~Little Tooth~

Chapter 30:

shrew

-...-

"Mr. Finch." Mrs. Olaf sighed as the court became quiet. "Will you please?"

Mr. Finch stood up and bowed slightly. "Yes ma'am."

Everyone was back together. It was the last day the trial would resume.

"Prosecution call Toothiana Time to the witness stand" Mr. Finch said.

Baby Tooth was ready. She had relaxed as much as possible that morning so that the fact that all eyes were on her didn't bother her. Mr. Finch has talked to her a week before the trial, so she remembered that too. She stood up and walked over to the witness stand, as told. When she sat down, it finally began.

"Let's start with the basic, Ms. Time." Mr. Finch began. "By now I'm sure the jury knows who you are so would you please give us your version of the story."

"From start to finish, I assume?"

"Yes, Yes indeed."

Baby Tooth sighed, pausing for a few seconds. This made the court stand on edge. They've been waiting for this.

"My side of the story begins when Mrs. Overland found me on the streets of Savannah when I was a young child. The age I was at the time, I can't remember, but I was below 10. I was taken into Little Apple and the next morning I awoke to see all these kids in front of me. One of them was Jackson and he ended up showing me around, introducing me to the others.

"Nothing big happened for awhile. I learned to speak and I became more open, but it's nothing that effected anyone else. I was taken once to meet Oliver Time, whom I wouldn't seen for the next half a year or so. That following Christmas, Norm did disappear suddenly. I was curious, but I guess as a child I didn't think that Mrs. Overland and the others were lying when they said he had to leave. I missed him, but college was a big deal from what I knew.

"So a few weeks later, the next year, I woke up one morning to find that Oliver Time had come to adopt me. At the time this meant to me that I was being taken away from Jackson and the family I had at Little Apple, so I cried and ran to Jackson for help. But, little did I know, he didn't do as I thought and in fact wanted Oliver to take me. Oliver took me home and I decided just to cooperate. I liked him and his happy personality anyway.

"A few days later, three or four, I wanted to visit Little Apple again. I asked and Oliver said he'd be happy to take me. So we went and while he went off to talk with Mrs. Overland, I went off to find Jackson and the others. I met Cry then, but after that I was told that Jackson had ran away. I was shocked, but more then anything scared. I missed him badly and wanted to see him again. So without thinking, I ran off to find him. I don't know how long I looked, It had to be hours, but I finally found him. Hiding in the shadows of one of the alley-ways in the shopping district. I was sleepy and hungry, but I found him, so none of that matter to me. He was kind of upset that I did such a thing, but I know he was happy to see me too. It was late at night so we kind of both fell asleep due to all that had just happened."

Mr. Finch nodded his head when Baby Tooth paused. "Go on."

"I woke up that morning to the sound of screaming." Baby Tooth shuffled in her chair. "I saw Jackson on the ground with two men above him, laughing at him. I got up and confronted them. They laughed at me, told me to go away before they hurt me too."

"So what did you do?" Mr. Finch asked. "I mean, as a young child, what could you do?"

"I did what they tell children not to do in such situations." Baby Tooth sighed. "I attacked them. I kicked on between the legs and I bit the other in the wrist. I then proceeded to throw rocks at them but they left after that. I then ran to Jackson's side but he wasn't getting up. I panicked and ran out of the area between the buildings. Out into the street and I would have been run-over if it wasn't for a cop that pulled me out the way.

"I didn't understand that I almost died and when Oliver appeared from one of the cars behind the one that almost hit me, I pulled them over to where Jackson was. An ambulance arrived, took him away, and after that...I guess I was questioned. But I never heard from Jackson. Oliver told me the hospital said he was in a coma, and I felt...horrible. I didn't know what to think. I started school soon afterwords."

"Well..." Mr. Finch took a breath. "We understand that you didn't run into Jackson until years later, and from what I gathered, you ran into him at a bookstore, right?"

"Yes." Baby Tooth nodded her head.

"After that, he told you what happened, you guys met a few others from Little Apple, but then something big happened. Could you explain what happened?" Mr. Finch asked.

"I assume you are talking about the night I was kidnapped."

"Yes ma'am."

"I was talking home from stopping at a small store for school supplies." Baby Tooth began. Everyone listened carefully, for no one in the whole room had been told the full story. Not even Jackson. Why? Baby Tooth, once back home safe and sound, realized what being kidnapped meant and was frightened. She wanted to forget it, for nightmares formed in her own mind about it. No one asked once they realized how she felt. Only the men at the police station that questioned her the day after got most of the story.

"I walked by an alley and out of nowhere a hand grabbed me. Pulled me away into the darkness before anyone could hear me cry for help. I dropped my things into a puddle on the sidewalk, if I remember correctly. I was knocked out and I woke up, god knows how long later, in a basement.

"I remember feeling confused, and Mrs. Overland showed up after awhile. She was angry at me and questioned me and what not. Insulted me, things like that."

"What kind of things did she ask of you?" Mr. Finch asked.

"She asked me about Jackson. She asked why he liked me so much."

"..." Mr. Finch did not reply and Baby Tooth continued.

"I can't remember the details, but then she attacked me. She was going to kill me. She had a knife, but somewhere within our fight I got a hold of it. I then, in panic, tore apart one of her wounds and used that as an opportunity to escape while she recovered.

"I ran upstairs to find Ms. Elizabeth and Mr. Kirkland passed out. Mr. Auditore saw me and attacked me. I somehow was able to stab him in the side with the knife I had and ran into the next room where Mr. Frosten was. screamed at him to get me, but just as I reached the door, I turned around and stabbed him at random. I hit it lower chest, but it wasn't fatal since he's still alive. I didn't look back as I turned and ran out the house. I think my foot had been wounded badly, but I was too afraid to stop at all."

"Where did you go? How did you get back to safety?" Mr. Finch questioned.

"I found a highway not far from the house and picked a direction to follow it. I kept going for hours. By the time it was night and the lights were on, I was hardly even awake still. I remember Cry coming home from meeting with a friend and finding me on the side of the highway. He stopped, unknowing that it was me until he got up close. He then gave me his one and only helmet and took me to the nearest gas station. He gave me some food and water and called not only Oliver, but the police as well."

"Is that it?"

"Yes sir." Baby Tooth nodded.

"Ms. Time." Mr. Finch straightened himself up. "I would like to ask you a few more final things."

Baby Tooth waited for him to continue.

"You seem to be the closest person to Jackson here. You both have the most history together, well within this case that is."

"That is true." Baby Tooth nodded her head.

"He has no reason to lie to you about what happened back at Little Apple, does he?"

"Not at all."

There was a silence. Mr. Finch sat down. Mr. Ewell got up. Mr. Ewell's questions were recaps of her story. "You got all this from Jackson?" "You believed Norm was okay?" "You didn't see anything wrong, huh?"

-...-

"Mr. Ewell, Will you please?" Mrs. Olaf asked.

"Defense calls Mrs. Overland to the witness stand." Mr. Ewell said, not having to stand up for he was already up. Mrs. Overland sighed, stood up, and walked to the stand. There was a long silence before Mr. Ewell began.

"Mrs. Overland, I would like to ask for you to-"

"I'm sorry Mr. Ewell." Mrs. Overland said with a tone that showed everyone she was done. Her spotlight had just begun. "But I have something to say."

Mr. Ewell did not expect this. He had told her how things would go so that he could insure that she'd win the case. Now this was insane. What was that woman doing!?

"I...Um, Go on, But Mrs. Overland, we-"

"Great!" Mrs. Overland said and did not let the poor man finish. "I would like to start off by thanking you for your time and for you trying your best to prove me innocent."

"What are you doing?" Mr. Ewell growled.

"It's been a good 25 years, give or take, I think I'm ready to retire my game." She sighed. Her eyes met with those of her co-workers, Mr. Frosten, etc. They looked confused. They did not know of this either. No one did, well, other then the man with the proof of what she was going to talk about next.

"I am Evangeline Overland. I'm 53 years old and the owner of Little Apple Orphanage. I did plan the murders of the child that are gone, as well as the murder of Mrs. Hamilton, however I did not carry them out with my own hands. That was their job." She pointed to Mr. Auditore and the others. "I'm bipolar and the whole reason this mess began was because of something my divorced husband screamed at me. It seems stupid to you, I know, but humans are a cruel, horrid race."

Everyone in the court was horrified. Mrs. Overland spoke so calmly.

"But, before I am dragged away into jail to rot till I die, I have another thing to confess to."

"And what could that possibly be!?" Mr. Ewell hissed. Everything he worked so hard on was crashing down in front of him. He was upset.

"While I was married, I had two children. A boy and a girl." With a smirk, her words drowned the strength of many people in the room. "And I would like for you all to know that they are both in this very room."

There were a few gasps. Scratch that, many gasps. People were looking around, whispering, wondering who they were. Jackson sat in his seat, his mind more active then a volcano erupting. His world was crashing down on him, sliding from under his feet. He had heard the name Evangeline in his memories. He wasn't stupid.

"One is in the Jury seat. Her name Is Jill Hoover. She has a daughter, I was told, and her husband is off at war. The only reason she's there is because she was able to erase the name Overland from her recorded history."

There was a small yell of fright form the jury. A woman with brown hair pulled into a ponytail looked horrified. She was shaking in her seat and you could tell from the other side of the room. Jill Hoover recognized her mother from the very start, however had not recognized her brother. She was hiding her tears from the sudden attention. She was a mess.

"D-DONT B-BRING ME INTO THIS!S-SHREW!" Jill shouted.

Mrs. Overland turned her head back to the court in front of her. Her eyes narrowed. She smiled.

"My son is someone you all know. My son is someone very important to this case."

Mrs. Overland's eyes landed on Jackson, and his horrified eyes met hers. He looked as if the Devil was right in front of him. In some cases, like this, it was true.

"Jackson Overland." Her words came out sweet and motherly, yet so poisonous and cruel within the meaning. "May I say no more?"

Mrs. Overland's words echoed through the minds of the people. Their attention was turned to the very man who started this whole case. Jackson was...was Mrs. Overland's Son? Jackson shook his head.

"NO! DON'T LIE!" Jackson stood from his chair, angered that she'd even say such a thing. "IF YOU WERE MY MOTHER THEN WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!? WHY WOULD YOU WANT ME KILLED AND THEN ACT LIKE THIS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN CAUGHT! YOU HAVE NO PROOF!"

"I DIDN'T TELL MR. AUDITORE AND MR. KIRKLAND TO DO WHAT THEY DID!" Mrs. Overland shouted back. "I TOLD THEM THE DAY YOUR FATHER DROPPED YOU OFF AT LITTLE APPLE THAT THEY WERE NOT TO MESS WITH YOU!"

Mrs. Overland sighed, letting out her anger, she adjusted herself in the chair.

"Why do you think I took up all your medical bills? I felt like it was my fault that you were hurt. So I took the blame, even when it ran Little Apple into the dirt! I accepted it because it was my actions that lead to it. I wanted to believe that I could have done something...something motherly, even when I was nothing more then ruining the lives of others and changing things up for the other children."

"YOU DON'T HAVE PROOF!" Jackson hissed. He was NOT believing this crap.

"She dose, actually." A man with glasses and a doctor's uniform and badge stood up and walked to the front of the witness stand. "Last night the two of you took a blood test, on her request. Some of our scientists stayed up past their hours in order to decode the DNA and look for similarities. It was concluded that you two are in fact mother and son."

The man held up a paper. On it was the test results. On the bottom were legit signatures from the people who went through with the DNA testing.

"You did take a blood test, right Jackson?" The man asked.

Jackson said nothing. His arms shook and he sat down in his seat. His heart beat was fast and his stomach felt like it was tearing apart. His eyes were burning and the tears that blinded his vision only made it worse. He was helpless. He looked up, his head turned towards the jury. He looked at Jill. She was looking at him. She...did looked sort...sort like the girl in his memories...sort like her.

"You're not an Orphanage, my child. Hardly even close." Mrs. Overland said.

Mrs. Overland shook her head. "We killed Mrs. Hamilton because she found out about the murders. We knew she'd tell the police so we couldn't let her out of our hands."

"That is enouph, Mrs. Overland." Mrs. Olaf sighed. "jury?"

"We need no time, Mrs. Olaf." One man stood up. "This woman is guilty of all charges."

"Take her away."

Mrs. Overland was taken away. Mr. Ewell looked like a mess. He turned to the co-workers behind him. They were slowly taken away as well. He then turned to Jackson, who looked like a ghost. Mr. Ewell said nothing and sat back in his chair, having to think about what just happened. Before the Judge could dismiss the court, Jackson stood up. He held his hand to his mouth and hide his eyes with his hair. He looked sick.

He ran out of the room as fast as he could, out of sight. He didn't look at anyone, he didn't say anything. No one knew where he was going. No one went after him. Mr. Finch began to pack up his things and others began to leave. The children of Little apple, including Mr. Time and Jamie and Sophie Bennett, sat there. Baby Tooth turned to Oliver. She felt like a hole was in her heart.

Nobody expected this at all.

-...-

"Toothiana."

Baby Tooth looked back up at Mrs. Overland. Mrs. Overland stared at Baby Tooth.

"You…" She began. "You don't know everything."

Baby Tooth was confused. "Huh?"

"Jackson isn't who you think he is."

Baby Tooth's fist clenched as she looked over at the cracked tombstone with Jackson's name on it, then she looked back at Mrs. Overland. "What do you mean?"

"Jackson isn'-" Alexis started, but then Mrs. Overland pushed the girl, the girl almost falling against a tree.

"Shut up!" Mrs. Overland hissed.

Baby Tooth flinched at Mrs. Overland's hiss. Alexis whimpered and looked down at her shoes.

Baby Tooth had long forgotten the dream she had as a child in Little Apple, but if she had, she'd now know what Alexis was about to say.

"Jackson isn't an Orphan."

-...-