"Mo, why didn't you tell me that the school was how it really was?" Arthur asked angrily.

Mo looked up from the smoothie she was making. "Sorry, Arthur, but what could I say? That our town is full of drugs and organized crime? You would have flipped out and refused to attend school."

"That school had some of the scariest looking kids ever!"

"Well, if you lasted your first day, you'll be fine in the future," Mo assured him, "Just stay away from Mr. King."

"Bill already told me about him," Arthur said.

"Good."

'Mo, are Ben and Loretta mobsters?"

Mo didn't respond and placed the lid on the blender.

"Mo? Are they?" Arthur demanded loudly.

Mo sighed. "Look, Arthur, I'm not exactly proud of this, okay? Several years ago they announced we were moving to West Falls and that they had new jobs. They didn't say what it was or why it required a move, but I figured it out pretty soon. As time goes on, you'll begin noticing they often come home very late and disappear in the middle of the night. A few times you'll probably see cuts, bruises, and even blood. You are not supposed to acknowledge this out loud, even though everyone knows and they know that everyone knows. It's just one of those things.'

"I can't believe it," Arthur said softly, "It doesn't make sense. They never seemed that way before."

"Trust me, I didn't believe it myself when I found out. I was horrified that I apparently didn't know them at all. But it is what it is."

"What exactly do they do, Mo?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

"Like I said, Arthur, we act like nobody knows the truth even though we all know everybody does. So I can't say for certain, and honestly I would rather not find out."

"Can I trust anyone?" Arthur inquired in a tone of dread.

"You can trust me," Arthur," Mo replied sincerely, "though I wouldn't recommend you trust anyone else. Be careful with your friend Bill."

"How do you stand it?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, I can't," Mo admitted. "I'm always on the verge of a breakdown. One of these days I'll explode."


Sue Ellen was late to class. Fortunately, it appeared that so was the substitute teacher, judging by the empty desk at the front.

"Hey, Sue Ellen?" Francine called. "Did you hear the news?"

Sue Ellen shrugged. "Our substitute teacher didn't show?"

"What? No, they didn't, but not what I meant," Francine was visibly excited. "Muffy's parents went to jail!"

"What?" Sue Ellen scanned the room and noticed Muffy was gone. "Is that why she's gone?"

"I guess," Francine responded.

"Why?" Sue Ellen asked.

"The full reasons for the arrest haven't been released yet," Brain explained, "but according to TV 12 anchor Patty Jones, the rumor is Muffy's mother shared a lot of dirt with police. Every Crosswire except Muffy has been arrested, including her distant relatives. Sounds like that family had a deep criminal history."

"It's weird, isn't it?" Buster asked. "First Arthur's house burns down, then Ratburn is jailed, and now the Crosswires are in jail."

"It doesn't make sense," Sue Ellen muttered.

"I wonder who will be next?" Binky asked in a panicked tone.

"Can you imagine the Crosswires in the slammer?" Francine's smiled, "I bet they can't last a hour without their butler. Ha ha."

"Francine, why are you so happy about this of all people?" Fern demanded, "Your closer than anyone to Muffy!"

"True, but I never liked her stuck-up parents," Francine answered, "besides, Muffy will be fine. She has all that Crosswire cash to fall back on."

"Money doesn't make up for lack of family," Fern argued.

Mr. Haney walked in. "Okay, stop chatting. It turns out our substitute teacher has been arrested for DUI, so I will be your substitute until we can get a new substitute."

The class groaned.


"Get the ball, Pal," Timmy Tibble called before tossing it across the yard. Pal eagerly raced across the yard and caught the ball. Timmy was glad that Pal now lived in the Tibble household because he didn't have anyone else to spend time with. His grandmother was still working on paperwork over her stolen identity, while Tommy spent a lot of tine with his sign language teacher.

Not that Timmy really did anything with Tommy even after the teacher left. How could he? Tommy couldn't hear a thing and that made it impossible to communicate. The few times Timmy had tried to interact with him despite his deafness had failed miserably. He had pretty much given up at this point.

Looking back, Timmy had to admit to himself that he hadn't really been a good brother. He had bossed Tommy around all the time and hurt him several times. He had never cared about these actions, but now that Tommy was deaf Timmy felt guilty.

Pal was back with the ball. "Good boy, Pal," Timmy said. "Why don't we go visit Tommy?"

Pal followed Timmy into the house and they found Tommy in the living room sitting glumly on the floor.

"Pal, go say hi to Tommy," Timmy ordered. Pal complied with the instruction.

"Hi, Pal," Tommy said in a strange voice as he pet the canine. Tommy had been talking strange ever since he lost his hearing, which Timmy was told is because he couldn't hear how his words sounded.

"Let's go outside with Pal!" Tommy suggested.

"Okay," Timmy said.

"Stop right there!" Mrs. Tibble called. "Do not let Tommy go outside!"

"Why not?" Timmy asked.

"Because he couldn't hear anything if an emergency happened, and I can't supervise you two with all the paperwork I must do."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Timmy asked in irritation.

"I don't care," Mrs. Tibble responded impatiently, "just keep him indoors."


Dr. Paula was calmly reading her DSM book's section on narcissism when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Dr. Paula said, knowing it was Mr. Larsen.

"The narcissism specialist you hired is in the waiting room on the lobby," Mr. Larsen informed her. "Is your group ready?"

Dr. Paula nodded. "I have found two other young narcissists. None of them have as severe a case as DW Read, though."

"I see," Mr. Larsen said. "This is your last chance to cancel the group session, Dr. Paula. Do you really wish to go forward?"

Dr. Paula nodded. "Yes."

"In that case, your needed downstairs."