Hannibal had a lot of questions. Norman knew that he would. Questions ruled Hannibal's life. Unfortunately, Norman never liked questions very much. They always got him (or Mother) in trouble. And Norman didn't like to be in trouble. Norman just, well, liked to be ... Norman.
But the world didn't seem to like Norman being himself.
But that's why Norman preferred The City. The City hadn't judged him like California had. Some people still looked at him with a suspicious glare, but not in the same way that the people of Fairvale looked at him.
"I kn-know Mother stayed here. She likes it better here. She didn't go with me."
How could Norman explain something of this magnitude? Mother simply had refused to leave The City. Not that Norman had been trying to leave. Well, maybe he'd thought about it once or twice and then it happened, but how it happened? It just did. But Mother was stronger than Norman. She didn't want to leave, so she didn't leave. And that was that.