A Neat Mess

8.The Silent Heirloom

That night, dinner was consumed in awkward silence. Ben was mad at Sam for hiding the truth, while Sam was mad at Jenna, Ben, and herself. Jenna, the only one who seemed relaxed, showed no sign of fear or concern about being punished. She knew she'd lost her iPad privileges for two weeks, but it didn't seem to bother her, which annoyed Sam the most. Although Jenna apologised and promised not to do such a thing again, it felt like she was already planning her next move.

Jenna finished her dinner and excused herself to go upstairs and play in her bedroom.

"Daddy will come upstairs to read your book soon," Sam called out.

 Until that day, Sam had been proud that Jenna wasn't one of those timid children afraid of the dark, being alone, or spiders. In fact, she wasn't really afraid of anything. But now, questioning everything, Sam wondered why Jenna wasn't scared of anything.

It didn't take long before Ben walked back downstairs after reading to Jenna. He was still mad at Sam for not telling him about Jenna's first incident at school. But it had actually backfired on Sam, who had unwittingly given a sinister impression of herself, and they didn't know the half of it.

Sam was sitting on the couch, busy with her investigation. "What is her order this time?" she asked without looking away from the screen. "If she wants her water bottle, it's on the bench."

Ben walked into the living room and replied in a cold tone, "She fell asleep very quickly. No struggling or bargaining needed. No common tricks to stay awake longer tonight."

On any normal day, this would be great news, but based on what Sam was reading on the screen, even this was bad news. Ben joined Sam in the living area and sat in the armchair next to her.

"What's with the concerned look? Now Jenna sleeping early is worrying you? She's a little naughty—just like I was. When I was a boy, I used to get into trouble all the time."

Sam, with her shoulders hunched forward and her chin tucked into her neck, let out a frustrated sigh. "She is not just a normal naughty girl doing."

Ben suppressed a laugh—a wise move at this time—and continued, "My daughter is very popular and just needs to learn how to manage it. She's just practicing. Jenna is extremely smart, and that's why her ways are different."

"What do you mean, 'your daughter'?" Sam barked at him.

"What I meant was that she got these traits from me. For example, as a boy, I used to catch little animals and dissect them. There was nothing malevolent about it—only curiosity. Jenna is more creative—that's all."

"What made you to stop doing what you were doing?" Sam Asked. 

"It was just a phase that passed," Ben replied. "I also became more interested in other things—more intriguing creatures and their bodies. And, well, maybe Dad's belt had something to do with it too."

Sam's head poked out from behind her laptop screen but said nothing.

"I'm not suggesting we do anything drastic to Jenna," Ben clarified. "But what we're doing is too soft. I asked the principal if she demanded an explanation from the kids, but God forbid we shame them," he said sarcastically.

Sam's silence encouraged Ben to continue, giving him false hope that she might be listening to him for once. "All I want is to ask her why she did it. You knew what she'd done before and did nothing about it so she went on and did worse because she knows she won't get into trouble, and Scott is her dummy. She wants to see how far we'll let her go."

his conversation was pushing Sam's patience to the brink. "Don't you think the principal and school psychologist have seen enough to recognise a normal naughty child from...whatever this is?" Sam asked.

"We don't know what they're saying to other parents," Ben replied. "They might say it to everyone."

"They didn't say it to the McGees," Sam pointed out. "I wonder why they keep saying this to us."

Ben thought for a moment. "Maybe it's too late for Scott. Maybe they know he'll be punished if they tell his parents anything."

"Exactly," Sam said, becoming animated. She stood up. "There is a logical explanation for Scott's behaviour. Don't we need to know why our innocent child is turning to this? I did some research today."

"And...?" Ben said, rolling his eyes. He knew Sam had a tendency to overreact about small issues and wondered just how helpful her 'research' would be.

"She is acting like an abused child," Sam whispered.

Ben shook his head. "The old abused kid story, huh? I suppose now we're under a magnifying glass, and soon child services will come and take her away?"

"I don't care if they accuse us of something, but what if..." She sat back down and leaned towards Ben. "...she has been abused by someone? She's away from our sight for hours—every day!"

"Do you really think Lucille is doing something to her?" Ben asked, incredulous. "Our beloved babysitter for the past seven years?" 

While this wasn't what Sam had implied, it made Ben unusually upset. but how unlikely could it be that Lucille had a boy coming over when they were away? What if the guy was a sicko? They trusted Lucille, but research showed it's often trusted people who are the culprits.

Ben continued, "I suppose the other causes are alien abduction and dark magic?" He sculled the rest of his beer and made a triangle with two other empty bottles on the table. Ben had this compulsion about the number of beers he drank—it had to be just enough to complete a pyramid. Now that he opened a fourth one, he'd need to drink two more to complete the third row.

"I'm just reading this," Sam said, tilting her laptop screen for Ben to see. "There are traits that repeat for abused children. Jenna has a whole bunch of them! The abuser could be anyone—maybe even someone at school!"

"It also says it might be a brain tumour. I just don't want to be called to school and judged about my parenting. This issue needs to be resolved soon." Ben found it interesting that being judged was a higher priority for Sam than solving the issue.

"Well, that would have other symptoms. What else have you got?" Ben asked.

Sam thought that if she were like any regular person, her eyes would have teared up—but not her. "Genetics is a big one."

Ben's face turned slightly redder when he heard this. He stood up, walked to the fridge, picked up another bottle, and struggled to twist its lid off. Giving up, he put the beer down and turned to face Sam. 

"You mean... she might have psychotic genes in her?" Sam nodded. "And you're worried about a side of Jenna that we don't know much about?"

Sam sighed. "I don't know what to do, Ben. If we take her to a doctor, it could bring up so many questions about when, why, and how...and all those horrible memories will come back to me. I'm not sure I can handle it."

Ben held her close, rubbing her back. "It's okay, baby. You don't have to talk to anyone about this. If we need to see a doctor, I'll be there and tell them everything they need to know."

"We moved here to escape all those people and memories, but sometimes I think they'll follow us to our graves. I don't want to live in a town where people know too much about us."

"We didn't do anything wrong, and no one will know our secrets. There's no need to worry. I'll do all the talking if necessary. I just don't think it's a good idea to lie about family history. It will mislead them in figuring out what's going on."

Ben checked the clock on the wall. It was getting late. "Let's get you to bed. You've had a long day. We'll decide what to do in the morning when we can think more clearly."

Sam agreed, but she had a very bad feeling about it.