Chapter Text
Matilda nearly gagged at the horrible, bitter syrup she had just swallowed. She pursed her lips and grimaced, before handing back the little plastic measuring cup. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the consistency or the fake cherry flavor that followed.
“That should help you feel a bit better.” Hortensia’s mom said, putting the bottle of children’s Tylenol on a nearby shelf. Matilda sucked down water from the cup sitting next to her by the couch. The Pepto Bismal she had been given an hour ago hadn’t been nearly as bad, and the effects had been near miraculous. Despite her stomach no longer tossing about, she still had the distinct feeling of having recently been trampled. Her body ached, and the fever refused to break on its own.
Matilda laid back down on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and wearing nothing but a large Spice Girls T-shirt and diaper that went up nearly to her belly button. True to her word, Hortensia’s mom had let her out of it to use the toilet, but found herself pinned right back into it with a bobby pin as soon as she was done. She tried to ask for regular panties now that things had calmed down, but Hortensia’s mom seemed to have no intention of setting her free.
Hortensia herself sat on the floor cross-legged, a bag of her favorite potato chips open on the coffee table, and unfinished homework assignments in a pile. Matilda recognized the text book she was working out of as Year 5 arithmetic, the same one she had skimmed through last week, before Miss Honey had found her something a little more complicated. Matilda watched her for a minute. Her face seemed to cycle through concentration, confusion, and finally frustration. How she could even see any of the problems underneath all the crumbs was a mystery.
“Why aren’t you in school?” Matilda asked, her curiosity finally winning out in the end.
“I got suspended for the week.” Hortensia groaned.
“Beats being put in the Chokey.” Matilda said. Hortensia shot her a panicked look and quickly put her finger to her lips. “What?”
“You’ll get me in more trouble with Ma. She thinks I made that up, if she hears you talking about it, I won’t be able to sit for the rest of the night. She’ll just think I told you that to scare you.”
Matilda scrunched up her face. “Your parents don’t believe you?”
“Would yours?” she said, disbelieving. Matilda thought back to the time her own father had called her a liar after she told them about Bruce and the chocolate cake fiasco. Then again, Harry Wormwood had often called her a liar, among other things.
“Can I ask you something, uh, weird?” Matilda asked after a moment of silence. Hortensia put down her pencil and eyed her.
“If you answer mine.” Matilda gulped, but nodded and wrapped the blanket around herself tighter. She knew what was coming and had been dreading this conversation.
“I know what I saw. You can deny it all you want, but I saw the remote just…” Matilda looked away. “What are you so worried about? That I’d tell? Who’d believe me? Watch. HEY MA!” Matilda felt the blood drain from her face. She stared at Hortensia, absolutely panic-stricken, pleading with her eyes to stop.
“What?” came the reply as her mom strode in. Matilda’s heart began to beat rapidly inside her chest.
“Matilda can move objects with her mind. I saw it.” Hortensia said. Why? Why would she do that to her? Matilda imagined herself getting carted off and studied. She couldn’t meet anyone's gaze as panic set in. Her stomach gurgled in protest from the stress, and before she could react, felt liquid fill the front and back of her diaper.
“I thought I told you to stop making up stories! What have you been doing all this time? Why am I not seeing any progress with your homework?” The woman went on, chastising her daughter. Hortensia shot Matilda a look as if to say, “See what I mean?”
It took a while for Matilda to relax, her body didn’t seem to be in the mood to handle any kind of adrenaline rushes. Part of her was livid, but the other part of her seemed to understand. It was something she had to see to believe.
“I better see that pile of work done by the time I get home tonight!” Her mom finished. “This is NOT a vacation.”
“Yes, Ma.” Hortensia mumbled, swiping away the crumbs off the textbook.
Suddenly the anger was wiped from her face nearly as fast as it had come. She stared at Matilda, who felt herself sink into the couch.
“Hun, how are you feeling?”
“Uh- the s-same.” Matilda said, looking away. She could see the woman sniffing from the corner of her eye and felt heat creep to her face.
“Did you have an accident?” She said in a somewhat lower voice, but not nearly low enough for Hortensia not to hear. She froze in place, unsure how to answer that. She had been waiting for the woman to leave the room, so she could rush off to the bathroom, throw away the evidence and say it had ripped trying to get it off.
“N-no,” Matilda lied, before grimacing, her voice rising a few octaves higher than normal “I mean, I don’t think so, I’ll j-just go and-”
“No need.” Hortensia’s mom said before pulling the blanket off her and making the smell more apparent. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up before I have to leave for work.”
“N-no! I’ll do it myself.” Matilda insisted. “I-I have to go again anyway, so I’ll-” but before she could finish her sentence, Hortensia’s mom cut her off.
“No, I don’t want you making a mess. I have to leave soon, It’ll be easier if I do it.”
“But,” Matilda tried to protest. “That’s gross!”
“So is sitting in a messy diaper and not saying anything. C’mon.” She pulled Matilda up by the arm to a standing position. “If you still need to go, you can finish now before I change you.”
Matilda was horrified. Her face was beginning to burn from the shame and embarrassment. Tears prickled her eyes. She looked at Hortensia for help, but she just shrugged.
“She works at the old folk's home; she’s used to worse.” Hortensia explained as if that would make her feel better.
“Y-you said I could use the bathroom!” Matilda insisted, backing away.
“Yes, but now you're covered in poop, and I don’t have time to clean up after you if I let you take it off. Now let’s go. I’m not going to ask you again.” Hortensia’s mom came up behind her and gave her a somewhat firm push on her back to get her moving towards the bedroom. Matilda was crying now as she walked towards the bedroom, still fighting with her stomach.
“I don’t want to go in the diaper!”
“I know, but we all have to do things we don’t want to.” The woman said in an annoyed voice.
Matilda could feel the anger begin to well in her. If she made a mess, she’d just clean it up herself! She’d been taking care of herself for most of her life! Why was this woman treating her like such a child? If only Matilda was older! She wouldn’t treat her like this if she was Hortensia’s age.
“Up on the bed.” She patted the changing mat from before. Matilda gritted her teeth, but reluctantly climbed up and laid on her side. “Have you finished?” Her clenched fists and wiggling gave her away. She felt a hand push her onto her back.
“What are you doi- NO!” Matilda nearly shouted in horror. The older woman had clasped Matilda’s legs in her hands and began bicycling them up and down. Matilda knew what she was trying to make her do! She had seen this exercise in a book. It was for making constipated babies poop. “Please stop!”
“This will help dislodge anything stuck and release any trapped gas.” Matilda whimpered, feeling herself lose control with every other pump of her legs. “Don’t fight it, relax and let it all come out on its own.” She pushed Matilda’s legs in towards her body before pulling them out one final time. She laid on her back, breathless and horrified, after a single loud squelching sound announced that the exercise had done its job. Her body shook with sobs as the diaper was unpinned.
This was wrong! This was all so wrong! She felt degraded as her legs were lifted in the air and a wet wipe had begun to clean.
“You’re going to make yourself sick to your stomach if you keep crying like that.” Matilda glared at her as a fresh diaper was slid underneath. It was taking all her will power not to lose control of her temper. She didn’t want to cause a different kind of accident. One that involved things shooting around the room instead of shooting out of her. She needed to control herself, or she really would pull a “Carrie.”
Ugh, she wished she had listened to Miss Honey and put the book back. The thought of accidentally hurting someone had never crossed her mind until she had read that book!
Once a fresh diaper had been taped up, Matilda tried to sit up, but Hortensia’s mom stopped her.
“I think it’s better if you stayed here. I can tell you’re getting cranky. I think a nap will do you some good.” Matilda wanted to retort, but the woman turned and left. Hortensia was leaning in the doorway watching her.
Matilda could start to taste blood in her mouth. She had been biting down on her tongue so hard she had begun to make it bleed. Did she just… did she just get put down for a nap?
Yes, she felt sick. Yes, she was tired. Yes, she wanted to throw something!
“You see what I put up with?” Hortensia mumbled, before coming in and closing the door behind her.
Matilda looked around the room and saw a stuffed animal sitting on the floor. She stretched her hand out and made the toy rise into the air before launching it across the room. She did this a few more times, knowing full well Hortensia was watching her in awe.
“How long have you been able to do that?” Hortensia asked once Matilda had calmed down.
“I don’t know, a month, I guess. I got furious at my dad for ripping up a library book and forcing me to watch tv. So I sort of just… blew it up.”
Hortensia gawked at her. “You just, sort of, blew it… up?” She repeated, making it sound more like a question. “Your parents made you watch the television, instead of read, so you blew up the tv…”
“Not on purpose!” Matilda threw in. “It just sort of happened and-”
“Your parents made you watch television instead of read.” Hortensia said, a blissful, dreamy look across her face. Matilda rolled her eyes and launched the stuffed dog at her. “Can we trade parents? Please?” Matilda was about to readily agree. She could have the Wormwords and all the television she could ever want, but a sad realization crossed through her mind at the last second. Yes, their home lives were different, but in the end, they were just two kids whose thoughts, feelings, and concerns fell on deaf ears. No wonder Hortensia acted out so much.
“What about your dad?” Matilda asked. Hortensia shrugged.
“Not around much. Long haul trucker. What did you want to ask me earlier?”
Matilda bit her lip. It wasn’t really something she felt comfortable coming out and asking, so instead she tried to nonchalantly stear the topic there. “How many times have you been in the Chokey?”
Hortensia puffed out her chest with pride. “Six.”
Now it was Matilda’s turn to gawk. “Six?” She shuddered.
“Two times, she even left me in there all day!”
“I’ve only been in there once; that was enough for me.”
“You?” Hortensia scoffed. “What in the word did a squirt like you do to piss her off?”
“She thought I was stealing books from her office.” Hortensia scrunched up her face.
“I’ve snooped through her office plenty of times, the only books she has in there are old textbooks, and who’d take those?”
“Miss Honey.” Matilda admitted. “She thought I wasn’t placed in the right year when I started school here, but when she tried to have me promoted, the Trunchbull said ‘no’”. So she gave them to me to work out of during class.”
Hortensia looked as horrified as if Matilda had suggested it was Miss Honey herself who had thrown her in the Chokey. “She gives you extra work?”
“Not extra, just different. Sort of like independent study, I suppose.”
“Independent study? You mean you don’t have to follow along with the class?”
“When the Trunchbull is there, I do, and,” Matilda slipped into a conspiratorial whisper, “sometime’s I give Lavender the answer when she’s called on and doesn’t know.”
“How in the bloody hell did you manage that sweet deal? What I wouldn’t give to not get smacked every time I got caught not paying attention.” Hortensia sighed. Then, as if realization dawned on her, she narrowed her eyes and took in Matilda. “You know, now that you mention it, you don’t talk like any of the other squirts and scum.”
“What do you mean?” Matilda didn’t think she sounded any different from any of the other kids in her class.
“I noticed it earlier, too. You said you were, ‘furious’ not ‘mad’ ‘angry’ ‘pissed’, but ‘furious’.”
“Of course, I was livid! He tore up a library book!” Matilda exclaimed, before adding, “I think you’re the only one who says things like ‘pissed’.”
“How many five-year-olds use words like ‘furious’ and’ livid’?” Hortensia said.
“Oh,” Matilda said. “I thought you were referring to an accent, not my vocabulary.”
Hortensia rolled her eyes. “Now you’re just showing off.” Matilda frowned. She wasn’t trying to sound superior. She’d like few things more than to simply blend in, as long as it meant she could keep reading instead of watching the telly of course. She knew Hortensia wasn’t being serious about her showing off, so she figured she could have a little fun.
“Preadolescent homosapien, are you proposing I would flaunt my intellectual prowess for mere jovial amusement?” On any other day she knew could have come up with something better and far wittier, but today had been especially dreadful, and her brain felt like jelly. Hortensia furrowed her eye brows.
“Did you just call me a homo? I ain’t no homo, twerp. Do I look homeless to you?” Hortensia replied with a scowl. Matilda merely blinked.
“Uh, right.” Matilda said. For the first time, her mind had drawn a blank. She had no way to respond to that. There was so much wrong with that statement, she didn’t know where to start.
“I’m surprised you know what a homo is, though! It’s a shame Trunchbull wouldn’t put you in with the 2nd years. You’re like one of those genies. ”
Right, Matilda thought to herself, second year. And wait? Genie?
“You mean genius? Because last time I checked, I can’t grant wishes.”
“Yeah, that.” Hortensia said. “Besides, you have magical powers, maybe I did mean genie. Have you ever tried to grant a wish?” Hortensia said.
“I’m not a genius,” Matilda said matter-of-factly. “And no, can’t say I’ve ever tried to grant wishes.” She said with mild bemusement. She made a show of scrunching up her face in concentration, before lifting her shirt. “Nope, can’t grant wishes. I’m still in a diaper.”
“Well, genies can’t grant their own wishes, obviously.”
They went back and forth, blurting out what they’d wish for if they ever found a genie, each wish becoming more and more outlandish and silly.
“…a pool of chocolate pudding.”
“. . . A refrigerator that dispensed chocolate milk instead of water.”
“Bags of chips that weren’t half air!”
“I think,” Matilda said after a pause, growing serious. “I’d wish I was an adult, so people would listen. It’s awful being small.”
“No, don’t wish that! You can get away with so much more when you’re small! People still think you’re cute. Every year gets worse! You have Miss Honey as a teacher; You’ve still got it good, unless, of course, you cross Miss Trunchbull. She hates small children especially. Always manages to send one or two to the hospital every year. What’s worse, there was a kid in my form called Billy Reyes. Three years ago, I think, he went missing and no one’s ever seen him since.”
“What happened?” Matilda asked.
“They said he went missing walking home, but you know what I think?” Hortensia dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I think the Trunchbull, you know…” she dragged her thumb across her neck for emphasis. “He’s not the only one, either. I know there’s been kids that have gone missing since before I went there.”
Matilda shivered. She remembered what Hortensia had said before. What do you think would have happened if Amanda Thripp hadn’t cleared that fence? She shuddered again. She was horrified that she found the idea of the Trunchbull murdering children so… so….plausible.
No! No sane person would ever entertain the idea. It was impossible! Outlandish! Absolutely bonkers! Yet, if someone told her their teacher spun a girl around by the hair and hammer threw her off school property just for wearing pigtails… Honestly, she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t witnessed it herself.
“Hortensia, don’t you think, maybe, it would be a good idea to stop provoking her? I- I’m rather fond of you, and I’d hate to see you get injured.” Hortensia looked as if Matilda had suggested she stop eating potato chips and take up grazing on kale.
“You’re just a shrimp; you wouldn’t understand. It’s not just for laughs.”
“Then why? You could get seriously hurt if you make her mad enough.”
“Look around, squirt. Kids are already getting hurt. You know what the adults do about it? Not a damn thing! They’re cowards. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. You know why all the parents call us liars? Because it’s easier than entertaining the possibility that our principal is a deranged psychopath. Even if all I can do is pour honey on her chair, and itching powder in her shorts, at least I feel like I’m doing something.”
Matilda gazed up at her with a new-found respect. She wasn’t a troublemaker. She was a brave and courageous crusader, leading the charge against a formidable adversary despite near impossible odds. In Matilda’s eyes, she was a hero.
…….
It was nearly dark by the time Miss Honey had come to collect Matilda, who had been pacing worriedly in the living room. School let out at three, and here it was nearly six. Relief flooded her when she finally heard a knock. Hortensia answered the door and let a very frazzled and exhausted looking Miss Honey inside.
“Jenny!” Matilda yelled, nearly bowling her over in a near bone crushing hug. “I was so worried!”
“I’m so sorry, Matilda!” Miss Honey said, wrapping her in an equally tight embrace.
“Careful, Miss Honey,” Hortensia warned. “If you squeeze her, she’ll, uh, blow.” Matilda ignored her.
“How are you feeling, dear?” Miss Honey asked, looking Matilda over. “You look better. Do you think it’s all out of your system?”
“And all over me and my front yard!” Hortensia threw in. Matilda shot her a dirty look.
“Did something happen?” Miss Honey asked.
Hortensia grinned as Matilda shook her head with near bug eyes. “Made a bit of a mess when she first got here, is all. Ma had to rinse her, and anything within a six-foot radius of her, down with the hose. You’re lucky you missed it.”
Matilda felt an arm pull her closer. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there for you.” She wanted to ask why she was so late, but it didn’t matter. She was here now. The adrenaline that filled her moments before was quickly crashing. She let out a yawn and stretched her arms over her head. The T-shirt she was wearing rode up, and Miss Honey asked, “Why are you wearing a diaper?” Matilda blushed and buried her face into Miss Honey’s dress.
“Oh, Ma made her. Matilda was like a fire breathing dragon, but instead of her mouth, it was her arse, and instead of fire, it was sh-”.
“Thank you, Hortensia, I understand.” Miss Honey said, cutting her off. “I hate to ask this after everything, but I don’t think I should take her to school tomorrow. Would you mind terribly if she stayed here with you?”
Hortensia shrugged. “Sure, she’s alright, for a shrimp.” Hortensia handed her a bag. “Ma wanted me to give you this. It’s got medicine and extra, you know, in case Mount Matilda erupts again.”
“Thank you, hopefully we won’t need them.” Miss Honey said, bending down and picking up the exhausted five-year-old and letting her rest her head on her shoulder. Matilda wrapped her arms around Miss Honey, and when the woman turned and began to walk out the door, Matilda locked eyes with Hortensia, and smiled mischievously. It was payback time. While Miss Honey was walking away, Matilda narrowed her eyes and made a slashing motion with a finger. Hortensia’s pants crumpled to a ball by her ankles.
…
“Is there anything else I can do to help you feel more comfortable?” Miss Honey asked. Matilda bit her lip. “What? What is it?”
“Would you read to me, Jenny?” Matilda asked from her side of the bed. Usually, it was Matilda who read out loud before they went to sleep. “I’ve never had a bedtime story before.”
“Of course! What would you like me to read?”
“Anything is fine; I just want to hear you read.” Matilda admitted. Miss Honey grabbed the nearest book, and joined Matilda in bed. Matilda stared at her with longing. What she really wanted was to cuddle up with her, but she didn’t want to risk getting her sick, although she supposed, it was probably too late for that. Despite remaining quiet, Miss Honey seemed to sense it. She lifted the blanket.
“Come here.” She held her arms out. Matilda waited a second, before throwing caution to the wind. She eagerly scooted over and let Jenny wrap her in a warm embrace. Matilda sighed contentedly as Miss Honey stroked her hair and face. They both quickly forgot about the book. “Matilda, could I ask you something?” Jennifer said.
“Hmm?” came the mumbled response.
“Why do you call me Jenny?” She felt Matilda slightly stiffen in her arms. “I’m sorry, silly me. You’re unwell, you must not be up for this kind of conversation.”
“Do you not want me to call you that? Would you prefer something else?” Matilda knew it wasn’t very polite to call adults by their first names, but she had thought they were more than just child and adult to each other. She frowned. Miss Honey herself had said she could as long as it wasn’t at school.
“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s just, I would very much like it if you saw me as your mother. You had even started to call me ‘mom’ but then you suddenly just stopped and went back to Jenny.” She could feel Matilda stiffen again, and she stayed silent for a long time.
“I tried but, to be honest, I just don’t see you like that.”
Jennifer felt her heart crash to her stomach. “O-oh..” she tried to sound normal, but her voice caught. “T-that’s…” Her eyes began burning with tears of hurt and disappointment. Matilda suddenly bolted up when she heard her breath begin to hitch.
“That’s not what I meant! Oh god!” Matilda said, looking at Jennifer's red and puffy eyes with horror.
“I-t’s fine! Y-you don’t have to explain.” Miss Honey said, cursing the tears that had begun to fall. Pull yourself together, you pathetic miserable woman! You are supposed to be here for her! It is not a five-year-old's job to coddle you!
“My brain just really isn’t working today!” Matilda sighed. “I don’t call you mom, because I think it would be insulting to you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When I think of the word, ‘mom’ it doesn’t make me feel good. I still think of her. I think of the words selfish, horrible, shallow, unkind. I think of all the times she called me stupid, annoying, a wart. I think of cans of soup left on a burner, and loneliness. I even remember when I was a baby!”
Miss Honey was about to say, “no one remembers their time as a baby”, but she stopped before she opened her mouth. This was Matilda, and with her extraordinary mind, it was very well possible she could. So she stayed silent and let her continue.
“She’d put me in a bouncer or high chair and leave me there for hours! I’d be left in the same disgusting diaper all day long. I remember the rashes! The pain! And they had the nerve to yell and whine at me for making a mess or crying. I toilet trained myself at one just to make it all stop!”
Now it was Matilda’s turn to start crying. “You’re none of those things, Jenny, and I know you’d never do anything like that to me or anyone. You’re the kindest, warmest, and most caring person I’ve ever met. You make me feel safe, and loved, and everything I spent hours wishing for!” Matilda held Miss Honey’s face in her tiny hands. “You’re so much more to me than that; You’re like my fairy god mother who came and rescued me and made everything better! How could I compare something so dirty and horrible to something so pure and wonderful as you?”
“Oh Matilda!” Miss Honey choked out. She pulled Matilda into a tight embrace, and whispered in her ear. “You’re everything I’ve always wished for, too! I love you so much! You rescued me, darling, not the other way around.” They held each other long into the night, neither wanting to be the reason they broke apart.
Jenny was perfectly fine, Miss Honey thought to herself. It wasn’t the word that mattered, but the feelings behind them. Now that she understood Matilda’s train of thought, her heart felt lighter and more at ease than it ever had. Was this what love felt like? As she gazed at the young girl splayed out over her chest, she smiled and made a silent vow. Jennifer would replace that painful past of Matilda’s and fill her mind instead with loving, and fun memories they would both cherish forever. For her daughter, she would do anything. And maybe one day, that word that filled her with so much pain would one day be full of thoughts of the love they had for each other instead. Matilda would know when the time was right, Jennifer wasn’t going to bring it up again. Yes, she thought as she closed her eyes. Jenny was perfectly fine.
…
When the morning came, Matilda yawned and stretched, before slowly cracking open her eyes. She found Miss Honey propped up on an elbow watching her with a large dopey smile Matilda had never seen before.
“What?” Matilda asked with a self-conscious grin.
“You just look so adorable like that.”
Matilda sat up, letting the covers fall off her. Some time in the night, she must have taken off her shirt, leaving her only in the dry diaper from the night before. She had been too tired to change when they had gotten home, opting instead to go straight to bed.
“It’s more comfy without a shirt.” Matilda said, shrugging before laying back down. “You should try it.”
Miss Honey laughed. “I think I’ll just let you enjoy it.”
Matilda frowned. “How come? You wear such uncomfortable looking gowns to bed.”
“Uh, well, to be honest, I don’t like being undressed. It makes me uncomfortable.” Miss Honey said.
“Really? Why?” Matilda asked, moving her arms about. “I feel so free.”
Miss Honey smiled, her eyes full of sadness. She was going to end the conversation with a “I just don’t,” or, “It would be inappropriate,” but decided against it. Matilda had been so open with her about her past last night, even though it was difficult. She sat back down on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath and said, “Much like you, I did not have a happy childhood. If saying and thinking about the word, ‘mom’ is what sets you back, then small enclosed spaces and being undressed are mine.”
Matilda nodded her head solemnly. “I understand.”
“I wish you didn’t.” Jennifer said.
Matilda watched her pick out her clothes for the day before heading into the bathroom. Matilda sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about last night. She loved cuddling up with Jenny, but her night shirts were so uncomfortable. She had almost asked her to take it off, but now she was glad she didn’t. Matilda was a little disappointed, though. She had no idea why, but she’d been having this overwhelming desire to lay on Jenny’s bare chest at night, skin to skin, and just be held like last night. Was that weird? The thought of being held, feeling her body heat and listening to her heart beat sounded so appealing. She felt a little depressed now, knowing it would never happen.
Matilda heard the shower turn on and winced. She rolled over, trying to ignore the pressure building in her bladder, but the sound of running water wasn’t helping. She crossed and uncrossed her legs and wiggled underneath the covers. She’d be out in a bit, Matilda told herself. Jenny never took very long showers. A few minutes went by, and then a few more. Matilda groaned into her pillow. She couldn’t wait much longer. She pushed herself up and stood at the bathroom door before knocking.
“Umm, Jenny? Are you going to be much longer? I need to pee.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m right in the middle of shaving. Do you think you can hang on for another ten or fifteen minutes?” Matilda winced.
“Probably not.” She admitted.
“Shoot! Umm, well, you know, you could always just-”
“Please, no.” Matilda said. She knew she was about to suggest peeing in the diaper. “I think it would hurt an awful lot.”
“Oh, you're right, I’m sorry, I forgot about that. Well, I guess if you can’t hold it, then go ahead and come in.”
“Thank you! I’ll be quick!” She dashed to the toilet, paying no mind to the silhouette behind the curtain.
“Oh, just whatever you do, don’t flu-” Miss Honey began to say, but it was too late. Matilda had already pulled the lever by habit. She winced and stepped back.
“Sorry!” She yelled. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
Miss Honey screamed and jumped out from behind the curtain. “Oh that’s cold!” She spun around and froze. Matilda stood gaping at her, nearly open-mouthed. Miss Honey tried to cover herself, but Matilda had already seen.
“No! Stop!” Matilda said. She came closer, eyes wide with horror, but utterly transfixed. “Oh, Jenny,“ She said softly.
Jennifer flinched as Matilda lightly traced the discolored, circular marks around her abdomen, hips, chest, upper thighs and back. She let Matilda circle her and investigate, there was no point hiding it now. She fought against the urge to cover herself.
“Jenny,” Matilda said again. “Are these all burns?”
“Yes.” Miss Honey said softly
“How? Why?” Matilda began to ask, but froze. She recognized them now from the ashtray in her old living room. “These are from cigars.”
“Yes.” Miss Honey said again with a sigh. She reached out and turned the water off in the shower before wrapping a towel around herself.
“The Trunchbull?” Matilda whispered.
“Yes.”
A rage was growing inside Matilda like she had never felt before. She could hardly see straight. Words her father had said to her once echoed in her mind.
“When a person is bad, that person needs to be taught a lesson.”
Yes.
It was time they taught the Trunchbull a lesson.