Chapter 7

Dad was nice to us for the first two weeks mom was gone, but soon enough he got sick and tired of doing all the work alone. Now that I’m old enough to understand, he went into great depression. That wasn’t ever a good thing...

Chris stood in the kitchen putting cherry tomatoes in small plastic lunch bags, thinking to himself. He then remembered that he had to wake everyone up this morning. It was a new tradition, since his mother got sick and left. They took turns making lunch and waking each other up. Usually these turns went from Chris to Samuel, but occasionally Jadon got his turn. Jadon was now 9, Chris 12. This made things easier since they were both old enough to semi-understand their situation.

One night, Dad came home very angry. He looked beaten and terrible and was completely infuriated...

Samuel returned home completely drunk and used up. Although this wasn’t a usual habit, Samuel began drinking almost nightly since that day. This caused him to lose control of his temper, which became dangerous when he was around Jadon and Chris.

Chris being older and more understanding would tell Jadon to go to his room before they got in trouble with their father.

That night I was stupid, I wasn’t one bit lucky...

Chris left to spend the night at his friend’s, still being a child, he took the chance to enjoy himself.

All I remember was that I went over to my friend’s house. This was a friend I had known ever since childhood and his mom was my mom’s close friend. When I came back home....

“Jadon!!! Jadon!!!” Chris stared at his brother in surprise...

“JADON!!” Chris was now yelling, grabbing his brother from the front of his shirt....

Jadon didn’t respond, he simply lay on the ground lifelessly. The bloodstains and bruises all over his body marked every injury inflicted. Almost every single body part of his had one affliction or another. If a person didn’t know Jadon very well they wouldn’t have noticed him. He was almost completely mutilated.

I was never to live life the same again... I vowed to never talk to my father after that. I felt like the whole world was against me, mom never called and soon I was sent to live in a foster home...

Mary looked through the newspaper as she lay in bed. Headlines said, “Drunk father abuses son to death.” She skimmed through the article thinking how common these things happened these days, when suddenly...

“Samuel Spencer was taken to jail after abusing his younger son, Jadon. After coming home from a friend’s house early on Saturday morning, Christian Spencer, 12, found his younger brother laying limp on the floor. He immediately called 911 hoping to save his brother, but sadly...”

Mary quickly looked up to the top of the newspaper and looked at the picture of Jadon. He had changed so much since she has left that she barely recognized him. He was smiling happily in the photo they chose to put on the newspaper. Mary wiped the tears that were running down her face uncontrollably. She slowly got out of bed and walked out of her room into the living room. She found her mother sitting on the couch in tears, after reading what had happened.

I remember the dimples that used to appear on his face when he smiled, he could be the most annoying bro in the world, but he always showed immense concern when he saw that you were hurt or felt down. He always brought me a cup of water or juice when I was watching TV with him. He absolutely loved popcorn and Slurpee's from 7-11. Those would pass for his two favorite foods if pizza didn’t exist.

I remember the day of the funeral, I was the only person from Jadon’s immediate family there. Everyone constantly reminded me that my single best friend at home is gone. I never thought that he’d leave....leave me alone... We always fought the world together. I betrayed him by not staying there that night. If only I could’ve saved his life, I wouldn’t have been in so much regret. But thanks to God, I have been able to overcome that slowly... I’ve been able to move on, to keep going with life. To know that it isn’t all my fault. To understand that....That it’s …. Fate..