• Grim Happenings

    Drip. Drip. The dark red blood ran from my hands and pounded against the floor. His body lay there motionless, lifeless. A draft coming from the back of the attic sent chills down my spine. The crept from my neck to my toes.
    “What Have You Done?!?!” Her sarcastic voice was unlike any other. It is her, the one I'm forced to call mom.
    Very few memories of my childhood remain. I can only recall up to 6 years old. I remember my brother and me making shadow puppets on the wall even though it was time for bed. I remember playing our playstaion 2 until 3:00 in the morning. We would laugh and cry and laugh some more and even sing. We’d have birthday parties and picnics. Those are my only memories left of him. The only ones I want to remember.
    She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She had soft brown hair and glossy green eyes. She always smelt of fresh fruit and always wore sundresses. This beautiful woman was once my mom. She used to take Jamie, my brother, and I to those picnics and she would be the one to tuck us in our comfortable beds. She, my mom, was the one who threw the parties. She would scare the monsters out of the closet and would kiss us and hug us. Oh how I miss the sound of her velvet smooth voice. The way she would say I love you to us is one I will not forget.
    When she died so did my heart. Jamie had been much younger than me at the time so it was up to me to stay strong for us both. When the people in the black suits came they took us away from our home. They took us to a rundown drafty old building. We looked way overdressed to be in that place. When you walked in you could smell burn would and mold. I'm not sure how they got through the inspections with it the way it was.
    “Jessie, what is this place?” Jamie had asked me.
    “I don’t know Jamie.” I had replied.
    “Jamie, Jessie come with me I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.” A business woman with an almost manly voice had said.
    We had followed her into a room with three other children. They were all younger than I was but the same age as Jamie. There were 6 cots; I guessed they had been our beds. The lime green paint was beginning to chip off the wall, the windows were fogged with dust and ceiling was cracking. # Kids had huddled Jamie when we got there and they quickly became friends. There was one girl though, who must have been a little bit older than Jamie but not quite my age, which never talked to anyone. Her bleach blonde hair was a tangled mess and she wore a tattered dress. One stocking she wore was ripped and both shoes were worn and old. I don’t remember exactly but I believe her name was Shiloh.
    “AHHHHH!” Jamie had screamed one night.
    “JAMIE! What’s wrong” I would quickly come to his rescue. He was only 4.
    “There’s a spider on my bed!” he would cry.
    “You can sleep with me” I would say.
    The cot wasn’t exactly big enough for 2 people so when Jamie would fall asleep I would just roll onto the floor and sleep there. Mom had always told me I was more mature than most 6 year olds.
    We spent weeks at the old building before we finally received the news.
    “Jamie, Jessie gather you things and come with me” The manly woman had said.
    “Wow you 2 already leaving? Some kids have all the luck.” An older boy said as he watched us gather our things.
    “You think we get a new home?” Jamie asked me that day.
    “I hope so” I replied.
    I didn’t know it then but I would soon regret ever saying those three words.
    She had excelled in acting so completely pleasant and dependable. Her thick red hair was nicely done into a bun and her make-up perfectly flawless. Her nails were painted a bright red and her skin darkened from the sun. She used excellent vocabulary and such great manners. She had to be the second most beautiful woman on the planet.
    “Ms. Newberry, this is Jamie and Jessie. Jamie and Jessie this is Ms. Newberry” The lady had told us.
    “She is going to take you home with her and see how things work out” she continued.
    The woman with red hair was going to be our new mom. No one of course can replace our real mom.
    “You don’t have to call me mom if you don’t want, you can just call me Marissa” The nice lady told us.
    Good thing she said that cause I wasn’t planning on calling her mom anyway. Jamie and I just stared at the lady who had put her face just inches from ours. Her eyes had a sinister look about them.
    “They look terrific” I overheard the lady whisper to the counselor.
    “They are terrific” She began, “They will be perfect for…your family” The counselor said in an almost unreliable way.
    “When can I take them?”The lady asked.
    “As soon as you sign here, here, and initial here.” The counselor said pointing at a piece of paper.
    “Jessie, is she our new mommy?” Jamie asked me.
    “No, she's our new guardian” I said fiercely.
    No one would ever replace our mom, not as long as I was around.
    We waited for about 10 more minutes while the counselor and Marissa talked. I wonder where she lives.
    “Jamie, Jessie are you two ready to get going?” Marissa asked.
    “Yes Marissa” I replied. I think she got the hint that I wasn’t ever going to call her mom, EVER.
    We followed her into her housewife van. There were seat covers over most of the seats so that we didn’t make a mess.
    Just like that we had a new home. Well what everyone around us thought was a home. I would call it more of a house. A home is where you are surrounded by people who love you and I would hardly call where we were going home. She seemed so nice at first. Like a sweet loving stay at home mom whose whole life was devoted to children but it’s like they say never judge a book by its cover and we learned this the hard way.
    We arrived to a humongous house. At least it seemed that way at the time. It seems so small now that I think back on it.
    When we arrived she ordered us to put our things in the garage. We thought maybe she just wanted to wash our clothes for us. We sat in the living room, he staring deadly at us.
    “You will listen to me. If not you will suffer the consequences” she said pointing her finger around. Well this is what any parent would say isn’t it?