CHAPTER 12
Lady Germaine is buried the next morning in a simple ceremony just outside The Enchanted Forest. Everyone at Faraway attends, staff and inmates alike. Winnie’s husband is also there. All activities, including therapy sessions, have been suspended.
Winnie and I flank Elz, holding her up by the arms for support. Her face is spotted, and her eyes are swollen-red from crying. She looks awful. Sasperilla stands by herself, twirling her curls. She looks bored.
In his eulogy, Dr. Grimm calls Lady Germaine “a beautiful, kind woman who loved her daughters more than anything.” Maybe, he never met her.
“Would anyone like to say something?” he asks at the conclusion of his tribute.
Elz bursts into tears once again. “Poor Cinderella lost her mother, and I was so mean to her. Do you think she can ever forgive me?”
Sasperilla furrows her brows. “Puh-lease. She should be apologizing to us for screwing up our lives!”
Grimm smiles. Seriously, how can he be smiling at a time like this?
“Elzmerelda, by acknowledging your dysfunctional behavior and asking for forgiveness, it shows you’re on your way to a full recovery. You’ll be ready to leave Faraway soon.”
“I just want my mother back!” Elz wails.
“Get over it!” snaps Sasperilla. “Mother was a bitch, and you know it!”
“How could you say that?” Elz croaks. “Everything she did, she did for us.”
Sasperilla breaks into jeering laughter. “You’re so pathetically naïve, Elzmerelda. Everything she did, she did for herself!”
Elz presses her hands against her ears and sings “lalala” as loud as she can, attempting to drown out Sasperilla’s voice.
“I know you can hear me,” taunts Sasperilla. “Honestly, do you really think Mother wanted us to marry royalty so that we could live happily ever after?”
Elz sings louder.
“Duh! She only wanted to keep herself out of the poorhouse.”
Poor Elz is close to collapsing. I can’t hold back any longer. Someone’s got to protect Elz from her despicable sister.
“You don’t really know what a self-centered, wicked mother is!” I lash out.
“And you do, Miss Know-It-All?” sneers the skinny bitch. “Why don’t you tell us more about Mommy?”
I’m trapped by my own words. I don’t want to talk about my mother. Not now! Not ever!
But Grimm gloms on to the idea. “Yes, let’s talk about our mothers. Who would like to share?” His eyes jump from face to face before landing on mine.
A giant knot forms in my stomach. I’m not sharing.
To my relief, Hook steps forward. “I loved my mother.” His trembling voice surprises me. “She deserved a better life.”
“Why is that?” asks Grimm.
Hook’s eyes wander into space and grow watery. Can Mr. Macho actually be on the brink of tears?
Shrink swoops in and looks straight at him. “You grew up in a noble house that seemed normal. But inside, it wasn’t, James; was it?”
Hook lowers his head. “My father drank.”
“A lot?”
Hook nods.
“And what did your father do when he drank?” she asks.
Silence.
“Answer me, James.”
“He hit my mother,” he says at last, his lips quivering.
“So, your father abused your mother. Like you do to others.”
His voice rises with anger. “I don’t abuse anyone!”
Yes, you do, you swine! I want to shout out. Admit it! The loving, compassionate look on Elz’s face makes me bite my tongue. Shrink jumps into the silence.
“James, let me remind you. You’ve made countless people walk the plank. You kidnapped an innocent young Indian maiden named Tiger Lily and threatened her. You even tortured a helpless little fairy.”
She must be referring to her twin Tinkerbell. Do I detect some feelings?
Hook fiddles nervously with his hook.
“And let’s not forget the fact that you crashed your ship because you were drinking and almost killed your crew!” she adds.
“Who told you that?” Hook barks.
“Your shipmate, Mr. Smee. You should thank him. He’s the one who let us know you needed help and had you committed to Faraway.”
Hook’s face reddens with rage. “So that’s who landed me here. That traitor!”
“Hook, you’re in denial,” says Grimm, taking over. “Your deviant behavior is a natural progression. You learned it from your father.”
Like father like son. A horrible thought occurs to me. Like mother like daughter? Am I just an extension of my wicked mother? Nausea slithers through me as Grimm perseveres.
“What happened to your mother?”
Hook descends into darkness. “She died when I was ten.”
“How did she die?”
A tear escapes his eye and rolls down his swarthy face. “She jumped into a river.” He swallows hard. “A crocodile attacked her.”
That explains Hook’s morbid fear of crocodiles. It goes way beyond his missing hand. More tears spring from his eyes. I almost feel sorry for him.
Grimm pushes on. “How did you feel?”
Hook’s eyes turn to steel. “I wanted to kill my father!”
Sasperilla suddenly interrupts. “This is all so fascinating, but can’t we wrap things up? It’s cutting into my grieving time.”
“Shut up, Sasperilla!” shouts Winnie, ready to pounce on her.
Sasperilla crinkles her bandaged nose and winces.
John proudly puts an arm around his outspoken wife. The Badass Fairies give her a collective thumbs-up. Thanking her, Grimm plows ahead with Hook.
“Who do you see when you make people walk the plank?”
Hook’s face contorts. “Who do you think, you idiot? My father! He destroyed my mother. The bastard deserved to die!”
I’m eager to find out if Hook’s father is still alive, but Grimm takes his questions in a different direction.
“So, why did you want to destroy Peter Pan?”
“Because he cut off my hand.” Hook bitterly flings his iron claw at Grimm. “What does Peter Pan have to do with my mother?”
“Dig deeper, Hook. Why did you really want to kill Peter Pan?”
Silence. Hook’s anger dissolves into despair.
“I wished I could be a boy like him. And have Wendy,” he says at last, his voice hoarse and tearful.
“Yes, Hook. By eliminating Peter Pan, you could have Wendy for yourself. To take care of you like a little boy. Admit it, Hook, you wanted Wendy to be your mother.”
“It’s true,” he says, choking on his words. “I wanted her to be my mother.”
“And when she rejected you, you tried to kill her.”
“Stop it!” Hook breaks down in tears, his shoulders heaving. I feel his pain. We’re cut from the same cloth.
Elz dashes over to the broken pirate and hugs him. “Thank you for sharing. You wanted your mother back. Like me.”
Hook bawls in Elz’s arms. Like a little boy.
Sasperilla’s veins pop with jealousy. “I’ve had it with all this nonsense!” She stomps off.
“Mama, mama!”
What’s a baby doing here? Wait a minute! I recognize that voice. It’s What’s-His-Name. He’s crawling on the ground like a one-year old!
“Me R-rumpelstiltskin,” he says in a baby-talk voice.
Can it be? What’s-His-Name has remembered his name! Grimm and Shrink exchange a smile. We’re free to go.
Hook spends the rest of the day with Elz. Winnie spends it with her husband John, who must go back to their children in the evening. Rumpelstiltskin spends it telling every living and non-living thing alike his name. And I spend it hopelessly plotting my escape.
Thank goodness, I didn’t have to talk about my mother. It’s only a matter of time before I’ll be forced to expose everything. Every painful thing! I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to!