The Young Bride-Chapter 1 Mother & I...

MOTHER AND I


It was a very silent morning that day March 11, 1994. I remember looking out the window, staring at a blank sky, no birds, no clouds, no sun, just an empty sky.

I was only 12 but I had my share of life. I was always stuck underneath a book. I loved to learn new things. I loved asking questions. My mother and I used to sit up on dark starry nights looking up to the sky, and telling each other our dreams.

I remember we used to talk all night, I could tell her everything and she would never judge me, with her I could be me. I will always remember the night before, how she looked at me, as if she knew what tomorrow would bring. "I love you my sweetheart" she said as she held me close, "I love you too mommy" I replied with a smile. She was my best friend, she was smart, a role model and very successful.

I remember the day she came in with her brand new Escalade, I saw the joy in her face, a proud face, like saying ‘look at me’, and I did, I always did. Even though daddy had money, she never needed it. Everything she had was because of her hard work. My mother loved my father so much; I mean her respect for him was greater that anything I had ever seen. I used to say that when I got married I wanted a marriage just like theirs.

I was in my bedroom wondering why my mother was late that day. It was 11:45pm; she was always home before 5:25pm. She only worked 15 minutes away from where we lived. I knew something big had happened to prevent her from coming home on time. I heard a loud voice downstairs, my heart stopped for a moment; it was my father’s voice. I ran downstairs bracing myself as I passed the eerie dark hallway; I suddenly stopped as I saw a policeman in the doorway, and my father on his knees crying. My father looked at me and came towards me to hold me tight. I knew something was wrong. "Did something happen to mommy?" I manage to say as my body began to shake. I dreaded to hear what would come out of his lips next.

"Camile baby" my father gathered his words carefully as he sobbed. He looked at me and I could see in his eyes how hurt and scared he was, and I knew it was mommy. "What happened daddy?" I asked crying, as I turned to the cop who was saddened too. You could see he had just delivered really bad news and he must have felt guilty. "Listen very carefully to me baby; your mother is not going to be able to come back home…" he painfully said as he stumbled upon his words, "is mommy dead?" I cried, "Someone hurt mommy, and she cannot come back" my father continued. I notice he hesitated to tell me everything that had happened. "Why daddy, why would anyone want to hurt mommy?" I cried. "Baby, sometimes bad things happen to people who don’t deserve it, like mommy, and now she is gone", my father stopped and hugged me tight. At that moment I felt the world falling on my shoulders, I did not know how to react so I ran up the stairs and hid in the hallway. I heard my father calling my name as I ran, but I did not stop, I could not bear to see him in such pain, I did not want him to see me in such pain.

"Who did this to her?" I heard my father ask the cop, as I tip toed down the stairs to hear more, and I heard it all.

I heard the cop explaining that they had received a call from one of my mother’s coworkers who saw from her window how a man rushed my mother from the back and hit her with a metal stick in the back of her head and put her in the back of her Escalade. The cops tracked down the Escalade. When they caught the man they found a gun, and his shirt was full of blood. The cops questioned him about the blood, and after questioning him he confessed that she had died instantly when he hit her with a crowbar behind her head while stealing the truck. He then dumped my mother in a field in attempts to hiding her body. I heard my father cry all night, and for days he grew distant from me. He barely wanted to see me, as if every time he did he would get reminded of my mother’s face. I too did not want to see him, and in fact since then I was too hurt that I wanted not to care about my father. I was so scared of losing him too. My life changed completely from that moment. I promised my self I would never fall in love, that way I would never have to loose anyone again.