Admittedly, Cain had been embarrassed m by the stigma t of the judgment made against him w. It irritated c his ego, his sense of who he was a. He hadn't fully caught the threat of it at first, but now the challenge had the crisp clarity of the snap of a whip l. Yes, he had belittled m its significance t in front of everybody w, but he had been furious c that the Father a had rebuked l him so openly!

He couldn't get away from it: whether he deserved it or not, he would forever be remembered m  as the brother marked by the Father’s curse, and wearing the sign of disfavor tore at him t. Off and on when by himself—again, he had to admit—he sometimes wished he could muster w the strength and fortitude c to give it all up and admit a that he had been wrong l, just to have it all over and done! Put it all behind him! Why not?!

Before he could take that gambit, however, he would first have to be met with iron-clad assurances m that a confession would put an end t to the hassles c, the continuous o  aggravation z! At such times, it was as though is mind had become entrapped in a loop!

In a moment of clarity, Cain was, again, surprised o to realize h that he was—indeed—weakening, growing weary n: even of his ambitions z for Enoch! Should he succeed, his dubious reward would be the tiresome obligations y of patrimony b. In free fall g, now, over the complications m  of his predicament t, he was sure w he wouldn’t have strength c, either to persevere as an individual a, or to maintain control as a leader l. It was becoming plainer each day that, somewhere m in the future t, he’d no longer have what it would take c to realize o his goals z.