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.