35. Overwhelmed
Beverly and Peter went their separate ways for most of the morning. Because, soon after their conversation about Emmanuel, he finally found Penn and thanked him for what he did. In return, Penn brandished yet another perplexing grin and asked Peter to accompany him to do some chores in town.
They walked in a fog of winter sunlight. The ice glittered, snaking into the wood and the sky. Some time later, Peter noticed that little Willa had put on her coat and her oversized gloves and strolled after them. He threw a quick glance back at the mosaic-like house. At the tent, a candle on the roof, creamy in the sunlight.
"She can't come where we're going," said Penn.
Peter felt scrutinized and vulnerable. Was he so easy to read? He couldn't fathom how quickly Penn had unspooled his thoughts and exposed them.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Too many people. She could get overwhelmed. They could ask questions, or be loud, or… Well, you know." After a beat, Penn repeated: "She can't come."
She could get overwhelmed. People could be loud. Could.
Peter kept quiet. Swallowed his hopes of a chance to respond. Because he had no chance. There were things he didn't understand. His opinions, therefore, had no weight and no validity. He couldn't speak of what he didn't know. And Penn knew Beverly better than he did. He was her father.
Fathers are overprotective.
Peter didn't say anything. Accepted what he was offered.
But he couldn't help but think back to her cold face, pressed to his back. Her arms around his waist. The klaxons blaring around them. Pearly's snarling, bleeding into the noise. And that man…
This is unacceptable, I'm notifying the police!
She had trembled, but she had held on for dear life. She never let go, even as they descended toward a white death.
And not just that. She had frowned at Pearly.
She had stood before him, clenched her fists, refused to look at his eyes. When he had unsheathed that knife…
Yes, she had been afraid, but overwhelmed? No. She hadn't let herself become so.
Peter had been more overwhelmed than her. And he had not been in her place, unarmed, in front of Pearly Soames, with his eyes closed. He had dashed away from him. He had run.
She could become overwhelmed. Peter said nothing.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading, whoever is here today. It means a lot to me.