bedwetting Afternoon in the Chokey (Updated 5-6-24)

[AdultInnocence]

2 hours ago, SashaButters said:

It already has ?

I missed it unless it's just been subtle clues.

[Guilend]

It’s subtle. I have been noticing it here and there. It’s getting to be more frequent I believe. 

[SashaButters]

Sorry for the delay of chapters. My health has been an absolute shit show for the last three months. 

[Guilend]

7 minutes ago, SashaButters said:

Sorry for the delay of chapters. My health has been an absolute shit show for the last three months. 

I’m sorry to hear about that. I do wish you a speedy recovery. 

[AdultInnocence]

8 minutes ago, SashaButters said:

Sorry for the delay of chapters. My health has been an absolute shit show for the last three months. 

We'll still be here when you are able to update. You take care of you and get better. Thanks for letting us know!

[SashaButters]

Matilda could feel the wave of anger emanating from Miss Honey’s core as her flats stomped and pounded up the walkway behind her. With the palm of her hand pressed to Matilda’s back,  her adoptive mother forced her feet forward. Matilda felt like she was being led to the gallows. 

 

“Get inside.” Jennifer barked. Matilda watched as Jennifer tried and failed to get her house keys in the lock as the keyring shook and jangled in the trembling woman's hand. “Take off your shoes,  go to your room and just, just stay there. ” Matilda kicked her shoes off with a little more force than was necessary. This was so unfair! “You better knock that attitude off, young lady!” 

 

“Or what? You’ll make me stand in the corner?” Matilda growled between clenched teeth. She watched as Jennifer's face began to flush.

 

 Matilda felt a small wave of satisfaction deep inside her. For reasons she couldn’t comprehend, she wanted to get under the woman’s skin. She knew in the back of her mind she loved Jenny more than she had ever thought she could love a fellow human being, but these last few weeks everything about the woman was irritating! The way she sing song called her name in the mornings! The way she always made her stay in her sights when they left the house! And wouldn’t let her use the stove without her permission and supervision!

 

Matilda had been cooking for herself long before Miss Honey had come into her life! 

 

 It was just pancakes, Matilda thought bitterly. She could have at least said thanks.

 

“You know what? I have had it with your behavior lately! I don’t know what’s gotten into you! First the daycare window, and now t- this?” Miss Honey said followed by a choked back sob. 

 

“You’re overreacting.”  Matilda said with an eye roll.

 

“OVERREACTING? Matilda, do you have any idea how scared I was!? When I went to pick you up, they told me they couldn’t find you! I called the police, Matilda! I was certain you had gotten snatched!”

 

“I was just messing around, like they told you.” Matilda grumbled. “Didn’t want to stop, you know, playing.” she said quietly with a touch of sarcasm. In the blink of an eye, she found her cheeks pinched together between Jennifer's hand and her face pulled forward. Jennifer leaned down and forced her to meet her eyes. 

 

“I called the police because I was certain that if my highly intelligent and mature daughter didn’t come out after hearing her name frantically called for over ten minutes by seven different adults, it must mean she’s either dead or not in the building! I thought I knew you better than to think you, of all people, would sit there not ten feet away  underneath a table cloth, and let me believe the worst! That you’d rather sit there  in the cold and listen to me cry, than to come out and let me know you were at least safe! That you-that you’d rather pee yourself than make the worst day of my life stop!” 

“Worst day of your life?” Matilda said incredulously! “This was far from the worst day of your life! Worst day of your month maybe! I said I was sorry! It wasn’t like that.” 

 

…..

 

“Then tell me what it was like?” The woman who sat cross legged on the carpet across from Matilda asked. “Look, i’m just throwing this out there, and see, maybe if it fits with all those feelings and emotions you say you can’t explain. If it doesn’t fit, that’s totally okay.” 

 

Matilda sat in front of the therapist and stared down at the circle of marbles. She clearly wasn’t interested in their game or she would have noticed something was amiss everytime Matilda took a turn. Her marble would hurdle forward, mysteriously turn directions, and knock out several marbles one at a time in ways that clearly disregarded the laws of motion despite barely being tapped. 

She had been amused by a new game she made. It gave her such a rush. To see what she could get away with right in front of people. Could she make an object float in the air right outside their peripheral? If they saw it, how would they react? Would they assume it’s a trick of the light, or would they believe what they were seeing? Questions like this poured into her mind, and she needed to know. 

 

Mrs. Reinfield was apparently a trick of the light kind of person. 

 

“Matilda, were you maybe a bit upset over what you’ve come to call the, ‘wardens rules’ at home and maybe, the reason you hid was because you felt just a little bit justified making her worry. Do you think maybe you hid because you wanted to punish her a little?” Mrs. Reinfield asked with her fingers indicating a minuscule amount. 

 

Matilda brustled. 

 

“No,” she said a little too quickly. She lost concentration and fired. With a tiny tap of her thumb she had sent the marble shooting out and smashing every other marble in its path leaving behind a trail of glass. 

 

Matilda slowly raised her head with a blank expression. How long could Mrs. Reinfield lie to herself?

 

“Matilda, let's put away the marbles; I know what you’re doing, and yes, I've noticed what you can do and we can address that later if you wish, but right now-”

 

“I’m surprised she told you.” Matilda stared at her for a moment. “I’m surprised you believed her.”

 

Mrs. Reinfield let out a nervous chuckle and mumbled something that sounded like, “I may owe her an apology and new diagnosis.’But Miss Honey everyone thinks their child is exponentially smart and special’” she said in a mockery of her own voice. 

 

Matilda made the marbles rise and twirl as Mrs. Reinfield stared in amazement before snapping back.

 

 “Put the marbles down and let's talk about last night.” 

 

“Aren't you going to just accuse me of looking for attention again?” Matilda mumbled. She let the marbles drop before manually scooping them back into the bag. 

 

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, last time. I’m not here to point fingers and assign blame.” I’m here to help investigate what may have happened and hopefully help open a line of communication between you and your mom. You’ve brought up concerns of trust, and she wishes you would open up to her more.” 

 

“It didn’t happen like they said.” Matilda blurted out. “I wasn’t hiding from them.” 

 

“If you weren't hiding, then what were you doing?” 

 

“I was sleeping.” Matilda said with a sniffle. “At first.” 

 

“But you must have woken up when everyone started yelling your name?”  Mrs. Reinfield asked. 

 

“Yeah.” Matilda said, barely over a whisper. “I thought I was in trouble.” She hung her head.

 

“Matilda, was there a particular reason you were sleeping underneath a table cloth? You could have laid down inside if you were feeling that tired, somewhere where’d they have known where you were?” Matilda shook her head.

 

“I can’t just sleep out in the open. They'll pour water down my pants again.” Matilda grumbled. “He got me put on the bed wetter list so now every time I even look sleepy they make me wear those stupid padded training underwear. He tried to pull me back into a plastic chair full of water so it looked like I had an accident during the day, but one of the helpers saw him do it.” 

 

“Who is doing this to you? Is one of the boys picking on you?”

 

“ It’s an old classmate from Miss Honey’s class. We sort of unintentionally swapped shoes for an afternoon kick ball game and he’s had it out for me ever since.” 

 

“Had it out for you how?”

 

“This one time Lavender,another one of my old classmates, yelled during class I was wearing a diaper,  so now he goes out of his way to knock over my cup of water into my lap,”  Matilda finished with a huff.

 

“Is it at all possible he bumped into you accidentally?” 

 

“No! He’s been harassing me all week!” 

 

“All week? So this hasn’t been happening for, say, a few months?”

 

“No,” Matilda said with a scrunched up face. “He used to be nice, until a few weeks ago. Now he goes out of his way to torment me. He just wants to look cool in front of Greggory, one of the guys from the highschool.”

 

 “You know you can tell me the truth here. You’ll never be in trouble for telling me the truth.” 

 

Matilda scowled and looked away. 

 

“Do you think, maybe, you had an accident that day and were just trying to assign blame because you were embarrassed? Because from what your mom has told me, Nigel, the boy you’ve been saying is picking on you, wasn’t there the day you claimed he knocked over your cup.” 

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Matilda said flatly, trying to avert her gaze and stare at anything besides the woman with the long curly red hair. 

 

“Alright, then let's talk about you smearing poop on the walls.”

 

“ I did NOT smear poop on the walls!” Matilda snapped. “They made it sound like I took my own poop and smeared it around inside the building! Someone didn’t pick up after their dog, and I stepped in it! There weren't any sticks outside or grass to rub it off. I took my shoe off and scraped it clean using the bottom corner of the brick building.”  

 

Matilda conveniently left out the part where she had stepped in it on purpose in order to track it inside for the janitor to clean in order to cover the smell of her own accident. 

 

“Your mother’s concerned about this apparent shift in behavior. She said it was very unlike you to act out in such extreme ways. You’re not in trouble, Matilda, but we need to get to the bottom of this.”

 

Matilda said nothing. 

 

“Did something happen at this day care that upset you?” 

 

“It’s an afterschool club, not a daycare.” Matilda said icily. “I hate it there. It’s just a bunch of snobby rich kids, like Nigel.” 

 

“Why though? Jennifer said you were so excited about it and said you had a blast the first couple of days, so she went ahead and prepaid for the rest of the summer.”

 

“I changed my mind.” 

 

Mrs. Reinfield let out a small sigh. 

 

“Alright, Matilda, that’s it for today, I’ll see you here next week at the same time.” Matilda got to her feet and headed for the door. “Would you mind if I spoke to your mom for a few more minutes before you leave? I still need to apologize.” The woman winked, but Matilda left with the same blank expression she had worn coming in. 

 

“Please tell me you have some idea about what’s going on?” Jennifer asked after lightly sitting on the couch and resting her face in her hands. 

 

“I have some theories.” 

 

“Tell me!” Jennifer urged. 

 

“I think a good first place to start would be with you.”

 

“With me?” Jennifer said, raising her head in alarm. 

 

“Yes, I think a good first step will be to manage your expectations.”

 

“But-”

 

“Yes, I can see where you’ve been coming from. Yes, she’s intelligent, yes, she’s mature…for her age. She isn’t an adult. Her brain isn’t even close to being fully developed. She doesn’t yet have the ability to think logically in the face of extreme emotions. Let me ask you something, Jennifer. You’ve told me she likes to ‘punish’ people, who in her opinion, have wronged her. Did you really think she was missing? ”

 

“YES!” Jennifer nearly shouted.

 

“Or were you hurt that she felt you needed to be punished?”

 

Jennifer opened her mouth before closing it again. Had she known she was under the table the whole time? No, it was the furthest thing from her mind. 

 

“Did something else happen yesterday? Before she went missing? Did you get in a fight at all?” 

 

“N-no, it wasn’t a fight, but she did throw quite the tantrum yesterday morning. I told her to eat some cereal for breakfast since I was too tired to cook and wanted to sleep in some more. She knows she isn’t supposed to use the kitchen appliances, I’ve told her so many times it’s too dangerous, she’s only six, but she went behind my back and made pancakes. I found her eating them at the table when I came down.”

 

“And how did you react?”

 

“Well, I told her I wasn’t happy about her breaking the rules.” 

 

“And how did she react?”

 

“She threw a plate of them across the kitchen. Her behavior has been so out of control. She’s deliberately breaking all the house rules, picking fights with people, back talking. It’s just so not like her.”

 

”From what you’ve told me about her past, this behavior isn’t surprising.”

 

“But she wasn’t like this before!”

 

“The thing you have to understand about a young child coming from a neglectful home, is just because you remove them from the situation, it doesn’t mean everything’s going to be fine. Neglected children are some of the hardest to raise. From the time they are born, until around age five, a babies brain is developing and learning from social cues. From what you both have told me, Matilda never bonded with her biological parents. She never learned how to rely on other people for the things she needed. Now that she’s in a safe environment, her brain may not be capable of turning that programming off. It’s fully wired and ingrained in her that if she needs something, she has to do it herself. 

I’ve seen several cases of attachment disorder; it doesn’t matter if they are regularly fed three full meals a day, it’s still common to see things like food hoarding and binge eating. Their brains are telling them that if they don’t eat or hide away food, they may never eat again, and this can be a lifelong challenge.”

 

“But why now? If that were the case, then wouldn’t I have noticed this sort of behavior before?” 

 

“There’s been a lot of large changes that would set most children back. You’ve recently moved into your aunt's house.”

 

“My fathers house.” Jennifer corrected. “I’m almost done purging the house of her.” She was  one week, and a fresh coat of paint away from it being like she was never there at all. If only she could wash away the memories like she had washed the cigar smoke off the walls. “It was supposed to be a colossal improvement to our living situation but…” It felt more like all it had done was drive a knife in between their relationship. 

 

“She’s talked about you not allowing her to see her friends.” Jennifer gritted her teeth.

 

“She can see her friends! I’ve offered to take her to Lavender, I've offered to have Lavender over, or anyone else, except…” The therapist raised an eyebrow. “It was for her own good. It’s like everytime those two get together, Matilda gets hurt in some way. Everytime I’d go to pick her up, i’d have to take her to the hospital.” 

 

“Then what if you supervised them?” 

 

“I’d just feel better if Matilda spent more time with kids her own age. The friend she wants to see is twice her age and size. Isn’t that kind of weird? An eleven year old wanting to hang out with a six year old?” 

 

“So your concern is more about what this other girl gets out of their friendship?” 

 

“Well, yes and no. I mean, she’s not the greatest influence. She has a reputation for causing trouble at school. I don’t need Matilda picking up those habits. She’s enough of a handful as is. The two of them together could tear down the school.”

 

“Did Matilda’s behavior begin to change before or after you separated them?”

 

“Before. I think.” Jennifer said. She tried to remember. There was a day in particular that stuck out to her. “It was the very beginning of summer. We were shopping, Matilda was riding in the cart and she, well, she soiled herself.” Jennifer said with a frown. 

 

“Was she sick?”

 

“No, that’s what was so bizarre. I mean, she’s had issues in the past of wetting, but that was because of a physical issue.” 

 

“It’s not unheard of, she’s only six. She could have just put it off too long.” 

 

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Jennifer explained. Her eyebrows creased in concentration. “I’ve seen her wet her pants before. There’s tears, apologies, and she panics like I’m going to punish her over it. She makes a much bigger deal out of it than I do. It would be different if she just waited too long out of laziness, but it’s never been the case. Like when she first started living with me, it was difficult for her to tell me when she needed something, like if we were out and about. So for her to have a much worse accident and not react at all. The whole situation was very strange.” 

 

“So she was uncomfortable coming to you with her needs? Has this improved?” 

 

“Yes, and I’ve learned to read her cue’s, like when something is bothering her or she’s not telling me something.” Miss Honey twisted her hands together. “I don’t know what to do.”

 

“Well, a good place to start might be to unenroll her from the daycare.”

 

“I’ve tried, but they won’t give me my money back and they want to charge extra to pull her out. She can’t seem to give me a straight answer as to why she doesn’t like it. Everything she tells me turns out to be a lie. I don’t know if she really doesn’t like it or is saying it to frustrate me.” 

 

“I do think there is something deeper going on. It may not be as Matilda describes, but it’s something. Between the personality changes, the tantrums, soiling herself, there’s something going on. She could just not be able to articulate it, or maybe she's scared or embarrassed to tell you, but the idea that she's doing it on purpose to anger you is unlikely.” 

 

“Well, i’m not sure whether to be relieved or worried.” 

 

“I know you’re not thrilled by the idea, but what if you invited her friend over to your house instead of Matilda going over there. She might be more willing to open up to her friend about what’s going on.” 

 

“I’ll think about it.”

[BabySofia]

Glad to see an update!

[smilekat414]

Nice to see that this story is continuing, very interesting direction.

[SashaButters]

Mrs. Reinfield sat at her kitchen table deep in thought, hand absentmindedly poking at her nearly untouched dinner. Normally she could separate herself from her patients and leave her work at the office, but tonight her mind was plagued by one of her clients in particular. A young girl and her adoptive mother. She had been seeing them for nearly two months now, but she was no closer to understanding the workings of the young child's mind than she had been on the day they first met. 

 

On the one hand, her short temper and emotional immaturity were on par with a typical child her age, despite what her mother perceived as irregular behavior. Children her age talked back and had meltdowns when they were stressed or didn’t get their way, but on the other hand, every once in a while, she got a quick glimpse of what the mother had been referring to as her “previous self” and it often left her speechless for a moment. Her insight of the world was uncanny. And when the girl looked at you, she didn’t merely look at-but into you. 

 

Then of course, there was the obvious. 

 

A six year old with the power to move objects with her mind. A power so strong, if the mother was to be believed and Mrs. Reinfield was discovering very quickly she could, she had the ability to shake the foundation of a building when upset. It was no wonder why the mother was so desperate to get the bottom of this. 

 

“Is everything okay, Helen?” her husband asked.

 

“Yes, sorry, a lot on my mind.” 

 

“Want to talk about it?” 

 

Helen smiled. Her husband, Eric, was a bank manager. Child psychology was clearly not his forte, but she decided to humor him anyway. Maybe she was looking at this wrong.

 

“I’ve got an unusual client.” 

 

“Unusual how?” 

 

“It’s difficult to explain. It’s a very young girl, and yet, she isn’t.” 

 

“Umm, I’m going to need a bit more to go on than that.” 

 

“Let’s say, hypothetically, she could do something extraordinary, like move things with her mind.”

 

“Okay, obviously not a real client. Are you thinking of writing again? Is this the main character?” 

 

“Yes,” Helen said. She had written several young adult novels over the years, but it had been quite a while since she had picked up a pen.  “But I’m having trouble with the characters' motivations. The little girl is very smart, like genius level IQ, but lately, she has been doing some very dumb things, like telling obvious lies and levitating objects in front of strangers when she knows she needs to keep it a secret. Why would she do that?” 

 

“For attention?” Eric said with a shrug. 

 

“It was my original thought too, but the more I ta- the more I flesh out the character, the more I’m discovering she isn’t the attention seeking type.” If she was looking for attention, why did she shut down the moment she got what she wanted? Most little girls loved talking about themselves, but not this one. Sure, she’d talk about her favorite authors, foods, things that happened during the day, but the moment Helen tried to dig past the surface, she’d freeze. “I think there’s some other reason.” 

 

“Have you given her a back story yet? Maybe if you focus on her past the present will make more sense.” Helen froze, spoonful of food halfway to her mouth. 

 

“Her biological family neglected her so her primary school teacher adopted her.”  

 

“You YA authors sure love your tragic backstories. Why can’t you give kids happy childhoods? People can still be messed up without villain backstories.”

 

“If you think that’s bad, you should hear the teachers.” Helen stopped. She had been assuming something horrible had been going on at the daycare. She had a thought, but it was difficult to imagine a young child feeling these things. With Matilda though, it was very hard to picture what must be going through her head. Helen couldn’t make assumptions based on her age. “What if she thought the problem was too minor and was just too ashamed to admit that that was what was bothering her? Or she just didn’t recognize it?”

 

Eric shrugged. “It’s your character.” 

 

………………………

 

 

Jennifer let her head fall into her hands. She had been in the middle of preparing the order sheet for the new schools text books when the phone rang. It was the daycare wanting her to collect Matilda. She had been caught defacing the property…again. 

 

“What is going on?” Jennifer groaned. 

 

Her heart dropped when she walked into the lobby. There was Matilda, covered head to toe in paint and doing everything she could to avoid meeting her eyes. 

 

“What happened?” Jennifer asked. She was afraid to find out. An angry looking woman led her into a back room. Jennifer’s stomach clenched. “Why?” Was all she could manage to get out.

…………………….

 

“Matilda, please put the marbles away. We aren’t playing games today.” Mrs. Reinfield said. “Sit on the couch. It’s time we talked.”

 

Matilda remained silent, but sat on the couch. 

 

“Why did you smear paint on the walls? And don’t try to say it wasn’t you; you’re smarter than that. You were covered head to toe in it.” 

 

Matilda shrugged.

 

“No more shrugging. I need you to answer me.” They both sat in silence. “It’s not fair for the person who has to clean up.” There, Helen thought, in her eyes, there was a sudden flash of anger. “The janitor didn’t deserve it.” 

 

“He’s off on Tuesdays.” Matilda said before she could stop herself. Helen raised an eyebrow, but Matilda volunteered no more. Curious, she flipped open Maitlda’s chart. “So you’re saying you wouldn’t have done it if he was there?” No answer. Helen eyed Matilda’s rap sheet. Smeared fecal matter on walls. July 12. Destroyed art supplies. July 17. Broke window on the 24th. Finger painted the classroom on the 31st. They were all on Tuesdays. Interesting. 

 

“Matilda, who’s in charge of cleaning up on Teusdays?” Silence. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll just have your mom find out.” 

 

“Some guy.” Matilda mumbled. Helen eyed her. Her body had gone rigid, and her fists were clenched at her sides. 

 

“And does this guy have a name?” Matilda mumbled something. “What was that?”

 

“I don’t know.” she mumbled back.

 

“I think you do.” 

 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

 

“I think it does. I think it matters quite a lot.” More Silence. “Matilda, did you plan to do these things ahead of time so this person would have to clean it up?” 

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” 

 

“Yes, Matilda, we need to talk about it. Is this the person that’s been bullying you?” 

 

“No.” Matilda said, “He has nothing to do with anything.” But the tears told Helen a different story. 

 

………

 

“I never noticed.” Jennifer said in shock. She started doing the math in her head. “It is all on Teusdays.” 

 

“I think it has something to do with someone who works there.”

 

“Do you think they were hurting her?” Jennifer said, sounding worried. “Cause I’ll give them a piece of my mind, child or not.” 

 

“I don’t know the story, she refuses to tell me. Maybe her friends know.” 

……….

 

“Did she know anything?” Carol asked. 

 

“Not a thing.” Jennifer let out a frustrated sigh. “It was too much to put my hopes in a six year old. Lavender said she didn’t even notice Matilda had been acting differently, but it turns out they aren't playing much together anyway. ”

 

“Maybe someone a little older and more observant could help.” Carol suggested.

 

“No.” 

 

“If someone’s giving her problems, she’d scare the shit out of anyone.”

 

“No.” Jennifer said again. She crumbled up their empty fast food wrappers. She sat silently for a moment and stared off  into the distance at the play structure she had sent Matilda off into so she and Carol could talk. 

 

“What about the daycare? Did you find out who works there on Tuesdays?” 

 

“They gave me a complete run around when I tried to ask.” 

 

“They probably thought you were accusing them of something.” 

 

“Yeah probably.” Jennifer said with a sigh. “She’s so angry all the time. The psychologist wants to send her to a psychiatrist to be put on mood stabilizers and I don’t think I’m comfortable with that. She’s only six.” 

 

“Is there a reason you can’t pull her out? If you think the daycare’s the problem…” Jennifer leaned over and whispered a figure into her ear. “Jen! You could have bought her a fricken pony for that!”

 

“Yeah well, I’m starting to wish I HAD bought her a pony instead.” 

 

“You spent that much to keep her away from Hortensia?” 

 

“It’s not only about Hortensia. I didn’t want her to be cooped up all summer while I worked at the school, and one of her school friends was going there. She really liked it at first, then it was like overnight she refused to get in the car. We had been arguing more, so I thought she was just trying to get under my skin.” 

 

“Well, maybe if she keeps this up, they’ll give you your money back just to get rid of her.”  Carol said half jokingly.”

 

“I was starting to think she was misbehaving to get herself kicked out, but now that the psychologist discovered she seems to be causing trouble on a specific day of the week, I just don’t know. I’ve tried asking her if there’s someone there she doesn’t like, but everytime I bring it up, she just walls herself off. I’m not sure which is more worrisome, her losing her temper or knowing her actions are calculated.” 

 

“Well, looks like this is where I come in.” Carol said with a mischievous smile. Jennifer knitted her eyebrows in confusion. “Someone needs to go see what’s going on down there and I have too much free time on my hands during the summer.” 

 

“No, Carol, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’ve already done so much for us.”

 

“You need a spy. It’s me or Hortensia. Personally, I think she’d open up more to Hortensia, but-” 

 

…

 

“She really doesn’t like that girl.” Carol said under her breath on Tuesday morning as she stood under the awning of Clear View Academics Center.  It was a large three story brick building  directly in the heart of the wealthier end of town that lacked the prison esque feel of Crunchem Hall. She had gotten a quick tour the other day when she had offered to volunteer a few days of the week, all it had taken was a little white lie. They were weary of letting in strangers, until she had said she was Matilda’s grandmother here to help keep her in line. They seemed quite fond of her after that. 

 

It hadn’t taken Carol long at all to see why Jennifer had shelled out the money for this place. Compared to Crunchem Hall, it was a kids paradise. There was a computer lab, a library, hell it even had a makeshift movie theater. Now why on earth did Matilda hate it so much? She was more curious than ever now. 

“Mrs. Rodgers! Good morning! We can’t tell you how happy we are to have you join our family!” A middle aged man said, offering his hand. He wore glasses and a green polo shirt tucked into Khaki pants. Carol shook his offered hand, inwardly flinching at the logo on his shirt, belt buckle and glasses. His outfit must have cost him her whole months salary. And it wasn’t just him, the entire office staff seemed to be dressed in similar designer clothes. By the time she was introduced to the third and final staff member of the office, she felt wildly underdressed. The only other person who did not appear to have stepped out of a Prada and Versace Summer line up was a pudgy looking teenage boy in a t- shirt and denim shorts making copies in the corner. 

 

Carol’s smile faltered for a moment. The stack of paper next to him looked to be over a foot high. She hoped they wouldn’t be putting her to work in the office. It was Matilda and the other children she wanted to observe. 

 

“Go bring pallet of water from the storage and stock the fridge in the break room. It’s going to be another scorcher.” A woman said without looking up. Carol was unsure who she was speaking to, but the boy grunted, and quickly left, seemingly happy to get away from the mundane task he had been previously given. “And don’t take an hour this time! I better see you back at that copier in fifteen minutes!”  Carol caught a glimpse of him rolling his eyes before disappearing around the corner. 

 

Carol breathed a sigh of relief when she was led into one of the other rooms with children. The adults present seemed to be much more reasonably dressed than the eye candy out front. She glanced over the many little heads and spotted Matilda tucked away in a corner by herself. Carol frowned. She would have expected her to have her head in a book, but she just sat there, scanning the room from side to side. Their eyes met, and a bit of life shone in them. She stood and hurried towards them.

 

“Are you here to pick me up, Mrs. Rodgers?” Matilda asked hopefully. 

 

“No silly, you just got here.” Carol said, before leaning down. “And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Grandma.” 

 

“Grandma?” Matilda asked puzzled. Carol winked conspiratorially before giving her a hug.

 

“I may have fudged a detail or two so I could come work here for the day.” Carol whispered. 

 

“Why would you want to work here?” Matilda asked, face wrinkled in disgust.

 

“Two words, kid. Air Conditioning.”  

 

It hadn’t taken long for Carol to notice one of Matilda’s complaints to ring incredibly true. The place was full of snobs. These kids, and even adults, seemed to come from completely different worlds. 

 

“I went to Milan with my parents.” A girl no older than eight said after Carol had asked how she was enjoying summer break. 

 

“Oh how neat, I love that movie.” Carol said. The girl frowned in confusion. 

 

“Milan, not Mulan, you know, Italy.” She said, as if Carol was somehow mentally slow. “I wanted to go to Rome though. My parents said maybe for my birthday. They did get me this though while we were there.” She showed Carol a gold colored heart shaped locket hanging around her neck.”

 

“Wow, that’s very beautiful, wait, is this real gold?” 

 

“Yes,” The girl said, drawing out every letter, as if to say, “What else would it be?” 

 

“Are you sure you want to wear that here? What if it gets lost?” The girl shrugged and walked away, leaving Carol feeling dumbfounded. She tried to make eye contact with Matilda as a way of asking, “Is this place for real?” but Matilda wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were trained on the door. 

 

“Hey,” Carol said, coming to stand next to the only familiar face. Matilda seemed to nearly jump out of her skin. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you waiting for someone? You keep looking at the door.” 

 

“No.” Matilda said. 

 

“Honey, are you okay? You look exhausted. You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. Are you sleeping okay?” Matilda merely shrugged. “Do you want to lay down?” 

 

“No!” she said more forcefully than Carol had ever heard her speak. “I’m fine.” she quietly added. 

 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your nose in a book. Have you seen the library in this place?”

 

“Yeah, it’s big.” Matilda said half-heartedly. 

 

“So…” Carol said. “I thought you’d be all over that.” 

 

“I don’t feel like reading.” 

 

“Don’t feel like reading?!” Carol said in exaggerated shock. She placed a hand over her heart. “Who are you and what have you done with Matilda?” 

 

Around noon Mrs. Rodgers led the room out to the playground and baseball field. Her jaw nearly dropped. It was massive! It put Crunchem Hall's sad, little metal contraption the kids called a jungle gym to shame. There were swings, slides, bikes, tricycles, scooters, a tennis court, a baseball field, and even a swimming pool that offered swimming lessons Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But then she noticed something that made her do a double take. Along the baseball field's metal fence were the banners of sponsors, various fast food establishments and local businesses, but the largest and gaudiest of them all read Wormwood Motors. Carol frowned. It looked much newer than all the other sun bleached signs, but it was covered in holes and dirt . She wondered who could have possibly been responsible. She had to hide the smirk on her face. 

 

Curious, she approached one of the other female workers who was helping a boy across the monkey bars. 

 

“Just out of curiosity, what does Wormwood Motors have to do with this place? Is it really a sponsor? I’ve heard some rumors he’s not the most reputable business owner in town.” 

 

“Oh, him.” The woman rolled her eyes before leaning in conspiratorially. “You want the dirt?”

 

“Yes please.” Carol said with a grin. 

 

“He didn’t have a choice. His son and his friends were caught breaking in and trying to steal the computers. He made a huge donation to keep them from pressing charges.” 

 

“Oohhh.” Carol said.  

 

“Yeah, and they’re making him work here during the summer to pay restitution.”

 

“Wait, he’s here?” Carol said with a frown. 

 

“Yeah,  ”  

 

“And they wouldn’t happen to make him clean the buildings on Teusdays when the janitor is gone, would they?” Carol made eye contact with a little face sticking out from one of the towers. “Come down, Matilda.” The face disappeared. “Don’t make me come up there.”  Carol waited a moment before sighing. “Alright, I’m coming up.” She groaned and forced herself up the rings, before hoisting herself up onto the platform. “I’m too old for this.” She muttered before finally getting her bearings. “You kids make that look so easy.” She huffed. She approached the figure who sat huddled in the corner with her head buried in her knees.

 

“So,” Carol said as she slowly lowered herself down beside the girl. “Your brothers here.” She waited patiently for a response, but none came. “Is that what this is all about?” 

 

“Leave me alone.” 

“If he’s bullying you, I don’t care if he’s a kid; I'll beat his ass.” Carol frowned as the figure began to silently sob, her body rising and falling with shaky breaths. “Hey, what is it? You can tell me.” 

 

“I-I-I-c-cant!” 

 

“Yeah you can, I’m your grandma, remember. Grandma’s don’t judge.” Carol said, but Matilda shook her head. 

 

“Has he done anything to you?” Shake. “Did he say something to you that upset you?” Shake. “Is it-”

 

“I-I d-don’t know!” Matilda cried.  “Leave me alone!” 

 

“Do you want to be here?” 

 

“N-no!” 

 

“Okay, then let's go home.” Matilda slowly lifted her head. 

 

“R-really?” 

 

“Yeah, really.” 

 

“Jenny says I can’t because they’ll charge her more.” 

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I think I know a way around it.”

 

….

 

“I got here as quickly as I could! What happened?” Jennifer demanded, nearly barreling over Carol to get inside.

 

“Shh, she’s sleeping.” She gestured to the lump on the couch. 

 

“Why are you here? I thought you were going to volunteer at the daycare.”

 

“All it took was asking the right person. I think I figured out what’s wrong, at least partially. It’s her brother.”

 

“What?” Jennifer asked. “Her brother? She’s barely even mentioned him before.” 

 

“They have him working at the daycare. All the stuff she’s broken on Tuesdays. He’s the one who has to clean it up.”

 

“So this was all just to get at him?” Jennifer said. 

 

“It’s more complicated than that, I think. We had a good talk after we got back. She says she doesn’t understand why she’s been acting out and so gung ho to go after him, and I’m no therapist, but it sounds like she was trying to get him to just acknowledge her. The staff said he had told them he was an only child, and maybe Matilda overheard it. She also told me about seeing Zinnia in the grocery store right before school let out for the summer.”  

 

“What?” Jennifer said in shock. She racked her brain trying to remember ever having seen her, but there was nothing. She had a sinking suspicion she knew what day it was though. “I wonder if that’s the time when she, well-” Carol nodded. 

 

“They made eye contact for a split second, and Zinnia walked away like nothing happened. Matilda was in shock. Come to the table, I want to show you something you left here.” They walked into the kitchen where Carol handed her a printed piece of paper from her time at the hospital.

 

“This is from…” Jennifer said in confusion.

 

“Look at one and two. Doesn’t that sound just like her?” 

 

“Denial and anger.” Jennifer read aloud from the Five Stages of Grief chart. “But they're only across town; they're not dead.”

 

“Maybe to her, they could be.” 

 

Jennifer put her head in her hands, before swiping at her face and reciting a C.S. Lewis quote she had learned at the hospital. “I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.” 

 

[BabySofia]

Poor Matilda... While she couldn't figure out her original family at all, to be completely ignored for the poor girl... I guess it makes sense now. I don't have the slightest clue what they do about it though! 

Thanks for continuing this! There's a part of me that wonders if there's some way you could separate this out from Dahl's tale to make it completely your own at this point! 

[SashaButters]

11 hours ago, BabySofia said:

 

 There's a part of me that wonders if there's some way you could separate this out from Dahl's tale to make it completely your own at this point! 

It’s something I’ve been considering, especially with the idea of an ending I have. Part of me doesn’t want to write it cause it’ll be pretty intense, even for me, but it ties everything together. 

[SashaButters]

“Is this statement true or false? Seeing members of my biological family upset me.” 

 

Matilda sat motionless on the couch next to Miss Honey trying to avoid everyone's expectant gaze.

 

“It’s okay, sweetie, just answer the best you can.” Miss Honey whispered. Matilda shrugged.

 

“Try and use your words.” Mrs. Reynolds said. “True or false.” 

 

“I don’t know.” Matilda mumbled. This was awkward and uncomfortable. She didn’t want to talk about it. 

 

Helen tried again. “Seeing my brother made me feel angry.” Silence. “Seeing my brother and him not acknowledging me made me feel angry.” Silence. “Seeing my broth-”

 

“I want to go home.” Matilda said. She could feel Jennifer stiffen beside her. 

 

“Matilda,” Jennifer said softly, “We need to talk about this.”

 

“I don’t want to.” Matilda complained. 

 

“Is it because it hurts to talk about it?” Helen asked. 

 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Matilda mumbled. 

 

“Why do you think that?” Helen asked. 

 

“He never did anything.” Matilda nearly whispered. “Any of them.” 

 

“Anyone from the daycare or anyone from your family?”

 

 Silence.

 

“Matilda, we just want to help you,” Miss Honey said. “But we can’t if you don’t tell us what’s bothering you. Please. I know something is wrong.” Matilda shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath.

 

“My family.” 

 

“So your family never did anything to hurt you?” Helen said doubtfully. 

 

“They didn’t hit me, or burn me, or assault me.” Matilda said softly. “Not like…” She gestured a hand to the woman who sat beside her.

 

“You don’t need to use violence to hurt someone. Sometimes words- or lack of them- can be damaging enough. And Matilda, life isn’t a game of compare and contrast where only the worst victim gets to feel pain. You’re allowed to feel sad, or angry, or hurt. Do you understand?” 

 

“I guess.” She mumbled.

 

“Imagine there’s a giant ball of yarn or thread inside everyone. As we go through life and experience things, that ball of material is getting bounced and batted around, until eventually it’s going to get so knotted and tangled up no one can tell one end from the other. Sometimes, the knots get so bad we can’t untangle it by ourselves. That’s why I’m here. My only purpose is to help you untangle the threads until it all makes sense again. Those threads are our emotions. Sometimes life gets so bumpy we don’t know where one emotion ends and one begins, so it just sits inside of us and makes us feel sick. Does that sound like it might apply to how you're feeling now? Like there’s a knot inside of you that you can’t even begin to unravel or make sense of?” 

 

“Yeah.” Matilda said, barely above a whisper. 

 

“Everyone has different material inside of them. Some people are born with a tough rope that doesn’t tangle easily. Others are a delicate thread, one wrong move or tug and the whole thing could snap. That’s why it’s important not to compare yourself to others' struggles. We don’t get to choose what material we’re made out of. You also don’t want to let the knots sit, because if they sit too long, it could turn to barbed wire. You’ll just end up hurting yourself and anyone who tries to get close. Does that make sense to you?”

 

“Yes.” 

 

“Good. Good. Now, will you let me take a look at those knots?”

 

Matilda sucked in a lungful of air before slowly letting it out. “Okay.” 

 

…

 

“You made a lot of progress today. I’m proud of you, Matilda.” Jennifer said, as she tucked Matilda into bed that night. 

 

“I’d rather play with marbles.” Matilda grunted. 

 

“I know, therapy isn’t very fun.” Jennifer said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “It’s a lot of hard work. I know there’s moments in my life I want to bury and pretend never happened. The last thing I want to do is take a magnifying glass to them, but I’m learning the hard way that bringing it out in the open is the only way we’re going to heal and move past it. It’s like she said today, letting it sit and fester will only cause us to hurt the ones we love.” 

 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Matilda asked, without looking up.

“If that’s what you want. I think you’ve more than earned it today.”

 

 Matilda softly giggled as she was lifted into the air and carried to the master bedroom. God Jennifer had missed that sound.

 

“Can I take you somewhere tomorrow?” Jennifer asked once they were both under the covers. Matilda rolled over and faced her.

 

“Where?” 

 

“On a hike to the lake. Just the two of us. It might be a little difficult for you, but there’s no rush. We can stop and take as many breaks as you need. I used to go there a lot by myself when things got too overwhelming. I want to share it with you.” 

 

Miss Honey could see the ghost of a smile on Matilda’s face.

 

“You’re not luring me out there to steal a kidney, are you?” 

 

“A kidney? No no no. Little girls' hearts are much more valuable on the black market.” Jennifer said as she turned off the light. Jennifer laid perfectly still as she felt the covers rustle and move, until a dark shape came to snuggle up against her chest like old times. 

 

“You already have my heart.” 

 

……

 

 She was gasping for breath. Sweat was beading down her face. “I need. A break.” she groaned, before nearly collapsing on a nearby rock.

 

“Again?” Matilda scoffed. “I thought you said you used to hike this trail before.” 

 

“When I was a teenager.” Jennifer huffed between gasps for air. She glared at her shaky legs as if they had betrayed her before digging out her thermos and sucking from it as if she’d never see water again. “Drink some more too.” Here she had been so worried Matilda couldn’t keep up she hadn’t stopped to consider herself. Her worries had been for nothing, the girl was running circles around her. She could probably make it to the lake and back before Jennifer made it to the halfway point. 

 

“I’m fine.” Matilda grumbled, shifting from foot to foot. “You’ve been forcing water down my throat every five minutes. I feel like I'm being waterboarded.” 

 

“I don’t want you getting sick from heat exhaustion.” 

 

“Can we keep going?” Matilda said impatiently. 

“It hasn’t even been thirty seconds. Give me a minute. I’m old.” 

 

“You’re not that old.” 

 

“What’s the rush? We’ve got all day.” Jennifer said, choosing to ignore the “that” in her daughter's statement. She was only twenty-three. Apparently, a very out of shape twenty three year old.

 

Matilda grumbled something under her breath and fidgeted. Jennifer shook her head. She knew that dance. So that’s why she was so eager to keep moving.

 

“Matilda, go squat somewhere if you need to go potty.” 

 

“I’m fine.” Jennifer rolled her eyes. Some things never changed. 

 

 “If you’re waiting for a bathroom you’re not going to find one out here.” 

 

“I don’t need to.” Matilda said, looking away. 

 

“Liar liar pants on fire. Well how about we just try? Thirty seconds.” Matilda faced her, a sudden mischievous glint in her eyes.

 

“Alright, mom.” 

 

Jennifer narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Alight, go on.” She gestured to the edge of the trail. Matilda remained motionless. “What are you waiting for? It’s just us here.” 

 

“You.” Matilda said with a smirk. 

 

“Okay, okay.” Jennifer turned around on her rock so she was facing the other way. “Go on.” 

 

“Not what I meant.” Jennifer twisted back around to look at her. “You said it, not me. We are going to try.” Matilda said emphasizing the we part. Jennifer opened her mouth to argue. She was now acutely aware of just how wide open this space was. She really had to watch what she said around this kid.

 

“It’s just an expression.” She tried. 

 

“What’s wrong, mom? It’s just us.” Matilda repeated her words with a smirk. Jennifer ground her teeth. 

 

“You think I won’t call your bluff?” 

 

“Nope.” Matilda said with a giggle. “I am POSITIVE you won’t squat down for thirty seconds with your pants down in the open.” 

 

“W-well, you’re right, because I’m not the one needing to pee.” 

 

“Are you sure about that? You sure have been drinking an awful lot of water. How will you know if you don’t try?” 

 

“Matilda, stop playing around. If you need to pee then just pee.” 

 

“I can wait.”

 

“Matilda,” Miss Honey said, getting annoyed.

 

“I said no!” Matilda nearly yelled.  Jennifer stopped and took a deep breath. She didn’t want to fight. This was supposed to be about working past their issues, not driving the knife further. She was obviously still emotionally raw from yesterday. Her mood had shifted fast. 

 

“Okay, Matilda,” Jennifer said, calmer than before. “What do you want to do then?”

 

“Wait.”

 

“For how long?”

 

“Until there’s more cover, I guess.” she mumbled. “I’m wearing my bathing suit under my clothes. ” 

 

“It’s pretty much like this all the way to the lake. ” 

 

“How much further?”

 

“At this pace. A few hours.” She watched Matilda’s face fall. “You don’t have to strip naked, just move the crotch aside, and if it gets wet, no big deal, we’re going swimming in the lake.” 

 

“Oh, right. Hortensia showed me that once.” Jennifer frowned. 

 

“What were you and Hortensia doing for her to show you that?” 

 

“Oh.” Matilda shifted awkwardly. “I had asked her what she would do if she needed the bathroom in the Chokey. I didn’t understand when she said she just went.” 

 

 Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “So that’s why I caught her washing her shoes in the sink at school.” Matilda chuckled lightly. “So was that the problem? Your bathing suit?” Matilda nodded. “It’s okay, we can work around it.” Jennifer inwardly cringed. There she was saying “we” again.  “Take off your shoes, socks and shorts.” She said a silent prayer of thanks as the girl started kicking off her shoes, until the first pang from her bladder hit. You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought as the prayer turned to a curse. Here she had thought she had managed to weasel her way out. Sure, she could make it to the lake and go in the water like she usually did, but if Matilda caught her squirming in her emotional state. Her mind flashed back to her father.

 

“Ugh, the things we do for our children.” he’d say in mock indignation before giving Jennifer a cookie or something. 

 

Jennifer sighed in defeat and kicked off her shoes. Matilda stopped mid sock. “When in Rome.” Matilda snorted.

 

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

 

“Please don’t. I’m-” she paused, “different.”   

 

“It's an expression.” Matilda said. “And ooh, hair.” she said sarcastically. 

 

“That’s…that’s not what I’m referring to.” Jennifer said softly. Matilda stiffened. Matilda had seen her naked before, but she had remained tactfully silent when it came to her injuries below the belt line. Thank God she hadn’t adopted Lavender instead. 

 

This was probably the first time she had ever addressed it. With anyone. Ever. 

 

“Does it-” Matilda started to say, but quickly stopped herself. “Nevermind.” 

 

“Here, hand me your shorts, I’ll put them in my backpack.” She was about to pull her own shorts off when Matilda’s panicked voice stopped her. 

 

“Y-you don’t have to. I’m sorry. I-I forgot.” Matilda said looking embarrassed before casting her head down. “I wasn’t thinking.”

 

Jennifer gave her a sad smile.  “It's not something I want you to be thinking about, but don’t worry about it. I really did drink half my thermos already.”

 

“Oh, uh, okay, I’ll-I’ll just wait over here for you then.” She stood stock still, facing away.  

 

“Hey, relax.” Miss Honey said, putting an arm around her. “We’re just trying, remember? Thirty seconds. Stand more like this or else you’ll just pee on your foot. There, you can hang on to me if you have trouble balancing, the ground’s a bit uneven here. See, easy, just like that.” She said to herself. She lowered herself down, and moved her bathing suit aside. If she was going to go through this whole production, she may as well actually get it over with. No point in pretending. She closed her eyes and waited. Just when she thought nothing was going to happen, she could feel things start to slowly work its way out. Out and into her bathing suit.

“No, no, no!” She groaned. Matilda whipped her head around.

 

“What, what is it?”

 

“It’s going backwards.” Jennifer groaned, trying to re-adjust herself with her hand. So much for Matilda not seeing, Jennifer was practically holding it open. “Stupid scar tissue.” She could hear Matilda giggling beside her. 

 

“It’s just a bathing suit.”

 

“Yeah, you're right.” Jennifer said. She let the material fall back into place before squatting back down and finishing through her suit. She should have just done this to start with if she had been so concerned with Matilda seeing. “Go ahead and ask me what you wanted to earlier.” 

 

“D-did she do that to you?” Matilda asked softly. 

 

“Yes.” Miss Honey said after a pause. 

 

“Does it hurt?” 

 

Jennifer racked her brain for a moment struggling to find an appropriate answer before settling with the truth. “It can, under the right conditions. The winter is most difficult. ” 

 

“Why in the winter?” Matilda asked after a long pause as they continued hiking up the trail.

 

“The cold makes it ache.” 

 

They walked in silence for a long time, before Matilda finally asked. “Why did she do that to you?” 

 

“It’s a complicated answer, and one I don’t think would be appropriate to share with you.” 

 

She had expected Matilda to be angry, but all said was, “okay.” The conversation should have been finished, but Jennifer was surprised by herself when she found herself elaborating a few minutes later.

 

“I wasn’t much older than you when it started. She taught me things at a very early age. Things I had no business knowing. Things I didn’t ask to know. I know you don’t think it’s a big deal since you already know what these things are and how they work, but I wasn’t like you, Matilda. I didn’t desire to know how everything around me worked.” 

 

 “How old were you when she did…that.” 

 

“Sixteen, maybe. By then, certain…expectations had become the norm. It wasn’t this vile thing it used to be, more like an annoying chore. Now as an adult I see that wasn’t the case, just something I told myself. Well, one day she caught me doing these things…alone. I don’t know why she was so surprised or angry, she was the one who taught me. She often became enraged quite easily as you know, so it was her way of making sure I never enjoyed it again.” Matilda walked in silence processing this. “God, Matilda, I’m so sorry, you didn’t need to hear that, I just told you I wasn’t going to tell you and then I-”

 

Matilda grabbed her hand and lightly squeezed. “Because you needed to tell someone.” 

 

“It makes me no better than her, forcing adult things onto you like that.” 

 

“Don’t say that! I was the one who asked!” Matilda said glaring at her. 

 

“I have a therapist. If I needed to talk to anyone it should have been her.” 

 

“So you only want me to talk to my therapist now and not you?” Matilda said, a tone of defiance in her voice.

 

“No, Matilda, I want very much for you to talk to me, but there’s things you don’t tell your children and I’m afraid I just crossed a very big line. I’m sorry.” 

 

“I’m not.” Matilda said with a sigh. “I want to understand you.” 

 

“I’m not a science experiment, dear. You don’t need to analyze me.” 

 

  “It’s not like that; It’s because I love you.” Matilda said softly. Miss Honey stopped walking and gave her a sad smile. Their relationship had been so rocky for months, it felt good to hear those words from her. Just…not like this.

 

“Come here.” Miss Honey knelt down and opened her arms. “I love you more than anything, that’s why I want to protect you from the monsters in this world.” Jennifer hugged her tightly.” I’m afraid you’ve already met monsters of your own though. That’s why I wanted to bring you out here.”

 

“They weren’t monsters; not like the Trunchbull.” Matilda said. “They didn’t throw acid on me.” 

 

“It doesn’t matter, Matilda. Sometimes the things people don’t say and do can be just as damaging as the things they do. And it wasn’t acid; it was a pot of spaghetti I had boiling on the stove.” Matilda winced. “At least she never touched me after that.” 

 

“Did that hurt?’ Matilda asked softly. 

 

“Getting boiling water poured on me? Umm… yes?” Miss Honey said incredulously.

“No, t-the other thing.” Matilda said. 

 

Miss Honey frowned and stared at her a moment. “I-I don’t think I understand.”

 

“Well, you said she never touched you again.” Matilda said slowly. “Did it hu-”

 

“N-No! Of course not! S-she never violated me again!”

 

“But did it feel like it then?” Miss Honey’s mouth went dry. Bile was rising bit by bit in the back of her throat. “It was the only sign of affection you had from her. Even though you hated it, and it was vile and horrible and you knew it was never affection at all. It was all you had.” Matilda said with a shrug.  “Did it-”

 

“Ma-Matilda, please just- just stop. No. No! It wasn’t like that at all. I never wanted her.” Jennifer spat out a little more forcefully than necessary. She took a few shaky breaths. Man, it was hot today. She pulled her shirt out from her chest a few times. The hot and humid air was making her shirt stick to her. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. You surprised me. I just- where did you even come up with that idea?” The bile was rising higher.

 

Matilda looked at the ground guiltily. “Nothing, it’s dumb. It’s not the same thing at all. I know that.”

 

“What isn’t the same thing?” Jennifer's legs were starting to shake, and there was a sharp prickling behind her eyes. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn’t going to like what she heard.

 

“I thought that, in a miniscule way, there were similarities. Like with my brother. All he ever did was torment me. That was almost our entire relationship. Once he even stuck my head in a toilet. I hated him and the rest of my family. My life has always been better with you. It’s as plain as day to me that this is better. But when I saw him and he didn’t come after me to trip me or pull out my chair, in a weird way, it kind of hurt. Obviously, him not coming after me is a great improvement, but it made me so angry for some reason. Like It really hit home for me I meant nothing to them.”

 

“I’m sorry Matilda, I’m going to-” Jennifer dropped her backpack with a loud crash and sprinted to the edge of the trail to be sick. 

 

“Mom, are you okay?” Matilda called out. 

 

“Yeah, I’m ok.” Jennifer yelled back before wiping her mouth with the back of her arm and sitting in the dirt. “Can you bring me my thermos though. It’s in the backpack.” She cringed a little as she watched Matilda try and pick up the backpack.

 

“Mom, what the heck?” She unzipped it and pulled out the thermos. “No wonder you made yourself sick! You’ve been carrying rocks with us this whole time? I was starting to think you just liked sitting on every hot boulder we passed.” 

 

“Leave them!” Jennifer called out. “It’s part of why I wanted to bring you here.”

 

“What? To drown me?” Matilda called back. She handed Miss Honey the water jug, who took a few, slow sips before standing up. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?

 

“Yeah, we’re almost there. Less than a mile now. See all the weeds coming up? Hey don't throw the rocks out, we need those.”

 

“I’m not, I was just going to carry some.” 

 

“Matilda, you can’t lift all those by yourself, put some back.”

 

“I don’t need to.” Jennifer watched her put some in her own pack, some in her arms, and some hung in the air and followed silently along. 

 

“But how long can you keep that up for?” Miss Honey asked. She picked up her own bag and hefted its weight. It was much lighter now. Matilda shrugged and followed along. 

 

They were both exhausted by the time the large pool of water came into view. They both collapsed in the grass by the water's edge.

 

“Why? Why did you try to kill us with all those rocks?”

 

“So we can throw them. But later, let’s go swimming.” The only thing on her mind now was getting her waist into the lake. While Matilda had no problem stopping as needed along the trail, Jennifer's experiment with gravity had left her leery of re-attempting it. Despite rinsing off with the water jug, hiking in a wet bathing suit had been a rather uncomfortable ordeal. She turned to find Matilda squatting in the grass. “You can just pee in the lake, you know.” She saw Matilda scowl and paused on her descent.

 

“Uhh, no thanks, that’s how you get parasites.” 

 

“Parasites?” She looked to the water, then back to Matilda. “This isn’t Africa, or South America.”  

 

“You can get human urinary myiasis if you urinate in warm water. It’s where larvae travel up and into you and lay eggs.” 

 

Miss Honey scowled. She looked to the water with longing before sighing in defeat and squatting down. Privacy was so close, but so far.

 

After swimming for a few hours, Miss Honey laid on her side on the grass watching Matilda’s chest rise and fall as she napped in the sunlight. She looked up at the sky. They’d better do what they came here to do before it got too late. She sat up and upended her backpack as rocks and more rocks came tumbling out. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a few markers. 

 

Matilda opened her eyes and slowly sat up. The next thing she knew she was being handed a marker and a pile of rocks. She watched curiously as Miss Honey wrote something on a rock before staring at it silently. Then without warning, she reared back and pitched it forward into the water with all her strength. 

 

“I want you to take a marker and write something on a rock that upset you, but you don’t have to tell me what it is. Then you’re going to channel all that rage you have stored up and channel it into the rock. And when you’re ready to let those feelings go, throw it as far and hard as you can.” 

 

Matilda watched Miss Honey pick up another rock and repeat the process before picking up one of her own. She uncapped the marker and wrote “rules” before glaring at the rock. She imagined the tan stone turning black with her disgust over them before throwing it into the water. She watched as it silently sailed through the air before landing with a satisfying splash. It was cathartic. She picked up another and wrote “bedwetting” before she sent that too into the air. She followed those with, “helpless” “weak” and “loneliness.” With a final splash, the last rock in the pile disappeared. She was exhausted, hungry, sore, and yet, she felt lighter than she had in months. 

 

Miss Honey sat on the bank and retrieved something from her backpack. She stood and handed three of the objects over. “These last ones. I really want you to stop and think, really think before you toss them. It’s okay if you're not ready. We can take them back with us.” Matilda stared at the three rocks. Each one had a picture of one of her family members on it. A hard lump began to form in her throat. Her eyes burned. She sat on the bank and cried for the loss of the family she knew she truly never had. 

 

…

 

It was late by the time they had gotten home. Both of them were exhausted and ready to drop. Miss Honey frowned in confusion at the note taped to the door.

 

Call me, it’s urgent. -C & H 

 

“Whose that?” Matilda mumbled, half asleep.

 

“Whatever it is, it can wait till morning.” Jennifer grabbed the note off the door before fishing out her keys. “Home at last.” She threw her keys onto the kitchen counter before staring at the answering machine in alarm. Seventeen missed calls!? Her stomach dropped. She pressed play. A babbling and near hystaric voice greeted them. There were parts Jennifer wasn’t sure if the voice was laughing or crying. She couldn’t understand a single word being said. She didn’t even know who was calling. She looked to Matilda to see if she had any clue, only to find her white as a ghost. “Who is it? Do you know?” 

 

Matilda, eyebrows knitted in concern, nodded her head. “It’s Hortensia.”

[BabySofia]

Glad to see Matilda opening up some here. Good chapter! 

Now just wondering what went completely wrong here...?

[smilekat414]

This story remains really compelling and really dark yet still heartwarming, I look forward to seeing where it goes next.

[SashaButters]

 “We’re going to Carol’s. Sorry, I know you’re probably tired.” Miss Honey said as she hung up the phone. 

 

“What’s going on?” Matilda asked. She was now wide awake thanks to the adrenaline surge. 

 

“She wants me to come over and talk. She refuses to tell me over the phone.”  

 

………..

 

It was nearly nine at night when they arrived at Carol’s. They found the woman waiting for them on the porch. Jennifer’s stomach did a little summersault. This couldn’t be good.

 

“Where have you been all day? We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for hours.” 

 

“I’m sorry, we were at the lake. What’s going on?” 

 

“It’s Hortensia’s mom.”

 

“What? Is Eve okay?” 

 

“She’s been arrested, Jen. It’s been all over the news today.”

 

“What!?” Jennifer said in shock. “Why?” 

 

“I don’t know officially any more than what’s been released to the public, but the police have been searching Hortensia’s house.” 

 

Jennifer let out a held breath before a sudden thought reignited the panic. “You don’t think it has to do with the girl's possible involvement with my aunts…” she whispered so Matilda wouldn’t hear.

 

“Jen, they had nothing to do with it. Didn’t you follow up with the coroner?” 

 

“Well, no.” Jennifer admitted. She had basically washed her hands of her aunt almost the moment she died and had spent every free moment trying to rid the house of any sign of her. She had never even bothered to claim her body.

 

“Her official cause of death was suicide. She intentionally drove off the cliff.” 

 

“How do they know?” 

 

“They just released the 911 call. She phoned it in before she did it.” 

Jennifer was surprised Agatha would take her own life, but at the same time she was a bitter and unhappy woman. She was incredibly relieved to hear Matilda and her spiders had nothing to do with it, but in a twisted way, she had grown fond of the idea that Matilda had saved her.

 

“What does all this have to do with Eve though?” 

 

“Ready for this? Trunchbull mentioned her and her husband by name as the reason. She said they had been blackmailing her for years. ” 

 

“The missing money from the school!” Matilda said. 

 

“Exactly.” Carol said with a nod. 

 

“For what though?” Miss Honey asked.

 

“Aren't they breaking ground on the new school tomorrow?” Carol asked slowly. “In the field the children were never allowed to play in?” 

 

“Yes,” Jennifer said, confused. “It was dangerous.” 

 

“And don’t you think it’s odd a woman who threw kids into a makeshift iron maiden would care if they got hurt playing in a field?” Jennifer could feel the blood rushing from her face. “Matilda, how about you go inside? I think Hortensia could really use a friend right now.” 

 

Matilda was about to protest, until the last part of the sentence clicked into place. “She’s here?”

 

“In the spare bedroom, but she might be sleeping. She wasn’t feeling well. If she’s asleep, my medical textbooks are in the bookcase in the master bedroom. Knock yourself out.”

 

“Ooh.” Matilda said, turning towards the door.

 

“No gory stuff!” Miss Honey chimed in. The last thing she wanted was Matilda spouting more facts about things like human urinary myiasis.

 

“If they find remains, Hortensia could lose both her parents. It would mean your aunt was telling the truth.” 

 

“But how would Eve know there were remains there in the first place? Crossing my aunt was a dangerous game and that’s a pretty big risk for a bluff.” 

 

“Because the Trunchbull said she wasn’t the one who did it.” 

 

“And you believe her?”

 

“No, but I do find it interesting that the person she claims is responsible is the same person blackmailing her. She’s pinning it all on Hortensia’s dad, who might I add, is already in prison for fraud apparently.” 

 

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

 

“Neither did Hortensia.” Carol said with a sigh. “If all this is actually true, and they do find bodies. And let's just say for the sake of argument, your aunt had nothing to do with it. Could you imagine what that means for her? Billy Reyes, her best friend, was probably killed by her own dad. Call me crazy, but the more I consider it; the more plausible it sounds. Her dad was arrested six years ago, and the last kid to go missing…”

 

“Was six years ago.” Jennifer said. “Oh my God.” She stood in silence as she processed all this. She felt bad for Hortensia, she really did, but what exactly did this have to do with her? She didn’t care if her aunt had been blackmailed and framed for murder. The only thing she cared about was the paper trail she had to clean up. 

 

“The police are going to call you tomorrow; they’re going to ask you to give a statement about a few things.” Carol was starting to give her a strange look. 

 

“What? What does any of this have to do with me?” 

 

“Jennifer, this is what I needed to talk to you in person about.” The look in her eyes was pity. “Do you remember that morning you were staying here? You told me you remembered something, but you couldn’t remember if it was a memory or a dream? Something about asking for help from a very tall man.” 

 

No.

 

“I dreamed I wrote a letter.” she said flatly. 

 

“It wasn’t a dream, Jen.” Carol fished something out of her pocket and handed it to her. It was a picture. “Jacob, Hortensia’s dad, is 6’ 7.”

 

No. 

 

“They found your letter in Eve’s safe.” 

 

 I dreamed I asked a giant for help. 

 

“No. She didn’t.”

 

But he used me for money. 

 

“Jen, that’s what they were using to blackmail your aunt with. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to be alone when you heard.” 

 

“Please watch Matilda. ” Jennifer whispered. “I need to go for a walk.” 

 

They could have stopped it from happening. 

 

Her hands went to her front.

 

 But they sold me out instead. 

 

“Can I walk with you?” Carol asked. “She won’t even know we're gone.” 

 

She wanted to be alone, but she begrudgingly accepted. They walked down the street in silence for a few minutes. 

 

“I want to apologize for the last time you were over. I’m afraid I tried to pressure you into something you didn’t want to do, and for a good reason. I didn’t know about… and even then, it was never any of my business.” 

 

“Matilda.” Miss Honey grumbled. Guess she couldn’t keep it to herself after all. 

 

“There’s something that’s bothering me, as a medical professional, how were you not removed from the home the moment you showed up at the hospital?” 

 

“Because I was never taken to the hospital.” Jennifer tried to think if she had been, but her memory was a blur. Gaps of time were missing. “I can vaguely recall someone taking care of me. I thought it was my aunt. Out of guilt or panic. I don’t know. I was in and out for a long time. Days I think.”

 

“Well it would depend on if Matilda was exaggerating about the severity.” 

 

“Probably not.” Jennifer admitted.

 

“Then it’s not possible your aunt was the one caring for you. You had at least second, probably third degree burns. You would have needed round the clock care, antibiotics, pain killers, surgery. The risk of infection would have been off the charts.”

 

“I had a high fever,” there was an image of her in her mind in bed with wires, i’vs, her pelvis in bandages.

 

“Do you know if there’s any sign of repair? Scars from stitches or anything?”

 

“I don’t know.”

“Can you find out?” Jennifer scowled and shook her head. She wasn’t in the business of touching down there anymore. “Has anyone given you a pelvic exam since this?” 

 

“No.”

 

“Does anyone in the medical field even know?” 

 

“Not that I’m aware of.”

 

“Jen!” Carol sighed. They walked around the rest of the block before Carol said. “I know this is going to sound inappropriate, but could I see?” 

 

“What? No! Why would you even ask that?” Jennifer said, feeling horrified. Carol had pushed boundaries before, but this was going way too far! 

 

“Because if there’s evidence of stitches, that’s a serious crime. Pelvic scalding like that is almost a guaranteed sign of child sexual abuse. Medical professionals are mandated reporters. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

 

“My friend just asked to look up my crotch; It’s passed weird.”

 

“I’m a trained medical professional.”

 

“You’re a primary school nurse.” 

 

“I worked in the hospital for twenty years. I have pulled more household objects out of sexual orifices than I care to admit for a Catholic Hospital.”

 

“Why does it matter if it was Catholic?” Jennifer asked.

 

“Do you know what it's like to watch a priest come into a man's hospital room and offer to pray with him before his procedure when you know he has a statue of the Holy Mother of Jesus stuck up his rectum?” 

 

Jennifer shuddered. 

 

“What’s Hortensia doing here anyway?”

 

“She called me from the police station when she couldn't get a hold you.”

 

Jennifer’s frown deepened. “Why would she try to get in touch with me? To talk to Matilda? Surely, she had other friends parents, or family to come.”

 

“She’s been specifically asking for you.”  

“Why for me? She wasn’t even one of my students. My only interactions with her have been to give her detention and yell at her for picking on the younger students. I’m hardly the person to call in an emergency.” 

 

“I don’t know. You’re the child whisperer; not me. I just remove Jesus candles out of the masses' asses.” 

 

“Oh Jesus.”  

 

“Yeah, I think that’s what they were saying too.” 

 

“CAROL!”  Jennifer shuddered again. “You’re such a pervy old lady.” Carol grabbed her heart in mock indignation. “Who let you be around children?” 

 

“I can be professional when I need to be.” 

 

“You just asked to see me naked two minutes ago.” 

 

“You’re not a child.” Jennifer felt her face flush and she stammered. 

 

“Not happening. I don’t care if I was worked on or not.” 

 

“You should.”

 

“I don’t see what the big deal is. Whatever happened is in the past and I don’t remember. It’s not something I want to drag to the surface.”

 

“It’s at the surface whether you realize it or not.” 

 

“Just stop!” Miss Honey said forcefully enough to make Carol stop walking. “You and Matilda, please, just stop. I don’t want to talk about it!” 

 

“Okay, Jennifer.” Carol said slowly. “I’m going to go check on the kids. Take all the time you need. I’ll leave the front door unlocked.” 

 

Miss Honey gave a grunt of acknowledgement and kept walking. Eventually she came to a secluded park. Without thinking about what she was doing, she took a seat on an empty swing and gently rocked herself back and forth with the tips of her toes. 

 

The world couldn’t even give her 24 hours before opening the next box of chaos and dumping it over her head. Her mind refused to dive past anything surface level. She could feel the cool air on her skin, the sting of tears in her eyes, how sore she was from hiking. But everything else was locked in a box she had no intention of opening. 

 

Jennifer wasn’t sure how long she had stayed out there. Her backside had long since gone numb from the small swing seat and when she finally stood, walking had become a challenge. She had to fight the urge to curl up in the grass and go to sleep. Her daughter was waiting for her. She’d go back to Carol’s, get Matilda and go home. Hortensia would have to call her actual family in the morning. She could stay with her neighbor with the fat kid until they came to collect her. 

 

When Jennifer reached the front door, she was surprised to find a note. She hadn’t been gone that long, had she?

 

I’ve put Matilda down for the night. I tried waiting for you, but it’s been a long day. Make yourself at home. I’ve put out bedding on the couch. 

 

Miss Honey frowned as she opened the door. The house was dark except for a coffee table lamp by the couch, which was piled up on one side with blankets and pillows. She had no intention of staying. She’d leave Carol a note as soon as she woke Matilda. She quietly opened the spare bedroom door and peered inside. Maybe she’d catch Matilda up and reading. She stared into the room for a couple of seconds before her eyes adjusted to the dark. The girls were cuddled up together like a pair of sleeping kittens. It was the most Un-Hortensia like thing she had ever seen. She quietly closed the door behind her and made her way to the couch and took a seat. She eyed the clock on the wall and, what!? How was it already midnight!? Had she really been gone for three hours? No wonder everyone was asleep. 

 

Resigned to her fate, she kicked her shoes off and slid them under the coffee table before grabbing a pillow and blanket. She had no change of clothes, or toothbrush. She didn’t even have her medication. Jennifer silently chastised herself. She should have just woken Matilda up and left, but she had neither the heart nor the backbone to separate them. So reluctantly, she laid down and fell into an uneasy sleep filled with the nightmares of her past.

 

She was in her childhood bedroom lying on her back, naked, legs spread atop of her bed. Carol was there, standing over her, wearing gloves. 

 

“Is the patient ready for her exam?” Anger filled Jennifer. She had told Carol no! She wanted to close her legs, but she couldn’t! Instead of covering herself, she found her hand sliding down to rub small circles. Carol was watching, but Jennifer couldn’t stop. She softly moaned and picked up speed. She never lasted long when she was being watched. 

 

“Whore.” Carol spat out disgusted. Jennifer came. 

 

“You disgusting little whore!” Another voice boomed. Carol was nowhere to be found. Now it was her aunt, red faced and angrier than Jennifer had ever seen. What was that in her hands? A pot from the stove? “This’ll teach you to keep your hands off when I’m not around!”

 

Miss Honey awoke with a scream before curling herself into a ball. Her body shook violently from the unbridled sobs as she quietly wailed into the pillow. 

 

She jumped when she felt something cold touch her arm. She wasn’t alone. She sat up and searched the darkness in wild panic. She could just make out the tall outline of a figure holding something out. The cold thing softly brushed her skin again. She reached out with a trembling hand and took the cup of water. 

 

“Thank you, Carol.” She choked out after taking a sip. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. Just a dream.” she mumbled. “It happens. You can go back to bed.” She heard footsteps retreating. Jennifer let out a held breath before a door opened and the footsteps approached again. She felt something fuzzy press against her.

 

“He helps.” A soft voice Jennifer hadn’t expected to hear said. “Just don’t tell anyone.” The footsteps retreated again before a door opened and closed. Her stomach clenched. 

 

Hortensia. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

….

 

 

 

 

[BabySofia]

Wow, this is going down a rabbit hole I didn't expect. I just hope she accepts the help she needs at some point here. Glad to see another chapter!

[AdultInnocence]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the finishing being a bit dark, as you said it ties everything together, and if you feel that is what it needs, this story is your baby. This has been a real good story with a good following. I've enjoyed these updates and I hope that your health has been better.

[smilekat414]

Okay I didn't see this coming, but looking back I can see the foundation in previous chapters, gonna be interesting to see where this goes now that the can of worms has been opened

[SashaButters]

 “Good morning, ladies!” Carol said, much too chipper for the morning's mood as she emerged from her bedroom. The only other person who seemed to be in good spirits was Matilda, who sat on the couch with a large medical book opened across her lap. 

 

“I told you not to look at anything gory!” Jennifer chastised. “That person doesn’t have a face!” 

 

“Before the car accident they did. Look at how much they were able to reconstruct it!” Matilda said after flipping a page.  Jennifer winced. She didn’t want to look at these kinds of things, especially not after the night she’d had. 

 

“What are you looking at so eagerly over there?” Carol asked, sitting next to Matilda on the couch. 

 

“Burns.” Matilda said without looking up. 

 

“Carol, can you please put that back in your room? She doesn’t need to be looking at that.” 

 

“No, moooom!” Matilda complained. “I can handle it!”

 

“So what are you thinking you want to be? Doctor? Nurse?” Carol asked. 

 

“Plastic surgeon.” Matilda said before turning the page. 

 

Both adults briefly looked up at her. “So you want to give rich middle aged housewives fake breasts?” Carol asked, trying to hold back a laugh. “Let me know when you’re in business, the girls have been starting to sag.” 

 

“What? No!” Matilda said. “I want to help burn victims.” Carol and Jennifer locked eyes for a moment. 

 

“Well, it’s a little early to be looking at third degree burns. Can you keep it PG for the rest of us? Your friend may not want to see bits of scalp while she eats.” Carol said before looking around. “Where is she, anyway?” 

 

“Still sleeping.” Matilda said. 

 

“Still sleeping?” Carol walked to the bedroom door and knocked. “Wake up in there! What do you want for breakfast?” After no response, she opened it. “Hey, breakfast? You’ll feel better if you eat something. No no, no moping around in bed today. Don’t you want to go see your mom?” Carol stepped back into the living room. “Matilda, want to help me make breakfast?” 

 

“Can I use my powers?” Matilda asked hopefully.

 

“Are you going to make a mess?” 

“No.” Matilda said at the same time as Jennifer’s “yes.” 

 

“Practice makes perfect, c’mon.” Matilda eagerly put the book down and headed towards the kitchen. Soon there were lots of loud banging, crashing, and laughing. “Hey, Jen, can you try waking up Sleeping Beauty? Pancakes are almost done.” 

 

Miss Honey grabbed the stuffed dog from last night, approached the door and knocked, but there was no answer. She knocked again. Still no answer. Reluctantly, she pushed open the door to find a lump hiding under the covers. 

 

“Hey, breakfast is almost ready.” Miss Honey said from the doorway. She wasn’t going in there. 

 

“Not hungry.” A voice from under the covers answered, followed by a wet sounding sniffle. 

 

Don’t do it. Don’t do it. 

 

“Can I come in?” Miss Honey asked. More silence. Well, it wasn’t a “no”. She slowly crept inside and sat on the edge of the bed. She lifted a corner of the blanket up and slid the stuffed dog inside. A pair of hands immediately grabbed it and yanked it in the rest of the way. “Thank you, for last night.” Miss Honey said softly. 

 

“You were crying.” Hortensia stated it as a fact rather than a question. “Why?” the voice from under the covers asked after an awkward moment of silence. “I’ve never seen an adult cry before.” 

 

Just what Jennifer needed, another reminder that she wasn’t really an adult. 

 

“Sometimes I have bad dreams.”

 

“I’ve never cried from a dream.” Miss Honey breathed a frustrated blast of air from her nostrils. Not all kids were going to be as understanding as Matilda she supposed. “It must have been bad.” she added, quieter.

 

“Yes.” Miss Honey said before changing the subject. “What about you? Why are you crying?”

 

“I’m not crying.” Hortensia said. Her voice was raw and full of emotion. Jennifer was entirely unconvinced. “Just stupid.” Hortensia mumbled.

 

“You’re not stupid.”

 

“I thought my dad was out of the country driving trucks for most of my life. H-h-how d-d-did I not see what horseshit that was?” 

Jennifer bit her lip to keep herself from reprimanding the girl on instinct  for swearing. Now hardly seemed the time. 

“Sometimes we adults don’t always tell kids the truth in order to spare them from unne-” 

 

“”Y-y-you mean you lie!” 

 

Miss Honey slowly let out a breath. “Yes, sometimes, we lie to protect the ones we love.” 

 

“Did my mom re-really do all that stuff the Trunchbull said?” 

 

“You can’t take anything my aunt said seriously. She was already deliriously livid over my relationship with Matilda. She even came to the hospital and strangled her. The more I think about it the more I realize how not in her right mind she was towards the end. Maybe even before then.” 

 

“She never was!” 

 

Jennifer chuckled bitterly until the words began to ring true in her head. She never was.  She. Never. Was. Of course she knew her aunt was crazy, she had always known since the woman moved in, so why was it only now sinking in? There was a tiny tiny tiny voice in the back of her mind that began to speak to her so softly she would have easily missed it. If she was never mentally sane; maybe you never deserved it. There had always been that feeling of culpability deep inside that hung over her shoulders like a weighted blanket. 

 

What if. What if. What if.

 

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Jennifer said softly. 

 

“Do you think she made up all that stuff about my parents because she was mad at me then?” 

 

“It’s possible.” Miss Honey said. “I’m sure this mess will get all sorted out and she’ll be back home before the weekend’s over. There’s nothing to worry about.” 

 

“Are you lying?” Hortensia asked after a moment of silence. 

 

“No.” Miss Honey lied. She sat on the bed unsure of what to do. Did she try to place a comforting hand on her shoulder or would that be weird? Was she supposed to pretend nothing was wrong and follow Hortensia’s lead?  She had no truthful words of comfort for her. If it was Matilda she’d know what to do; Matilda responded to touch, but this wasn’t Matilda. The two girls couldn't be any more different.  All Jennifer could do was lie. But there was one question burning a hole in her mind. “Why did you call me? Why not your neighbor?” 

 

“Because I hate them.” Hortensia answered bluntly. 

 

“What about your friends from school?” The moment the words left Miss Honey’s mouth the realization struck her in the face. She reached over and peeled the blanket down to reveal the girl curled in a ball clutching a stuffed dog to her chest. Gone was the perpetual smirk that seemed to never leave her face; now it was replaced by a trembling lower lip. Red, watery and puffy eyes now replaced the defiant glare and attitude. For the first time, Jennifer saw her for what she truly was. A scared kid. 

 

 “No.” Hortensia whimpered before hiding her face again. A thought crossed Miss Honey’s mind of the water and stuffed animal she had been given last night. There seemed to be a much gentler side to her than what she presented at school with her friends. Or maybe…it had always been there and Jennifer had just never noticed. 

 

Hadn’t it been Hortensia who had come and gotten her when Matilda had needed her at school? And even though it had angered Jennifer, the issue with stealing Nigel’s shoes had been Hortensia’s way of including her. Then there was the choking. 

 

The more Jennifer thought back, the more she felt like an idiot for separating them. 

 

“If there’s anyone stupid here it’s me.” Jennifer said with a sigh. Hortensia wiped her face before looking back up at her puzzled. “I should have trusted Matilda’s choice of friends better. She has this ability with people to see what others miss.”

 

“It’s not really that we’re friends.”  Hortensia said with a look of deep concentration. “I ain’t friends with the runts. She’s just…different.” 

 

“Different how?” She was curious how the other children saw her. 

 

“If any of my friends tried what she does, they’d get black eyes.” Hortensia grumbled, but Jennifer could see the fight drain out of her the moment it had come. 

 

“I could talk to her if you want; if she’s too clingy for you. I noticed she was snuggled up pretty close to you last night.” She had to bite back a smile as the girl's face began to turn crimson. 

 

“Made it hard to sleep with her crushing me like that.” Miss Honey had to keep herself from pointing out that she looked pretty comfortable to her, but that seemed a bit more than Hortensia seemed able to take at the moment.

 

“She has a way of walking right past the barriers we put up as if they weren't really there.” 

 

 “She’s just a little kid. It’s not like I’m gonna push her off or something.” Hortensia grumbled. 

 

“You admitted if it was anyone but her, they’d get a black eye.” Jennifer had noticed her arms had been around Matilda just as tight. “So if you’re not friends; what are you?” 

 

“I don't know. I just don’t really have to try…” Horensia said slowly before adding barely above a whisper. “To be tough.” It was so low Miss Honey wondered if she had been meant to hear it at all. Either way, Miss Honey understood now. Hortensia hadn’t wanted anyone to see her this way. The words seemed to finally come to her. 

 

“Hortensia.” Miss Honey said. She couldn’t believe she was going to do this. She swung her legs up on the bed and scooted her back against the headboard. “Come here.” She patted her lap. Hortensia stared at her wide eyed as if she had lost her mind. Maybe she had. But maybe, the girls weren't so different after all. “Rest your head; It’s alright.” Jennifer gave her a soft smile. 

 

Hortensia stared as if frozen in place. She was about to say she didn’t bite, but that didn’t seem the right thing to say. “It can stay between us. You can let your guard down with me.” Just when Jennifer was positive she wasn’t going to budge, the lump began to slowly inch its way closer to her. Her hand trembled as she stroked the sobbing girl's hair. This was only the third person she had let get this close to her. First Matilda, then Carol, and now the child she had least expected, Hortensia. 

 

“Your hair reminds me of a little girl I met once. She had the most beautiful blond curls.” She could vaguely remember running her fingers through it. “She wanted to learn to read so badly so I showed her how to sound out a few words. Made me realize I wanted to be a teacher.” 

 

“I hate having long hair.” Hortensia mumbled. “And reading.” 

 

“You used to have long hair? Why’d you cut it?”

 

“The tangles hurt. Mom got tired of chasing me with a hairbrush every morning so she cut it off. She was so mad she gave me a frickin’ bowl cut.” Miss Honey cringed. She had wondered who the school photo of the blond boy was hanging in Eve’s house. 

 

A sudden loud banging followed by laughter coming from the kitchen made Miss Honey stop. She let out a sigh.

 

“We should probably go out there. Mrs. Rodgers is letting Matilda cook using her powers and it sounds messy.” The first hint of a smile crossed Hortensia’s face as she sat up and climbed out of bed. Miss Honey frowned and stopped her at the doorway. “Hortensia, are you forgetting something?”  

 

“Huh?” 

 

“Pants.” Miss Honey said with an amused grin. “Didn’t take you for a Spice Girls fan either.” Hortensia shrugged, bent over and grabbed her shorts off the floor. Oh geez. “Wait, do you have any clean clothes?” Hortensia shook her head. 

 

“They wouldn’t let me take anything from the house.” 

 

“I’ll see if Mrs. Rodgers has anything you can borrow.” Miss Honey frowned as she thought of the best way to phrase the next part. “Do you need any, umm, hygienic products or do you have those with you?” 

 

Hortensia stared at her blankly. “Like a toothbrush?” Oh no.

 

“Feminine hygienic products.” Please no. No. No. No. Not now.

 

Another blank stare. 

 

“Go wait in the bathroom; I’ll talk to Carol.” Miss Honey said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

 

“Ookay.” Hortensia said slowly. She gave her a puzzled look before heading down the hall. 

 

Jennifer entered the kitchen and froze. What had happened in here? Everything, and everyone, was covered in white powder. She looked to her daughter, who gave her a guilty wide grin. 

 

“Do I want to know what happened?” Jennifer asked. 

 

“Nope.” Carol said. At least she was smiling too, Jennifer thought with a sigh. 

 

“Might have a problem. Do you have any pads?” 

 

“Hysterectomy, sorry. Did it sneak up on ya?” 

 

“MS. HONEY!” a panicked voice screamed from the back of the house.  

 

“Not for me.” Jennifer hiked a thumb over her shoulder. Carol’s lips curved to form a silent O. 

 

“You don’t think its her first-”

 

“Yes.” Miss Honey said with a groan. She should have known something was amiss when Hortensia willingly curled up with her. “Here I thought she had a sensitive side. Turns out it was just hormones.” 

 

“Well this is unfortunate timing.” 

 

“Your patient is calling Mrs. Medical Professional.” Jennifer said. There was a reason she worked with five and six year olds. 

 

“Nice try, I believe that was your name being yelled.”

[Guilend]

2 hours ago, SashaButters said:

Your patient is calling Mrs. Medical Professional.” Jennifer said. There was a reason she worked with five and six year olds. 

 

“Nice try, I believe that was your name being yelled

Okay that was amazingly funny. 

[AdultInnocence]

I have to agree. Loved how that chapter ended.

[SashaButters]

The four of them sat around the table eating the pancakes Matilda had made. They were different, Miss Honey thought as she stabbed another piece with her fork. Her daughter had clearly gotten creative with the ingredients. Whipped cream-which was good- chocolate syrup- a little much for breakfast-but these little orange candies were, well… Miss Honey forced herself to swallow. Disgusting. 

 

She hadn’t wanted to hurt Matilda’s feelings so she had eaten all three of them. She had never tasted anything quite like them, but, blegh. Where had Carol bought these from? Were they stale? She'd have to remind her daughter if she wanted to cook, she needed to get into the habit of checking expiration dates. Miss Honey looked at the other plates. Matilda had eaten two, Hortensia, who was looking rather green, had taken a bite out of one, and Carol had simply scraped them to the side of her plate. 

 

“Hortensia, do you have any questions?” Carol asked. 

 

“What did the squirt do to your kitchen?” Hortensia asked. They all turned to look at the white cupboards and floor.

 

“I dropped the first batch of batter.” Matilda admitted.

 

“I shouldn’t have let you use your powers.” Miss Honey said. 

 

“Oh no, that part was fine.” Carol said. “Impressive really. It happened when she tried to grab the bowl with her hands.” Matilda flashed a guilty sort of grin. “Do you have a question about anything else?” Hortensia shrugged, before eyeing Matilda, and looking away. “You did know what a period was, right?” Hortensia shook her head. 

 

“You started your period?” Matilda blurted out. Hortensia let her face fall in her hands. 

 

“Even she knew what it was?” Hortensia mumbled, horrified.

 

“Honey,” Jennifer said softly. “Did you really have no idea?”  Hortensia shook her head. Eve, Jennifer thought with a frustrated sigh. 

 

“So…any thought of adding sex education to the curriculum now, Miss Headmistress?” Carol joked. Miss Honey closed her eyes.

 

“Okay, okay, you were right.” Jennifer admitted. She had planned on dropping the whole subject, much to Carol’s admonishment, but now Jennifer could clearly see it was necessary. The Trunchbull had treated her as if she was something vile the moment she had started hers. Jennifer hadn’t learned it was normal until years after. 

 

“You knew what sex was, but not a period?” Matilda asked with a wrinkled nose. 

 

“Well so-rry my mom goes around saying ‘I need dick’ and not ‘I’m bleeding from my vagina!’” Hortensia sniped. 

 

“She says what?!” Miss Honey nearly choked. 

 

“I overheard her say it on the phone to her friends. I bugged her until she explained.” Hortensia shrugged. 

 

“Well, please don’t say those things.” Miss Honey said. 

 

“What things?” 

 

“Dick and vagina.” Miss Honey said behind her hands.

 

“Okay,” Carol said, putting her hands up. “If you can’t even handle the word ‘vagina’ maybe you should leave this to me.” 

 

“She’s eleven, she doesn’t need to be saying it.” 

 

“Out.” Carol said, pointing to the back yard. “Both of you.” She pointed to Matilda as well.  

 

“Why do I have to leave?” Matilda argued. 

 

“Because I don’t care how smart you are or how much you already know, I’m not having the sex talk with a six-year-old.”

 

“I think we should leave this conversation to her mom.” Miss Honey tried, but was shot down.

 

“Eve had her chance.” Carol said. “I can at least let her know she’s not dying.” Miss Honey looked to Hortensia, who was looking a mixture of pale and green. She had a point. “If you want to help, you can go down to the corner mart and get her some pads.” 

 

“Okay, just,” she eyed Carol suspiciously, “nothing too adult, please.” 

 

…

 

When Jennifer and Matilda returned from the store, the scene was not how Jennifer had pictured it. Sitting on the table was a hand held mirror, eggs, and a banana in a- oh lord was that a condom? So much for no adult stuff. But the biggest surprise was Carol looking very agitated in the kitchen.

 

“Matilda!” She said sternly, making both her and her daughter jump. “Is this what you put in the pancakes?” She held up an empty candy bag. Matilda nodded and Carol groaned. “A word Jen?” She motioned for her to follow her to the backyard. 

“She put these in the batter.” Carol held out the bag and Jennifer examined it closer. She didn’t see anything usual, until she saw the little leaf towards the bottom. Her mouth went dry.

 

“Why do you even have these? These aren't legal!” Jennifer said, staring horrified at the empty bag of edibles.

 

“I had them for chemo nausea a few years ago. They didn’t do anything, so I put them in the cupboard and forgot about them. There’s only 5mg of Thc in them.”

 

“I don’t know what that means!” Jennifer nearly shouted. “How did you let her get into them? Why were they somewhere she could reach?!” 

 

“If you haven’t noticed already, you can’t really put things ‘out of arm's reach ' with your kid.” Carol said. “If I had known they were there, I would have watched more closely.”  

 

“What do I do? Should I take them to the hospital?” Miss Honey asked.

 

“What? No, they’ll be fine. Yes they can be dangerous in high doses to kids, but I don’t think anyone had that many. Normally, I'd say let them sleep it off, but my only concern is Matilda.”

 

“Because she’s so young?” 

 

“Because she can move things with her mind. Last thing we need is her getting high and moving major appliances around.”

 

“Oh.” Miss Honey turned green at the thought. 

 

“Do you think she’ll be willing to make herself throw up?” 

 

 “I’m not sure.” Jennifer said. She bit her cheek and thought about it. Maybe she could be trusted before the whole day care fiasco, but now, she wasn’t so sure. They had only recently dug up what had been brewing underneath the surface. Jennifer couldn’t assume anything. Even if she saw this with a clear head, throwing up was never fun. 

 

“Well, time is of the essence. Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Matilda, mind coming back here?” Carol called. “You might not want to watch if you're squeamish.”

 

“What are you going to do to her?” Miss Honey whispered.

 

“Shove my fingers down her throat.” 

 

“Carol!” Miss Honey said horrified. 

 

“We don’t have time to ask. If she runs, we don’t have time to chase her down, and I like my house.” 

 

“You call us?” Hortensia asked, poking her head out. Miss Honey bit her lip. She could see her daughter cowering behind the older girl's legs. 

 

“Actually yes, both of you, please.” Carol said. Hortensia walked out, before Matilda reluctantly followed, hanging her head and sniffling.

 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to poison everyone!” Matilda said before bursting into sobs. 

 

“Hey, this was ultimately my fault.” Carol said. “You’re not in trouble. And you didn’t poison anyone, but, here’s the thing, Matilda, this is very important. Your mom and I both need you to do something. It would make us feel a lot better if you could make yourself throw up.” 

 

Please don’t run. Please don’t run. Jennifer chanted in her head. The last thing she wanted to do after reconciling was pin her daughter down so someone could shove their fingers down her throat. That would go really well for their relationship. 

 

“I can't,” Matilda said with a sniffle. Miss Honey’s muscles tightened. Don’t fight.

 

“All you need to do is take a finger and stick it all the way to the back of your throat.” Carol said. 

 

“I already threw it up, I can’t throw up anymore.” 

 

“Matilda, please, we just -”

 

“Why did you throw it up earlier?” Miss Honey asked.

 

“Because that’s the first thing you do when you think you’ve been poisoned.” Matilda said. 

 

“Poisoned, what?” Hortensia said.  “I ate your cooking one time and I’ve been poisoned?” 

 

“No, you haven’t been poisoned,” Carol said. “We’re just doing this as a precaution.”

 

“But my throat already burns.” Matilda complained. 

 

“Just one time to prove there’s nothing in your stomach. Then I’ll give you something cold to drink.” Carol said. Matilda pouted. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” 

 

“Why can’t you just believe me?” Matilda said. 

 

“Wrong answer.” Carol said. Jennifer watched, a mixture of apprehensiveness and dread welling from within her as Carol dragged Matilda over to the grass by an arm. 

 

“Let me go!” Matilda yelled. “Stop it!”

 

“Are you going to do it yourself then?” 

 

“I already did! I’m not stupid!”

 

“No one’s saying you're stupid, sweetie.” Jennifer said gently. “We just need to know you’ll be safe.”

 

“Fine!” Matilda grumbled. “Let go of me so I can go to the bathroom.”

 

“Do it here.” Carol said. “Last chance.” She pushed Matilda’s back down so she was doubled over the lawn. Miss Honey bit her lip. She wanted to tell Carol not to be so rough with her. “One. Two…” 

 

“Give me a s-” Matilda tried to say, but Carol had used the opportunity to shove a finger in her open mouth. Matilda gagged before retching. 

 

“She’s clear; It’s just bile.” Carol said. 

 

“That was disgusting.” Hortensia said. Matilda shoved Carol away angrily, before storming into the house. 

 

“Can I trust that you’ll take care of this yourself?” Carol asked. Hortensia quickly nodded and hurried into the house before she got the same treatment. 

 

“What should I do?” Miss Honey asked. “Should I throw them up too?” Carol shook her head.

 

“You’re not in any danger. If anything, you’ll be hungry, then thirsty, and if it gets too much, you’ll have a nice nap. It’s up to you though. I can take Hortensia to see her mom and figure out where to send her, just whatever you do, don’t drive. Just stay here and make yourself at home.”

 

“Hmm, maybe I should toss them.” Jennifer said. She couldn’t decide. She had no interest in getting high, but she really hated throwing up.

 

“Your call.” Carol said, before pursing her lips tightly together. “Be careful with that one.” She nodded her head towards the kitchen.

 

“Hmm?” 

 

“Do you really think she didn't notice they weren't candies?” 

 

“Mistakes happen.” Jennifer said pointedly.  Her head hurt. She didn’t want to think about it. Carol shrugged and walked back inside. 

 

A part of her wanted to demand she stay put and explain herself. Why on earth would her daughter purposefully try to poison every one? She couldn’t…She wouldn’t! Yes, her behavior had been unrecognizable recently, but Jennifer was under no delusion that a single trip to the lake together was going to fix everything. Smearing paint on the walls and breaking windows was a far cry from poisoning her loved ones. 

 

Matilda had to have not noticed! She was only six, and that warning label was on the bottom of the package. It was basic philosophy! Occam’s Razor! The simplest explanation is usually correct! Carol was just overthinking this. 

 

Jennifer swallowed hard as her eyes fell to the pile of bile in the grass. 

 

Right?

 

….

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Carol said for the hundredth time. “You’re in no place to go out like this, Especially not to a police station! Just relax. In fact, go to the master bathroom and take a bath. It’s a custom built tub. Try not to panic, it will only make it worse.” She turned to Matilda. “Keep an eye on her.” Carol whispered as she eyed Jennifer, who was sitting on the couch staring at the television remote as if she had never seen one. Matilda giggled nervously.

 

“I’m in charge?” Matilda asked.

 

“You created this monster; she’s your responsibility now.” Carol said as Matilda’s face fell. 

 

“But I asked.” Matilda said softly, eyes beginning to water.

 

Carol sighed. “Yes, yes you did. I’m only teasing. I’m just a little concerned about leaving her like this.” They both stared at Jennifer, who was trying desperately to wave a strand of hair out of her face, only for it to fall back into place. “Don’t let her go out, and don’t let her drown. Think you can handle that?” Matilda nodded vigorously. “You two!” Carol said, so they can both hear. “No leaving. No parties. No boys.” Carol added a wink to the end making Jennifer loudly giggle before snorting. Matilda, Carol, and Hortensia stared at her, then at each other. “Oh, I really don’t want to leave.”

 

“Is this bad?” Matilda asked slowly with wide fearful eyes.

 

“No, hilarious.” Carol whispered. “This is almost as good as the time she thought she was high.”

“Miss Honey’s high?” Hortensia blurted out with a laugh. “Seriously?” She darted in front of Jennifer and stared into her eyes before cackling. “Oh my God, you’re right, she is! Her eyes are all bloodshot!” 

 

Jennifer cackled back and pointed. “So are yours!” 

 

Carol instantly sobered. The smile vanished from her face. No no no. She walked towards Hortensia and groaned. 

 

“Please tell me you’ve been crying.” She said. Hortensia’s body shook with silent laughter, before letting out hisses of air while shaking her head. Carol pinched her nose. “Please, tell me you threw up that edible like you said you were going to.” Hortensia shook with more laughter. 

 

“Hey, why’d you take her word over mine?” Matilda said. Her eyebrows narrowed in a scowl. 

 

“Because. I. thought. I. had. shown. her. how. serious. the. situation. was.” She lightly smacked Hortensia in the arm with every word. She turned toward Matilda. “It was that or call an ambulance. Those are very dangerous to kids, especially ones as young as you. I didn’t want to freak out your mom and ring the alarm bells right away. But the situation was too dangerous to just take your word for it. She’ll be fine.” She pointed her thumb at Hortensia and rolled her eyes. “She’s built like a horse.” 

 

“You're Horsetensia!” Jennifer shouted, before they both fell over onto the couch cushion from laughter.

 

“Oh. My. God.” Carol said. She held up her hands. “None of you are leaving this house. I’m going to the police station myself to talk to her. Horsetens- she sucked in a breath. “Hortensia, I will take you to see your mom once you sober up. Matilda?” She gave her a questioning look. The Telly flicked on.

 

“Problem solved.” Matilda said. “But why not just call her?”

 

“Because we need to have a face to face conversation.” 

 

…..

 

“Number seven.” The guard directed her. 

 

Carol walked down the rows of families conversing between a sheet of glass until she got to the stall marked number seven and had a seat on the stool. She didn’t have to wait long. A disheveled and terrified looking woman took a seat and reached for the phone.

 

“You… what are you doing here?” Eve asked. 

 

“You know this affects all of us.” Carol said softly. “What happened? What did they find?” 

 

“My pervert neighbor ended up being some kind of investigator.” Eve said with ground teeth. “I knew he was spying on us.” 

 

“What did they find?” Carol repeated. 

 

“Jennifer’s letter.” Eve admitted. Carol sighed. “I can’t go to prison. What about Hortensia?” Eve whimpered. 

 

“I have her. She called me.” Eve gave her a confused look. “She called me when she couldn’t get a hold of Jennifer.” 

 

“Why would she try to call Jennifer?” Eve said before blanching. “Does she remember?” Carol shook her head.

 

“I don’t think either of them remember. I think Hortensia just likes her and Matilda over your neighbor. Jennifer thinks she gave the letter to a tall man.” Carol winced. “I may have led her to believe it was your husband.” 

 

“She was so full of drugs, who knows what she thought she saw.” Eve said before waving a hand. “Let the bastard take the fall. What did you tell Hortensia?” 

 

“That he’s been in prison out of state.” Eve raised an eyebrow. “I know. I know. I said a lot of things yesterday that I regret.” Carol said. 

 

“Are you going to tell Jennifer the truth? Or are you going to make me out to be the villain?” 

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“I have a child!”

 

“So does she!”

 

“It was her idea!” Carol held a finger to her lips. 

 

“Do you have a lawyer?” 

 

“Not yet.”

 

“I’ll start looking. For all of us.”

[SashaButters]

I know there isn’t much diaper stuff at this point, but thanks for sticking with it. ^^

[smilekat414]

Seems like we get a plot twist every new chapter, I'm really interested in seeing where this goes. 

[AdultInnocence]

14 hours ago, smilekat414 said:

Seems like we get a plot twist every new chapter, I'm really interested in seeing where this goes. 

This was more like a 180 switchback lol