Forlot: Thunder Will Come Down - Book Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ugh. Ms. Hayley Taylor. I swear that Caleb and I run into more villains than heroes in this freakin' town. There are way more heroes than villains. Heck, fans have said that there are too many characters to keep track of. Although that Forlot is a small town, it is home to many families, and most of them are main characters. There is a logical reason why this is, and the only way that you will know is if you continue reading this series.

I have been avoiding Ms. Hayley Taylor since book seven. If you do not have good memory like the writer, you probably would not remember what occurred between me and her. The witch - I like to call her that because that is what she is - tied up Tim and his friends and kidnapped me. I would probably be a dead girlfriend had I not fought her off. I caused her to fall in the acid. She should be dead, but for some odd reason, the universe gifted her with another chance at life.

"Uh-oh," Caleb said. "That lady is blocking our way in."

"We are aware, Dad," North answered in a tone that creeped out his brother, Cal. "We all have eyeballs. We can see."

Caleb made a good comeback. "Everybody is born with eyeballs. Not all of us have the ability to see."

"You listen to me. Those files need to be on my desk first thing tomorrow morning. If they are not, I can guarantee that you or someone on the team will be fired. I do not care whether or not it is your fault. The day of the election is next month, and every millisecond that we waste is a ticking time bomb for Forlot. If I lose..." Hayley locked eyes on me and my family. "I will have to call you back." She hung up and put her phone away. "Well, well, well. Do my eyes deceive me?"

I was so not in the mood to play her games. "Shut up, Hayley. My family and I want nothing to do with you, especially after what you did to me."

I should have expected that she would make her presence known at the party. She was always invited to popular parties and pretends to be good and care for the townsfolk in an effort to gain votes. I still could not believe that my own parents invited this witch. I told them that she kidnapped me. Did they forget or just did not care? I was hoping that they forgot.

"It is obvious who the reasonable parent is," Ms. Hayley Taylor stated. She had on this smirk that sent me red flags.

"Not another word," I spat. "My kids have no need to hear the garbage that comes out of your filthy mouth."

North sniffed and gagged. I gasped, rested my hands on his shoulders, and asked if he was feeling okay.

"I am fine, Cindy. I would be feeling a whole lot better if this nimrod did not smell like that she just climbed out of a landfill."

"You mean Ms. Taylor?"

"Duh. She is the only lady in this hall besides you."

I could not help myself. I slapped my knee and laughed. North may have not liked me because I was not his biological mother and married to his biological father, but he sure was hilarious at times. He even added that I smelled better than her.

Because Caleb is not a person who gets revenge or insults people regardless if they are villains, he was disappointed in my and North's behaviors. He frowned and told me to stop laughing, and when I looked at him, I knew that he was not messing around. I was shocked and even a bit embarrassed and forced my laughs to die down.

"Thank you, Caleb," Ms. Hayley Taylor thanked. "It baffles me how you can love and be married to a girl who makes you look like a fool."

"I am not a fool!" I shouted. I slapped her.

She cried out and massaged the area where I had slapped her. It was bright red now.

"Oh my gosh," Caleb said. "I am awfully sorry. Please do not sue us. It will not happen again."

"It is not your fault, Caleb. I think that you can do better. How about that Kara girl? She seems to be into you."

This woman who was running for mayor was pressing my buttons. She was trying to start trouble like some real worlders. I knew that I should not have given in, but it was hard to resist. I wanted to slap her so hard that she flew into space and died. She was a despicable being who gave real women a bad name. How the heck can she even be eligible to be mayor?!

Before I could give her another piece of my mind, Caleb roughly grabbed me and forced me into the party room. Cal and North pushed the stroller and followed him.

Caleb found the reserved table and pulled out a chair. He forced me to sit and sat across from me. The boys parked the stroller by the table and plopped their bottoms in the other two seats. I crossed my legs and arms.

We remained silent until Caleb said, "What the heck was that? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of causing her pain until she begged for mercy."

"First of all, please do not talk like that. The children should not imagine their mom doing that."

"Hayley is anything but a being. She is a monster who is hiding in human skin."

"I could not agree with you more on that, Cindy, but you cannot hit everyone who gives you that certain finger. If they attack you first, you have every right to defend yourself."

"So I should sit back and watch them spread lies?"

That was the last thing that I said to him.