Chapter 5 - Confronting the Coward
Thomas stopped in his tracks, looking nervously at General Hayes, who stood like an immovable guard near the door with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Nora, please,” Thomas whispered, pressing his hands together. “Brenda made a terrible mistake. She’s... she’s sick, Nora! She has a bad temper, you know how she gets when she feels threatened! She didn’t mean to break your arm!”
“She hit me with a steel chair in front of three hundred people, Thomas,” I said, staring at him without a single trace of pity. “She called me a whore and a piece of trash. And you stood there and watched.”
“I was in shock!” Thomas defended himself frantically. “I was paralyzed! You have to drop the charges, Nora. If this goes to trial, Brenda is facing ten years in federal prison! And... and the legal fees will destroy us! We’ll lose the house!”
“You mean my mother’s house?” I asked softly.
Thomas went pale. The color drained from his lips, leaving him looking like a ghost. “What... what are you talking about?”
“The trust fund, Thomas,” I continued, pointing my good hand at the manila folder resting on the table. “The three million dollars in natural gas dividends you and Brenda have been stealing from me while I was dodging bullets in Afghanistan.”
Thomas took a step back, his hand touching the door handle for support. “Nora... we used that money to keep the family afloat! We did it for David! He needed tuition—”
“David is not my brother,” I cut him off sharply. “He’s the son of the woman who abused me for a decade. You stole my inheritance to fund his lazy life while I bled in the dirt for an Army paycheck.”
“We can pay it back!” Thomas pleaded, tears finally leaking from his weak, watery eyes. “We’ll sell the sports car! We’ll take out a loan! Just tell the General to release Brenda! She won’t survive prison, Nora!”
I looked at my father—the man who was supposed to protect me, the man who let another woman tear my childhood to pieces—and realized I felt nothing for him. No anger, no sadness, just absolute indifference.
“Brenda is going to trial, Thomas,” I said firmly. “And as soon as she’s sentenced, my lawyers are filing a civil suit against you for every single penny you stole from my mother’s estate.”
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“You’re destroying your own family!” Thomas shouted, his desperation finally turning into ugly resentment. “You cold-hearted, selfish girl! Brenda was right about you!”
“Get out,” General Hayes barked, stepping forward with such force that Thomas jumped backward out the door. “If I see your face on this base again, civilian, I’ll have you locked in the same block as your wife.”
