Suspicion

"You wouldn't believe me! Early this morning, I was in the park doing my routine exercises, when a man pushed me over out of nowhere." Jimmy explained.

My mother chuckled in amusement. I was staring at Jimmy's leg wondering why he was hurt.

"The monster might have attacked Jimmy for trying to save me, or to avenge his injured leg." I wondered.

I kept on rehashing and replaying the dreadful events of the night, in my mind. I also had the fear of my family getting hurt because of me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had no way out. No one trusted me as I didn't have any concrete evidence to shed the light on the horrible and painful things which were happening to me.

Jasmin suggested to take me to the park that same evening to cheer me up. I refused at first until my parents insisted. Timothy invited us to his cafe' and he offered us free ice-cream. The thought of ice-cream used to charge me up until that day. They all looked baffled as I had almost no reaction to Timothy's kind gesture. Despite my bad mood, Jasmin wanted to move on with her plan of taking me out.

Jasmin came to my room and helped me dress up for the evening walk. I wore a yellow crop top with blue jeans. She brushed my hair and pulled it into a ponytail. She seemed quite excited to spend the evening with me. However, I was disoriented and lost in my own thoughts.

"Meredith, what happened to you? You look so glum." Jasmin inquired.

I kept my head down and chose not to respond. I was too scattered and horrified to answer anyone. Nevertheless, she wouldn't stop interrogating me. Eventually, I gave up and narrated the whole story. However, I skipped the part where all my clothes vanished and ended up back on the shelves because I had a feeling that she wouldn't believe me.

"Did Jimmy hurt you in any way?" Jasmin asked out of nowhere.

"No. It's not Jimmy. It's the monster. It hurt Jimmy too." I tried to justify it.

Jasmin seemed tensed and confused. She continuously asked me about Jimmy's behavior towards me. I kept on declining her allegations against Jimmy. I explained to her that Jimmy had never hurt me but the monster did.

I got infuriated as Jasmin kept on asking about Jimmy. I knew that she suspected him. I wondered why Jimmy would hurt me - most of all he wouldn't have such evil powers to paralyze me. Finally, I gave up and ended up telling her how my clothes vanished. Her doubtful glance made me realize that she didn't trust me after all.

"Honey, it's possibly just a nightmare." She murmured.

I glowered at her and climbed on the bench beside me. My folded arms and clenched fists resembled my anger towards her. Nonetheless, she sat on the bench and requested me to get down. However, I refused and began sobbing as she didn't believe me.

"Hey, Meredith!" Uncle Alex tickled me out of the blue.

I panicked and got off from the bench like greased lightning. I hid behind Jasmin and stealthily peeped at Uncle Alex in fear. I remembered the accusations against him.

"Uncle might hurt me!" I whispered haltingly.

Jasmin took me in her arms and walked away from him silently but at a quick pace. Uncle Alex smirked and winked at me. I wrapped my arms around Jasmin's neck and hugged her. I felt that Uncle Alex was about to hurt us. Fortunately, we reached the café safe and sound. Jasmin was gasping for air as she was exhausted. As soon as Timothy saw us, he carried me to the empty table and I hugged him even tighter.

"What happened?" Timothy asked with concern laced in his voice.

"Un..cle Ale..x." Jasmin stuttered trying to get hold of her breath.

"Meredith, are you alright?" Timothy inquired.

I nodded hesitantly and wiped off my tears. Jasmin sat down beside me and kissed me on my forehead.

"Don't worry honey. We are here now. Uncle Alex can't hurt you." Jasmin tried to calm me down.

"Here's your favorite chocolate ice-cream scoop," Timothy yelled merrily.

Jasmin smiled at me hoping to lighten my mood.

"I want mommy and daddy!" I began weeping.

Timothy and Jasmin tried their utmost to soothe me. However, all their efforts went in vain. The evil smirk on Uncle Alex's face triggered my pain to the extent that all my emotions overflowed in the middle of the huge crowd. Soon the babbling of the crowd suffused the whole cafe'. Timothy carried me outside to avoid further humiliation. Jasmin followed us silently. I could see the signs of frustration in Timothy's behavior towards me. He didn't even take one glance at me while we were walking home. On the other hand, Jasmin was kind and tender. She tried to help me control my emotions. She held me in her arms until we reached home.

Timothy rushed inside as soon as we arrived. Jasmin walked in after him, carrying me in her arms.

"Mom! Talk to Meredith! She wouldn't stop overreacting!" Timothy thundered.

Our mother looked puzzled and concerned. Before she could say a word Jasmin began walking upstairs with me. My parents and grandpa followed us to my room. Jimmy spotted us in the hallway and walked into my room.

Shortly after I laid down on my bed, Timothy arrived fuming with anger. He blamed me for humiliating him in front of his staff and customers. His jaws were clenched as he trembled with rage.

"Calm down Timothy. Your sister seems quite upset." My father responded.

"Go back to the cafe'! Can't you understand that she is scared and traumatized?" Jasmin yelled ferociously.

"Bother, she saw Alex! Try and understand." Jimmy responded to Timothy's baseless anger.

Timothy left a pathetic groan and walked away. I was still crying my eyes out. My grandpa suggested me to take a nap. The thought of sleep gave me the heebie-jeebies. I decided that I would stay up all day and night.

"I will never sleep!" I whimpered.

"Let's play a game until dinner." My mother suggested.

"Don't worry Meredith. I'll be your partner" Jasmin remarked.

Jimmy grabbed the blue wand kept on my pillow and announced, "Let's begin. Princess Meredith is ready for a new battle."

The power of the wand was just a hoax. It was of no use. I was gradually getting out of my fantasized world. I snatched the wand from him and broke it into pieces. His eyes widened as he looked at me in shock.

"Meredith!" I jumped out of my skin as my father thundered at me.

I hurriedly embraced my mother and started to cry profusely.

"We talked about discipline! Didn't we?" My father interrogated.

He continued scolding me for my inappropriate behavior. Everyone stayed silent until grandpa intervened. He commanded my mother to stay with me every night until I get over my fear. My father concurred with grandpa.

"I'll also keep an eye on Meredith. Besides I'm mostly awake at night helping my friend to finish his project." Jimmy mentioned.

"I appreciate it." My father replied to Jimmy's kind gesture.

My mother smiled and thanked him too. I went to Jasmin's room with her. She showed me her vanity box. It was huge and beautiful. She had an enormous collection of makeup sets. I took a pink rouge and a brush. She let me apply makeup on her. I used a wide array of colors on her face. I was on cloud nine. I loved makeup kits but I never got to use them. She asked her whether I could use lipstick and without hesitating, she helped me put on my favorite rose pink lipstick. I hurriedly took a peek from the mirror. I was astonished to see myself with makeup for the first time. She promised me that she would let me use her cosmetics every day. I embraced her and kissed her on her cheeks. My innocent mind completely forgot about the fear and pain I had to go through every night. I was enjoying the moment to the fullest extent.

Jasmin took me for dinner without removing my makeup. I hid my face with my hands as I was feeling embarrassed to show my makeup to the others.

Everyone cheered me as my mother took off my hands gently.

"Wow, Meredith! You look so beautiful." Jimmy remarked.

"I love your makeup," Grandpa commented.

I was embarrassed and pleased at the same time. I stole a glance at Timothy. He looked calm and happy. He also complimented on my makeup. I felt glad to have a joyful time with my family.

"Hey! I'm back." Tom yelled all of a sudden.

He stumbled towards the dinner table. Jasmin and I stared at each other in shock.

"Back? Huh! When were you away?" Timothy mocked him.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked grunted.

"I witnessed you sneaking into the house right before I went to bed." Timothy accused him.

"Well, yeah." Tom sighed.

Jasmin looked startled.

"Tom, what's with the injured leg?" Jasmin asked hesitantly.