Recount...

Okay, I give up. After going back through the number of times I've reworked and restructured NWFO, and the fact that I'm doing another restructuring of a section that's becoming more demanding, no question this is draft ten. Completely. Totally. Absolutely. With no caveats. And may do an eleventh.

The word count is now below 142,000 and could go lower. Or higher. Because as I was reworking Brendan's reaction and plans after learning he is, in effect, a vague prisoner of his current situation, all hell broke loose. And made what follows even more telling about him.

He starts dating Evangelyne, effectively giving the finger to his aunt and uncle. She's Cajun but in Houston that's pretty much considered black and is frowned upon. It's beginning to mess with Uncle Sean's plans to open another bar and he's not happy about it.

Brendan's also planning to settle his immigration status himself by speaking with Jeremy's uncle, who's a well-connected lawyer in Austin and DC. The man handled bringing him in on a medical visa and got it extended, once, so he knows the basics of the situation.

But he grows close to Vangie and is thinking of asking her to marry him...until he's warned off by her father. "She's got plans, and if she's married to you, they're dead." So Brendan feels he needs to break things off with her, but before he can he's brutalized by a group of racists, and nearly dies, thanks to his weakened heart.

Then comes to find out his uncle and someone he considered a friend were involved in setting up the attack.