Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 38
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Jerry stared out the window of the restaurant watching the sky. The storm that had been 
threatening them all day had finally broken. It wasn't as bad as he had predicted. Rather 
than a thunderstorm, this was the kind of storm that led to a solid soaking of the ground 
without creating damage. There wasn't even any lightning. Their tensions over the trial 
had exaggerated their perception of its threat.

Turning to face the kids, he said, "It's started to rain."

His comment didn't spark any immediate response from the kids. Bill stared at his plate 
of fried shrimp. Melissa continued to turn a bottle of ketchup while staring off into space. 
He decided that the idea of stopping at a restaurant to recover from their ordeal and talk 
about what had happened was not working. 

After five minutes, Bill said, "That was fucking brave of you Melissa."

The young woman didn't respond immediately, but did stop playing with the ketchup 
bottle. Looking down at her plate, she said, "I thought she wouldn't shoot if I was there."

Jerry didn't know what to think of his daughter's actions. It had been brave for her to 
interpose herself between his ex-wife and him, but it had also been foolish. He knew that 
the same could be said of his actions. He should have told them to run away. He said, "It 
was very brave of you, but you shouldn't have exposed yourself to danger like that."

Shrugging, Melissa didn't give forth a verbal response. She was finding it hard believe 
that her mother would have shot her for standing up for her father. Deep down inside, she 
knew the truth. She had to face the fact that her mother was dead and she didn't know 
what to think about that. The only thing that she did know for certain was that the men 
had done nothing to deserve getting killed.

Bill dipped a finger into the cocktail sauce and then stuck the finger in his mouth. The 
sharp horseradish didn't register on his senses. It seemed to him that he was numb. He 
definitely knew that his brain wasn't working correctly. His thoughts kept returning to 
watching his mother approaching with the gun and calling him a little shit. He hadn't seen 
her dead body on the ground, but his imagination provided a picture of the scene. It was 
giving him a throbbing headache.

Bill wasn't the only one with a headache. Rubbing her temples with the fingers of both 
hands, Melissa said, "I have a headache. Does anyone have an aspirin?"

When neither of the males answered her, she repeated herself with greater irritation in her 
voice. "Does anyone have an aspirin?"

"No," answered Jerry looking out the window again at the rain. He wondered what word 
described this particular kind of rain. It wasn't a drizzle, downpour, or squall. Was there 
even a word to describe a consistent steady light rain? He decided that there wasn't and 
then realized that the word was shower.

Like a boom-a-rang that always returned to where it had been launched, Bill's mind 
returned to the events in front of the courthouse. He shook his head at the images that 
passed before his eyes. Foremost among them was the sight of Melissa stepping in front 
of his father. He said, "I can't believe you stepped in front of dad."

Frustrated at the lack of response to her request for aspirin, Melissa asked, "Won't anyone 
give me some aspirin?"

"Do you have any in your purse?" asked Jerry knowing that if anyone would have 
something for a headache it would be her.

Embarrassed that she hadn't thought of her purse, Melissa opened it and rummaged 
through it looking for something to take for her headache. All she found was a bottle of 
Midol. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt, she shook one into the palm of her hand and 
swallowed it without water. 

Watching her take the pill, Bill decided that he wanted one for his headache. He asked, 
"Could I have one, too?"

"It's Midol," replied Melissa.

"Ugh," said Bill. He was quiet for a minute and then decided that it would be better to 
take a Midol than live with his headache. He said, "I'll take one any way."

"You'll grow breasts," said Melissa lightly.

Knowing better than that, he replied, "You'll never see me again if I do."

"Why?"

Bill attempted a grin while he answered, "I'll be too busy playing with them."

Melissa frowned at the bad joke, but didn't react in any other fashion than to push a pill 
over to her brother. He picked it up and reached for his glass of iced tea. His hand started 
to tremble too much to hold the glass. Ashamed at the betrayal of his body, he set the 
glass down with a rattle before he spilled his iced tea. 

Hearing the rattle, Jerry looked over at Bill and saw the distressed look on his face. In a 
soft voice, he said, "Hey, it's okay. Your nerves are catching up to you."

"I know. It used to happen to me after fights," said Bill. Although it hadn't involved any 
punches, kicks, bites, or scratches, he felt as if he had gone twenty rounds with a heavy 
weight boxer. He slipped the pill into his mouth and grabbed the glass with both hands. 
Holding it like a three-year-old, he tipped the glass and chased down the pill. The thought 
that he'd grow breasts almost made him laugh and choke on the tea.

Quiet returned to the table. Jerry looked around the table at all of the uneaten food. Bill 
hadn't eaten more then three of his fried shrimp. Normally, Bill would have cleaned the 
plate of shrimp in minutes. Melissa hadn't touched her hamburger except to take two bites 
out of it. She had put a little more of a dent in her French Fries. He understood their lack 
of appetite since his French Dip had a single bite out of it.  Shaking his head, he decided 
that coming to the restaurant had been a very bad idea. 

Fumbling in his shirt pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. Opening it, he tried to locate a 
number in the phonebook function. As he scrolled through the list of numbers, Melissa 
asked, "Are you calling Jenny?"

"No, I'm calling the therapist," answered Jerry with a sigh. They weren't dealing with 
things very well and he couldn't think of anything else to do. He didn't want to see Jenny 
at the moment, but he didn't understand why his mind kept shying away from the idea of 
talking to her. He grunted, "I'm big enough to know that we aren't dealing with this very 
well."

Surprised by his admission, Melissa watched him make the call wishing that he were 
calling Jenny. She had to admit that calling the therapist was the last thing that she had 
expected him to do. Running to a therapist wasn't the kind of thing that most people 
associated with a big strong man like her father. She had expected him to call Jenny and 
then for Jenny to recommend that he call the therapist. In a way, his actions impressed 
her even more. She considered what would have happened had her mother seen a 
therapist. It was quite possible that if her mother had gone to one, then she would still be 
alive. 

"Too bad she didn't see a therapist," muttered Bill giving voice to her thoughts.

"I was just thinking the same thing," said Melissa looking at her brother in amazement. 
She was surprised that he was taking the high road rather than rant about what a crazy 
woman their mother had been. 

While Jerry was on the cell phone, the waitress stopped by the table to see how things 
were going. The young woman, still a senior in high school, had been working in the 
restaurant for less than a month. She had taken the job in an effort to earn enough money 
to pay for her car insurance. New to the job, she worked hard to make sure that her 
customers were happy. 

The waitress frowned at the sight of the plates full of cold food. All of the iced tea glasses 
were half-filled with diluted tea, watered down by the melted ice. Deciding that there was 
little hope of salvaging a reasonable tip, she said, "I take it the food wasn't any good."

Melissa looked up at the waitress and said, "We're not really hungry. My mother tried to 
kill us all today."

"The police killed her," added Bill staring at his plate. He thought about how different 
aspects of the events mattered to each of them differently. Melissa was shocked by the 
fact that her mother was willing to shoot her. He was shocked that his mother was gone 
out of his life for good. He couldn't deny that he was relieved that she was gone, but the 
idea that he was relieved made him feel bad about himself.

The flat emotionless tone of voice in which the kids had delivered their statements was 
far more brutal than an emotional outburst might have been. The waitress stood at the 
foot of the table with a stunned expression on her face. She had no idea how to react to 
their statements; it wasn't something that was covered in the employee manual. Almost a 
minute passed before she said, "Oh."

Jerry closed the cell phone and announced, "She'll see us at six. We've got three hours to 
kill."

Bill groaned at his father's choice of wording. Melissa felt her stomach twist at the 
thought of sitting in that booth for another three hours. Tears welled up in her eyes. While 
dabbing at them with her napkin, she said, "I want to talk to Jenny."

Wishing that he knew how to comfort the children better, he nodded. He didn't want to 
face Jenny, but would do it for Melissa's sake. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he 
said, "I'll give her a call."

The waitress was still standing at the end of the table trying to decide what she was 
supposed to say or do. Finally, she asked, "Would you like your bill?"

"Yes, that would probably be best," answered Jerry tiredly.  

Given an excuse to leave, the waitress ran away from the table. This had been the most 
upsetting experience of her life. She couldn't imagine how those two kids felt. All she 
knew was that she wanted to get home and hold onto her mother. Rather than get their 
check, she left the restaurant crying. As the door closed behind her, she decided that there 
had to be another way to earn enough money.

Confused by her actions, the manager of the restaurant watched the waitress leave. It was 
obvious that she was upset and that the party seated in the corner had upset her. During 
the short time that she had worked at the restaurant she had been a very good employee. 
She showed up on time, was friendly with the customers, and took care of her tables. 
Although he believed that the customer deserved the best service possible, he knew there 
were some customers who were abusive. He looked at the family and headed over to find 
out what they had said to her. 

Jerry was on the cell phone talking to Jenny when the manager arrived at the table. 
Frowning, he looked at the long faces and the plates full of cold food. His anger 
evaporated to be replaced by puzzlement. 

Bill looked up at the manager and then looked out the window. In a soft voice, he asked, 
"Why is it that bad things always seem to happen to me before a storm?"

The indifference of the young man to his presence and the awkward question confused 
the manager. The manager stood at the end of the table for a half a minute wondering if 
anyone would notice him. He cleared his throat.

Bill looked back at the manager, not expecting an answer to his question. He saw that 
Melissa was wiping her face with her napkin. Bill put his arm around her and pulled her 
to him. Surprised by the unexpected gesture of caring, she twisted so that her face was 
against his shoulder and burst into tears. Feeling awkward, Bill held his sister allowing 
her to cry herself out. 

Jerry noticed the activity across the table and quickly finished his conversation with 
Jenny. That Bill would reach out to comfort his sister was a major leap forward in 
relations between the siblings. Separated from them by the table, he realized how bad a 
mistake it was to come to the restaurant. He slipped the cell phone into his pocket and 
watched them afraid to say anything to ruin the moment.

The manager cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, but is there a problem here?"

Jerry stared at the man for a minute trying to figure out how to answer his question. There 
were lots of problems. His ex-wife had tried to kill him and the kids. They knew that she 
had been killed. The kids were upset and he didn't know how to comfort them. He was 
terrified of seeing his girlfriend. There was also a bright spot in the midst of all this 
misery. A real gesture of peace had occurred between the kids. He answered, "Yes, but it 
isn't a problem that you can solve."

"What did you tell the waitress that caused her to run out of here in tears?" asked the 
manager with much more politeness than he had intended prior to seeing them around the 
table.

"She wasn't crying when she left to get the bill," answered Jerry confused by the assertion 
that they had done something to the young woman. He glanced at Melissa and Bill, but 
she was still crying on her brother's chest. Bill was looking over her head with an 
embarrassed expression on his face.

"Well, she was crying when she passed by me after leaving your table," declared the 
manager.

"I guess the kids told her that their mother tried to kill us today," replied Jerry. He hadn't 
been paying attention to the dialog between the kids and the waitress since he had been 
busy arranging an appointment with the therapist. He added, "We'd really like the bill 
now."

The manager didn't know the story behind these three, but he wanted them out of his 
establishment. He retreated to fetch the bill. The sooner they were out of there, the better. 
It didn't take long for Jerry to take care of the bill. He left a good tip despite the fact that 
none of them had eaten. He asked the manager to give the waitress their apologies if they 
had done anything to upset her.

Leaving the restaurant, Jerry held his arms around both kids pulling them close to him to 
reassure them with his presence. Bill walked along numbly, his mind was not on the here 
and now. Melissa held tight to her father's arm as though afraid that she would fly off the 
planet if she let go. For the first time in her life, she appreciated his strength and size. 

Upon reaching Jenny's house, Melissa flew from the Camaro to the front door. Without 
knocking, she opened the door and entered the house. Still getting out of the car, Jerry 
watched her run. He didn't know why he was dreading talking to Jenny, but the idea of 
facing her terrified him. Turning to Bill, he said, "Let's give your sister a chance to talk 
with Jenny for a while."

"Yeah, she needs to talk to a woman," commented Bill. Despite the moment of closeness 
in the restaurant, he understood the truth. His sister would always seek out the comfort, 
opinion, and approval of women before that of men. 

Jerry looked over at his son and smiled at the insight the boy had demonstrated. Despite 
the fact that it was still raining, he wasn't ready to go into the house. Putting an arm on 
the boy's shoulder, he said, "Let's wait for them in the back yard."

Shrugging his acceptance, Bill said, "Sure, why not."

The pair walked around the house to the backyard. Potted plants surrounded a small patio 
with two folding chairs. The plants looked dead, but were actually in their winter 
hibernation. In spring and summer, the patio was a very nice place to sit and talk. In the 
fall rain, it was the last place they should have been. Gesturing to one of the chairs, Jerry 
said, "Have a seat."

Bill sat down in one of the folding chairs. He was hardly aware of the rain as he seated 
himself. He looked around the yard. It was small, but much better cared for than theirs.  
He wondered what wonders Jenny would do on their backyard once she married Jerry. 
That thought led him to think about his mother and what she had done around the house. 
From there, his mind returned to the events outside the courthouse.

Jerry pulled over the heavy outdoor chair that Jenny had bought for him. It was massive 
enough to take his weight without collapsing. Sitting down, Jerry said, "I don't think I've 
ever been as afraid as I was this afternoon."

"You were afraid?" asked Bill relieved that he wasn't the only one that had been scared. 
The fact that his sister had been brave enough to step between his mother and father 
shamed him. He felt that he should have been the one to step up and face his mother. 

Taking a deep breath that swelled his chest and then letting it out, Jerry tried to relax. It 
was a half-minute before he answered, "Yeah. All I could imagine was your mother 
shooting you or Melissa. The idea of losing either one of your scared me shitless. I was 
so angry, but all I could do was stand there between you two and her."

"Why did you stand there?" asked Bill wondering if his father had been frozen in place 
out of fear. He had expected his father to storm over and squash his mother like a bug. He 
knew that his father could have done that.

"If I had made a single move, she would have started shooting. I couldn't risk one of you 
getting hit," answered Jerry. Standing in place had been one of the hardest things that he 
had ever done. He was glad that the rage hadn't taken over. If it had, he would have 
charged like a bull at a red cape without concern for the consequences. For all he knew, 
both kids would have been killed.

"Oh yeah. I didn't think about it like that," answered Bill. He realized that he hadn't 
thought about anything except that his mother was going to kill him. He had been frozen 
in place staring at her the entire time.

Jerry looked over at Bill and said, "You were scared too."

The young man looked away with tears in his eyes and nodded. Jerry saw that his son 
didn't trust his voice to answer. He said, "You had every right to be scared. If you had 
done what Melissa did, she'd have killed you in a second. She had every intention of 
killing both you and me. She didn't want to kill Melissa until she realized that Melissa 
was standing up for us."

"I was so scared that I couldn't move," said Bill feeling like hell. 

"You didn't piss yourself. I'd say that's better than a lot of men would have done in your 
position," countered Jerry. He kept a serious look on his face to let his son know that he 
wasn't joking. All in all, the young man had kept his wits about him and control over 
himself. 

"You're kidding," replied Bill with a frown.

"Not at all," answered Jerry. He knew his son was feeling like a coward and he felt that 
he had to justify the boy's actions so they wouldn't haunt him for the rest of his life. He 
said, "There's a lot of folks that would have crumpled to their knees and started begging 
for their lives. I don't think you were paralyzed with fear, but you didn't give into it. I'd 
say that you showed a degree of bravery today that's mighty good for a young man your 
age."

The rain had let up a little, but they were still getting soaked. Bill sat in his chair 
wondering if his father was telling him the truth. In the movies, people knew what to do 
in that situation. He'd felt stupid standing there unable to think of some action to take that 
would resolve the situation. He took a deep breath and asked, "What should I have 
done?"

"I'd have been a lot happier if both of you kids had run away," answered Jerry with a 
weak smile. Standing outside the courthouse, there had been all kinds of places for the 
kids to run. He sighed and said, "Ever since then, I've been thinking that rather than 
telling you to stay behind me that I should have told you to run."

Realizing that his father was blaming himself for telling him to do the wrong thing, Bill 
asked, "Why did you tell us to stay behind you?"

Jerry gave forth a laugh of derision that sounded like a cross between a snort and a bark. 
He said, "I was thinking that I could protect you. I thought I could stand there like some 
sort of human shield. I thought I could stand there even if she emptied her gun into me. 
Pretty fucking stupid idea, if I say so myself."

"I saw you get shot four times. You could have protected us," answered Bill.

"No, I seriously doubt it. Oh, I was angry and felt strong enough, but the fact of the 
matter is that I was scared and angry. I wasn't thinking very clearly," admitted Jerry with 
a sigh. 

The conversation was helping Bill much more than Jerry. His son was coming to accept 
that his lack of action wasn't motivated entirely in fear. He had followed his father's 
command to stay behind him and that had kept him from fleeing. Yet the father felt bad 
about having issued the command realizing only too late that it had further endangered 
his children. 

After berating himself for long enough, Jerry said, "One of the problems with being big 
and strong is that you start off believing that your size and strength can be the answer to 
all of your problems. After a while, you see that, more often than not, you end up in 
trouble and you get to believe that it only creates more problems."

"So which is it?" asked Bill. He leaned forward to catch the answer as if it were the most 
important thing he was going to ever hear.

"I'm beginning to believe that it's a balance between the two. Being big and strong can 
solve some problems, but not all of them. When you use your size and strength on the 
wrong problem, you get more problems," answered Jerry. He looked over at his son and 
watched him process the answer. 

"How do you know when to use your size and strength?"

"Hell if I know. I'm still trying to figure that one out," answered Jerry. He threw his hands 
up in the air as if surrendering. 

The back door opened and Jenny stuck her head out to look at the two men. They were 
soaking wet, but seemed oblivious to their state. She recognized that it was a measure of 
how upset they were that they didn't care about the wet or the cool chill in the air. In a 
soft voice, she asked, "Would you like to come in and have some coffee?"

Jerry glanced down at his watch and saw that he had an hour and a half before the 
appointment with the therapist. He answered, "Sure. We have some time before we head 
over to the therapist."

"Can I go to the therapist with you?" asked Jenny. She had her fingers crossed in the hope 
that Jerry would say that it was okay.

"You want to go with us?" asked Jerry very surprised by the request.

"Yes. I'm affected by this just as much as you are. That woman tried to kill the three 
people that I love the most in this whole world. I have no idea what I would have done if 
I had lost any of you," answered Jenny. Her voice quivered with emotion.

The effect of her words on Bill was immediate and overwhelming. He stared at her 
feeling like she had just handed him a million dollars and told him to have a good time. 
That she loved his father was obvious. He never doubted her feelings for his father. That 
she loved him was a shock. He suspected that she felt that way about him, but she had 
never come out and said it. He stood up and raced over to her. Throwing his arms around 
her, he held her and cried. Between sobs, he said, "I love you, too."

The effect of her words on Jerry was just as staggering. She had done the unimaginable in 
admitting that the bad things that happened to him hurt her as well. She felt his pain, she 
worried about his welfare, and she cared about him. He felt horrible that he hadn't 
thought about how she would react to his ex-wife's actions. His voice cracked with 
emotion when he told her, "We'd love to have you come with us."

Jerry watched as Jenny hugged a very wet Bill to her and rubbed his back. She spoke 
soothing words to him that were too soft for Jerry to hear. Her words helped calm down 
the young man. Seeing how his son clung to Jenny made Jerry realize how much his son 
needed a good mother figure in his life. While Melissa had known that she needed a 
proper female role model and asked to come here, the two men had been blind to their 
need. Jerry realized that they should have come here after the incident rather than going 
to the restaurant. 

After Bill released Jenny, he sniffed and then ran into the house. Jerry watched him run 
away knowing that he wanted to be alone for a minute. The young man was feeling 
emotions that had never had a chance to present themselves. Jerry felt the same way. 
Emotions that he couldn't name washed over him, leaving him speechless. He didn't 
know what to say to thank her for her words and the comfort given to Bill. 

"I understand," said Jenny giving Jerry a half smile that was both happy and sad. She 
looked at his wet clothes and wondered if he was going to get sick before the wedding. 

"I'm not sure that I do," replied Jerry confused by her statement.

"After years of being abused by that woman, I'm not surprised that you didn't think of 
coming here," said Jenny. 

"I left her because she didn't care that I had almost been killed," said Jerry looking down 
at the ground once he realized what she meant. He wanted to hit himself for not trusting 
Jenny to react in a caring manner. He knew his earlier reluctance in seeing her originated 
out of the fear that she would have reacted with the same indifference his ex-wife would 
have demonstrated. 

"You were afraid that I wouldn't care," said Jenny shaking her head at the fact that any 
human being could suffer that fear about someone they loved. She wished that she had 
been able to give that woman a piece of her mind. The damage that she had done to Jerry 
and Bill was almost beyond her comprehension. 

"I'm sorry," said Jerry. 

"I understand," she replied. She stepped forward and put her arms around him; relaxing 
when his arms engulfed her with the strength that she loved. With her face nestled against 
his strong chest, she said, "I would have been afraid of the same thing if I were you."

"No, you would have trusted me to react the right way," countered Jerry. He wanted to 
feel guilty, but it just wasn't possible for him. Too many years of indifference had made 
him doubt that anyone could really care about what happened to him. He knew that he 
would have been furious if someone had tried to hurt Jenny, but his reaction would have 
been to charge out of the house to hunt down and harm anyone that had hurt her.

She smiled and gestured to the door with her head. In a light voice, she said, "Let's go 
inside. It's still raining and we're getting soaked."

Her words woke him to the fact that it was raining. Stepping back, he looked at her and 
saw that the rain had turned her white shirt transparent. He could see her breasts through 
the wet material. Her nipples stood erect from the cold. Smiling, he picked her up in his 
arms and carried her into the house. Rather than stopping in the living room where 
Melissa was seated on the couch, he carried her into the bedroom. Once there, he set her 
down and said, "You need to change your shirt."

She looked down and saw the effect that the water had on her shirt. In a delightful display 
of modesty, she blushed. The modesty was short lived as a wicked smile crossed her face. 
She said, "Do you really want me to change out of this shirt?"

"Not really, but the " He stopped not knowing how to bring the children into the 
conversation. Somehow, talking about them while staring at her breasts just didn't seem 
right. 

Jenny unbuttoned the white blouse and let it slip off her shoulders. She traced a finger 
around her stiff nipples drawing his attention to them. In a sultry voice, she said, "I'm not 
cold now."

Laughing at her obvious tease, Jerry asked, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Good question. Now get out of those wet clothes before you get sick. I'll throw them in 
the dryer so they'll be dry in time to go to the therapist."

Jenny went to her closet and pulled out a shirt and one of her robes. She handed the robe 
to him and said, "Put this on. We wouldn't want to shock Melissa and Bill."

"Bill and I walk around the house in our boxers all the time. Melissa is used to it," said 
Jerry eyeing the robe. 

"With an erection?" asked Jenny with a grin. She could tell with just a glance that he 
didn't have an erection yet, but she was sure that with just a little effort on her part that 
she could cause one. 

Despite the fact that she was standing in front of him topless, Jerry didn't have an 
erection. He wasn't feeling very sexual at the moment. Too many contradictory emotions 
were packed into his body to support another one. It was obvious that despite her words, 
she wasn't really in the mood for much more than a little light teasing. 

Jenny put on her shirt while Jerry stripped down to his boxers. He tried to put the robe on, 
but it was way too small. With a grin, he handed it back to her and said, "There's no way 
this little robe is getting put on this body."

Seeing how her big fluffy robe looked like a hand towel in his massive hands, Jenny had 
to laugh at the ridiculous image of him wearing it. She said, "Boxers it is. I'll give this to 
Bill to wear. He's not quite as big as you are."

Jerry grinned and followed her out of the bedroom. Bill was in the bathroom. Jerry 
knocked on the door and said, "Take off your shirt and pants so that Jenny can dry them. 
We've got a robe here for you to wear."

Bill opened the door and accepted the robe from his father. He looked at the feminine 
robe and his father in his boxers. Frowning, he said, "I'd rather just wear my boxers."

"Okay," said Jerry deciding that it wasn't worth arguing about. 

Bill stripped out of his clothes and handed them to Jerry who immediately handed them 
to Jenny. She disappeared to put them in the dryer while the men went into the living 
room. Melissa looked at them in their boxers and rolled her eyes. She had given up on 
them having a sense of propriety about walking around in such a state of undress. 

Jerry sat down and asked, "Melissa, how are you holding up?"

"Much better, I think," she answered. She looked at her brother and father sitting around 
in their boxers. There was something kind of reassuring about it. It was the kind of 
behavior that was normal for them and convinced her that things hadn't really changed 
for the worse. Sure, there were times when they were crude, rude, and disgusting, but 
they were always honest in how they felt. She decided that she'd take honest over the 
pretentious any day. In a much stronger voice, she said, "Yes. I'm holding up much better 
now."
