Turmoil | Spruceworth 5.1 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Shaw

       I still wasn't happy Dad let two of my cousins join in our plan to take down Roman. I didn't want anyone else to be dragged into this mess, but Dad kept getting more and more people to join.

       Now it was seven of us and not just two.

       Neither of us had thought of any idea how we could expose Roman and it was starting to stress me out. Every time I saw him in the village, I got really angry especially when he flashed me a smirk.

       And every time I got angry, I wanted to have a drink. I never did because of the one time I had to watch my kids. I missed seeing them every other weekend. I missed babysitting them when Kendra was at work. And if I wanted to see them again regularly, I had to stop.

       I needed something to distract me so I went to the store to get some groceries. Anything that would take all my focus away would work.

       While I was in the store, I ended up in the alcohol aisle. I didn't know how I ended up here. I was like my feet had a mind of its own.

       I didn't even want to buy any alcohol. I tried telling myself to get out of this aisle but I couldn't.

       "Shaw?" a voice suddenly said from behind me. I turned around to see none other than Kendra. "What are you doing in the alcohol aisle."

       "Nothing," I said. Out of all people, it was her I didn't want to see right now in this aisle but I was actually glad to see her because it finally gave me the willpower to walk out of the alcohol aisle to continue shopping.

       Kendra decided to follow me into the next aisle. "When I dropped off the kids, Holden said you hadn't had a drink for ten days. I hoped you hadn't forgotten about those ten days and went back to alcohol."

       "I haven't," I said. "I'm fourteen days now."

       "And you were in the alcohol aisle because?"

       "Because nothing. You don't see any bottles in my basket, do you? I'm able to resist cravings, you know. Actually, you wouldn't know since you refuse to talk to me ever since you found out I was drinking again."

       "That's not true, Shaw," Kendra said. "I just want what's best for our kids and I don't want you around them when you're recovering. You can last out at any given moment and it won't be safe for them."

       "I would never hurt them," I said. "I'm not even violent anymore."

       "Then how come you were arrested not too long ago for getting into a fight?" Kendra asked.

       "You heard about that?" I asked.

       "It's a small village, Shaw," Kendra said. "People talk so of course I'm going to find out if the father of my children got arrested for getting into a fight. You're going back to your old ways and I don't know if I ever want you around the kids again."

       Kendra turned around to walk away, but I gently grabbed her arm to stop her. "Let me explain that, please," I said.

       Kendra sighed but she faced me anyway. "Go on."

       "The man I got in a fight with was Roman," I said. "The same man who kidnapped Holden and Mercy and is getting away with it."

       "Okay, as much as I want him to be arrested for what he did, you can't go trying to fix the problem on your own," Kendra said.