The GreyHatter (Completed)

Chapter 18

"Clarence forced you to marry him?" I repeated. Mom nodded very slowly. "When did this happen?" Dad asked slowly. "After we were married," she answered. I paced back and forth against the grey concrete until I asked impatiently, "Why didn't you tell Dad about this?" Mom was about to explain until my phone saved her from talking.

I looked at my phone screen then sighed. Clarence sent a text, reminding me about the dinner conversation. When my parents looked at me with suspicion, I just rolled my eyes. "It's nothing," I lied. My mother took a deep breath then continued her story.

"One week before Wyatt was born," Mom began. "Your boss, Clarence came to the door and ask if he would like to talk to me." "It was a nice conversation. He congratulated me on having a baby, told me what a nice house we have-" "Get to the point," I insisted. "It became a blessing, talking to him," she continued, ignoring me. "Until the conversation became ugly."

Mom glanced at Dad, who was crossing his arms with disdain. "He told me that you stole almost every dollar he had two months after you got the job. Mom explained. "Clarence insisted that you were going to lead this company to bankruptcy, so he asked me to spy on him, and I refused."

"I would never do that to Computer Tech!" My father shrieked. "I know," my mother said. "I keep telling Clarence that, but he doesn't believe me." I shook my head in disbelief. I knew that Clarence was untrustworthy, but tormenting my mother?  "He began threatening me through emails, telling me to do it or I'll pay the consequences. " Mom sighed. "I couldn't tell you, Zechariah, because you were going to lose your job. Back then, Wyatt was just an innocent four-year old boy."

"After eight years of harassment," Mom said, glancing at Dad."I told you that I wanted a divorce. You didn't say why, you only agreed then have the Court sign the papers. After the divorce, I married Clarence, then I had to put up with his evil daughters."

Dad never spoken for a long time. He hung his head then rubbed his withered fingers on his worn eyelids. I only looked at Mom then reluctantly asked, "If you hate the pig and his daughters then why didn't you leave?"

"Because I felt like the house was the only thing that will keep me tranquil." Mom replied.  Everything was quiet for a moment until my father finally spoke to me, "Wyatt, do you remember when you first saw Goldfish Crackers?"

I raised my eyebrow then shook my head. "You were only five years old," he chuckled. "Anyway, you easily mistaken them for actual goldfish so you wouldn't let anyone, including me and your mother try them."

Mom laughed at the memory. "You were like 'Daddy, Daddy, don't eat the fish!'" Dad laughed even harder. "I tried to explain to you that they weren't real, but you wouldn't believe me." Dad snickered. "So you filled up the fish bowl with water, put it on the table, then dumped every last goldfish cracker into the bowl."

Much to my surprise, I laughed immensely. I was starting to remember the disappointed look on my mother's face while my father was cracking up. "As soon as you put the crackers in the fish bowl, you were crying when they sunk on the bottom," Mom explained, wiping away her happy tears.

"You looked at me with your cute eyes, then asked, "Mommy, why are goldfish lazy?" Dad giggled then said, "I told you that they were hibernating." We all collapsed from the floor, laughing until people walked past us, giving us dark looks.