulled out in the kitchen, doors slamming at my house, your windshield cracking.” “She’s not here now.” He said. No. She wasn’t. She wasn’t ready to buy into his ghost theory, that was a little too illogical for her, but everything that had happened to her… it did scream jealous ex. “You’re not the first person I’ve tried to date.” He said softly. “Same thing.” So this had been going on since before he had ever met her? “And her car?” She couldn’t help but ask. She’d take the jealous ghost of deceased wife over a perverted stalker. “You think your wife did that to my car?” “It was people.” Hortensia mumbled. Jennifer’s eyes shifted to Hortensia. People? As in more than one? “I wanted you to stay here because I wanted to know I wasn’t going crazy.” Brian said. “You saw.” He gestured to his mess of a kitchen. “I did.” Jennifer said as she took in the mess. Her heart was still hammering. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I may not believe in ghosts, but this last year has opened my mind to other possibilities I wouldn’t normally entertain.” He eyed her for a moment. “Like what?” He asked. “I think it’s time I showed you what my daughter is capable of.” … Carol grumbled under her breath. Why she let this child talk her into playing Scrabble again she hadn’t a clue. She stood no chance in hell. “A-B-A-M-P-E-R-E-S.” Matilda said with a grin. “Let’s see, triple word score plus another 50 for using all my tiles…” “Nuh-uh. That’s not a real word. I’m challenging that.” Carol said. Matilda gestured to the dictionary. Carol checked. “Damn it.” She muttered. “Principle unit of measurement in the metric system.” She let Matilda keep the score. It was almost like having an automatic score tally. When the phone rang Carol jumped up, glad for the excuse to leave the game. Nothing hurt your pride quite like getting your arse kicked by a six-year-old in a game of intelligence. “Hey Jen, no we’re good. Just getting destroyed…again. The zoo was good and-” She paused to listen. “You’re where? Jen! Shacking up with him already?” She grinned at the stammered replies. “I’m kidding. I’m…” Her face fell. “Maybe it’s better you stay there. Have you called anyone to come fix it? Yeah, I can air it out and let them in, no problem…Someone did what to car?…Oh god… Well, someone will be happy to be off your shit list. You want to talk to her? Ok, I’ll get her. MATILDA! YOUR MOM’S ON THE PHONE!” She looked down at the little girl who reluctantly reached for the receiver. “Remember what we talked about.” Carol said before handing it over. “Before she says anything, start by apologizing.” She could see the annoyance on Matilda’s face but Jennifer could use some good news. It sounded like she was having one hell of a day. “Hi.” Matilda said before taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry for picking on him!” she blurted out. “And if you want to date him I won’t sabotage it if he makes you happy…” she sounded less than thrilled about it but it was a start, Carol thought. “No, I didn’t see anyone when we left.” Carol pulled out the phone book and looked for someone who could fix her air conditioner while Matilda talked with her mom. She wrote down a few numbers while Matilda gushed over the penguins. Carol had had a hell of a time dragging her away from their enclosure. When Matilda hung up, Carol called the numbers one by one. The first one was already closed. The next three couldn’t come out for a few days. The fifth one said they’d be out in thirty minutes. … Jennifer hung up the phone feeling stunned. And then she laughed. She thought she was going to have to practically beg on her hands and knees for forgiveness. Only when Jennifer said, “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” Matilda had simply said, “Okay,” and told her all about the penguins at the zoo. Like nothing had ever happened. She let out another relieved laugh. Brian peeked up at her from his hands and knees. The two of them had been on the floor picking up shards of glass and porcelain, until she remembered she needed to tell Matilda where they were. “I forget how easily kids forgive.” Jennifer explained. “And Matilda just gave us her blessing…sort of.” “Lucky.” Brian said. “Cross any of my kids, and they’ll never let you forget it.” He changed his voice into a mimicking falsetto, “Remember that time you missed my talent show 6 years ago because you had to work late.” Jennifer laughed. Perhaps it was just a Matilda thing. She had also forgiven Lavender when she told the class Matilda was wearing diape- Jennifer winced. What was she going to do about Hortensia? He had offered them his room. Her eyes shifted to Hortensia, who had been silently sitting in the corner spacing out for most of the evening. She walked over to her, bent down and whispered in her ear, “How many dry nights have you had this week?” Hortensia stiffened and looked away. Jennifer purposefully hadn’t been involving herself in this for the girl’s privacy. As long as she was getting treatment for it and cleaning up after herself, Jennifer had looked the other way to save Hortensia’s dignity. There was no way this wasn’t killing her mentally. “It’s okay, I just need to know if I need to get you anything to protect the bed.” Jennifer couldn’t care less if she peed on the old mattress she had been using. It had been Jennifers growing up, and she herself had subjected it to unspeakable things over the years. She had planned on throwing it out before Hortensia had even moved in, but ever since this problem developed, she had held off on replacing it. “None.” Hortensia mumbled. She must have seen her face fall a bit before throwing in “It’s the pills!” in a panic. “Hey, it’s okay.” She patted Hortensia on the back. “It’s probably from the gas leak at the house. It’s gotten to all of us in different ways. Once we get it fixed, there’s a good chance it’ll stop.” So that was a yes, she would need to figure something out with their sleeping arrangements. She couldn’t let her sleep in his bed if she was going to pee in it. Unless… She eyed Hazel a moment. Nope that wasn’t going to work. Even if she did have bedwetting nappies Hortensia would never fit in them. But she had no money on her to go buy her anything. She’d have to tell Brian and see what he wants her to do. Or call Carol back and ask her to drive over and pick them up. Forty five minutes away. And she couldn’t leave now anyway. She had promised Hortensia she could see her mom. If she left now, he would think she was running away from him over the incident in the kitchen, and while yes, that had been rather startling and unnerving, she had to admit she had grown rather used to seeing objects fly in the air. What if a normal person would have run? What if he thinks she’s the weird one in this situation? I mean yeah, she thought, “the ghost of my dead wife” was kind of weird. But was “My kid has telekinesis” much saner? What if he thought she had been mocking him? “Hortensia, it’s true Matilda can levitate things with her mind, right?” she asked. “Huh?” Hortensia said. She supposed it was a strange change of subject. “I told him about Matilda.” Jennifer said. “About her you-know-what.” Brian looked up curiously. “What about it?” Hortensia asked uninterested. “Can she really?” Brian asked. “Move things with her mind?” “Huh? Oh, yeah, the first couple times you see it it’s crazy, but then you kind of get used to it. Then it’s like, ‘Matilda, get the chips!’ and she doesn’t even have to get off the couch.” “It’s how I keep the ceilings clean.” Jennifer said with a guilty grin. Hortensia was right. What should have been extraordinary had become commonplace. She remembered a time not so long ago when she forbade Matilda from using her powers in fear of them. Now she asked her to levitate the couch so Jennifer could vacuum under it. “So all those things at your house, the lights flickering, the doors slamming…” “Was us.” Hortensia said with a slight grin. “It was funny to watch you spin around, especially when she kept moving your wrench.” Jennifer buried her face in her palm. “I was worried I was bringing whatever this is over there with me and causing you problems. Then I thought maybe I was hallucinating and that’s what made me think of a possible leak.” Jennifer groaned in her hand. The girls had been messing with him and it had probably saved their lives. She never would have thought to check for a gas leak. If Matilda hadn’t made him feel like he was going mental, he wouldn’t have thought of it either. There was no way she was giving her that satisfaction. “But I’m not, unless… we all are?” Brian asked. No. This was real. They locked eyes. “Maybe a little more time outdoors?” But just in case. “Yeah.” Jennifer agreed. “C’mon ‘Tens, let's get some fresh air.” They drove (with the windows down) first to the arcade to drop off the other kids. Hortensia couldn’t stop herself from playing one before they left. Which became two, which became three. Jennifer had to drag her out so they’d have enough time for her to visit her mom. At least the knot in Jennifer's stomach that said “something terrible is going on” was easing with the return of Hortensia’s antics. But that hollow look in her eyes scared her. Something had happened. As the day went on it looked more and more evident. She just wished Hortensia would open up to her. Maybe she’d tell her mom. It was as Jennifer thought. The old and scrawny looking correction officer wouldn’t let her through without her ID. She wondered how he had gotten such a position. Didn’t you need to be fit and strong? Jennifer wondered if she could get past him simply by blowing. He looked like he would die of old age any minute. That’s probably why he was on desk duty and not back with the prisoners. But maybe you didn’t need to be all that visually imposing at a women’s prison. Out of curiosity, she had asked Eve once if getting jumped was a problem there like she had read about their male counterparts. She said the only thing she had seen was some slapping and hair pulling. She said the problem was the guards. They were all male. They openly leered at you while you showered out in the open with your other 50 new friends. Jennifer reminded herself never to get arrested. “Then can I walk Hortensia in?” Brian asked the guard. “Are you on the visitor list?” “Uhh, no.” “Then no.” “I can go by myself.” Hortensia groaned. “Umm,” Jennifer stumbled. “An escort will be provided to and from the visiting area. We do not allow visitors to roam free of the facility.” the guard said. “See, I’ll be fine.” Hortensia said, motioning wildly with her arms. “Okay, but come back to the van as soon as you're done. We’ll wait for you.” Jennifer said. She watched Hortensia disappear behind the metal doors led by the skeleton of a man. She felt a hand grab hers and gently lead her away. … “Ho-ly sch-” Carol was about to say, but stopped herself. She eyed Matilda, but she seemed not to have noticed her near miss. Jennifer would kill her if Matilda reported Carol had been swearing around her. Agatha didn’t care if anyone swore around the kids, hell, she’d probably have preferred it if you swore AT the kids. Jennifer on the hand… She wanted to keep her job for now. Things were going to be interesting. Carol felt more indifferent about the children at Crunchem Hall. Okay, well, maybe a few had grown on her over the 3 years she had worked there. There was Joel, the diabetic fourth year who came in for his insulin everyday during lunch. He always read the jokes out of his Laffy Taffy wrappers, and she’d scold him about eating so much candy while being diabetic. And Cathy with her peanut allergy and asthma. And of course, Hortensia, who had rubbed peanut butter on all the door handles of the school. Not a good day to be Cathy. Still, it would be nice to see someone who genuinely cared about them running the place. Now why would someone as good natured as Jennifer have something like this done to her car? She took in the beat out windows, dented body, and flat tires. Why would someone write “W-H-O-R-E” and “S-L-U-T” on her car? “I told them I didn’t do it!” Matilda grumbled. “Did you believe me?” “Not one bit.” Carol said. Matilda seemed taken aback by her honesty for a moment. “Well you couldn’t have expected us to. You were caught with the paint and brush in your hands. If it was anyone else, what would you have thought?” “Do you still think it was me?” Matilda asked, after seemingly mulling it over in her mind. “This, no of course not, the car was fine when we left. “ “And last time? Do you still think it was me?” Carol sighed and patted her back. “I think, You have the worst luck.” Carol admitted, grimacing as she looked in the front seat. “Alright, let's wait over here.” She pushed Matilda along to the front porch. No need for her to see that. Carol opened up the front door and peeked inside. She could hear alarms blaring inside. “We should open the garage too.” Matilda said, running over and lifting a latch. “Stay outside, don’t go in.” Carol called. She gave her a look that could only be called, “duh” before pushing the door open and coming back. This was why she didn’t like kids. “Is it a fire?” Matilda asked. I thought you knew everything, Carol thought, before shaking it off. Now wasn’t the time. “It’s not the smoke detectors, your mom’s friend installed them in case there was a gas leak. Good thing too. We’re here to let them in to fix it.” she gestured at the van which had just turned into the driveway. “What kind of gas?” Matilda asked. “Carbon monoxide.” “So we’ve all had carbon monoxide poisoning all this time?” Matilda asked, looking very green at the thought. “Wh-what about lasting damage? How long has this been going on for?” “Probably a while.” Carol said. She wondered about Agatha for a moment. She had been acting rather unhinged, even more so than usual before she left town. Perhaps this had more to play in her death than anything she claimed Eve did. Eve and her husband. She never could figure out what Agatha had meant. As far as she knew Eve’s husband had left before she had ever gotten kidnapped. Eve said Hortensia hadn’t had contact with him other than cards on her birthdays and holidays. She said their relationship was more like penpals. It was something a parent could easily fake to spare the child's feelings. Eve had already admitted to lying to Hortensia about his whereabouts. What had she said? He thought he worked overseas? Or traveled for work? That was what she hadn’t understood. Why did Agatha say he had anything to do with it if this involved Carol, Eve and Jennifer? Maybe Agatha really had gone full mental, spouted off a bunch of nonsense and nose dived her car off a cliff? She should tell Eve about this, it might help her defense. But the letter they found in Eve’s safe that she said she was being blackmailed with was there. How could they explain it away and…wait a minute…how had she gotten it? Carol had the only copy. And it was still in the shoebox. She had seen it when she showed it all to Jennifer… She sighed. She wished she hadn’t shown it to Jennifer. Carol had hoped she was ready to come to terms with it, but she wasn’t. She was still refusing to acknowledge what had happened to her. Even refused to see what was right in front of her in a picture. It was a sad situation. One of the worst cases of abuse she had seen in her career. Was it because of this? Because it had happened in the summer when the A/c was running? Could a mixture of a trauma and carbon monoxide poisoning wipe her memory like that? Jennifer's mind had tried to fill in the missing gaps and missed some of the details. Like how she remembered “Anastasia” instead of “Hortensia” That her aunt had poured boiling water on her for masturbating, instead of the darker truth. How Jennifer swore up and down she had never had a boyfriend. How did Carol forget?… She witnessed one of the worst cases of abuse in her career, left, and just forgot. It wasn’t until Jennifer had come sweeping past on her bike that it all came rushing back to her. And she had been so ashamed. How do you go to the police and admit three years later that you forgot you were held hostage and someone still needed help? How did she admit to Jennifer the reason she hadn’t come back was because she forgot about her and went on with her life? One minute she was with her patients and the next she had woken up in bed at home a week later. When she returned to work, they fired her. Accused her of stealing drugs to go on a bender. Maybe she had had a terrible day of cancer pain and decided to end it? It was all she had to go on so it was what she had believed. And that stupid, wonderful shrilling alarm was the answer. She could feel hot tears begin to slide down her face. “Mrs. Rodgers? Are you okay?” Matilda asked. “Yeah,” Carol said, wiping at her face. “I will be.” “There’s a policeman walking over.” Matilda said. Carol looked up. Sure enough, a policeman was walking forward and waved in greeting when Carol made eye contact. “Are you the one who called this in?” he asked, gesturing to the car. “Oh no, that’s my fr-daughter.” Carol said, clearing her throat. “My daughter’s car.” She could see Matilda giving her a puzzled look. You could get more information if you were family. “Oh, well, can you pass on a message? We called and left her a message as well, but if you see her first, tell her not to worry, there’s no crazy ex stalking her. Eyewitness across the street reported a group of children were seen vandalizing the car.” “Oh, a group of children?” Carol said. “How interesting. I’ll be sure to pass it along.” She really didn’t like kids.