In Her Mind (Mountain High Valley Low ) by Renee Daniel Flagler

organization that I know of. How do I know? Because I would know them, now wouldn’t I? Brandon is the kind of man I intended for you to marry, much like your father. The kind of man who can take you places in this world and give you the finest things in life that you deserve.” She paused for effect and sighed hard. The breath lifted her chest before she blew it out in frustration. “Get yourself together and go home to your husband. You won’t embarrass me with your ridiculous pursuit.” My hands were shaking uncontrollably as she talked at me, like I was some dumb child. “Brandon is who you need. If Brian was any kind of man and wanted to be bothered with you, he would have married you two years ago when he found out that you were carrying his child.”
“What?! You want me to be like you!” I screamed with tears streaming down my face. “Be like you and marry for money and status because I couldn’t possibly achieve those things for myself? How dare you insult Brian and his parents and call them nobodies! You don’t even know them! You didn’t always have money, status, and nice clothes! In fact, you had absolutely nothing until you sunk your teeth into Daddy because of his pedigree! I guess you’ve gotten so wrapped up in your snooty social organizations that you forgot that you, too, were once a nobody!”
I didn’t realize I had been hit until the sting from the slap transmitted waves of heat through my cheek. My hand immediately covered the injured area and I tasted blood on the inside of my lip. It took another few moments to register the fact that my mother had slapped the living shit out of me. Before I knew it, my hand connected with the side of my mother’s face in retaliation. Quickly, I withdrew my hand and covered my mouth, instantly regretting the fact that I had actually struck her.
Sheila stood before me in utter disbelief as tears raced down her reddened cheek. Hurting her this way was not my intention, but she never had any regard for my feelings. Though provoked, I felt my heart swell at the disrespect I had just demonstrated.
“Oh my goodness, Mother,” I said when I finally found my voice. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Sheila simply dropped her hands and glared at me. From the look on her face I thought she was about to hit me again, especially since she was literally within striking distance. I stood strong, ready to receive whatever she had for me. Regardless of what she had said, she was still my mother. I deserved whatever I had coming.
The quiet yet heavy thud of my father’s footsteps along the beige carpet infiltrated the tension that settled in the short distance between the two of us, but neither of us took our eyes off of the other.
“What’s going on here?” Daddy’s deep voice echoed through the air, disintegrating in the midst of the thick tension.
“Nothing, Daddy. I was just leaving,” I said as I turned to go upstairs and get my sleeping child ready for the trip back to Long Island. As I passed my father, I could see the look of bewilderment on his face.
Tears were still streaming down my mother’s face and I still hadn’t gotten a handle on my own. Red blotches peppered both mine and my mother’s fair-skinned cheeks, alluding to the fact that something very serious was indeed going on, despite the brush-off I tried to give Daddy.
“Pudding!” Daddy called out, using his pet name for me, but his gaze was fixed on Sheila.
“I’m sorry, Daddy, but I really have to go,” I said, trying not to break down completely, then raced upstairs to wake Brice, gather our belongings, and get the hell out of there.
Although I was dreadfully sorry for how I had disrespected my mother in her own house, I was more determined to show her, Lexie, Brian, and any other non-believer that Brian was destined to be mine.
Chapter 9 Brian
    Days passed before Lexie would speak to me. I still hadn’t gotten the chance to explain to her how Brice had ended up at the