A Good One Gone

Chapter 4

When I got down to the living room, my mom was on our brand new leather couch folding laundry and watching teen mom. I walked over to the couch and set down, and she looked at me. My mom never acknowledges my presence, only because I don't want to be anything like, or have anything to do with my mom or dad. She wants me to be perfect and proper, but I just want to be me. I got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen because my legs were starting to get cold against the smooth surface, and I felt uncomfortable setting next to my mom as she sits in silence and disapproves of me.

When I walk into the kitchen, I see my grey haired dad hunching over a pile of papers. I figured they were his work papers, but my dad does his work in his office. I walk closer and realize they are college applications with my name on them. I want to go to college, a community college, but not one that is really fancy.

"No, dad. You know I don't want to go there." I say standing there crossing my arms. He looks up at me with pleading eyes, trying to make me understand what he's doing. He stands up and grabs my shoulders and tells me,

"I'm asking you, do you want to do the right thing and let me fill out this college application, or do you want to do the wrong thing and go to some community or online college?" He asks me. I just stand there and then, not wanting to get in to this, I just nod. He sits down and brings his hand up and rubs my arm. His fat hand is cold and wrinkly, and I try not to flinch so he's more convinced. I walk over to the fridge and grab a sandwich. I close the door and walk to a counter and grab a bag of chips and walk up stairs.

When I reach my room, I know I'm not doing the wrong thing by not following my heart. I don't want to be the best, I want to be me. I set my food down on the dresser and head back down stairs. When I walk into the kitchen, I see the windows open and the gardeners mowing. I walk it the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Pepsi. I walk over to the table and shove the pile of papers out the window and the Gardner runs it over, shredding the papers to millions of pieces. I take my pop and run up stairs. I close the door behind me and lock it. I grab my food and walk to my bed and get under the blankets. I grab my book and start to read.

After I was almost done with the book, I check the clock. It was 9:53, and I ate my whole sandwich, half the bag of Doritos, and drank a third of my pop. I heard talking outside my door and I got up to press my ear to the door.

"I don't want Emily pulling that crap like she did at school, make sure she does not leave through any door tonight." I heard my dad say, then there were footsteps down the stairs. There were three knocks upon the door and I ran back to my bed and picked up my book. My ears were ringing because of the knock.

"Come in!" I yelled, and in walked Rudy. Rudy was my maid, she was black, and in her late twenties. She never wore makeup, but was gorgeous. She walked over to me and sat on my bed.

"Your daddy told me to make sure you didn't leave tonight, so I won't have any trouble, will I?" She asked in a tough tone. I knew she wasn't tough, but I just nodded and pressed my lips together. She stood and smoothed out her dress. "Get to bed." She told me as she started walking. I threw on a hoodie and grabbed something random from my drawer. It just happened to be a box of nails.

"Okay, just let me put something in the garage." I said as I darted out to the garage. I set the nails down on the toolbox and grabbed the rope hanging on the wall. I shoved into my hoodie pocket and ran back up stairs and took off the hoodie and shoved it under my bed. My plan was to leave at 10:30, when everyone was asleep. I picked back up my book and finished it.

It was 10:20, and I started on my escape. I grabbed the rope out from under my bed and tired it to my piano leg. I grabbed my old tennis shoes from last year and slipped them on. I then put on my hoodie and placed pillows under my blanket. I opened my window and popped out the screen and set it in my closet. I then dimmed the lights.