Chap. 1

July 4th, 2001. It was one of those days where your life is in the middle of a giant u-turn, or at least that was how I was thinking of it. I was just moving to Dallas from my small hometown Wichita Falls. My  newborn baby sister, Rylee, was crying in my arms and my older brother, Mason, was ordering the moving vans around everywhere. He has lived in Dallas with his girlfriend, Sam, for about seven years now, but Rylee and I were just moving there.1

He had been living in Dallas since he was sixteen because Mom had kicked him out of the house when he started drinking and having his girlfriend over by days at a time. It was for the better that he had left when he had those problems. We all knew that he wasn’t going to stop anything he was doing just because we told him to. Even so, I wanted him to stay in Wichita Falls. He was my sixteen-year-old protective brother, and I was his nine-year-old baby faced kid sister.2

But things had changed since I was nine. Mason was now twenty-three and I was a confused teenager about to start high school in an unfamiliar town. As I was watching him tell the moving trucks where to park and unload, I had noticed that he had cleaned himself up quite a bit. He didn’t have those long dreadlocks that Dad used to complain about anymore and he didn’t live in that ugly house that he had described to me in his many letters. 3

His girlfriend, Sam, was handing out lemonade to all of the truckers. I remember that even when we were back home, Sam was always like a big sister to me. She must have really loved Mason to fallow him away from her rich and secure family back at home. Her dad was a man of the real-estate business, and he always managed to pamper Sam and her little sisters with gifts that we all knew must have cost a fortune. My dad was the kind who thought that if he could just put dinner on the table and pay the rent, we would be okay. And he had been a good man for that, too.4

“Fay.”5

Mason needed my help unloading the vans.6

Late that night, I lay on my bed staring at Rylee’s crib. I knew she was safe since she was in my room, and I wouldn’t have had it any  other way.  7

My door opened slightly and I saw Sam’s round face peek in my  room.8

"Are you all settled in?" 9

"Yeah. I guess." I looked around at the blank walls in the room. I looked down at the filled boxes on my floor. The pictures would have to wait until tomorrow.10

"Do you want to go down to the paint store and pick out a color to paint your room tomorrow?" she asked in an encouraging tone. She had always been the type of person who loved to start artistic projects. She usually pinned the unfinished product with the other person.       11

"Sure. That would be great," I said, offering up a tired smile. I was the kind of person that was good at finishing a project. I figured if we had both of us meeting each other halfway, the room wouldn't be a total disaster. 12

She left soon after finalising what we would do tomorrow and what work would be saved for later. That's how Sam was. If you only knew her for a day, you'd think she was the most organized person you'd ever met. If you knew her for a week, you'd know better. She was all talk when it came to organization. 13

That night, I didn't sleep much at all. There were too many broad questions that wouldn't stop pestering my mind. 14

Will Rylee grow up here and be alright when I am gone? 15

Will I leave Rylee with Mason and Sam when I go to college? 16

Why did Mom and Dad have to go?17

This was the biggest question I had in my mind all night. And as I thought about it more, it seemed to overtake the other questions. A warm tear treaded down through my hair. Rylee woke up at her usual 3:00a.m. time. I wasn't the only one crying. I got up and carefully scooped Rylee into my arms and sat down to rock her in Mom's old rocking chair. That night, we both fell asleep crying for our parents.18