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A Pleasant Story - Chapter Eight - Broken Dreams
Back to: A Pleasant Story - Chapter Seven - Too Hot to Handle? Part II Next: A Pleasant Story - Chapter Eight Point Four Two - Brandi's Troll



A Pleasant Story
Chapter Eight
Broken Dreams

Brandi Broke held her son Beau's hands to help him learn to walk. He picked up the skill quickly and was then tottering all around their small house, happy with his new mobility. Brandi watched him fondly, but a little sadly, too. The father of her children had died before he was able to see these new milestones in Beau's life.




Her older son, Dustin, worried her because he'd been hanging out with some questionable people and working in the criminal career track. When she asked him about it he was defensive and secretive.

"I don't want to talk about it, Mom!" Dustin said angrily. "I have to work because we've got no money since Dad died, or haven't you noticed? I have to go to school, too!"

Dustin stomped out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind him.



Brandi looked after him worriedly. Dustin and his father Skip had been very close and Skip's death had affected him deeply. She'd tried to fill the hole in her son's life, but he'd become more and more distant. She hadn't wanted anything more than a happy family life; Skip's death had ended that dream.

She was glad Beau was too young to remember his Dad. She scooped him up and he laughed happily.



She set Beau down and turned to the window to watch Dustin as he walked from the house.

Suddenly she heard a siren sound coming from Beau's direction, and turned to find him playing with his musical percussion toy.

"Oh!" she said, pleased. "You have a passion for music! That's great, Beau!"




Beau may have had a passion for music, but he did not yet have the skill to create much more than a cacophonous assault on her ears. She turned away from him to mute the noise and was suddenly swayed by a wave of nausea that made her heave.

She ran to the bathroom and made it just in time.



She'd been out in town the day before–she must have eaten something that made her sick.

Brandi took a deep breath to ease her nausea and walked into her backyard to look at the place where Skip had died. Although he had been a very good swimmer, the pool's lack of a ladder had proved to be his fatal downfall.



“I don't know why I keep this pool,” Brandi said. “Beau could fall in, and nobody likes to swim anyway since Skip died here.”

Suddenly she jumped. “Hey!” she said, "I know one way to get some more simoleons!"

Brandi grabbed her hammer and began wrecking the pool, receiving a refund for every tile she destroyed.




The increase to her household funds inspired her to look for more ways to build her family's finances.

"Hey! We don't need trees!"




After removing the lightning-attracting foliage from the backyard, she wandered into the front area and looked at the very odd and crowded bush garden next to the porch.

"Well that can go--who ever heard of putting a fence around five bushes with barely enough room to turn around?"




When her destruction was complete, Brandi's finances were in a little bit better shape, and she had enough simoleons to get something she'd been wanting to buy for Dustin. He worked so hard, she wanted him to be comfortable when he slept.

Suddenly she was very hungry, and went inside to pig out on some pizza. She ate two slices, but still didn't feel satisfied.





She was worried--this was exactly how she'd felt when she'd been expecting Beau.

"Please don't let me be pregnant," she wished.

"Oh no," she thought. "I've felt that before. Is it possible?"

Brandi hoped not. She'd had an ill-considered “one-night-woohoo” the previous evening, and if she was pregnant this was going to seriously deplete her already-pitiful simoleon reserves.





Beau was tired of his musical poundings by now, so Brandi tucked him into his crib and suddenly felt very tired herself, so laid down to get some sleep as well.








She'd only slept for a few minutes when a rumbling in her stomach woke her. With a familiar "bloop," her belly popped out and her worries were confirmed.

Brandi looked down at her stomach in dismay, but was too tired to think about what she was going to do just then. She climbed back into bed to sleep until Beau's cries would awaken her.





When Dustin got home from school, his girlfriend Angela followed him off the school bus and immediately started berating him about his job in the criminal career.

"What are you doing for them, cracking safes? It isn't a good career path, Dustin! Why don't you get a nice job in the politics career?"






Dustin responded snidely. "Look Angela, politics is boring. The criminal track is exciting, and I make good money, and I don't want to do anything else! But I'm tired. Why don't you go home and I'll call you later?"




As Angela walked away, Dustin wondered why she was even with him. She never seemed to be satisfied with anything he liked or wanted to do. She acted as though all she wanted to do was change him.





When Dustin went inside, he was greeted by the sight of his mother and her pregnant stomach.

"You have GOT to be kidding me! We're skint as it is, and now you're pregnant again? I'm already working and going to school--how are we going to afford this? I'm exhausted half the time because of that damn cheap bed! Dammit Mom."







Brandi tried to speak but he ignored her and sat down to play with Beau. His tone and manner changed immediately as he spoke to his brother.

"Hey little buddy? What are you playing? Music, huh? This is fun!"

Beau laughed at his brother and continued pounding out his notes.




Brandi was glad Dustin was so good to Beau, but she wished she could reach him better. She sighed and wandered over to the art easel she'd purchased and was surprised to hear the familiar siren sound. She'd never had the time before to discover her passion.

"I love arts and crafts? Cool! Maybe someday I could get a job as an artist!"





Dustin waited until his Mom and brother were in bed before doing his homework and making a few calls. He called Angela and tried to placate her about his job in the criminal path, but she didn't seem convinced.

He was tired then and finally went into his room to go to sleep. When he got there, he looked down in surprise at the new bed. His mom had replaced his cheap old uncomfortable bed with a new cozy one that would mean he wouldn't need to sleep so long. His heart ached. Since his Dad had died he'd been trying to be the man of the house, but being broke all the time was really hard. He did love his Mom--he just wished she weren't so flighty. And now, pregnant again.






He climbed into his new bed and sighed as the comfy mattress cradled him gently.



The next morning Brandi made sure she was up before Dustin went to school so she could try to reassure him about their situation, but he wasn't interested. He backed away from her and left for school.





That evening, Brandi called a few friends over to celebrate Beau's birthday. When her friend Nina arrived she immediately began squealing about Brandi's pregnancy and started talking to her tummy.

"Well hello little Broke baby! I can't wait to meet you!"






Nina then pounced on Brandi. "I can't believe you didn't tell me! So who's the Dad?"

Brandi blushed and said, "I'd rather not say. I haven't told him yet. Let's just say it was a one-time thing."

Nina nodded knowingly. "I totally get it! Well, let me know if you need any help!"





In addition to Nina, Brandi had invited her sister Dina, who excitedly told Brandi that she'd gotten engaged to Mortimer Goth the night before. Brandi congratulated her, then greeted Sanjay Ramaswami--a nice young man she'd met at the mall who had recently moved to town and wanted to be a rock star. She'd felt a bit sorry for him since his wife had recently left him to live with a celebrity chef, so she'd extended her hand in friendship to him.

They were all happy to celebrate Beau's birthday with her.

Dustin held his brother near the cake as the guests cheered him on.




Dustin placed Beau carefully on the floor, and they all circled around him and waited excitedly to see how Beau would look when he grew up!




Beau popped up into his childhood form and looked at himself excitedly. It was so nice to be grown! Not as big as Dustin yet, but on his way!




Beau grabbed a piece of cake and chomped it down, then ran around to the guests at the party and excitedly talked to everyone. He told Dina a joke about rockets.




Then he ran over to Sanjay and started talking about music, and Sanjay told him that he loved music too!



He ran next to Nina and proceeded to tell her the same joke he'd told to Dina. Nina played along and pretended she hadn't already heard it.





When the guests had left, he asked his Mom if he could talk to his new brother or sister, and Brandi agreed.

"Ooogie boogie," he chittered, as he waved and squawked at her stomach.





"Ooogie Boogie?" Brandi asked, laughing.

"Yeah!" Beau said. "It's baby talk! Do you think the baby will like me? I'm going to be the best big brother ever because Dustin taught me how!"

Dustin wished he could join in his brother's excitement, but his simoleon worries weighed heavily on him.

Beau continues, “There's just one thing Mom. Look at my clothes! This is ridiculous! Even a dress would be better! Can we get me something different?”

Brandi agreed that a trip to the mall would be a priority! “But let's wait until the baby comes, okay? I get tired easily right now.” And, she thought to herself, I need to figure out a way to get the simoleons to buy him a new outfit.

“That's okay Mom,” Beau said agreeably, “I can wear my gym clothes until we can get something!”







When Beau got home from school the next day, he jumped off the bus and felt excited that now he had homework to do, just like his big brother! Maybe his brother would teach him how to do it!

He'd brought a friend home from school with him, so he waited for her to get off the bus with him and said goodbye to the bus driver.



Beau started talking to his new friend, Tina Traveller, about his brother and told her how cool he was. But then his cheerful voice grew somber. "I really like him, but I'm really worried because he works as a criminal. That makes me sad because he's really nice and only mean people work like that. It's dangerous, too."



Tina asked, “What's wrong with the criminal track? Lots of people do it.”

Beau turned from her angrily.

“You don't understand. Dustin is hanging out with really bad people and I'm afraid he could go to jail!”



Tina replied, “I'm sorry. That's not good, I guess. Wanna play tag?”

Beau was easily distracted from his worries and the two had a rousing game of tag until it was time for her to go home.




It was only then Beau realized Dustin wasn't home from his job yet, and his worries began anew. He sighed and went inside to clean up the dishes his Mom had been too tired to finish.




Dustin was at the mall, looking for a man his boss had sent him to meet. He'd been waiting for hours but didn't want to give up because he was hopeful that this new business acquaintance might help out with his family's financial problems. Finally, he thought he saw him.

He spotted the man in the clothing store and walked over to introduce himself.






"Sir?" he asked, "Are you Mr. Abbadon? I'm Dustin Broke. Nick Nefarious told me you might have a job for me?"

Abbadon looked at him doubtfully. "You're awfully young to work for us, I mean, me, son."



"Yes sir, I am young, sir, but I'm a hard worker. You can ask Nick if you want. Please can I have the job sir? My family really needs simoleons!"





Samael explained the job was simply making deliveries, and handed Dustin his first package and told him the address where it was to be delivered.

"And get yourself a cellphone, son, if you'd like to do more work for us. I mean, me. I need to be able to contact you easily. And don't mention this to anyone. Our clients require discretion."






Dustin agreed and accepted the package, but then said, "Sir, I'd be happy to get a cellphone but I don't have enough money for one. My family is really poor."

Samael handed him some simoleons and replied, "This is an advance against your first payment. Handle it right or we'll come after you. . . I mean, I'll come after you to collect the simoleons."

"Yes sir!" said Dustin, "You can count on me!"




As Dustin left to purchase a cellphone from the mall kiosk, Samael went to speak to the woman who had been watching his exchange with Dustin.

“Do you think he'll work out?” she asked him.

"Yeah. He's young, but seems reliable. With that worthless cheat in jail, we need somebody to pick up the slack. The goods are piling up." They exited the mall together.


While Dustin was purchasing his cellphone, he hoped there was nothing shady about his new job. His family needed simoleons now more than ever but he didn't want to get in trouble!








Back at the Broke household, little Beau slept fitfully. It was late at night and his brother still wasn't home. He loved his brother and worried about him. In his dreams, his Dad came back and made Dustin stop working as a criminal and everything turned out fine.

Click Next: A Pleasant Story - Chapter Eight Point Four Two - Brandi's Troll to continue...

 
Back to: A Pleasant Story - Chapter Seven - Too Hot to Handle? Part II Next: A Pleasant Story - Chapter Eight Point Four Two - Brandi's Troll
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