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Chapter 20

I stare out the window until I see our Grandparents and Blanket and I's mother run up to the doors of the police station. I turn around and sit right in my chair, waiting for the long lecture I know we're about to be given.

I apologize to my siblings ahead of time, and they say it back. The four of us sigh and wait for the adults to enter the room. 

"Natalie, baby, are you alright? Oh my gosh." my mother practically runs to me and hugs me. "Yes, I'm fine, mom." I say in annoyance.

"What about you, Blanket? Prince, Paris? Are you guys alright?" Everyone says that they're fine and we all tense up as Katherine and Joseph enter the room.

"What were you guys thinking going out without a guard?" Joseph asks sternly and I can feel the fear in everyone. His voice doesn't make it very easy to take things. "You know better than that!" Katherine adds in and shakes her foot and glass falls from the bottom.

"Do you know how much worse this could have been?" Joseph asks and everyone stays silent. "You know you put her in danger doing this? Her first night with us and you do this." Joseph points to me and shakes his head as he paces the room.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I—" Prince begins but Joseph cuts him off.

"No. Don't. Just stay quiet. Get to your car, take the kids home. Now." he demands and Prince nods. We all stand and begin to follow him, but my mother holds her arm out to stop me.

"Not you, Nat." she says and my heart sinks. "Mom. . ."

"No," she shakes her head and stares at me. "we're going home." she grabs her keys from her purse and stands from her squatting position. 

I look over to Prince, Paris and Blanket with a straight face. "I'm sorry." Paris mouths and Prince gives me a sympathetic half smile. I watch as they walk out the door, to Prince's car, and I even watch them drive away. I shake my head at my mother and walk out the door, not caring if glass gets in my foot. 

I stand outside and allow the sunlight to heat my face. The wind gently blows, caressing my skin and I breathe in and out slowly. I hear the voices of my mother and Katherine and Joseph from inside speaking to the police officer. I sigh and open my eyes, taking in the view of the busy city.

There are a lot of people wandering around the streets. I'm surprised that nobody has come and asked about what happened. I guess they just don't care enough.

When my mother exits the police station, she grabs me by the arm and walks me forward. I yank myself from her grip and glare at her. "What are you doing?" I yell at her.

"Natalie Jane, don't you ever talk to me like that."  she says and looks at me vigorously. "You can't handle me like that!" I yell and step away from her. "This wasn't my fault so I don't know why you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, I'm worried."

"Like hell you're not!" I yell and she looks at me with a disgusted look. "Yeah, I said it. You say all these things to me and make me believe them, but guess what mom? I can tell truth from lie now. My only question is, when do the lies stop?" By the end of the sentence I'm screaming.

"I should have never let you stay with them in the first place, so no this was not your fault, but it was mine. Now let's go." she yells and steps toward me, holding out her hand and trying to grab me again but I step back.

"Don't you dare touch me." I warn her and she glares at me. I notice we have drawn a small crowd, but I ignore it. My mother doesn't, however, and I can sense her embarrassment. "We are not doing this here, Natalie. Get in the car, we're going home. Now." I shake my head and squint my eyes, mentally telling her that I'm not scared of her.

"How could you say that to me? How was I supposed to know we were gonna get hounded by all those people? How was I supposed to know that they would go crazy and break the glass and how was I supposed to know that I was gonna get hurt in the process, huh? How was I supposed to know?" by the time I'm done yelling at my mother, I'm in tears.

"That's the thing, Natalie." my mother's voice softens and she takes a step toward me, but I back away again. "You weren't supposed to know. You weren't supposed to know any of this. You ask me why I didn't want you knowing about your father, about the other half of your family—well this is why. Things like this is what I was terrified of. This is why I wanted us to be normal. You could've gotten hurt so much worse than you did and your being defensive. Do you know how dangerous that was? How do you think I  felt when I got that call? That's why."

"I hate you." I say calmly and my mom rolls her eyes. She tries grabbing me again, but I back away from her, shaking my head.

"Natalie, stop acting like a child." my mother demands, and I become even more angry with her.

"I hate you!" I scream and run out of the parking lot and down the street.