Singing Robin (Part 2)

Chapter Five Friends

Dedicated to MajenBeos02, Babyalex34, Cvstina
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Nine years and Nine months ago, Leonard, age 11

July 8, 2009, 9:56 pm, Leonard's POV

     'I edge closer to the glass-enclosed pavilion as I hear my Mom shakily address my Dad. So far, they have just yelled and screamed at each other, but the sudden quiet is unfamiliar and makes my skin itch.'

    "—Custody rights." I pick up from my Dad as he slaps something on the table in front of him, and my Mother laughs humorously.

    "Full Custody." Mother says, and I see her harshly push the paperwork back toward my Dad.

    "Maude, be mature for once in your life." My Dad snaps as he places the paperwork back, and my Mom pushes it off the table and onto the floor. Dad rises to his full height and walks around the table to glare down at her.

    "You think you scare me?" She says and then snorts.

    "That little Monster scares me ten times more. I want him out of my life." She is genuinely frightened, and I feel my heart ache. 'I don't mean to scare her. I've tried my hardest to hide him from her, but she can always see it. When I was younger, she would pinch me anytime I started scaring her, but now she tries not to come anywhere near me. I once tried to hug her, and she had a panic attack so bad that the house staff is still convinced I tried to harm her. I swear I wouldn't, she is my Mother.'

    "Has he done anything to you, Maude?" Dad asks tightly with a raised eyebrow, and my Mother shakes her head and then nods.

     "He brings an aura with him. It feels so bottomless and dark." Mother says, and Dad glares at her, and his hand smacks the table.

    "He has tried everything to convince you. He doesn't mean you harm. You flinching any time he enters a room is both obnoxious and cruel." Dad rages, and Mother's chin quivers as she looks Dad in the eye.

    "Just because he doesn't make your skin crawl doesn't mean he doesn't make mine. That Monster is capable of things. He does things that shouldn't be done. Speaks about things he shouldn't know anything about." Mother says and shakes her head.

    "What things! Between the two of you, you're the most delusional!" Dad snarls, and Mother shakes her head.

    "He knows! He knows I'm afraid of him, so he watches me. He is always watching me. He knows when I'm hungry before I do. He called for an ambulance before Bertie had her heart attack. Let us not forget when he was nine, he broke that kid's arm for touching his snacks." Mother says, and I slide down the tree and fist my hands on the ground to keep him out.

    'I watch her because I try to be in tune with her wants so she might accept me. I never realized it would scare her more. We heard Bertie's heart give out before she began to fall out. She smelled like a cloud of pain despite how happy she was. My actions saved her life, and she has ignored Mother's view of me ever since. And we broke his arm because he was greedy, and all year, he stole from the weaker and poorer kids. Without his reaching arm, they got to eat, and the nauseating scent of their hunger went away.'

    "Monsters aren't born, Maude, he could be better. The way you treat him, the fear of him that blinds you to how earnest he is, teaches him how to behave. I have tolerated you because I figured he needed his Mother, but no one needs you." Dad says, snatches the paperwork off the floor, and begins storming out.