Witherwood Reform School Read Free

leak.
    â€œWhat do we do?” Charlotte asked anxiously, her brown eyes as wide as the plates they were eating from. “She wasn’t supposed to choke!”
    â€œPat her on the back!” Tobias suggested.
    Charlotte jumped up and began to slap Martha on the back. “It’s not working.”
    â€œHarder!” Tobias commanded her.
    Martha pounded the table, shaking frantically.
    â€œIt’s not working!” Charlotte yelled. “Hug her. Do that choking thing!”
    Tobias moaned and moved behind Martha. He wrapped his arms around her big body and closed his eyes. His arms barely reached around, and when he pulled back, his hands got stuck between a large doughy roll of her stomach and her bosoms. Martha shot up out of her chair, holding her throat with one hand and swinging at Tobias with the other.
    â€œI’m trying to help!” Tobias informed her.
    Martha swung and missed. Her body twisted, and she fell forward toward the two children. Charlotte pulled Tobias out of the way as Martha did a belly flop against the wood floor. The impact dislodged the food in her throat like a popped cork. A large wad of food shot out of her mouth and stuck to the wall. Then, like a balloon being untied, air raced out of Martha’s lungs, ears, and behind. She coughed and sputtered, spitting gravy and tadpoles all over the kitchen. Martha caught her breath and then rolled over onto her back. She stared up at Tobias and Charlotte. The room smelled like a horrible mixture of fear and gas.
    â€œSorry,” Tobias said lamely.
    Like a messy volcano, Martha’s body erupted from the floor, smoke streaming from her ears. Her brown blouse was untucked, and her apron had come untied from the back and was hanging from her neck. Martha grabbed Tobias by the collar of his red hoodie.
    â€œHow dare you?!”
    â€œHonestly,” Tobias tried. “That was a massive bite, even for you.”
    â€œYou almost killed me!”
    â€œI was about to call 9-1-1,” Tobias said.
    Martha’s anger consumed her. She planted her feet and screamed as Tobias and Charlotte plugged their ears and leaned back on their heels.
    â€œThis was not part of my assignment,” she barked. Her hair was wild, and there were traces of brown gravy and spittle foaming up around her thin lips. “This is the reason I don’t have kids.”
    Martha stomped her feet on the floor like a spoiled child. She spun on her sensible shoes and stormed toward the front door.
    â€œWait,” Tobias pleaded.
    She kept storming.
    â€œSeriously,” Tobias hollered. “Your apron—”
    Martha threw open the front door and lunged through it. As she stepped outside, an apron string caught on the edge of the door frame. The apron snagged and spun her like a top. Her body moved forward, but her neck was caught. The string ripped, and she flew down the three front steps and skidded across the lawn on her face and knees. She flopped over onto her back, giving Tobias and Charlotte a perfect view of the giant grass stain smeared across the front of her body.
    Tobias ran up to her and reached down.
    â€œNo!” she screamed. “Don’t touch me!”
    Martha cursed as she struggled to get back up. Her large rear looked like a small brown cloud fighting to become airborne. She was still tangled in bits of apron, and there were flecks of gravy all over her. It was too much to handle; both Tobias and Charlotte began laughing.
    Martha stood all the way up, shook her fists violently, tilted her head back, and bellowed into the twilight sky like an obese wolf.

    It was at that moment that something very, very bad happened—Mr. Eggers pulled into the driveway. Not that Ralph Eggers coming home was a bad thing. Normally Tobias and Charlotte were happy to see their father. No, the bad thing was that he was pulling into the driveway at the very worst possible moment. It would be quite difficult for Tobias and