She didn’t bother pointing out to him that she’d had to keep house daily. Make sure the kids had a bath, food, and some sort of learning craft. It took a lot out of her to do such things. Not to mention, fending off all the people who wanted to take her from her job. Keeping a home full of children from potential deadbeat parents was a full-time job.
Oh, and don’t forget the time it took you to make and sell your side job. I don’t know how you were able to live with yourself doing what you did. Again, there wasn’t any reason for her to answer him. He’d just make some sort of snide remark back to her. I’d never do that. I’m a nice person. It’s you that is the monster in all this.
This time she turned to find him. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d be able to pick him out. The man was going to pay for talking to her this way. When his laughter echoed through her mind, she glared harder at each man until they looked in her direction.
You won’t figure it out, I’m afraid. You’re assuming I’m a man when I’m not. I’m not human either. I can change myself into whatever creature and person I want to be. How about I give you a little hint? The laughter again. Look to your right, Hanna, and I’ll prove to you what I mean.
Looking to her right, she saw nothing. Then as she was looking again, just to be sure, she saw herself sitting in a chair at the back of the room. The little wave had her waving back. Hanna turned in her chair so quickly it tipped in a way she was sure she was going to hit the floor. However, with the tilting of it and her weight, the chair broke and splintered under her.
Getting herself upright proved to be more difficult than she thought it should have been. It wasn’t until she was standing up, holding onto the table for a moment, that she realized she’d been hurt. The blood running down her leg worried her. It was a steady stream that had her sick to her belly.
“Are you all right?” She glared at the man who was helping her. “I’m only asking because a woman your age cannot afford to break a hip.”
If she hadn’t had to hold onto the table to stand up, she would have slapped the piss right out of him—the nerve of some people. Glaring at him didn’t seem to work either, as he wasn’t looking at her face. Finally, she felt something hard hit the back of her legs, and she plopped down. It was undignified, but she was sitting rather than holding onto a wobbling table.
“I’ve called an ambulance.” She told the judge it wasn’t necessary, she was fine. “Perhaps you should look at the piece of wood that has become a part of your body, Ms. Holloway. You’re bleeding badly too.”
Looking down, she saw the sliver of wood that was indeed in her calf. It was making her ill again, so she looked away. The blood pooling under the table and chair was bad enough, but the wood sticking out both sides of her leg like an arrow was too much. Getting dizzy now, she felt sick and thought she might pass out as well. Damn it all to hell, she thought. This was going to drag things out longer than she wanted.
~*~
Jude watched the proceedings. The ambulance drivers were trying their best not to puke on their patient, while the others in the room were using their phones to send what had happened out to the masses. She wondered briefly how they’d gotten their phones in here. She’d been asked to leave hers in the car.
Not that she didn’t feel bad for Hanna being hurt. She had been teasing her, and that had made her angry. That was what she wanted, not her being hurt to the point she had to be taken away in an ambulance. Getting up, careful of the men working, Jude slipped out of the courtroom and into the bright sunlight.
You seem pissy right now. She told Mercy she wasn’t so much pissy as disappointed. Having her in jail and awaiting trial couldn’t have happened to a more terrible person if you ask me. They’re still pulling blankets from the ground over here. So far, they’ve unearthed three dozen blanket wrapped bodies. That’s fucking sick.
Are you just standing there watching them? She told her she was in a tree looking down on them. I’m sure that’s not scary or anything. I’d be scared if I looked up into a naked tree and saw a large falcon sitting there staring down at me.
No one has noticed me. I think they’re set on this job. Did you hear that her brother George has been hospitalized? She told her that she hadn’t. I guess he’s some kind of germophobe. When one of the officers touched him to cuff him, he went berserk. After they took him to the jail, giving him his bottle of hand sanitizer back to him, he drank it. He was heard saying it was the only way to get all the germs off him. He’s also being treated for his hands. I guess they’re a mess as well.
This is one fucked up family. Hanna is on her way
