Billy's Story

Book Two of the Sabine Series, #1

Josephine returns from a lengthy hospitalization in the second novel of the Sabine Series. Sabine is hopeful she is drug and alcohol free and able to manage their newly established routine. If not, she has Billy, the best older brother she has ever met. Billy has returned to the Dunn House. He's an adult now, 18, and making plans for his future. He wants his estranged mother, Josephine, to allow him to live with her while he saves money for college. The problem is Josephine has her own adult issues, just returning from drug rehabilitation and treatment for a mental breakdown. Sabine, and Mrs. Emily have already decided Billy's return is the best thing that could ever happen to Josephine's home. However, Josephine is wary and needs to be convinced. As Sabine will soon learn, human and natural disasters can derail the best intentions.

In the second novel of the Sabine Series, Billy and Sabine try to reframe their reference for family and encourage Josephine to establish new routines and a stable, organized home. However, Josephine doesn't respond to the example and soon returns to her old ways, disappointing Sabine. Intuition and intelligence are no match for Josephine's bad habits. She's a force they cannot tame.

"You want to take a tour and go upstairs?” Sabine asked. She wanted Josephine to see her room. She also wanted to press her into her weakness, like mashing her finger into Mrs. Emily’s homemade play dough. Josephine should have been contrite, but she wasn’t; she was arrogant. Josephine’s attitude was a farce to Sabine, she thought she was obvious and transparent. Sabine felt powerful over Josephine for the first time. She was on her turf and she had her Billy and her Mrs. Emily. She suddenly felt like a super hero, wanting Josephine to cower to her powers, groveling and begging for forgiveness. Sabine saw herself with one of Josephine’s Hermes scarves tied around her neck and flowing down her back. She could take one leap and fly around the room, landing in front of her mother with her hands on her hips to demand she go by the rules.
“No, I don’t want to go upstairs,” Josephine responded. “I never have liked going up there.” She was beginning to really piss Sabine off. She seldom fails to disappoint. The prickly attitude was eroding Sabine’s attempts to form an attachment. They were being chipped away by a biting, caustic fog surrounding Josephine. Sabine sensed a swirling aura of fear, discontent with the unknown. It engulfed Josephine; it was thick. There was no area penetrable by good intentions."
In a tale reminiscent of the characters in The Glass Castle and the Liar's Club, the children bond to try and make sense of their flawed parents. The heartbreak is real, but there is also a resilience in rising above the raising, a triumph that can only come when obstacles have been successfully negotiated. The problem for Sabine will be the number of obstacles and twists she encounters. Will her intelligence and intuition be enough?