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Hey, sorry I’ve just disappeared these last two days! Life is tiring. But you have to prioritize, and this is one of my priorities. I’ll send my thoughts on the past two chapters in a bit, but what I think for Chapter 15: (sorry I missed so much!)

 

• There’s a huge smudge on page 109 in my book. It just came like that. It looks like a tiny gray flame, and I like it a lot!

 

It’s really sad. I think I remember feeling something like that before. Not as potent as Reef, but I know what it’s like to feel dissatisfied and distant with everyone in your life, and this was with two loving parents I could not thank enough. Reef, he’s in a new environment and he hasn’t healed from his mother’s death very much at all. Now he’s been thrown these entirely new issues, forcing him to do something, forcing him to leave his comfort zone and it must be terrifying.

 

Little boys have such strange logic. Scratch that. I think the younger you are, the more skewed your logic is. This applies to all ages. Reef’s reason for not clobbering Declan was so off the mark… but I’m glad he didn’t do it. Revenge is never worth it. In the end, you just hurt yourself more than you ever hurt them. You’ve got to move on and continue to love them. It’s the best thing you can do for the both of you.

 

But he does have a point. He can’t afford to get into any more trouble, especially with a crime he actually committed.

 

“But I’m so worthless and weak that he has nothing to fear from me.” I’m so glad he didn’t stay that way. I can’t believe there are real children who feel this way and worse. That I have real classmates that feel this way and worse. I wish we could help each other. That’s such a miserable way to live.

 

This is the part that made me really appreciate Jenna. A woman with genuinely good intent, if oblivious to her own kid’s behavior. She was totally not prepared to take in an entire new twelve-year-old and his expenses–who would be? She wasn’t expecting the grief of losing her best friend nor all of the strains inviting her grieving child into her family would come with. I can’t imagine the kinks in her and Willis’ relationship that must have happened with that decision. Kudos to the both of them.

 

“So did you.” As a person who knew what actually happened, that slightly ticked me off. As a person who knows Jenna genuinely believes he’s being hypocritical and did commit that crime, that made me realize how patient and forgiving she must be. She was raised well.

 

@Gord, you are so good at cliffhangers!

 

@Raymond, Konvict is a scary character. Very scary. There was a character similar to him in one of the other books. I don’t remember the situation.

@Jena, Jenna is a good person! Just think about it from her perspective: She doesn’t know Reef like his mother did. All she sees is a young boy who has been very obviously grieving and depressed for the entire past year. She doesn’t know how he copes with the pain and if he even is coping. But she knows she can’t treat him like an angel, that would make her own kids feel less important. And the thing, is Reef is NOT her son! She is not going to be his new mom. His mom is gone and nobody can ever replace her; I’m glad Jenna knows that. But she still needs to treat him with love and care. She just doesn’t know how; kind of like Theo and his dad. And she doesn’t trust Declan. She wasn’t happy with whatever he did to get the police on his back. She’s just trying to give equal opportunities to all of her family: Liam, Carolyn, Declan, and Reef. (‘Cuz even if he isn’t her kid, he’s family.)

 

Be blessed,

Jade