Fate's Hand

Soon to be titled.1

**Insert Chapter Title Here**2

-*-3

The alarm sounded and Rosalynn Tamar's eyes flickered open. She yawned as she reached to turn off the noisy alarm which woke her from her sunny dream.4

A smile spread across her face. It was her sixteenth birthday.5

Her mother and father were at work by now, since it was a Saturday. Her mother worked at a local flower shop and hardly ever had to work on the weekends, but she had told Rosalynn before that in order to do something special on her birthday that her mother and father would have to work overtime and on weekends.6

Her father worked at his own firm as a lawyer. He made good money, sure, whenever clients rolled in. And even then, sometimes her father would work cases for free. Rosalynn never really understood why, since they had trouble raising their daughter and putting food on the table every on in a while.7

But now that Rosalynn was sixteen, she, too, could go to work to help support their family. Rosalynn had a kitten named Sophie. Rosalynn's mother had broke(n) down and bought it for her one day while passing two younger boys saying they didn't have enough money to feed the four kittens their cat had just gave birth to. Sophie - Rosalynn's kitten, was grey with fade stripes of white all around her body and deep blue eyes. She was a very exotic looking kitten, and the second that Rosalynn had set eyes on her, she refused to pass the boys without taking her home. Rosalynn only agreed because the kitten was free.8

But other than Sophie, there was no one for Rosalynn. Her mom worked most of the day and sometimes the night shifts, her father would always have emergency meetings or someone calling him on his work cell phone. Rosalynn always went to school, and she had a decent amount of friends. Her mother warned her about boys though, calling them selfish and heartless pigs. Which Rosalynn agreed with most of the time.9

Rosalynn and her mother had a really great relationship. Whenever her dad would be out working late, by the mere chance that her mother was not also working, her mother and her would stay up late and watch old movies and pop some microwave popcorn and play board games and cards and tell each other their own hopes and dreams. It was truly a blossoming relationship, for the girl was now sixteen and had many more complicated things to deal with in her life.10

Rosalynn's high school wasn't the best, but it met the standards of her father, which seem to be tough to pass at most times. Their family had moved here three years ago in the summer, and Rosalynn began school here in her eighth grade year. She immediately made friends. Her mother said that her red hair (acquired from her grandmother) had been what always attracted people to her. She had pure green eyes that sometimes had golden sparkles and conveyed her happiness or regret. Her eyes and hair and pale skin all molded her into being someone that many people could easily confront and introduce themselves to her.11

Rosalynn did spend a lot of time out with her best friend, Kamie. She was really popular and gorgeous, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a license and a brand new red Corvette. Kamie's family owned a local restaurant and had a chain of those restaurants develop around the area, creating somewhat of a monopoly against the other family restaurants. Kamie was proud of her car and popularity and house and practically every boy she touched.12

Yet, whenever Kamie and Rosalynn were out driving alone, Kamie would always warn her about boys, just like her mother seemed to. "They go too fast, it's really confusing sometimes." Kamie would turn to see the look of confusion already plastere onto Rosalynn's face. "If you ever do find someone just tell him that you'd rather take things slowly. There's no need in speeding things up in a relationship. In my Corvette, however..."13

Kamie would go up to 150 miles per hour on the freeway sometimes, until Rosalynn would beg her to slow down. Kamie offered her the keys to the shiny and new red Corvette several times, but Rosalynn didn't see the sense in it, knowing that she didn't have her license nor a permit. She had never driven anything in her life and she couldn't imagine wrecking her best friend's pride and joy.14

Kamie was now dating a boy named Kyle. He was a football player, of course, and had a semi-low GPA, but he was attractive, even Rosalynn admitted. Kamie and Kyle hit it off one day in their Spanish class when they were given some free time to speak to another student in the class -using Spanish dialect, only. Kyle had a few Spanish words roll off his tongue before, what seemed to Rosalynn to be really random, asking Kamie to the movies on Friday night.15

Sometimes Kyle would be mean to Kamie by not calling or answering her messages, things of that nature. Kamie would call Rosalynn's house and spend the night crying on Rosalynn's shoulder, since Kamie told her one time, "My parents don't give a shit about me. They just like to see me when I'm in my best condition - which is not what I am right now."16

Kamie would often say how much she enjoyed spending time with Rosalynn's parents. "They're funny, they're loving, they let you do practically anything! I know you love them, and I can tell that they love you. That makes you so much wealthier than I ever could possibly be." Kamie stared into Rosalynn's deep green eyes for quite some time, and Rosalynn was amazed at the quality of her words.17

"I hope you know, Rosie-Lynn, that I will be there for you whenever you need someone. For anything. If you kill someone and need to escape, we'll cross the southern border. It doesn't matter what you've done or what has happened, you can always come to me." Kamie stated again one night after Kyle had not called her back.18

Rosalynn sighed once more. Her life did seem to be perfect at the moment. Kamie and Rosalynn were going out later that night, after she had celebrated her birthday with her parents. 19

Rosalynn quickly showered and fixed herself up so that they could leave a minute after they came home. Last night, her father had told her that they could go out to eat wherever she wanted to go and that she could order anything she wanted. 20

Rosalynn walked into their living room of their two story house and stared at the clock. It was 11:30 in the morning. Her parents wouldn't be back until around four in the afternoon. She ran over to the phone on the endtable by the couch and quickly dialed Kamie's number. Her younger brother, Carl, at twelve years of age, answered the phone. Rosalynn asked for Kamie.21

When Kamie picked up, they arranged to go out early, since she'd probably be out late eating with her parents anyway. And if they did finish eating earlier than Rosalynn planned, it was no problem, Kamie and Rosalynn could just go out and have some more fun with Kamie afterwards. Rosalynn said goodbye to Kamie and hung up the phone.22

She glanced toward the clock again and wondered what her mom was doing at that very moment.23

|-*-|24

"Arthur, hurry up, Rosalynn is waiting for us!" Mrs. Zoe Tamar screamed through her husband's office door.25

"Alright, Alright!" Mr. Tamar proclaimed. "If you had only made reservations for seven o'clock then all of this wouldn't be happening!" Arthur shouted back.26

"If only *I* had made reservations? You were the one who said you'd make the reservations!" Zoe countered.27

"Let's just quit arguing and get the hell out of here." Arthur mumbled, opening his office door. 28

"I can't believe I took the time to show up here forty-five minutes early only to find out that you've forgotten your only child's birthday!" Zoe vented through a tightened jaw.29

Mr. Tamar opened his mouth to defend himself, but decided not to cause an already up-roarious event.30

They walked to their cars parked outside the small building of Mr. Tamar's firm. Mr. Tamar hopped into his and started the ignition, as did Mrs. Tamar. 31

Zoe signaled for Arthur to roll down his window and shouted across her passenger seat, "I'll see you at home."32

-*-33

Kamie had picked Rosalynn up around twenty minutes after their telephone conversation. Kamie trotted up to Rosalynn's front door and rang the doorbell, while slightly hopping around, very excitedly. She carried with her a dozen red roses; since her friend's name was Rosalynn, she thought it to be not only thoughtful but meaningful as well. 34

Rosalynn opened the door and her eyes popped open with surprise. "Oh, Kamie! They're beautiful!" Rosalynn proclaimed, eyeing the roses. The girls went inside and set the roses in a neat place and then went out the door.35

"Wait." Rosalynn stopped abruptly after taking a few steps from her house. Kamie turned and looked at her.36

"What's wrong?" 37

"I have to lock the door!" Rosalynn retraced her steps back inside the house and found the key her parents let her use. Rosalynn could almost hear her mother's voice in her head saying, "Take this with you, Rosie, for you never know what might happen." 38

Smiling at the thought, Rosalynn locked the door and, once outside her house, shut it with a slam.39

"Let's go!" Rosalynn shouted.40

|-*-|41

Mr. Tamar knew about his daughter's birthday. It was hard to forget something of that nature, especially when it was his daughter (as flamboyant and she is) and especially on her sixteenth birthday. 42

After stopping for the red stoplight, he readjusted the rearview mirror to his car, eyeing his wife's car directly behind him. The look on her face was not a happy one, but he knew that by the time they were home in approximately fifteen minutes, she would be happy to please Rosalynn. 43

He stared at his wife through the rearview mirror, still. How happy they had once been. How delightful their relationship was. Having a child changed everything; Rosie didn't know that she was the reason they ended up getting married.44

Wedlock, Mr. Tamar thought, was the worst mistake he had ever made. If only...45

BEEP! The image of his wife had blurred while he was thinking; now the light had turned green and probably had been for at least thirty seconds. Arthur stepped on the accelerator with one final glance into the rearview mirror.46

He hadn't looked to see what was coming his way, though.47

-*-48

Kamie asked Rosalynn once they had both hopped into her Corvette, now named Corvy, "So, where does my Rosie want to go for her sixteenth birthday?"49

Rosalynn smiled broadly and shruged her shoulders. "Anywhere but here, my dear Kamie!"50

Kamie started Corvy up and the two girls raced down Rosalynn's street.51

At the end of her road, Kamie stopped at the stop sign and pointed out that a police car was turning into her road. 52

"It's probably the Mullaghans again," Rosalynn stated, rolling her eyes. "You know how they are when Mr. Mullaghan gets drunk..."53

"Yeah. You're probably right." Kamie kept a careful watch over the police car until another car came flying in behind her. She moved from her spot still by the stop sign.54

"Okay, howabout a movie?" Kamie suggested.55

"Sounds great!" Rosalynn confided. They drove for thirty minutes to the closest theater around their town, parked, and walked inside to decide what movie they wanted to see.56

While inside, Rosalynn looked over the crowd of people inside the lobby of the theater. There seemed to be so many familiar faces, yet, she couldn't make up her mind about who they were.57

"The McConnells!" Rosalynn triumped loudly as though she had just managed to win the lottery.58

Kamie stared at her confusedly. "What? Who? That isn't a movie, is it?" She looked at the billboards of movies showing at the theater.59

"They're over there. By the concession stand. They used to go to my parent's church. They're very rich. Do you see the lady with the long blonde hair, looks about forty years old?" Rosalynn nodded her head in the direction of Mrs. McConnell.60

"Yes." Kamie looked directly in her eyes, since Mrs. McConnell was looking in Rosalynn and Kamie's direction. 61

"That's Joyce McConnel. She has a daughter that's in our grade but doesn't go to our school. The funny thing is that her name's Rose." 62

"Get out... does she have any other kids?" Kamie asked.63

"I don't really know... I couldn't tell them all apart, there were so many kids running around. The McConnells consist of about six daughters and perhaps a son or two - I only remember knowing about the daughters. All of them are sisters and they all went to church a while back. They each had about four or five kids, most of them being girls themselves. I only remember Rose because her name was so much like mine. You couldn't even imagine!" Rosalynn whispered into Kamie's attentive ear.64

"Wanna go say hello?" Kamie asked.65

Rosalynn looked at Kamie with wide eyes. "No, let's just get our ticket and popcorn so that I can enjoy this movie without thinking about them..."66

"No problem here." Kamie seemed glad.67

Rosalynn and Kamie purchased their tickets and walked closer to the concession stand to find that the McConnells were no where to be found. They bought candy and popcorn and soda and waddled into the theater that was showing the movie they had tickets for.68

Rosalynn settled into her chair and began enjoying her sixteenth birthday.69

|-*-|70

The policeman had been waiting outside of the Tamar's house for more than an hour now. His partner had an appointment for later on that night, so he - Mr. Widdel - gave his partner the rest of the night off. He hated this part of the job.71

He took out Rosalynn J. Tamar's file once again. He hated when this sort of thing happened. It was her sixteenth birthday - today. It would have been better if it had been yesterday or even tomorrow. But at the present, it wasn't going to be a cheerful birthday for this teenager. 72

Many of the Tamar's neighbors had wandered over to ask what was going on. Mr. Widdel, being the trustworthy man that he is, told them all that he couldn't inform them until after Rosalynn had found out first.73

One after another, he stated in his mind. They must have been the nosiest neighbors he had ever seen. He checked his watch again and sighed heavily.74

He mumbled to himself, "I sure could go for a doughnut right now."75

Mr. Widdel watched as the neighbor from directly across the street was shoved out of his house by his wife, the man was dressed in his robe and house slippers and black, thick-framed glasses. He had a half head of white hair, and looked in both directions before crossing the hardly ever busy street.76

Mr. Widdel, the heavyset cop, stood from his position sitting on the Tamar's front steps.77

"Good evening, sir." The neighbor approached slowly.78

"Evening." Mr. Widdel said, becoming very annoyed.79

"I was wondering if you could tell me--"80

"Look here, mister," Policeman Widdel began, "I can't tell you a single thing until you see me go inside this house with Rosalynn Tamar. The second you see me outside of this house after going inside with Rosalynn, I will tell you whatever you want to know. You can call the rest of your buddies who haven't already tried to figure out what's going on and give them the same instructions as I have given you. Goodnight." Mr. Widdel sat back down on the front steps of the Tamar's house and stared at the awe-strucken neighbor from across the street. He shuffled back to his own residence.81

"Good riddance." He stated louder now. 82

-*-83

Rosalynn and Kamie came out of the theater laughing at the many comic things that occurred throughout the movie they had just watched. they walked into the theater lobby and began laughing some more. Rosalynn looked down at her watch and noticed that it was about three in the afternoon. Her parents were sure to be home soon.84

"I better get home," Rosalynn smiled at Kamie.85

"Well, not until you tell me you're having the best sixteenth birthday of your life!" Kamie exclaimed.86

"Yeah, it's been really great so far! I can't wait to do something with my parents though."87

"Oh Rosie-Lynn, you're still such a youngin'." Kamie teased.88

The two girls walked back to Kamie's car, the Corvy. Rosalynn hadn't seen the McConnells since her and Kamie had first entered the theater. She wondered how everyone was.89

"Let's get you home, child!" Kamie grinned while Rosalynn fought with her seatbelt.90

|-*-|91

Cars began passing the Rosalynn Tamar's house much more frequently than they had been only an hour ago.92

Mr. Widell had been sitting at this kid's house for far too long. He took in a deep breath of air and sighed heavily. His eyes began to droop. Tiredness had creeped in, along with the inevitable boredom. Either this kid show up in the next hour or she finds out the terrible news herself, by hearing it from some other cop.93

Just as Mr. Widell began to lose all hope, a shiny new red Corvette pulled into Rosalynn's driveway. Both of the faces inside the car were female, and since Rosalynn was only turning sixteen today, the cop sincerely hoped that he wouldn't have to fine her for driving without a licensed driver present, along with telling her news that would shock the remainder of her life, all on the same day as her birthday.94

He grimaced as both of the girls pointed in awe at him. They both opened their doors and exited the nice car at precisely the same moment.95

"What's going on, officer?" The passenger of the Corvette asked.96

"Are you Rosalynn Tamar?" Mr. Widell asked.97

"I am." She replied.98

"And you are?" Mr. Widell glanced at the driver.99

"Kamie, a friend of Rosalynn's and her family." She stated confusedly.100

"Please, come inside." He smiled slightly, trying to soften the blow that was inevitably coming.101

Both of the girls hesitantly entered, and then Rosalynn wondered aloud, "Do you know where my parents are?"102

Mr. Widell couldn't help but smile at that one. He wasn't sure if they were bound for heaven or hell, nor did he care that much. He was tired and almost glad that he could get this over with and still go home early.103

"Have a seat." Mr. Widell said with a commanding voice.104

Both girls sat on the living room couch. Mr. Widell sat on the chair that was angled beside of them.105

"I'm Mr. Widell." He began, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."106

"Yes?" Rosalynn said, her voice shaky.107

"At about 12 this afternoon your parents were driving home from your father's office." Mr. Widell began immediately. "I'm afraid that your father was in an accident."108

"No." Rosalynn's eyes seem to fade, no more sparkles were present. Her face turned pale.109

"He just ran straight into another car. It was a head-on-collision, his car became airborne. Ambulances arrived too late. They estimate that your father was killed on impact." He sighed again, hoping that the news wasn't going to send the girl into shock.110

"And my mother?" Rosalynn asked.111

"Well, when your father's car finally landed, it was caught on fire. Your mother drove near it and got out of her car and tried to get your father out of that inferno. She must not have realized that she had to watch out for herself, too." 112

Mr. Widell paused for a moment. Tears began to rapidly stream down Rosalynn's pale - and stunned - face.113

"There was an explosion, miss. We lost your mother too." He turned away from seeing Rosalynn choke on her tears and confusion of what she had just heard. Her friend Kamie began to comfort her.114

Wails seemed to exlode from somewhere deep inside of Rosalynn.115

End of Chapter One.116

**Insert Chapter 2 Title Here**117

-*-118

After she had regained some form of composure, Rosalynn asked Mr. Widell what would happen next. 119

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. We need you to answer a few questions, and to go over your options for what to do in your future." The policeman replied.120

Rosalynn stared at him like he was speaking Greek to her. She had no idea what he had just said, other than her mother and father - her very existance for living - were now removed from her life. Never to be seen or heard or touched again.121

These feelings of utter desperation were something new for Rosalynn, and she wasn't sure that they had a welcoming reputation.122

She couldn't feel anything. Not the grip she had on Kamie's hand. Not the dryness of her throat from expressing soul-wrenching cries. Not even the numbness of the feeling of loss of her parents that should've stung her heart so greatly that it would force her to have a heart attack.123

She felt nothing.124

Everything seemed to either go by in slow-motion or in fast-forward action. Whenever that policeman had told her about her parents' accident, his mouth opened and shut in very slow motions. However, when it was time for her to go to the station, she heard nothing of what he was saying. It all sounded like he had inhaled helium - very high pitched and very shortened and not at all understandable.125

Once Rosalynn was in the Sheriff's office, many more policeman walked around her. She had found a seat and had slumped down very far in it. She didn't understand anything that they were asking her.126

"Do... remember... night... again... tell..." they all seemed to be saying. She rolled her head slowly, and finally felt an emotion: exhaustion.127

They finally scattered from the office she was in, and the policeman who had told her about the accident wrote down on a sheet of paper that he was taking her to Kamie's.128

It would be the first time in over a year that Rosalynn was the one spending the night at Kamie's and not the other way around.129

Everything still seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. Rosalynn had no idea how she would continue living like this. Thoughts entered and cleared her mind before she could even register why they had entered in the first place. She had no idea what she was feeling and she didn't like not having any kind of control whatsoever.130

The only thing she knew was that she hadn't stopped crying since that policeman had said, "head-on-collision."131

Once that same old officer had convinced Rosalynn that she couldn't go home by herself, Rosalynn hopped into the police car that the officer had directed her to. She sat and slumped over forward, her long, red hair falling across her face. 132

They arrived at Kamie's, once Rosalynn calmed down enough to give the office directions to her house. Rosalynn didn't have the slightest clue as to what happened to Kamie after she heard the news, or after the officer had taken her to the Sheriff's office.133

The officer turned off the engine when they pulled into Kamie's driveway. Rosalynn was escorted up to her front porch and the cop rang the doorbell. Kamie's dad opened the door. He stared at Rosalynn, probably because her hair was so tangled and unkept, and she still had tears streaming down her face. The cop quickly explained the situation; how Rosalynn couldn't go home alone, and if it would be alright to keep her here for just tonight until she could settle down and begin to make some life-altering decisions.134

Kamie's dad walked Rosalynn into the house. The cop entered too, and the two began discussing more things: what time he would be back to pick her up, what she should be doing and eating... soon their voices faded as Rosalynn turned to find a bookshelf with many family photographs framed all over it.135

She couldn't think about it. Kamie still had parents. Kamie still had a rich lifestyle. But Rosalynn had nothing. Her parents were both dead. Where would she go? What would she do for clothes, for food, for shelter? Every sort of question popped into and out of her mind just as quickly. She didn't really care about what would happen to her. She just wanted her family back.136

She heard the front door close and turned to look out of the window in the family room where she stood. The cop slid into his car and drove away.137

Kamie and her mother both appeared moments later. Rosalynn felt like she was deaf. She heard none of their condolences or sympathy. She just began crying even harder when Kamie's mom held her.138

That night was spent with Rosalynn in Kamie's bed while Kamie camped in her floor. Rosalynn couldn't remember any time when she had felt any worse or more alone. Even though Kamie had told her over and over again that night that she was going to help her through this, Rosalynn didn't believe it. No one had stood by her side the way her mom and dad had all these years. She didn't even think about how it was her birthday. She had no way of even considering what turning seventeen was going to be like. Or eighteen. Or nineteen. Or twenty. For the rest of her life, on the day of her birthday, she would always think of her parents' death.139

Memories of her past birthday celebrations entered her mind. When she turned ten, she got her ears pierced. Her father hadn't been too happy with the decision but, nevertheless, he let Rosalynn do what made her happy. On her thirteenth birthday, her dad had given her a promise ring, which she had worn faithfully until their trip to the beach a year later when she lost it in the ocean.140

Now she had a new memory. Of the last time she saw her parents. On Friday night, they had been arguing. For as long as Rosalynn could remember, they had been arguing. Although she could tell deep down that they both loved each other immensely, she knew that sometimes they were too proud to admit it or try to express it. Their love and marriage had set and example for Rosalynn. This is what she always believed, though she had no knowledge as to how her parents truly felt about each other. They had stayed together to keep her life intact, this much is true. But they had both always felt like it was a mistake staying together. It wasn't right. It was a mutual feeling, too.141