A Neat Mess

3.The Diversion

Sam didn't argue any further and followed Pavlov's car to the school. The problem with Jenna and her creativity was that Sam could never be prepared for what might be waiting for her.

At school, after they parked and walked together, Sam expected Pavlov to divulge some more information, but there was so little elaboration. They walked to the principal's office together, and Pavlov opened the door for Sam. Inside the office was waiting every other kid's nightmare mother. Pavlov whispered to Sam, "We'll talk after this." Without talking or acknowledging the other parent sitting in the room, Pavlov closed the door behind her and left.

Sheryl McGee was the mother of three boys and a new baby girl. She was slender,  her skin sun-kissed and weathered and damaged, and appear to be on edge at all time. Her eldest son, Scott, and Jenna were classmates. More often than not, he ended up in detention. Sam struggled to make sense of the diversion created by Jenna's theory and McGee's presence together.

When Sam sat next to her, Sheryl turned, opened her mouth, and took a deep breath, but Parker stopped her right away. "Let me do the talking, please, Sheryl."

Parker continued, "There has been an incident at Sheryl's house today."

"I had to take my baby girl to the hospital this morning, six months old, you understand?" Sheryl interrupted, almost shouting at Sam, who slightly turned her head towards Sheryl but didn't dare to face her. She kept her eyes locked with Parker's.

"Sheryl, there is no need to shout at Sam. What happened is terrible, and we are here to discuss it. Thankfully, your baby girl is going to be fine."

"My poor baby has been screaming in pain the whole morning, and you are all casual about it?" Sam finally lost her patience. "Will someone please tell me what is going on here?"

Parker finally took control of the conversation. "Apparently, Jenna told all the kids with a younger brother or sister to pull out one of their sibling's toenails and bring it to her."

Sam did a mental eye roll and said, "I can see that clipping a baby's toenail can get tricky, but kids don't understand that, and small things can go wrong. I'm sorry to hear that, but you're overreacting here."

"No! Not clipping, pulling it with pliers, like they did to make people confess. Jenna told them that she knows a witch, and if they did it, she would give them the power of invisibility. This way, they would never get into trouble again." Sheryl was furious.

Parker gestured for the angry woman to calm down. "We haven't heard from any other parents about this matter, but apparently, this morning when everyone was asleep, Scott used a pair of pliers on his baby sister. She's injured by the time Sheryl woke up."

Blah Blah! Sam thought why she and her child had to take the blame for the actions of a troubled kid in a crowded family, where the little one doesn't get enough care and older ones feel the need to act out for attention. All Sam wanted to know was where the blood came from. WHOSE BLOOD WAS THAT?

"Have other kids confirmed it was Janna's idea? How come Scott was the only one who went ahead and did it? I am guessing we would have heard by now if anyone else have done it."

"Because my boy is a dumbass, gullible piece of shit who wants to impress a girl who has a solution for troubles he make." 

Sheryl continued, "...and none of the kids would speak out against Jenna because they are too scared to make that little princess upset."

"Okay, then why don't we bring Jenna in and ask her what happened?" Sam offered.

"Because she will deny it, of course," protested Sheryl, wrapping her arms around herself.

"What do you want us to do, Sheryl? Punish Jenna because Scott has done something? I'm going to call Jenna." Parker made the call, and they waited for a couple of minutes.

Jenna entered the office with her cheeks red, indicating she must have run there.

Jenna, did you ask Scott and the other kids at school to bring anything from home yesterday?" Parker asked.

"Like what?" Jenna replied as if she owned everyone in the room.

"Anything related to a brother or sister that you don't have, maybe? Something you would return the favour for?" Parker prodded.

"I do have a sister. Lucille, my big sister, is the best."

"Lucille is her babysitter; she's been with us since Jenna was one," Sam explained.

Parker nodded and continued, "It's okay, sweetie. You are not in trouble. Scott told us that you offered him some sort of help, which is nice of you. Did you offer him help with anything? Something that would help keep him out of trouble?"

Yeah, like that will work on Jenna! Sam thought.

Jenna shook her head. Of course.