In a World of Trouble (Do You Remember, Book 4)

Wednesday, November 29, 2000

Well, I'm just glad that this month is finally over, as I've dealt with more than enough drama to last me for the rest of my life.

Here's what happened:

After failing to capture Freddie Lloyd, the Magical Secret Society has to deal with her taunting them using cryptic messages. To make things worse, Kelsey Davis and her group is also tormenting us by way of attacking us whenever we meet at the same school. (Just so you know, the main culprits are Kelsey Davis, Libby Harper, Bradley Murray, Stanley Allen, and Lucy Johanssen. Plus, there's also Darren McCarthy, Angelina Irwin, and Shannon Howard, who don't necessarily have disabilities, but are often seen with the group.) So far, Kelsey and company had destroyed the school's homecoming and all but ruined the Halloween ball that I had been dragged to.

Which is so unfair!!

At the same time, though, Claire and Mariah (and Jimmy) had to deal with their father/uncle David Gilliam's trial, which revealed some very damning secrets, mainly in the form of Chelsea May, who claimed to be Anthony Roberts's daughter. Well, the results were just as expected, with David being found guilty of a multitude of crimes, but Anthony is paying the price of watching his only child grow up with another man and having her call that man "dad".

Speaking of which, I all but became a dad when my sister Zoey gave birth to a little girl named Hadley. (As of right now, Zoey is still in a hospital recovering from the years of abuse that Freddie saw fit to inflict upon her.) Also, Milton had to have brain surgery, and he's not allowed to go back to his family until they worked out their problems in an appropriate way.

Meaning, Barbara Anne Holt has to go away forever.

So what am I doing right now?

It's difficult for me to say this, but I have to step up and be the man that Uncle Zach couldn't be. It's not easy, seeing as everyone in the Hamilton family now knows who I am and who's son I really am.

But that doesn't mean that everyone accepts that new revelation about me.

For instance, Adeline already hates me because I had ignored her her entire life, but this is a brand-new low. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, she had called Jimmy and me bastards, which was extremely rude and hurtful. Plus, she said something about Hadley that was so hurtful, I can't even write it in this book. That made Hadley cry and I grew angry; Mary yelled at Adeline for almost an hour, which also had Adeline crying.

Sometimes I don't know what's wrong with certain people.

Anyway, I also had to deal with the fact that my family is falling apart due to the lies that mom and dad (and Uncle Zach by extension) had told everyone about me. Jimmy is also suffering, but for a different reason. He's not a Hamilton while I could easily claim Uncle Zach as my father. And there is also the situation that cousin Frank had put him in when he decided to sell him to a kidnapper instead of confronting cousin Mary about who Jimmy's father was.

And trust me, Jimmy still hasn't gotten over that.

In a twisted way, I realized that I could have ended up like Jimmy if I wasn't so lucky. I would have been forced to deal with five years of abuse and lies if I didn't have "the Hamilton look". (Meaning, I looked almost like Uncle Zach did when he was my age, with his blond hair and blue eyes.) Jimmy, however, has green/gray eyes and reddish brown hair as his mother did, making it virtually impossible for him to pass himself off as a Hamilton son.

Speaking of which, Mary said to me as we got back to school, "The meeting will be held tonight at 11:15 P.M."

"Why the late timing?" I said, knowing that I had my novel to finish for English class, as well as a crapton of homework from my other classes. Plus, the school drama club was about to begin its holiday theater season; my counselor had pushed me to try out for several plays. So how could I fulfill my obligations to the Society if I had to do "other" things?