Hollow

Chapter 22

I didn't understand. Ma'am loved me, it didn't make sense. She would never do anything to hurt me, she knew how much I missed my parents, she knew how much I wanted to be like the other kids, and she knew that I hated living in that dumb town. She let me grow up lonely, naive, and clueless about the world. Above all, she took me away from something I wanted for the longest time, my dad.

Maybe I really was Rapunzel with the evil mother. I mean, it adds up. She was sheltered, with no outside connection, and her mother took her away from all people. Seems like my story.

Timmy also looked confused. He couldn't stop looking toward the ground. He was smart, he knew what he meant, even if the man didn't have to say that I was kidnapped out loud. He looked at me, and I looked at him. This changes everything.

Did Mrs. Toledo knows about this? Did she help? I don't even know if I should trust her now.

"I'll give you a minute" Agent Martin said. "This is a lot to take in."

I didn't want a minute, I wanted the life I was supposed to live. Being sheltered and disconnected for what? Just so she didn't get caught? What other crimes did Beatrice commit? What other lies are beneath all of this?

I don't know what my dad is like, but I should have gave him a chance before I completely rejected him. Now I just felt like crap.

Why did he act so unbothered when he met me. He was so calm and cool about me hating him. I still didn't believe he cared about me. He would have tried to take Me.

"I met my dad about a month ago, and he didn't seem like he was really interested in me. I completely shut him down and it's like he didn't care about not knowing where I was all this time." I said after awhile.

"Trust me, he had to care about at least 75%." He said. He showed me a list of investigators he paid for leading up to $20,000 as the total number amount of money he spenr.

It didn't shock me that much. I knew he was wealthy knowing the car he was in. A whole limo. Not a regular limo, an orange limo. Nobody normal is driving that! Ma'am just had a Toyota.

I shrugged. "Money like that is probably like 20 dollars to him."

I could tell the agent was annoyed. But he ignored arguing with me.

"Okay, the reason I brought you here is since we found you after all of this time, your neighbor has never legally adopted you. Just living with Mary Toledo doesn't mean you can stay there. There are papers that must be signed and someone to check up on you. You have another option, Mr. Mabel, your father has actually wondered and suggested for you to come live with him. We haven't heard from him in awhile so we still have to see if he is opened to the idea, but-"

"I can't just leave them. " I said. "It's not that simple, they are... my only family at the moment. Honestly, I'm telling you I don't think that my dad is that interested in me anymore. I made it pretty clear when I met him that I wanted nothing to do with him." I looked down.

The FBI agent stopped to sign some more papers.

I looked over at Timmy, his head was down on the table. I was assuming he was sleeping, so I just left him.

"Hollow, I am just going to ask you a few simple questions"

I nodded.

"How was it like living with Beatrice? Were you comfortable or uncomfortable in your way of living with her." He asked.

"What do you mean by uncomfortable?"

"Like, did you feel like you 're being abused or trapped?"

"Not abused, but I guess trapped." I said.