Consequences

⟡eleven⟡

Brinley took her time walking from Holden's car to the motel door, timid to confront her mother but not wanting to cloud her mind with thoughts of Holden. Before opening the olive green door, she turned back to look at Holden, but he was already backing away, cell phone to his ear, not looking at Brinley at all. The brunette girl sighed, placing her small hand on the golden door knob. Pushing her anxiety aside for the moment, she stepped past the threshold.

Connie was sitting on the tan recliner, getting some work done on her laptop. When she heard the door shut, she turned back to look at who had entered. The middle aged woman smiled at her daughter, but she wondered why she was home so late.

"Hi Sweetie. How was your evening?"

"It was alright." Brinley lied. Her evening with Holden was more than alright. It was fun and exciting, up until Holden's confession. "Hey mom, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course." Connie shut her laptop, paying full attention to her daughter. Was she having boy trouble? Did she need the sex talk? Connie dreaded the sex talk more than anything. Or at least that's what she thought before the talk she was about to have with Brinley.

"Before the accident I was friends with a lot of people here? Correct?" Connie shook her head in response. "And you told me about them all. You gave me all my memories back."

"Yes? Why do we need to talk about that? It was so long ago. You know I don't like thinking about the accident."

"What about Holden Bell? He told me we were best friends and I want to believe him, but I don't want to believe that my mom lied to me." Brinley stepped slightly closer to her mother.

"Honey," Connie looked at Brinley warily. She didn't want to tell her about the unspeakable things that boy's family had done, but she also didn't want her anywhere near them, even if Holden was a sweet boy. "He's just not good for you. He never was. That's why I thought it was pointless to talk about him."

Brinley looked at her mother's blue eyes. They ran in the family, these big, beautiful eyes that made the world come to a screeching halt when they pierced your mind. These eyes comforted Brinley in her darkest times. They told her stories about her childhood. They restored images and plot lines from before the accident. But because Brinley was so familiar with these eyes, she knew when they were not being truthful.

"That's a lie." Brinley said through her expressionless lips.

"Brinley, he is bad for you. That's just how it is. He's a bad influence and I didn't want to hurt you with him." Connie swayed nervously.

"Bullshit." Brinley spat. "You know he's good for me. If he was good enough to be my best fucking friend, why is he not good enough to be my boyfriend?"

"Watch your language, young lady." Connie raised her voice to match the tone of her daughters. "I can tell he's a bad influence from this attitude of yours. Yelling, swearing, what's next? Doing drugs and drinking alcohol?"

"I didn't learn that from him. I learned it from you and dad. You are the one who swore at dad when he came home drunk and high out of his mind. I learned everything from you two. Imagine what that teaches Carter? That's all he ever fucking knew!" Brinley had snapped, and she knew she went too far.

William was still a tough spot for Connie, and being confronted about their terrible relationship was even harder to deal with. It was hard for Connie to remembering losing her husband, best friend, first love, and everything in between, and the effect that had on Carter was nearly too much to handle.

It was hard for Connie to love anything after she had broke her own heart by signing those damned divorce papers. She fell into a deep depression that she tried so hard to keep from her children. She would occupy herself by cooking excessively or spending any spare time at her parents' house. She worked from home and in her new office as much as possible so that she didn't have to think about her own life.