Jonah seeking advice from the mayor (Jojo's dad) and words of comfort to add along to it.

Chapter 8: Advice

The next afternoon, Jonah went home from school, but needed some advice from Jojo's dad, so he took a detour to City Hall, hoping that he can pass his stepdad and finds his office. He took a deep breath and walked by the halls of the City Hall and while he's there, he asked someone where the mayor's office is. A few seconds later, he knocked on the mayor's door and Ned said, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Jonah Mosley."

Ned could recognize that voice and said, "Come in."

He opened the door and Jonah came by to his office and Ned saw Jonah's black eye and it was healed up. He asked, "May I help you?"

"Well, I just needed some advice."

"Oh, sure. What is it?"

"Since I moved in here from Whoville, I felt as if I was scared to actually fit in this school and now that I met Jojo, it just didn't seem scary. The only thing I'm worried about is actually telling someone about my abusive relationship with my stepfather. He scares me and my brothers and we're always the victim of his outbursts and sometimes, it can grow violent. I'm worried that if I do tell someone about my stepfather and his temper, that he might actually kill me and my brothers. What should I do?"

Ned sighed heavily and said, "Well, here's what I'm thinking. You can't keep everything bottled up forever. If you feel that way, maybe you should tell someone that cares and tell them your issue with your stepfather. It's okay if you do."

Jonah sighed and said, "I know, but I'm afraid of what would happen if he finds out."

"Well, all you have to do is stand up to him and tell him 'enough is enough'. I can't imagine any parent abusing their kids as a way to let out stress. That's aggressive anger towards children. As a mayor, I deal with this kind of thing everyday, but as a parent, I always tell my kids how much I love them everyday. I look at Jojo and I look at my 96 daughters. How can anyone hurt their own child?"

"I know, right? Sometimes I wonder why was he ever my stepdad in the first place."

"Whatever happened to your real dad?"

"When I was younger-probably 6 or 7, my dad died of a heart attack. I never understood what death was, but it was hard for me to get used to it, because he was supportive, loveable, a cool person and I would always look up to him and whenever I have problem or need someone to talk to, he's always there for me and my brothers. Now that he's gone, I'm in charge of looking after all my siblings. I love them, but sometimes I just want to go back to being a kid."

"What brought Paul in the picture?"

"When he married our mom, she thought that they would be together forever, but boy, was she wrong. There were fights, arguments and violent outbursts between them all the time and every night, I lie awake and just hear them screaming and everything. It scared me a lot and so did my brothers and he beats her up and one night, I walked downstairs and told him, 'Please don't hurt my mom'. He didn't take it well, so he took it out on me and just beat me up s hard. My brothers saw it and he beat them up as well. And when we got older, my mom left Paul and us, but moments later, he killed her. It was shocking to see in front of our eyes like, 'why did this happen?'."

Ned quivered his lip after hearing that happen and he was actually shocked and disturbed to know that their mom died, in such a brutal and violent way. He asked, "What made him so angry?"

"No one really knows, but he just has a hot temper and takes it out on us."

Ned couldn't stomach the fact that these kids were emotionally scarred by their stepfather. He actually felt sorry for them and looked at him in the eye and said, "Are you safe where you live?"

Jonah knew the question would hit him and he closed his eyes, lifted his head down and nodded his head as a 'no', with only one tear falling from his face. Ned got up, got down to him on one knee, puts his hand on his shoulder and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jonah. I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

He then hugged him tightly and Jonah cried through his shoulder. Ned couldn't stomach the fact that Paul could actually kill his wife, beat his stepsons and that they're suffering from it. He looked at Jonah in the eye and said, "I'm glad you picked today to come here and talk to me."

"I'm glad I did too. Jojo's a pretty good friend."

"He's a good kid."

"I guess I gotta get home."

Jonah turned around and Ned stopped him and said, "Our house is welcome to you and your brothers. If you need to see us or Jojo, our door is always open for you guys."

Jonah smiled at Ned and said, "Thanks."

"Bye."

"See ya."

Jonah walked out of Ned's office, feeling a little happy. But, they're both unaware that Paul overheard the entire thing and that made him totally upset and that he's got brutality on his mind and the person he's gonna go after is Jonah. He growled lowly and breaks the the mop in half and said, "Jonah, you're gonna be dead when I get home..."

Uh-oh...this is not gonna be good! Find out next!