Scrambled

I worked through two chapters of APoS-NWFO, including the one where Brendan finds out he's not Brendan, in Houston. It's ten days after he's become cognizant of his surroundings and family, and everything's been very vague, around him. His cousins call him Bren and they know he's from Ireland. He keeps to himself as he lets his mind and body settle, and avoids dealing with his aunt's two daughters as much as possible...because they are nosy, obnoxious and controlling.

Brandi is eleven while Bernadette is ten, but only ten months separate them. They look almost exactly alike, and are always arguing over something. Brendan catches their interest and they do things to mess with him...like pretending to be each other and sneaking into his room, during a sleepover...when he's sleeping...just to show him off to their friends. They know he talks in his sleep and they're also horrified that he eats a chicken drumstick with a knife and fork.

Brendan's bedroom is in the attic and has no locks on the doors. So he digs through the furniture in storage, up there, and finds some old wooden chairs to prop under the doorknobs to effectively keep them out. But not before they've started asking questions about Father Devil...who's the priest that molested his friend, Danny.

Brendan reads a lot to keep from thinking, but finally the call to fix a car gets him out of the room and out of the house. His Uncle Sean is having problems with an old Volvo 554. Takes him no time to start the car running, which pulls him out of his shell. He gets dressed, wanders around outside and is shaken by how rich and opulent the River Oaks area of Houston is.

He seems so well and good, when his aunt returns from grocery shopping she tells him a bit about his new life and he does a crash and burn in the kitchen, passing out. He's still not completely healed, and is now dealing with a massive amount of guilt.

This probably needs more work but it gets me through to the next part, him realizing he's free of the Troubles.