Disinherited, Not Defeated

my burning face as I stumb

and angry. My arm throbbed, and my

ds shaking too much to fit the ke

was a blur of

id and Ben were on the couch, watching som

his eyes widening as he took in my disheveled appearanc

ed, his mouth

sobs. The estate plan, the jewelry, Brenda' s demand to move

and pragmatic, turned thun

growled, his voice

et, stood up. "D

They' re not getting away with this. P

of loading and unloading cargo. Wh

y afraid of what he might do, of legal

e door, Ben, looking torn

id, a new maturity in hi

at if they called the cops on David?

to my car, my heart pounding. I had

s truck was already parked haphazardly at

. The scene

r were still everywhere. Food wa

off against John and Michael. Ben stood slightly be

ain, I swear to God..." Davi

s crazy!" John shouted

ut looking scared, said, "Dave, man,

woman, twisting her arm, shoving her into a wall, a family

. John pushed David. Da

ween them, and David swa

easily and landed a solid right hook to John'

ide. David turned and caught him w

g, "Stop it! Stop i

, "I' m calling the police! Ass

nce, my only way to stop

olice. Arrests.

est dramatically

slightly, and I collapsed to the floo

fainting spell. Whateve

ng stopped

his anger forgotten,

n rushed

okay?" Ben' s voice

red, momentarily stunned into sile

ht," David said, his voic

y lifted

izzy. Need air." I fluttered my

ed heavily against him, puttin

id said, all confrontation gone fro

. "I' m taking h

le. John was still holding his jaw, and Michael was slowly gettin

kept glancing at me, his face etched

tests. I complained of chest pains a

found nothing

to "avoid stressful situations" and d

id and Ben hovering anxiously,

was a stopgap. But the real problem,

one. Tr

t it had also shown me how far I was willing t

resolve. I had to c

m. For