Decisions

Just a little Something I wrote a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Decisions

I was only three years old when my house was burnt down. I was out sleeping over my grandparents so my parents could have a peaceful night alone. At least this is what I was told. My parents weren’t able to escape the blazing house in time. That was the night they passed away. No one could figure out what had led to the house being burnt down. The firefighters said it may have started from a lit candle, but I have my doubts. My name is Alex Green and this is my story.

            Ever since I was three my grandparents have raised me. I think they were almost happy that my parents died. They were always telling me that my parents should have raised me better. Ever since I’ve lived with my grandparents things have been different. They are both brilliant people. My grandfather is a retired C.E.O. of a significant company whose name I’ll never be allowed to know. He was part of a division in the C.I.A. My grandmother is a retired Navy Seal and tough as nails. Only seven women in the world were actually ever allowed to be a Seal and she is one of them. She was on various missions throughout the world , but said that she never regretted her decision. When I was younger I used to love listening to her stories about all her adventures as a kid my age and her Seal adventures. But now I’m older and have heard all of her stories.

            I’m more into technology now and my grandmother wanted to kill me for taking apart her Blu-Ray disc player so I could see how the insides worked. I don’t care though because that’s just how I am. I need to know everything I can and how everything works. My teachers are always getting mad at me for not paying attention. Sometimes I just zone out. Besides, I can learn more on the Discovery Channel than what those teachers are teaching us. I get straight A’s and nobody tells me I can do better because in my school, I’m a nobody. I’m fine with that though, I have two close friends I hang with and that’s that, no one cares. That’s just the way I like it. But anyways, school just feels different now. Some kids actually care about being there and others, well, not so much.

            I was talking to my grandmother this morning and for some reason she seemed kind of antsy, like something was nagging at her and wouldn’t go away. She told me to remind her to talk to me about something important when I got home from school. I figured it was just something about my effort in school or something of that nature. It was an ordinary day of school, Art class was boring, Math was boring, Science was boring, Social Studies was boring but interesting when my best friend Jimmy Schneider got caught for shooting an elastic band at me. The teacher turned around from the board just as the “projectile”, as the teacher that wrote on his detention slip called it, exited his fingertips. I was surprised she hadn’t noticed earlier, with our war going on and elastic bands all over the floor. Anyway, after that Language Arts was boring and I got on the bus and went home.

            On my way home I zoned out like I do so often and tried to remember my parents. I vaguely remember a small blue car bed. My parents were excited about this. At least that’s what I think.

            My friend noticed my stop was coming up and punched me in the shoulder and said ,“Hey, dude, you sleepin on the bus over night or actually getting off?”

             I said, “Oh, yeah sorry man and thanks for the reminder.” and got off.

            I started walking to my house when I noticed two ambulances drive by. I figured they were just using our street as go through. But, as I got closer to home I could hear that they were closer and their siren was blowing away. Now a million different thoughts went through my head. What’s going on? Who’s hurt? I started sprinting towards my house. My intuition was right, they were at my house.

            I wasn’t allowed in the house because there was that annoying yellow tape with the words “DO NOT CROSS” written on them. I tried to get one of the adults attention, but they were all to busy. Eventually one of noticed me and walked over.

            “You lost son” he asked in a deep warm voice. I retaliated “No, I live here and would really like to know what happened.”

            “So you’re Alex Green?” He asked me.

            “Yes, that is my name.” I said

            “Well, we had received a call from one of your neighbors saying that had heard multiple gunshots. We came to investigate and found your grandmother on the floor with a bullet in her head. I thought I had told someone to call you at school. I’m very sorry for your loss.”, He said very empathetically.

            “Well, uh, yeah, that’s just kinda crazy. I would have never expected my grandmother to get, well, shot. Where was my grandfather anyway?” I asked with interest.

            “We some have some more unfortunate news. Your grandfather has disappeared. He is right now, I’m sorry to say, our prime suspect in this case. It just all seems so suspicious, him being gone. He may just be out though, or on a less fortunate note, have been kidnapped.” replied the officer.

            “I could never have imagined that he could do that. My guy tells me theres no way it can be true.” I said. Even as I said the sentence there was nagging doubt in the back of my mind thats leading me to believe otherwise.

            He said ,”Well, sometimes people just do crazy things. We can never be sure, and have to analyze every possible angle. And again I’m so sorry for your loss. We found her will and she said that her husband will get all of her personal belongings, but that you get her car. So at least you got one good thing out of this whole deal.”

            Now, most people would probably be all upset and crying after receiving news like this. But me, I’m just not a very emotional person. I am bit uneasy though. With the fact that I can no longer go in my house, I have no where to live, and my grandfather is the prime suspect in the murder of my grandmother. Kind of a lot to take in after a boring day of school. It’s alright though because I called my best friend Jessica Fitzpatrick. She seemed more upset than me and offered for me to stay at her house until things cooled down and I could go back in mine or until I got a new legal guardian.

            I got a police escort over there and the officer said he’ll let me know when I can return to my house and that he’ll take care of everything with situation as far as living, a guardian, and my belongings which I would really like back. I’m glad that I at least brought my laptop to school today or none of this would ever have gotten written down. Jessica has an awesome house. You walk in, to a huge front hall with Gothic type arches. Then you can either go to the living room to the left, the study to the right, or the kitchen straight ahead. I always go to the kitchen. There was Jess eating her lunch.

            “Are comin in or just gonna stand there and wait for me to roll out the red carpet?” she asked. This is Jessica Fitzpatrick: funny, sarcastic, brilliant, very up to date, and never misses and opportunity to sneak in a wise crack.

            “Yeah, I was just taking in the view of the woods” I said.

            “Oh, come on that’s your excuse every time. I know your really just looking at me out of the corner of your eye.” she said with a sarcastic tone.

“Oh, and another thing. I know I said you could be our guest and everything, but don’t expect me to bend over backward for you or go any easier on you in pool.”

            “What are you talking about? You must leave your A game up here when were playing pool, because I kill you every time.” I said very sarcastically.

            “I think we need to go settle this dispute.” she replied.

            I said “OK, give me everything ya got.” and we ran down to the basement.

            We played pool for a couple of hours, got some supper, and went to sit on the porch outside her bedroom. “I know this is kind of a sensitive subject, but, I feel really bad about the death of your parents, your grandmother, and now your grandfathers missing. It must be a lot to go through.”, said Jessica.

            “Well, inside I’m really upset, but I just don’t like to show my emotions. It could give the appearance of someone who is weak, and that’s not really how I want people to view me. I know it’s kind of shallow, but you know that’s just how I am. I mean you know, we’ve been friends for so long and I appreciate your families hospitality every time I’m over here. This is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family. It’s just something I’ve never had before. Ya know Jess, you’re the only one I’ve ever really told about my feelings and if you tell anyone I’ll kill you. Just Kidding.” I said. “Alright I’m gonna go to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, what time do you leave for school?”

            “We leave at six thirty. So be ready and if I need to get you out of bed you’ll regret it.” said Jessica.

            I woke up at five thirty, but didn’t get out of bed until quarter of six. I got up put in my contacts, took a shower, ate breakfast, and waited for Jess to wake up. She came out at six fifteen and was surprised to see me already dressed up, eating my breakfast, and enjoying the magnificent view of the woods.

            “Wow, your already up. I thought you were one of those boys who slept in till two minutes before the bus comes, gets dressed in eight seconds, and barely makes it to the bus stop in time.” said Jessica

            “Well, I guess I should take that as a compliment. Even though I hope your not getting this from my appearance because this is just how I dress. If you meant it that way than I take it as a snide remark.” I retorted.

            “I didn’t meet it that way. I just thought of you as that kind of person. The way you dress is fine. I just thought of you more as a late night person rather than an early bird. Well, I guess your both.”, said Jessica.

            “What time is it anyways?” I asked.

            “It’s about quarter past. You better get ready because the bus will be coming soo…” I cut her off and pointed down towards my packed backpack. “Oh.” was all she could say.

            We left the house at six twenty five so we would make it to the bus stop in time. We were on our way to the bus and I zoned out again. I think that my parents had high paying jobs. I think we had a nice house, large backyard, and maybe a swing set or trampoline.

            “Hey, Alex, are you still with us or are in our own world?” asked Jessica.

            “Yeah, sorry, sometimes I just think I remember my old house with my parents But it’s OK, I think I’d rather not remember them sometimes.

            “Hey, sometimes I wish I could never remember my parents too” said Jess with a giggle.

            The bus came and we got on, and just had some normal conversation on the ride to school. The school day was normal until Jimmy pointed out that Jess was being a little flirty. I noticed it too, but still just think of her as just a friend. She always went out for the jocks or the skater types. I’ve known her forever, but never really cared for a girlfriend. I know some girls have liked me, but usually they’re all prissy and care too much about how they look. I would rather just focus on my schoolwork and enjoy the life around us, along with video games and other kid games.

            Jess told me to meet her at her locker because she assumed I didn’t know what bus number she rides. I did, but went to her locker anyways to keep the peace and her happy. Since Jimmy pointed out to me that Jess was being more friendly than usual, it became more noticeable. We rode the bus back to her house and just hung around her amazing in ground heated pool for the day. After dinner we decided we would walk down the hill to get some ice-cream and slushes for dessert.

            I opened the front door to see a sketchy looking brown car driving by and three guys inside just staring at us with the window down just enough we could see their eyes. The car stopped right by the walkway and the two guys on the right side pulled out SMG's. I grabbed Jess and dove behind the bushes next to the steps. They let the bullets rain through the air while we were trying to get to the side of the house under the cover of the brush. We managed to reach the edge of the house and we tore off sprinting towards the backyard. The two men with the SMG's jumped out of the car and ran in pursuit of us. We managed to hide behind a pile of logs that Jess's dad cut down to burn in the fireplace. I looked up to see the two men, when suddenly my heart dropped. One of them was my father.