Cedric went to the Raccoondominium almost immediately. Ralph answered the door when he knocked.
"Hi, Cedric," he said. "What brings you here?"
"Well, I've got a problem at home," Cedric said. "I figured I'd come over here and get some advice."
"Is it your dad, Cedric?" Bert asked. "He causes a lot of problems in that home! Ha, ha!"
"Bert!" Melissa scolded. "Come on in, Cedric."
Cedric walked inside and went to the living room. Melissa introduced him to her parents.
"Nice to meet you, Cedric," Chuck said, shaking Cedric's hand.
"Oh, Cedric, did Sophia tell you my parents know her parents?" Melissa asked.
"No, she didn't," Cedric said. "Maybe you could clear something up for me. Actually, it goes with my problem."
"Well, we'll be glad to help you in any way we can, Cedric," Roberta said.
"What's on your mind?" Ralph asked.
"Well, it's about Sophia," Cedric said. "We're not sure on this, but Pop and I are beginning to think she might have a drinking problem."
"Drinking problem?!" Bert shouted, incredulously. "Sophia?! A drinking problem?! That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard! I've never known Sophia to even drink one tiny drop of alcohol! Even at your wedding, Cedric, you guys only had non-alcoholic champagne!"
"I know, Bert, I know," Cedric said.
"I never pictured Sophie as a drinker," Chuck said. "Matter of fact, I didn't think anything about any of Nathan Tutu's girls being drinkers. I mean, Nathan drank at times."
"Really Dad?" Melissa asked.
"Oh yeah," Chuck nodded. "Before his first daughter was born, he used to come by our place and we'd watch sports, and down a couple of beers. We didn't see much of him after Sophie was born, and then right after Sophie was born, we moved."
"I still find it hard to believe," Bert said.
"Maybe you should talk to Sophia about it," Ralph suggested.
"I tried, but she didn't say a word about it," Cedric replied. "She's been acting weird since I told her about Lady Baden-Baden's Father-Daughter Dance. I actually asked her if her father . . . . well, you know, like my mother?"
"What did she say?" Melissa asked.
"Not that she knew of," Cedric said. "I asked her what she meant, but she wouldn't tell me."
"That's a bit odd," Roberta said.
"Not really," Chuck said with a shrug. "My best guess is that some time after we moved, Nathan and Loretta probably got divorced, and Sophie just doesn't like to bring it up. Nathan and Loretta would have these huge shouting matches all the time. Practically the whole neighborhood could hear them argue! My guess is Nathan moved out, and Sophie hasn't seen him since."
"But that doesn't explain the drinking," Cedric pointed out.
"Unless she uses alcohol to forget," Chuck said, shrugging again. "A lot of kids do that. They think they can solve their problems with drugs and alcohol."
"I'm with Bert," Melissa said. "I find it kind of farfetched. I can't see Sophia drinking."
"Are you sure about this, Cedric?" Ralph asked.
"Not really," Cedric sighed. "I mean, I think she'd be considerably hungover after drinking twenty-five bottles of wine."
"Twenty-five?!" Ralph shouted.
"Hungover my tail!" Bert shouted. "She'd be dead if she drank that much!"
Cedric sighed, and got up to leave. He knew about as much as he did when he arrived.
"Sorry we can't help you, Cedric," Ralph said. "I wish we could do more."
"That's okay, Ralph," Cedric said. "I guess I'll just have to figure it out myself."
Cedric returned to the mansion, and tried to get back to work, but he couldn't keep his mind on it. Apparently, neither could Cyril.
"I'm going to catch her in the act tonight," he said.
"What, Pop?" Cedric asked, looking at his father oddly.
"You heard me. I'm going to stake out the kitchen tonight, and see exactly what Sofa Girl does with my liquor supply."
"I don't know about this, Pop."
"You want to find out if she's got a drinking problem, don't you?"
"I guess, so, but . . . ."
"All right, then."
And that was all there was to that. At around two in the morning, Cyril staked out the kitchen. He waited in the dark hallway, so Sophia wouldn't see him. Sophia came down the stairs, went into the kitchen, and turned on the light. Cyril looked in, and watched as Sophia took a bottle of wine out of the cabinet, and walked over to the sink. Cyril couldn't see what she was doing in the angle he was in, but he didn't want to move closer yet, or else Sophia would definitely see him.
Sophia took another bottle, opened it, and walked over to the sink with it. She was about to pour it down the drain, when Cyril finally entered the room. He had enough of this.
"FREEZE!" he shouted, at the top of his voice. Sophia let out a shriek, and dropped the bottle. It smashed to the floor, breaking into pieces.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Cyril asked.
"I . . . . uhhh . . . . I was . . . ." Sophia stammered nervously. "I know what this looks like, Mr. Sneer, but . . . ."
"So you have been going through my liquor cabinet."
"Yes, but . . . ."
"I thought you didn't drink."
"I don't drink, I . . . ."
"Then how do you explain my alcohol supply disappearing?! Listen Sofa Girl, don't think I don't know what you've been up to! You've been coming down here in the middle of the night drinking, haven't you?!"
"No! I haven't!"
Cyril grabbed Sophia by the wrist, and gave her the sharpest look he could muster. Sophia was starting to get a little nervous.
"Don't you lie to me!" Cyril yelled. "I know all about it! You've been binge drinking, haven't you?"
"Mr. Sneer, please . . . ."
"Haven't you?!"
"No, I haven't! I really haven't!"
"Do you deny that you've been raiding my liquor cabinet?"
"No, I don't deny it. I've been going in there, but . . . . but not to drink, honest!"
Sophia pulled her wrist free, and Cyril stumbled backwards. He knocked an empty wine bottle off the counter, and it smashed to pieces once it hit the floor. Cyril didn't notice. He just cast a very sharp glare at his daughter-in-law. Sophia backed away from him.
"If you don't tell me the truth about this, then so help me . . . ." Cyril said, walking over to her. His hand was raised, like he was about to backhand her across the face.
Sophia was scared out of her wits. She let out a sob, and ran. She pushed past Cyril, and raced out the back door. Cyril ran into the hallway, flipped open a box on the wall, concealing a keypad, and pushed four numbers on it. An alarm sounded from all corners of the mansion, and all the outside gates locked, and search lights turned on. Not only that, but that alarm woke everyone in the house up. Cyril had realized that when he heard Evelyn screaming. Moments later, Cedric and Forest came downstairs with Evelyn (who was screaming her head off due to the rude awakening), and the Pigs came upstairs.
"Pop, it's the middle of the night!" Cedric shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"Not now, Cedric," Cyril said, grabbing a flashlight. He dug out three more and threw them to the Pigs. Then he grabbed Snag's leash.
"Let's go, boys!" he shouted, attaching the leash to Snag's collar, and he headed for the back door. "Our little booze bandit couldn't have gotten far before I locked the gates!"
Cyril went out the back door, and the Pigs followed. Forest glanced up at Cedric.
"Is Gampa having one of his episodes, Daddy?" he asked.
"Looks like it," Cedric sighed. "Come on, Forest. You can help me get your sister back to sleep."
As Cedric and Forest went back upstairs, Cyril and the Pigs stormed the backyard, lighting their flashlights all over the place, while the bears searched with the large search lights. Snag was searching around as well, sniffing. There were several places Sophia could hide. It was going to take some time to search.
"Spread out!" Cyril demanded. "I want her found, and I want her found now!"
"What are you going to do when you find her, sir?" Lloyd asked.
"Y-y-you wouldn't hurt her, would you?" Boyd asked, nervously.
"You let me deal with that!" Cyril shouted. "JUST FIND HER!"
The Pigs gulped and raced off in separate directions of the yard. Lloyd went to scope out the gardens. Floyd searched around the pool. Boyd was looking around Cyril's hedge maze. He hated to go in there, but he figured Sophia was likely to be hiding in there.
"Now, let me see," Boyd said, looking around. "I think I'm supposed to go left first . . . . or maybe it's right first and then straight ahead."
As Boyd wandered aimlessly around the maze, Snag was sniffing around on the grounds. Cyril kept pointing his flashlight as he and Snag walked around.
"You've got to be around here somewhere, Sofa Girl!" he shouted. "You're just digging yourself in deeper! I don't know where you're hiding, but I'll find you!"
Snag sniffed around a little, and began barking. Cyril smiled, and let him off his leash. Snag took off like a shot.
"Go get her, Snag!" he shouted, and he ran off after his dog. Snag stopped by the tool shed and began digging. He unearthed a bone. Cyril slapped his hand over his eyes, and gave his dog a good punt, as if he were a football.
"Snag, you are an idiot!" he yelled. He pointed his flashlight around the area anyway. No sign of Sophia.
"She couldn't have possibly left before the gates locked," he grumbled. "It's too far from the house to the gates. Better call those Raccoons, anyway, just in case she did manage to make it out before they locked. PIGS! KEEP LOOKING!"
"Yes sir!" the Pigs shouted, and they continued searching the yard.
As Cyril left the tool shed, the door opened slightly. Apparently, Snag was on to something when he led Cyril towards it. Sophia had been hiding in there, and she was afraid to come out. She peered outside, but ducked back in quickly as the bears turned one of the search lights towards the shed. She leaned against the wall, and began to cry. It was all coming back to her.
Ten-year-old Sophia huddled inside the closet with her thirteen-year-old sister Myrna, and her five-year-old sister, Stephanie. They were hiding from their father, Nathan. He had been drinking again.
"When I come home from work, I want dinner on the table, Loretta!" he yelled.
"Nathan, please, don't shout," the girls' mother, Loretta, said. "The girls will hear you."
"Shut up!" Nathan yelled, giving Loretta a slap in the face. "Who cares if those stupid daughters of yours hear me?!"
"Nathan, they're your daughters, too!"
"I'd never be the father of three ugly, stupid girls! Especially not that idiotic little Sophie! If she had half a brain, she'd be dangerous!"
"Nathan, please, don't start this again."
"Don't dish out orders to me, woman!"
Nathan continued the yelling and the hitting. Myrna, Sophia, and Stephanie huddled closer together. They could hear the yelling, the hitting, and their mother crying and screaming all too clearly. Then, the yelling at the hitting stopped. Loretta was still crying. The girls cautiously came out of the closet, and tried to retreat to their bedrooms, but their father stormed up the stairs before they could get very far.
"And just where do the three of you think you're going?" he asked. The girls didn't say a word. They just stared at their father.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Nathan yelled, and he slapped Myrna across her face, knocking her glasses to the floor. Myrna retrieved them and ran off. Stephanie suddenly started crying. Nathan gave her a slap, which only made her cry harder.
"You shut up and stop crying or else I'm gonna give you something to cry about!" he yelled. "You hear me?!"
"Yes, sir," Stephanie said, nervously. Then she raced to her room. Nathan grumbled, and looked at his middle daughter.
"Well, what are you looking at?!" he shouted. Sophia didn't say anything. She began backing up.
"You stupid girl," Nathan said. "You're pathetic! You're worthless! You're useless! You're nothing but trouble! You're a waste of space! You don't know anything! You can't do anything! Why couldn't you have been born a boy?! I wish you were never born! I don't even want to look at your ugly face! Get out of my sight!"
Nathan gave Sophia a hard slap in the face, and stormed back downstairs, and out the door, slamming it as he left. Sophia sat down against the wall, rested her head on her knees, and cried.
That was the one memory Sophia couldn't get out of her head. She sat there in Cyril's tool shed and cried. She didn't want to come out, that was for sure. But she knew she couldn't stay in there forever. She decided to stay in there until she stopped crying, and managed to pull herself together. And that was going to take awhile.
