Chapter 15 Heated Visit Part 2

My fists were clenched, my heart was racing, and my brain felt like it was going to explode. The tears on my face were making my vision blurry. My throat felt like it was tightening up, so much so that I only had a tiny, straw-like hole to breath through. I had to stop. I had to, but I wouldn't. Not until I got out of this blasted building.

I rounded all sorts of corners. People stared at me as I continued on my march. Whether it was because I was crying or because I was a hybrid, I didn't know. Nor did I really care.

Finally, I got out into the fresh air. The Koopa Kingdom atmosphere stank like rotten eggs. But, once again, I hardly cared. I just marched over to a rock sitting right next to the parking lot. I took a seat…

And allowed the sobs to come stampeding out. I tried to wipe them away, but my attempts were in vain. The tears were scalding hot, like a pot full of boiling water had been poured on my face. My hands were shaking, just like the rest of my body. Breathing was becoming increasingly more difficult.

"Celia!"

I looked up and saw my mom running towards me. She had a worried expression on her face. I turned away from her. There was nothing that she could possibly say to make me feel better.

"Go away," I muttered softly, angrily.

Mom did not go away. She just knelt down beside me as I sat on the rock. She placed her hand on my shoulder. "Celia, I am so sorry."

"Why?" I asked with an aggravated tone. "You're not the one who should be apologizing. If anything…" I shook my head and sniffled. "It should be Mavery saying she's sorry."

Mom didn't say anything. She just patted my shoulder. I expected her to go away, but she didn't. She just sat down on the ground beside me. I looked into her eyes, which looked beyond sympathetic. This just made me feel worse.

"I hate her," I said. I gritted my teeth. My blood felt like it was boiling. "I absolutely hate her. She has no right...no right at all!"

Mom nodded. I dried my eyes again, which were starting to become crusty with tears.

"If I could, Mom," I said. "I would beat her up."

Mom's eyes scrunched up. "You don't mean that!"

"I do, actually!" I shouted. I directed my eyes down toward my closed fist. "I would make sure that she would never be able to say stuff like that again. I would make it so that nobody would say stuff like that to me again."

Now Mom looked outright angry. "Celia, that is unacceptable. You can't just decide stuff like that. Do you remember when you got suspended?"

I felt a pang. What my mom was referring to was the time I was in fourth grade. It was the day that I had finally decided to fight back against the bullies who tormented me. I beat them up really badly, and as a result, I had ended up getting suspended for about a week.

"Yes," I said sullenly.

"Then you should know better by now," said Mom. "You can't just beat people up. No matter how much they trim you off, violence should not be the answer. It shouldn't even be on a list of answers!"

I nodded slowly. I undid my fist and allowed my open palm to rest on my knee. Despite that, my heart still raced.

"You're right." I frowned and stared back at the building. "But she just thinks she's so high and mighty. She thinks that she can treat people like dirt just because they're different. She thinks….!"

"Okay, calm down," Mom said as she too put her hand on my knee. "Please, Celia, don't do this to yourself. If you let Mavery do this to you, then you're proving her right. You're letting her win."

I stared into Mom's face. Those words sounded eerily similar to some of the words she used to say to me when I was being bullied. My heartbeat began to slow down, the airways in my throat cleared up a little. I sighed and turned my head toward the ground.

"But I can't not let her win, Mom," I said. "She always has the upper hand. She always knows exactly what to say. And the worst part? She believes every word of what she says. She thinks I'm an abomination, Mom. She thinks I shouldn't exist."

Now it was Mom's turn to get teary eyed. "I know what she said, Cee." Shs sniffled. "And on some level, you're right. She has no right to treat anybody like garbage, especially her own granddaughter. But if you went in there and beat her up, then you would be proving every nasty word that she thinks about you. Not to mention, you'd probably have to serve some jail time." Mom chuckled. "All you can really do with someone like her is try to keep the relationship professional at best. Someone like that doesn't deserve to be a part of your life."

I turned my head back toward. "So, what are you saying? That I should cut her off?"

Mom nodded. "It clearly wouldn't be any skin off her back. And it certainly wouldn't be any skin of yours."

I thought about this, but there really wasn't much to think about. I didn't want Mavery in my life, and she didn't want me in hers. It was as simple as that.

"I guess you're right." I looked into her now amber eyes. "But what would that mean for you and Singe?"

Mom blushed and smiled upon mention of Singe's name. "What about Singe? Singe is literally flawless." She sighed whimsically. "I want him to be around me for as long as possible. So don't you worry about Singe. He's staying right where he should be, and that is as a part of our family."

Despite the fact that I knew she was under a spell, I couldn't help but think that what she was saying was one hundred percent real. I smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

"Of course." Mom lifted herself off the ground. "Speaking of Singe, I'm getting separation anxiety just thinking about him. Why don't we go back up to the room?"

I felt my blood freeze up, but only for a moment. I didn't want to be in the same room as Mavery again, but I also recognized that it might be necessary for the time being.

I sighed. "Sure. Sounds good."

With that, Mom and I made our way back up to the room. Surprisingly (and to my immense relief), only Saliday and Singe were in the room. Mavery was nowhere to be seen. When Singe saw me, he looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I will be," I replied.

Singe slowly nodded and turned back toward Saliday.

"Well, um, Dad...I'm uh, I'm sorry that this visit wasn't how you envisioned it to be."

Saliday shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Singe. It wasn't your fault." He lowered his head. "I really thought she had decided to do better."

Singe sniffed. "Mom's hatred for humans goes back generations, Dad. And you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"I guess," Saliday said sullenly. He directed his eyes toward Singe. "I wish that wasn't the case. I mean, one of the reasons I married her was because of how nice she can be."

I snickered. There were a lot of adjectives I would apply to Mavery, but nice is not one of them.

Saliday directed his attention toward me and Mom. "Ruby, Celia...I should apologize to you as well."

Mom waved her hand. "It's okay. I'm just glad I got to meet you just once."

Saliday grinned. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." He looked back at Singe. "You take good care of this girl, Singe. She's a real keeper."

Singe beamed. "Can do, Dad."

Saliday's eyes twinkled as he let out a sigh.

"Well, Mavery should be back soon. I suggest you leave so that we don't insinuate anymore drama from her."

"Good idea," Singe said. He went toward the door. "Come on, you two let's get out of here."

Mom nodded and went out the door, but not before giving Singe a kiss on the lips. Turning as red as a tomato, he turned toward me.

"Celia?"

I hesitated before I turned back toward Saliday.

"Thanks, grandpa."

Saliday beamed. "Of course, Celia. Have a good day."