Country Mile

TIME TO UNBURDEN

Adam held up the note, his hand slightly trembling.

"This another one of your 'jokes'?" he asked in a sarcastic tone dripping with fury.

Genna just stared at him. She knew it was a rhetorical question and now that the fire in her veins had been smothered by his suffocating glare, she couldn't bring herself to give him a snarky reply.

"Hm?" He took a step toward her and turned the paper around for her to look at it. "You think this, is funny? Do you see anyone laughin'?"

Genna shook her head, still unable to speak.

Adam looked back at the paper and shook his head. "She ain't goin nowhere," he said as he brought his eyes back up to Genna's. "Anne is gonna be here for the foreseeable future, so when do you think I should let her punish you when you pull stunts like this?"

Genna's eyes grew wide as she glanced between Adam and Anne. The woman's expression mirrored Genna's.

"Adam," Anne whispered.

"No," he held up his hand and turned to her. "I wanna know. I genuinely wanna know. When would be an appropriate time to turn things over to you when such inappropriate, disrespectful things are thrown in your face?"

He turned back to Genna with a glare. "It wasn't me you cussed out down here earlier. It wasn't me you wrote this to," he reminded, waving the offensive piece of paper at her. "So tell me, when should she be able to have a say in what happens around here when it directly involves her?"

Now that the fog of rage had dissipated and she could think a little clearer, Genna was surprised at how she felt when contemplating Adam's words. The thought of such a thing actually happening made her insides twist into a knot. It didn't infuriate her like she thought it would, if anything the thought of pushing Anne to the point she would be in that position embarrassed her and made guilt worm it's way into her conscience.

Her eyes began to sting as tears pricked at them. She gave a small shrug. "I dunno."

"You don't know?" he asked with raised brows, trying to hide the shock of her subdued response. He recovered and narrowed his eyes. "Do you think she has the right to have a say in what your punishment is?"

Genna let out a shaky breath. "I guess."

Adam turned to Anne. "Do you think you should have a say? You would if this happened at school, home should be no different."

Anne somewhat glared at Adam, not appreciating having this sprung on her so unexpectedly. This was a big step, one she would've appreciated having a little more time to process. Nevertheless, she brought gentle hazel eyes to Genna and watched as the girl fought to contain her emotions.

"I suppose that's true," Anne said cautiously, still watching Genna.

Adam nodded his head. "Then tell me," he slammed the paper down onto the table and pointed at it. "What do you suggest we do about this?"

Anne stared at it for a moment, then rose from her chair and moved to stand directly in front of Genna. She reached out and rubbed her hand up and down Genna's arm as she spoke in a calm, but firm tone. "I want you to look me in the eye and give me an honest, proper apology. If you aren't able to do that right now, that's fine. I want it when you feel you can say it and mean it."

Genna nodded and slid her fuzzy sock covered foot back and forth on the floor. "I can say it now," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Anne. Making that note was a really awful thing to do and I won't do it again. I'm also sorry for how I spoke to you earlier. You didn't deserve that. I just.. I've not been in the best of moods lately and it's not your fault so I shouldn't have taken my misery out on you. I'm sorry."