Neal had stopped listening to his mother and sister about a few words in the conversation. It was the same boring trash they always spewed.
"It will bring shame to the family."
"She is a worthless orphan."
"Neal, dear, look at these other girls. Now, don't you think this looks much better than a dirty stable girl?"
They just drilled on and on and on and on and on. Eventually His mother got up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her.
"Neal.." she said in a motherly tone "Are you listening?"
Then he cracked again. Usually Neal was a coward but lately he had been finding a lot of courage in his anger. So, with a hearty and irritated scream, Neal pushed his mother away from him and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.
Why couldn't they understand? Why was this so hard to understand?
He loved her. He always loved her. How many times did he have to repeat that before anyone got it?
Tomorrow he will go to the pony house. Tomorrow he will propose again. On his knees if he had to. He wouldn't stop till he got what he wanted.
He was a rotten brat after all.