Running On All Fours

By Susan Jean Ricci

Being raised in a dysfunctional family with a special needs sibling and an abusive dad either makes or breaks the human spirit – especially decades ago, when there was no social intervention on behalf of minors, or active support for the parents.

Denise didn't just endure these hardships – she prospered and became the advocate her special needs brother relied on to survive. Years later, she still runs beside him as his guardian.

This gripping, emotional saga is based on a true story, and sure to tug on your heartstrings. It was written with the hope that some of the content will prove helpful to others in similar situations, or aid someone you, the reader, may know.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Jean Ricci
• Release date: Apr 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201845896

Susan Jean Ricci

A USA Today, Award-Winning Author, Susan Jean Ricci is best known for her Cindy's Crusades Series, starring the hilarious duo Cindy and Jay DeMatteo. These characters were first introduced in the multi-award winning novel Dinosaurs and Cherry Stems, and return to entertain you in its sequel The Sugar Ticket. Look for the soon to be published and final saga Don't Bruise the Bananas, releasing May 2021. Cindy and Jay's mischief making lives on in these shorts: A Sweet Snafu, Christmas With Niagara, His Sacred Vow, Passion's Secret Ingredient, and Turning up the Heat. Please also consider Ms. Ricci's other stand alone works of fiction and short stories in her new series Love's Salvation, and her latest release, the nonfiction best seller Running On All Fours. A member of the RWA, The Authors' Billboard, and the Independent Authors' Network, several of Ms. Ricci's titles have been recognized as Outstanding Novella Winner in the IAN 2020, Outstanding Finalist in the IAN 2020, and Finalist in the Outstanding Novellas Categories 2019,2018, 2017, and the Women's Outstanding Fiction Winner in the IAN 2016. Ms. Ricci's stories have been included in the following anthologies: Unforgettable Revenge: Glory and Satisfaction, New Year's Eve Shorts, Dear Santa: A Christmas Wish, The Players - Winner Takes All, Cute But Crazy - Ditzy Dudes, Invincible Diversity, Sweet and Sassy Summertime, Volume One, Summer Shorts, Unforgettable Joy: Unforgettable Pleasure; Cute But Crazy: Wild, Wacky Women; Christmas Shorts; Unforgettable Christmas Dreams: Gifts of Love; Sweet and Sassy Heroes; Sweet and Sassy in the Snow, Unforgettable Charmers - Unforgettable Hunks; Unforgettable Thrills - Passion and Power; the USA Today Bestselling Love, Christmas 2 - Movies You Love; the Sweet and Sassy at the Beach Collection, the Sweet and Sassy Weddings - A Time for Romance Anthology; Sweet and Sassy Valentine Collection; Sweet and Sassy Christmas - A Time for Romance Collection; the Unforgettable Christmas - Gifts of Love, and Unforgettable Heroes - Unforgettable Passion. Ms. Ricci blogs at http://www.susanjeanricci.com/blog.php. You can friend her at https://www.facebook.com/DinosaursCherryStems/, and you can follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Susanjeanricci. Her titles are available exclusively on Amazon.

Book preview

Book Description

A young girl assumes co-responsibility for a special needs brother and takes on her dysfunctional family – decades later she’s still running beside him as his guardian.

Praise and Awards

for

Susan Jean Ricci

SPARKLES OF THE SEASON – Gold Medal Winner for The Readers’ Favorite –

Novella Category 2020

SPARKLES OF THE SEASON - Outstanding Novella: The IAN Book of the Year Awards 2020

FIRST CLASS FLIRTATION – Finalist Novella Category: The IAN Book of the Year Awards 2020

CHRISTMAS WITH NIAGARA – Finalist in the Novella category: The IAN Book of the Year Awards 2019

SHARING SEA GLASS –Finalist in the Novella Category: The IAN Book of the Year Awards 2019

DINOSAURS And CHERRY STEMS –

The Readers’ Favorite: Third Place for Humor 2015

Global eBooks Awards: Third Place for Romance & Erotica 2015

Finalist in the Independent Author Network Contest for Outstanding First Novel 2015

Semi-finalist in The Kindle Book Reviews 2013, Best Indie Book Awards.

THE SUGAR TICKET – Outstanding Women’s Fiction The 2016 IAN Book of the Year Awards

5 Stars: Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers’ Favorite:

Re: Sparkles of the Season: You will feel the pain, the joy and the love these characters feel as their stories play out in this heartwarming tale. You don’t need to wait for the holiday season to read this; it’s a charming read at any time of the year. It is well-written with a great plot and more than enough action to keep you reading. It deals with loss and grief very well in a story that will stay with you long after you have finished it.

5 Stars: Reviewed by Tracy Slowiak for Readers’ Favorite

Author Susan Jean Ricci is gifted at writing deftly and sketching out the basics needed for a complete story without adding too much fluff to fatten up a story unnecessarily.

5 Stars: Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

Jace and Niagara are marvelous characters, both strong and independent ... Ricci's plot is contemplative and powerful, and her writing is smooth and flowing.

5 Stars: Reviewed by Hilary Hawkes for Readers’ Favorite

Susan Jean Ricci is an excellent writer and knows how to tell a fun and entertaining story. The Sugar Ticket is both thought-provoking and hilariously laugh-out-loud...

5 Stars: Reviewed By Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite

Evasion: Do No Harm is a novella deftly written in clear-cut prose and a straightforward narrative without unnecessary frills to fully deliver the story in a short read. It has drama, suspense, humor, romance, and even a small dose of mystery.

Dedication

In Loving Memory

Joseph C. Ricci

1948-2019

Present Day: 2019

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to get into a rant fest here. The negligence of the system entrusted with my brother’s wellbeing just makes me lose my shit sometimes.

He’s suffered enough abuse at the hands of our dad...

––––––––

2011

Please, dear God, help me to hang onto my stamina.

And my patience.

Right...

What the hell? I shouted into the phone. You’re saying the group home didn’t send a lunch with James again? How can they forget to provide food? Last week there was no extra water in his backpack and his dietary drink was missing three days in a row. How can anyone be so damn careless with somebody else’s life? Oh, darn, I’m so sorry for losing my temper.

Yes, I know, the day program director Alana replied with a sigh. And it’s okay for you to be upset. He’s your brother.

I switched the call to speaker mode and flexed my hands to still their shaking. With a hard sigh and a prayer for tolerance, I curbed the familiar frustration that threatened my logic while Alana elaborated on today’s lack of action.

"First I called the group home to ask someone to bring him over a sandwich or

something, but so far, no one has returned my call, she said. The covering staff didn’t answer their cell phones, either. Then, I tried to leave a message with the manager, but her voice mail said the mailbox was full."

What a surprise – ever since James had transferred into this new placement, I’d repeatedly phoned the agency admins to ask them to address the voice mail problem, as it was constant.

Hey, I’ll leave right now and bring him some lunch, I told her, grabbing the car keys from my purse. He’s got to have food in his stomach. He gets cranky when he’s hungry, plus he’s losing too much weight as it is.

The director sighed "Don’t worry about it, Denise. I already gave him my

sandwich, she replied. I’ve also called his case manager at the agency, and given her a heads up about the situation. I’m sure the staff at the group home, including the managers, will get written up again. I just wanted to let you know."

As I conveyed my thanks and concluded the call, I mentally kicked my ass for

having my brother transferred out of his former group home in the first place. There had been nothing wrong with the environment or the staff, just a long drive from my house to his.

Be careful what you wish for, because getting your reality sometimes sucks.

***

I’d been lobbying to have my brother James moved closer to me for two years, and although his case manager had told me on the on the quiet the staff at the new group home I’d had my eye on was inclined to be lazy, I hadn’t listened.

This wasn’t the first time a group home didn’t act responsibly regarding my brother. Decades had passed since his initial foray into state run institutions, and even though there were stricter laws in place regarding living conditions and penalties delved out for laxity, neither the state nor the social system seemed able to get it right to this day.

Shaking my head, I took my cup of tea and went outside to mentally gather ammo for the next battle brewing in the immediate future.

James had just gotten out of the hospital the week before and, although I’d strenuously protested his return to the day program so soon, I was told there was no staff available to care for him one on one, so he had to attend the program.

There’s a nurse on duty at the center, the manger tells me. He’ll be fine. I’ll make sure staff sends his medicine for the infection along, too.

Okay, maybe I don’t agree, but I do understand – state funding is poor and there’s not enough staff to cover twenty four-seven, but the reason for his hospitalization was due to staff not carrying out their due diligence for him in the first place.

He’d gotten a urinary tract infection and the high fever caused him to pass out and land on his eye orbit on a hard linoleum floor.

His eye orbit – the one housing his blind eye, and another souvenir from a different institutional environment twenty five years prior.

So, after James fell, I don’t receive a call until six hours later that he’d has been admitted to the hospital, and I’m totally pissed they didn’t call me immediately after they’d called 911.

When I arrived at the hospital, James has the shiner to beat all shiners and I bite my tongue to keep from going bat shit crazy. He claims his face doesn’t hurt, but how can it not?

Staff says he fell out of bed, but little by little, James told me he got up to go to the bathroom and can’t remember anything else.

Although I’m trying to keep my emotions out of the equation because practicality and resourcefulness wins battles, this appears a war I’ll never win.

Staff can make up any crap up they want about the incident, but if what they claimed was remotely true, there should have been a roll bar on his bed, if he was in danger of falling out, right?

As I calculate my options, I may as well pencil in a big fat X on my calendar for the following week, because I know the drill. There will be an emergency intake meeting to follow regarding what led to his fall and the current lack of nutritional support from today. The supervisor of my brother’s agency, as well as other group home personnel and his case manager would be present, and of course I’ll be attending, too.

These meetings are the same old shitty asinine formalities the state insists upon, so none of the players can be sued.

Sadly, nothing’s ever permanently resolved.

I’ve also learned from previous experience they were merely an abbreviated fix - until all too soon the irresponsibility of the staff members returned, and so did the identical cycle I’d become too familiar with.

Idiots. The missing lunch today really burned my gizzard.

Christ, wasn’t the last intake meeting we had two weeks ago the primary focus on my brother’s weight loss due to dietary neglect? I’d hoped the conference call with his primary physician, who also happens to be quite fond of James, would’ve