Ellen knew Martha Hickham well; they used to work together and were distant friends. Since Martha’s son Jake seriously injured Ralphie, she felt she had to give her a call. Martha picked up on the second ring.

“Hi, Martha. Do you have time for a quick chat?”

“Ellen, it has been a while. Is everything okay?”

“I’m afraid it isn't. Ralphie has been attacked.”

“Oh, my god, what happened?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“This is going to sound awkward, but Ralphie said your son Jake bullied him.”

“What!?! Jacob wouldn’t…” Martha trailed off.

“Ralphie has no reason to lie. He said that my other son Nigel and Jake had some sort of disagreement. Do you know what that might have been?”

“Can I call you back, Ellen? I want to get to the bottom of this.”

“Please."

Ellen’s phone rang as she was making her grocery list.

“Did you confront Jake?”

“It took some doing, but Jacob finally admitted to harassing Ralphie.”

“He did more than harass.”

“I’m sorry, Ellen. I think we need to have Jacob and Nigel work their differences out.”

“I agree. Ralphie is an innocent in all of this,” Ellen said.

“I will talk with Jacob. I think you should talk to Nigel.”