The next morning, Victoria decided to find out who this bold boy was. A call to her personal assistant was all it took.
Daniel Thompson, 12 years old, lived with his grandmother Ru Thompson in the Rivery Gardens residential complex. Father unknown, mother died in a car accident when he was 5. Scholarship student at a private school, excellent grades, no criminal record.
“Typical,” muttered Victoria as she skimmed the report. Another case of a poor victim trying to take advantage of someone else’s kindness.
But there was something in the report that troubled her.
Ru Thompson, 73, retired hospital worker, disabled after suffering severe diabetes. However, medical records showed an inexplicable recovery over the last two years—something the doctors had labeled as an “unexpected improvement” with no clinical documentation.
Victoria dismissed the information as a bureaucratic error. After all, what could an old black woman from a public hospital possibly know? Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, Daniel was carefully preparing his next approach.
Victoria’s reaction had confirmed his suspicions. She wasn’t really paralyzed, at least not in the way everyone thought.
“Grandma,” Daniel said as he sat next to Ruth on the small porch. “I need you to tell me about the symptoms of pseudoparalysis again.”
