“Dream even bigger than what you are right now and have faith that your successes will be a reality one day.”

~ T-Ronn Hicks (Simply Badd) ~

“To let go of attachment all you have to do is to let go of the thought of how something is supposed to be or how something should turn out”

– Unknown –

“She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.”

~ Anais Nin ~

“The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself.”

~ Rita May Brown ~

“Your problem is you’re too busy holding onto your unworthiness.”

~ Unknown ~

Chapter 7

An Unwavering Determination

As Brielle drove, the anger in her eyes brimmed to a flood and ran down her cheeks. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, she grabbed her smartphone and touched the screen with her thumb. After three rings, Grandma Bennett answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Grandma, it’s Brielle. I need you to do me a huge favor!” Brielle said as she sniffled, taking tiny gasps of air as she cried.

“Brielle? What’s the matter, hon? It sounds like you’re crying.” Grandma said in a voice of concern, “And where are you? You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago.”

“I’m on County Route 17. Listen! Can you let the kids spend the night and get Olivia off to school in the morning?” Brielle asked.

“Sure, I can, darling! But what’s wrong? What’s going on, Brielle?” Grandma said in a gentler voice.

“I can’t talk about it now, Grandma. I’ll tell you tomorrow when I’m calmer. Okay?”

“Brielle, did you get fired or something?”

“No, Grandma. It’s nothing like that. I’ll talk about it tomorrow. Please, Grandma. I can’t talk about it now.”

“Okay! Okay, honey. You just get home and get some sleep. Then you come over here in the morning and you can tell Grandma all about it. Alright?”

“I will, Grandma.”

“How are the kids and how did they behave?”

“They’re all asleep now. But they behaved wonderfully!”

“I’m so glad to hear that. Tell them I’ll see them in the morning.”

Popeye Provides a Listening Ear

When Brielle pulled up in her driveway, she shut the engine off, then sat in the car for a moment, trying to collect herself. She ran her hands up each side of her face and back down, trying to relieve some stress. Brielle wiped away tears before exiting the car.

When she got out of the vehicle, she looked down the road a ways and noticed Popeye’s house, sitting in the middle of the field, off in the distance, and noticed that his lights were still on. He was still up.

She took her smartphone and touched the screen.

When Popeye arrived at her house five minutes later, Brielle let him inside and closed the door. Popeye looked at Brielle, noticing how visibly shaken she was.

“Brielle, what’s going on? What happened?” Popeye asked in a soft voice of concern as he gently took her by the arm, “Sit yourself down, Brielle. Get yourself together now.”

She sat down on her sofa and Popeye sat down beside her.

“You wouldn’t believe it, Popeye! Hell! I can’t even believe it myself!” Brielle said between sniffles. She leaned over and yanked a Kleenex out of a box of them which sat on one of the end tables. She then used it to dab her eyes and nose.

“Power you don’t know you have is power you don’t have. It most be learned and harnessed”

~ Cherie White ~

“You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.”

~ Dr. Robert Anthony ~

“Step around to the front of my vehicle, Brielle.”

Brielle gave Bobby a puzzled look. Nevertheless, she did as she was told. Bobby then stood in front of her with a look of contempt.

“Are you aware that your daughter, Jane, assaulted my daughter and a few other girls at school today?” The sheriff asked angrily.

“Yeah. After they jumped her first.” Brielle answered matter-of-factly.

“Is that a fact?” Bobby challenged.

“That’s a fact.” Brielle answered bravely.

The sheriff placed his hands on his hips and looked Brielle dead in the eyes. His eyes become slits and one side of his upper lip rose in contempt.

“You and your daughter seem to think that because you know martial arts that you can just go around beatin’ up on people anytime you feel like it. Don’t you?” He growled angrily.

“That’s not how it is, and you know it!” Brielle fired back in a low growl as well.

Bobby stepped closer to Brielle and got nose to nose with her. Brielle continued to look the sheriff dead in the eyes.

An Illegal Stop

“You know? Just because you and your sweet little daughters have blackbelts doesn’t give you the right to go around beating up on people. You’d best remember that, in this town, we…have…the power! You might physically be able to overpower us, but you’ll never overpower us psychologically or politically. Girl, we have tactics and tricks you couldn’t even comprehend! And we have ways of making people’s lives hard. Oh, yeah, we have ways, sweetheart! Hell, for years, we’ve had a few people stuck in places they still haven’t figured out how to get out of! So, my advice to you is to keep a real tight rein on that daughter of yours! Or, you’re going to find out just how bad things can get! You hear me, Brielle Bennett! Or Markowitz, or whatever name the suck-head who didn’t know you but was stupid enough to marry you gave you!” The sheriff fired off.

“Are you done?” Brielle asked in a low but serious tone, maintaining her stare into the sheriff’s eyes without blinking.

Suddenly, the sheriff grabbed Brielle by her blouse with one hand and pinned her into the back of her SUV. He drew his gun with the other hand and shoved the nose of it under her chin.

A Criminal with a Badge

“You’ve gotten mighty uppity over the years! And this  overconfidence of yours is likely to be your downfall! You know? I could take full advantage of that blackbelt of yours. I could blow your head clean off, then tell the rest of the world how you used your karate, or jujitsu, or whatever you’re trained in, to assault me, an officer of the law! I could plant drugs in your car and tell everyone how I feared for my life and had to shoot you in self-defense because you resisted arrest and tried to take me down and escape! And you know what the real beauty is? Everyone in this town, or everyone who matters anyway, would believe me because they hate your fucking guts! Best part is that I could orphan your children, take them away from your family, and send them off to foster care! Oh, yeah! I can just imagine what your kids’ futures would be! You just keep shooting your smart mouth off, girl, and I’ll flip your whole world upside down! And not only yours, but that of your entire fucking family! You best remember that you stripper-pole-hugging bitch!” The sheriff growled and snarled through gritted teeth, spewing saliva as he talked.

Brielle never made a sound but only contorted her face in anger while gritting her teeth and panting.

Bobby then let go of Brielle with another shove.

“Get in your car and get the hell out of here!”

With eyes blazing, lips thinned covering gritted teeth, and face hardened with rage, Brielle stormed to the driver’s side door, open it, and got into her vehicle. She then slammed the door and drove off, slinging gravel.

Sheriff Bobby only stood there and watched her drive away with fury and contempt.

“Did your mom ever tell you, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything’? She was right–and talking nicely also applies when you’re talking to yourself, even inside your head.”

~ Victoria Moran ~