Herba's Forrest [Complete]

Chapter 2

At school the next day, Sammy demanded to know how it had gone.

"It went great except the part where Bryan threw me into the wall with her standing at our doorstep. But, yeah, other than that little detail, everything went great."

Sammy shook his head. "You really ought  stand up to him."

"Sammy. Have you met Bryan? You know how much bigger he is than me! He's twice my height! I couldn't ever take him! We both know that!"

"Yeah, so? Take some karate lessons or something. Buy a sword and learn how to use it. We'll just start calling you Sir Ben." He swung an imaginary sword around in the air and laughed. "I can see it now!"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny, Sammy. Very funny."

The bell rang and Ben entered the chaos of the hallway on his way to his first block English. He saw Natalie out of the corner of his eye but didn't stop. He didn't expect her to act any differently than before, so he was surprised when she hurried over to him.

"Hey. Don't be surprised if you have a visitor after school today, okay?"

"What?" Ben asked, confused.

"Just don't be surprised if you have a visitor." Then she turned and walked away. Ben just stood in the middle of the hallway and stared after her.

"What on Earth…" he muttered to himself as the crowd pushed him down the hallway to his English class.

Ben was just finishing his lasagna when the doorbell rang. His mom hurried to answer it. Ben heard his mom's and another woman's voices in the hall. A few moments later his mom was followed back into the dining room by a woman in a red jacket and a long black skirt. She was short and plump with a thick tangle of brown curls crowning her head.

"Let's go to the living room, everyone," Ben's mom said to her family with a plastic smile on her face. Ben, Bryan, and their dad got up from their seats and followed Mrs. Robertson and the strange woman into the living room without comment. Something in their mother's tone warned Ben and Bryan not to argue or else.

Once everyone was settled on the couches or, in the woman's case, an old recliner, she addressed them.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted your dinner, but this is a matter of certain importance. My name is Debra Milton from social services. Yesterday we received an anonymous call concerning your family. I would like to speak to each of you separately. I'll start with you, Mr. Robertson. If you could show me somewhere that we could talk privately, I would certainly appreciate it."

Ben's father was gone from the room about twenty minutes before he returned, looking frazzled. He gestured to his wife that she should take his place in the kitchen. Ben's dad reseated himself on the couch next to Bryan and sighed.

"Who could possibly have called social services on us?" he asked, more to himself than to either of his children.

"That is a very good question," Bryan said, staring daggers in Ben's direction. From this look alone, Ben was very much afraid to be alone with his older brother any time soon. He swallowed hard. Bryan saw and grinned maliciously. He knew what Ben was thinking, and he delighted in his fear. It was the best part of the torment. Ben stood from his seat and began instead to pace the length of the living room.

They heard yelling from the kitchen and Ben's mother walked back into the living room, returning in less time than her husband and looking far less frazzled. Ben felt somewhat sorry for poor Ms. Milton to have angered his mother. But then, perhaps not.

Ben sat in the place where he stood.

"Bryan, you're up."

Ben waited anxiously, knowing that it was his turn next. He sincerely hoped that he would not have to lie to the woman, but knew that his hopes were in vain. It was less time than he hoped when Bryan returned.