Forlot - Books 10-12

Chapter Seventeen

Nigel's mother had our full attentions now.

We, the kids, were shocked, and the adults were taken aback as well. I cannot even describe to you how Nigel himself was feeling at that very moment, but I suppose that you have an idea of how he was taking such information in.

As for me, I was not sure how to react. I was just...surprised. I was not sad. I was not mad. I just needed some answers from her. Clear answers.

Mrs. Sanders let out a couple of nervous giggles. "I know, I know," she continued. "I have some explaining to do. And you are probably thinking that I was out of mind when I did it." She bent down to my and Nigel's level.

Mr. Mason was the first in the group to respond to such news, and the corners of his mouth turned down, indicating that he was angry. No. He was more than angry. He was ticked, and I came to realize that by what he stated and how he stated it.

Let me tell you. It was anything but calm.

"Yes, Laura," he said. "You were out of your mind when you got the charges to drop."

She ignored what he had to say and and patted her son's knee. She held his hand and asked, "Are you alright, honey?" She noticed that Nigel had been rubbing his arm for a lot longer than he needed to.

"Well, I was doing absolutely perfect..." Nigel replied. "...until that psycho girl who was close to killing off Margie..." He pointed at me. "...attacked me!" He pointed at himself.

"Oh. Um...I am sure that she had her reasons. And besides, she could not have attacked you. You look fine. No bruises or scratches."

"Stop trying to defend her actions, Mom! She is a danger towards everyone that she is around. A few more seconds at the funeral, and she would have killed Margie. And thanks to her, my arm is in extreme pain."

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing his bare arm, and I gasped and covered my mouth.

There was a bruise on his arm, and not just your average bruise. This one was big and a mix of colors that made it ugly to look at. It was red, brown, and purple.

Ew!

"My goodness!" Mrs. Mason exclaimed. "She did that to you? That evil girl gave you that bruise?"

"Not only that, she broke my nose." I pointed a finger at my nose that was still covered by the bandages.

"Why in the world would she break your nose?" Mr. Mason questioned. He then answered his own question. "Wait. I know why." He glared at Nigel's mom. "The girl is nuts!"

Mrs. Sanders stood back up. She ruffled Nigel's hair as she faced him.

"She has a name," she said. "It is Margaret."

Mr. Mason huffed and crossed his arms. "Really? That is worse!" He tsk-tsked. "Jeez. I feel sorry for whoever's name is Margaret. They should not be associated with that crazy girl."

"She is not crazy. Or nuts. Or a psycho." She turned back to her son. "Sweetie? What did she tell you when you encountered—"

Nigel rolled back down his sleeve and interrupted her. "I did not encounter her. I was minding my own business when she encountered me."

"Okay then. What did she say to you?"

I let Thumbelina and Tamara play with my fingers and entertained them while I was listening.

"Well, mother of mine, Margaret got ahold of my arm and squeezed it ever so tightly. I do not exactly know what she was trying to tell me. She was basically rambling on about how my mom - I guess you, Mom - was her mother and not mine. I only assumed that she was acting like herself or even confused that you reminded her of her mother and thought nothing of it. That is...until you told all of us that you dropped the charges that were filed. Now, I am not so sure."

Mrs. Sanders pinched the bridge of her nose with two of her fingers and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Nigel, I promise you that Margaret is not any part of our family. Not like your brother, Stanley."

"Do you happen to know why Margaret believes that you are her mom?" I asked her.

"Indeed. I am not her biological mother and never actually accepted her as my daughter. But when she was really young, she had only one wish. That was to have two parents, a mother and father, who would love her very much. She was an orphan, and back when Mr. Hawk and I were dating, Mr. Hawk adopted her because he felt bad for her."

She paused and let out a giggle. Then she continued.

"Margaret was excited to be part of our lives, and despite me making it clear to her that I did not want her to call me her mama, it did not stop her from saying it." She let out a whoosh of air from her nose. "Mr. Hawk and I thought that she would be the sweet, lovable girl forever."

"Boy, were you wrong," Hansel remarked.

Just then, we heard gentle knocks on a nearby wall and turned to where it was coming from.

Mr. Hawk was standing in the room and by a wall. His arm was outstretched, and his fist was tapping on the wall. He stopped as soon as all of our eyes were locked on him. He strolled up to us and cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes," he said. "Margaret acts the way that she does because she is jealous. It became clear when Stanley and Nigel were born. She almost tried murdering them."

"What?!" Nigel and I exclaimed in unison.

"But Margaret being here has opened my and Laura's eyes. Which is why Laura and I are getting married as soon as we can."