Emotionally Bulletproof--Scott's Story (Book 1)

by David Allen

  “Well, I guess I’ll go somewhere tropical sometime,” Phillip stated. “But I’ll go when I can afford to play seven days a week.” He smirked at Scott.

  The dinner conversation continued, mostly talking about inconsequential subjects. Scott remained reserved, careful about his choice of words and subject matters. Though everyone seemed happy, there was a certain tension Scott detected, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

  Maybe it was when Owen commented about how Tiffany needed to watch his mother, Jean, cook fish, because, “You can always learn from the experts.” Tiffany looked up, eyes flashing, but she said nothing.

  After dinner, the group moved to the living room. Scott’s mom brought pie and ice cream, and Robert turned on the nightly news.

  “I’ll get some of my spiced rum, that will go good with dessert, won’t it, Owen?” Robert grunted as he sat up from his chair. A minute later he returned with a glass bottle and several small glasses. He poured several glasses and handed them around.

  Scott shook his head. “I don’t want any.”

  “Still too good to drink?” Robert muttered. Phillip looked at Scott as he sipped his glass. “Am I going to hell, Scott?” he asked sarcastically.

  “No, I don’t feel that way, the alcohol just doesn’t agree with my stomach.” Scott squirmed uneasily.

  “Don’t bother him,” piped up Tiffany. She walked into the room carrying a piece of pie from the kitchen. “I don’t want any rum either, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  Owen grunted. His eyes glinted as he took a sip of his drink and leaned back. “There’s nothing wrong with a drink, either.”

  Scott was afraid to drink with Owen. He had never been one to handle alcohol very well, and it always made him talk freely. He knew that if he loosened up too much, he might say something he wouldn’t want to. He also remembered how his mom had told him months earlier that his dad and Owen were drinking a lot more than usual. At the time she had said it, Scott hadn’t thought about it much. He had been too busy with life at the mission to worry about matters in distant Alaska, but now that he was here, it seemed much closer and relevant.

  Scott looked around the living room. His dad and Owen were visibly relaxing as the alcohol fl owed through them. His brother, Phillip, made witty remarks and sipped his glass, a smirk across his face. His mom and aunt were in the kitchen, talking. Scott was intrigued. Before he had left, he had never remembered his parents drinking with guests, or at all for that matter, other than the occasional glass of wine at a New Years party. This was strange for his dad. What had changed?

  Scott decided to start a new conversation. “Why don’t we all plan a fishing trip to Seward, Dad, before the summer’s over? I haven’t been there for a couple years now.”

  His dad turned in the couch. “Can’t do it.” He shook his head. “Don’t got the equipment.”

  Scott cocked his head, confused. “What do you mean, we don’t have the equipment? Don’t we have Matthew’s old fishing boat and gear?”

  “Don’t have the boat anymore.” His dad shook his head.

  Scott frowned. “Did you sell it, Dad?”

  “It was actually my boat, Scott.” Owen looked up from his chair darkly.

  “Oh, okay, I didn’t know that.” Scott responded meekly. It had been parked at his dad’s house after Matthew die though. He was confused.

  “We went out deer hunting, Dad, Owen and I,” Phillip piped up. “Long story short, the boat’s still stranded out there on a gravel beach, engines both dead, and a hole in it.”

  Aunt Tiffany and Scott’s Mom walked back into the room.

  Owen stirred on the couch again. “The boat was a piece of trash from the beginning. I don’t feel that bad about it.” He poured himself another glass. “Matthew didn’t know the first thing about boats. Just the first few times I took it out, it started acting up. I couldn’t help that he passed a lemon on to me.”

  Scott remembered how his uncle had bought that boat. He had carefully poured over its manual, and talked to its previous owner for several hours before he had paid the hefty price, $12,500. Scott remembered how that boat had been his uncle’s pride and joy. He had carefully cleaned and oiled it, had a new outboard motor installed. He had taken his family fishing in it several times before his death. It had never ever had trouble when his uncle used it. Scott had assumed it was his dad’s after Matthew’s death, but Owen must have claimed its ownership after he married Tiffany. He held deed to her deceased husband’s property. Scott was sure his dad hadn’t resisted Owen, even if he hadn’t liked it. Scott already knew that it was Owen who had ruined the boat. That was obvious by his dad’s silence.

  “Matthew sure did pay a lot for that boat for it being a lemon, though,” Scott couldn’t help saying.

  “Like I said he didn’t know anything about boats,” Owen said. “I think he must have been naïve and stupid to be swindled into paying as much as he did.”

  Scott’s dad was still silent. Everyone sat mutely for a second. Aunt Tiffany cleared her throat. “When I was married to Matthew, he always took very good care of that boat. We never had any trouble with it at all. Why don’t you just admit that it was you who ruined it?” Her tone was icy.

  Owen sat up and slammed his empty glass down on the table angrily. “Since when were you a boat expert, Tiff?” His eyes were red. “I think I know a tad more about what I’m talking about than you. Why don’t you keep your focus on learning to cook the fish?”

  Tiff bristled. Everyone sat in stunned silence. “It’s pretty hard for me to cook fish, since you destroyed the boat we caught them with, don’t you think, Owen? Or do I not know what I’m talking about? Just like Matthew didn’t know anything about boats?”

  Owen was standing shakily, the vein showing red above his forehead. “Tiffany, you’re as stupid as your old husband who fell off the roof.” Saliva dripped from his intoxicated lips. “I can see why you two were so good together now,” he snarled.

  Robert stood. “Now, now, we’re all family here, let’s not get out of hand.” He tried to stand between Tiff and the irate Owen, using his calm psychiatrist voice.

  Tiffany shrugged him aside, like he wasn’t there. “You pompous ass, Matthew never treated me as badly as you do!” She flung her napkin angrily at him, and turned. “I’m leaving.” She marched sobbing toward the door.

  “Not without me, you aren’t, Tiff.” Owen stumbled toward the door. “You wouldn’t want something bad to happen to you, would you, Tiff?” His tone was threatening. Robert was trying to protest, but the larger Owen moved him aside. “Thanks for the purty,” he slurred. “Sorry Tiff has a forked tongue like she does. I would have liked to stay longer.” With that, the two stumbled out into the darkness, Tiffany crying and Owen talking loudly. “Just shurt up and get in the truck and drive, woman.”

  Everyone stood in the house, shocked and dismayed, the empty pie plates and half-empty glasses cluttered around the living room and table. Scott’s mom was dabbing her eye with a napkin and sobbing. “Oh my, oh my.” She was wringing her hands. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”

  Robert stood wavering in the entrance, clearly shaken up, his tie loose around his neck. He was sweating slightly. “Good job, Scott, way to make a problem.”

  “Ya. Way to play your aces, dumbo,” Phillip chimed in. “You knew what you were doing when you made your comments.”

  “I didn’t know anything had happened with the boat until this conversation! I thought the boat was Dad’s. And Dad, you know as well as I that it was Owen who ruined that boat, not Matthew.”

  “I know,” Robert admitted. “I still told you very clearly not to cause any problems.” He was struggling with what to say, still indecisive. “I’m not saying that was all your fault, but you definitely didn’t help.”

  His dad turned and walked from the room, pacing to the kitchen. He suddenly turned. His face darkened. “Scott, I want you to leave. I’m a man who keeps my word.�
�� He turned and walked again. “I’ll reconsider whether or not you can stay here in the morning.”

  His dad opened the screen door and disappeared into the evening darkness. “I want you gone before I get back,” he called over his shoulder.

  Scott stood speechless in the hall. His dad’s truck started and the lights flashed across the front window as he turned down the driveway.

  His mom was crying angrily. “Just go, Scott.” She turned and thumped up the stairs and slammed the door to her room.

  Phillip stood and shrugged his shoulders. “Tough,” was all he said, he walked past Scott and disappeared outside. “I’m leaving.”

  That night as Scott pulled down the driveway, a few fall leaves swirling in his headlights, he felt empty. More then emptiness. He felt something else, too. Maybe it was cockiness, or confidence. He knew where he was going and he was glad to go.

  “Dad,” Scott said calmly into the darkness. “I wish you well.”

  The End.

  Look for the second part to this exciting series!

  EPILOGUE

  Hey, it’s Scott again. Thank you for reading about me and sharing my life experience. If you read the book for entertainment, I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more books about my story coming out soon. Just search online for the authors’ names or for the name of my book. My life goes in yet another direction later and I can’t wait to tell you about it.

  I wanted this book written for more than just entertainment. It exists to help you become more trustworthy. While trying not to micromanage, I made sure that the authors progressed carefully, not shoving as many lessons in the book as possible. Therefore, the only lesson in here is to increase your ability to be trusted.

  Speaking of the authors, let me introduce the authors to you:

  David Allen co-wrote this story at 22 years old, and has a business degree. Since he learned about the three legs of trust, he has learned how to gain a network of people he trusts. This network has proven helpful to him in dealing with the deaths of both his parents, who died four months apart from each other. Without constantly working on increasing his trust, he would not have any deep connections with anyone.

  Brian Shaul is a life coach who has spent over 10,000 hours working with people one-on-one to improve their lives. He has found that the three legs of trust are the foundation for emotional health. He has found that the people he works with get the results they need, add value to others, learn who to trust, and learn who not to trust when they understand this basic lesson at a heart level.

  Now that you have some background information on them, I want you to understand what I mean when I say someone has learned something at a heart level, because this is what makes all the difference.

  People can learn a lesson and store it in their head, and can answer correctly if asked a question about it. That is one level of learning, a level with which most of you are familiar. To take action based on that answer is to know that lesson at an even deeper level. Further, to be able to act in accordance with what you’ve learned without having to think about it is one of the furthest levels at which you can learn anything. I cannot stress the importance of learning at a deep level, especially with issue of character.

  I call this deep understanding ‘learning at a heart level.’

  If you do not learn trust at that heart level, people will be suspicious of you, often without reason. Progress in any endeavor will move very slowly, and problems with people will plague you all the way through your journey. However, if you do learn at an actionable level to live a high-trust life, your little mistakes will cause less suffering, higher trust people will gravitate toward you, and your chances of success are greatly increased.

  One great way to learn at a heart level is to study this book and the worksheets that follow in a group. Many who read the book and do the worksheets by themselves will find themselves scoring around 70% or 80%. This is often because we see the world through our eyes only. Studying in a group will increase your perceived capacity to be trustworthy.

  In other words, you’ll fi nd that you really aren’t as trustworthy as you thought, that you actually have a lot of opportunities to improve. Keep in mind that this understanding doesn’t make you less trustworthy than before, it just gives you a chance to gain more trust and to better identify trust in others. You may get defensive. If you do, it is because you are letting an emotional wall down, allowing new things to influence how you see the world. Sometimes that is uncomfortable.

  I promise you this: Increasing your trust will improve your life, taking you from good to great in all areas where you apply the lessons. I urge you to work on the worksheets as a group and share your own strengths and weaknesses. You are welcome to make copies so that you can repeat them as much as you like, measuring your progress as you go. God Bless You.

  — Scott Calloway

  WANT MORE FROM THE AUTHORS?

  Want to know when Brian or David release another book?

  Go to authordavid.com and sign up on the right side .

  Already Went Through Book 1? There’s More In The Series!

  Emotionally Bulletproof - The Three, Twelve, and Seventy (Book 2 in the Scott’s Story Series)

  Are Your Relationships Helping You Or Holding You Back?

  As his own family turns on him, Scott Calloway has trouble answering this question. After saving his aunt from her abusive husband, Scott finds himself managing her construction company. With the danger of becoming a target of his abusive uncle, and those still loyal to him, Scott must learn to:

  -Create healthy social circles

  -Choose wisely who to lean on for support

  Just like Scott, you may find yourself in need of healthy relationships. By joining Scott in this story, you will have the opportunity to learn a rare, often unexplored lesson from the Bible. After experiencing this story, and the worksheets at the book’s end, you will be that much closer to becoming Emotionally Bulletproof.

  Get the book here.

  How did you like the book?

  Leave a review on our page.

  HAVING INTEGRITY

  Integrity isn’t something that you do, its something that you have. Actions that demonstrate any of these six categories to a high degree will increase your integrity in the eyes of others. Faking these characteristics or going completely against them will lower your integrity.

  After making copies, circle a number that represents how you see yourself on each of these. For further feedback, have others fill out where they feel you are on each of these anonymously, writing suggestions that you can use for improvement.

  Patience 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Kindness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Not envious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Humility 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Slow to anger 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Truthfulness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

  Total _____/60

  Average (total/6)_____

  If you have questions or want to email a story about your experience using this worksheet, send an email to

  “dgallen@authordavid.com”

  GETTING THE JOB DONE

  Getting the job done is a little different. Often we test people for trust by seeing if they get the job done for us or not. When people say they will do something, and they do it, your trust for them goes up. If they don’t do it, you question whether you should trust them anymore. To truly have trust, you must do more than just care about others and have integrity. You must also be able to take action and get results.