Chapter 1

7:00 am

*Beep beep beep*

            It can’t be morning already. I feel like I just fell asleep. SNOOZE.

            *Beep beep beep*

            Uhh, I swear Mondays are going to be the death of me! SNOOZE.

            *Beep beep beep*

            NOO!

            “Andrea, that’s the third time, enough. Don’t make me force you out of bed!”

            Hostile, damn. “Kay, dad. I’m up!” I crawl out of bed, rubbing my eyes to wake up. I open my closet door and start scavenging through my clothes. Pulling out this shirt and that dress immediately rejecting them. Mondays are not meant for dressing “cute.”

            This is good enough for today. Straight light blue jeans, my new sneakers, and a plain black V-neck. I’m not much of a make-up girl, but a little rose blush and black mascara, I’m good. My light brown hair waves naturally, so I usually run a brush through it and I’m ready.

            I trudge downstairs with my backpack on one shoulder and throw it on the couch. My dad stands in the kitchen waiting for his coffee to be ready. I grab the box of fruit loops and a carton of milk and make myself a bowl.

            I sit down to eat as my dad pours his freshly brewed coffee into a mug. He sits to my left and stares at me. I try to ignore him but that doesn’t work. “Are you going to school today or am I going to get another call from the principal?” He asks still staring at me.

            “Yeah, I’ll go to school, don’t worry.” I avoid eye contact with him at all cost.

            “I mean it, Andrea! I’m not doing this with you…”

            “I said I’ll go, drop it.” I take my half eaten cereal and put it in the sink. Storming out of the kitchen, I grab my backpack and slam the door shut behind me as I leave the apartment.

            Downstairs waiting for me is my best friend Michael. We met in second grade when he transferred to public school from a private one and have been best friends ever since. Michael towers over me as he is about five foot nine and I’m only at five foot three. He runs his hand through his blonde messy hair like he doesn’t own a comb. He looks at me concerned. “You look pissed. Fight with your dad again?”

            I stare at him. “No, everything is just hunky dory! What the hell do you think?”

            We start walking down the sidewalk as he speaks. “What was it about this time?”

            I try mocking my dad with a whiny voice, “Go to school, Andrea. I’m done with this, Andrea.” I return to my own voice, “I’m so done with this and him!”

            “Are you going to school today?” Michael looks at me concerned.

            “Hell no. Let’s go see a movie.”

 

 

**********

8:00 am

            No one ever tells you that being a parent is going to be this hard. Every morning I go to work pissed off and worried because there is a good chance that my seventeen year old daughter is out roaming the streets of New York alone. It starts taking a toll on a person especially when they can’t sleep at night from stressing that much. There are days I think my stress levels are starting to affect my work.

            “Hey, Ricky!” A familiar voice shouts behind me. Shawn Turner is running to catch up as I walk into the doors of our workplace. I hold the door open for him as he slows to walk through. Following behind, we both head for the elevators. His short red hair sits perfectly on his head without any kind of product whereas mine is disheveled and streaked with grey throughout all the black strands. I look at my reflection through the metal elevator doors, noticing the wrinkles on my forehead and bags underneath my eyes. “Man, you look like s**t.”

            “Stress tends to do that to a person! I don’t know how much more of this I can take, honestly.” I look down as the doors open with a beep. We both step on with other workers and I press the button for the 96th floor. I can feel Shawn staring at me, but neither of us speaks the entire elevator ride up. People get on and off at various floors which makes this trip long and almost unbearable at times.

            Finally, the doors open on our floor and we push our way out through all the traffic of workers and clientele. Shawn’s desk is right across from mine, which is how we got acquainted so much. We sit our stuff down and prepare for work. “What are you going to do about your daughter?” Shawn has stopped unpacking his briefcase and is now looking at me concerned.

            “I have no idea, to be perfectly honest.”  I sit down at my computer and fire it up. As soon as I log into my work email, there is message from the CEO of my company. “S**t.” Even though I mumbled under my breath, Shawn still heard and is now standing close behind me, curious as always.

            “Meeting with the boss? Wonder what that’s all about.” He gives me a worried look before heading back to his desk.

            “8:45 tomorrow morning. It says they have some concerns about my performance they would like to speak to me about. I’m getting fired. They are firing me because I’m too f*****g worried about my daughter being ignorant and disobeying my rules rather than worrying about my job which pays for all of her crap.”

            “You don’t know that. They could be giving you a promotion.”

            “A promotion, my a*s! I’ve been here for almost ten years and no one has ever promoted me even a little bit. No one way in hell…” the phone on my desk starts ringing, “…I would ever be promoted.” I pick up the phone. “Hello, this is Richard Berker. How may I help you?”

            “Hello, Mr. Berker. I am calling about Andrea Berker, is this your daughter?”

            “Yes, what is going on?” My heart starts racing, preparing for the worst news.

            “Andrea didn’t show up for school today.”

            “Yes, she is at home sick. I forgot to call the school. I am very sorry. Have a good day.” I turn to Shawn as I hang up the phone. He gives me a look of disappointment. “Don’t say a word.”

 

**********

6:00 pm

            Monday nights are my I Love Lucy nights until my dad gets home and we watch Friends or my favorite, Whose Line is it Anyway? These are the best times when we just escape reality and watch fictional characters cope with their petty problems.

            My dad walks in the door around the same time he does every other night. “Dad, you have to watch this for a minute. I haven’t seen this episode before, but this part is so funny! Lucy just walked in and…” He slams the door hard, shutting me up. He’s pissed about something.

            “So I just got a wonderful phone call this morning from your school.” S**t! I forgot to call up there. Michael and I usually call the school pretending to be each other’s parent so they won’t call our actual parents at work. “WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY THIS MORNING?”

            “Okay, I know you’re mad but it wasn’t my fault!”

            “WASN’T YOUR FAULT? THEN WHO’S FAULT WAS IT, ANDREA?” He looks at me, waiting for me to respond. All that can come out of my mouth right now are just sounds. “I’m done. I’m tired of dealing with this and with you. Go to your room now.”

            “Seriously? Come on! Let’s have dinner and just talk. You don’t have to ground me like I’m a child.”

            “Oh, I’m not grounding you. You’re way past grounded. Go to your room and pack your stuff now. I’m sending you to your mother’s tomorrow night.”

            Shock fills my body. For a second, this doesn’t feel real. “You’re kidding, right? This is just a ruse to get me to do better.”

            “No, this isn’t a joke. Now go. I’m done talking to you tonight.”

            I stand there, frozen from disbelief. He can’t kick me out. I didn’t do anything bad. We stare at each other for a minute before I decide to break the awkwardness and go to my room. Once I shut my door, I lay on my bed and replay what just happened in my head, over and over again.

            Outside my door, I can hear my dad hitting stuff and screaming. If he’s so pissed about what he said, he must be bluffing. My mom lives in Michigan. He would never make me move that far. Away from my home and my friends, or friend. I’ll just go to bed and in the morning everything will be just fine.

            I put my headphones on and listen to my CD in my Walkman. Music will calm me down and help me sleep without thinking about living in Michigan. It’s so cold there, though. Well, it’s cold here too, so I can’t complain too much. I love the city too much to move away. It’s alright, though because I will never move away. No matter how mad he gets towards me, he will never say no to his baby girl.

 

**********

8:00 am

            I sit at the kitchen table drinking hot coffee, my second cup this morning. I didn’t get any sleep at all because all I could think about is what I said to Andrea. She sits across from acting as if nothing happened last night. Just eating her bowl of cereal before I drop her off at school to make sure she doesn’t skip.

            “Hurry up and finish eating. I’m taking you to school today.”

            She looks at me confused. “Why? I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to school.”

            “Obviously, you’re not. I told you to go yesterday and you didn’t. I said I was fed up with you and I mean it. How much stuff did you get packed last night?”

            “None because you’re insane! I’m not living in Michigan especially with mom!”

            “Yes you are because I said so! If you won’t listen to me, then maybe you will…”

            “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED! SHE IS UNFIT TO BE A PARENT! THAT IS WHAT THE JUDGE SAID! I WILL NOT GO LIVE WITH HER SO SHE CAN DO WHAT SHE DID LAST TIME!”

            “NO! The Judge granted me sole custody, which means I get to choose where you live. As long as your mother is taking her meds, she isn’t a threat to anyone. Maybe that’ll give you some incentive to be responsible. You’re turning 18 in a few months and you can get your own place once you graduate.”

            Tears start welting up in her eyes. “She almost killed me. Do you want that to happen again? Do you want her to kill me this time?”

            “Andrea, you and I both know she didn’t mean it. She is sick!”
            “SHE PUT A KNIFE TO MY NECK, SCREAMING THAT I WAS OUT TO GET HER. ‘THE VOICES’ TOLD HER TO GET RID OF ME! WHAT IF SHE STILL HEARS THOSE VOICES?”

            “Grab your bag. We’ll talk more tonight when I pick up from school.” She grabs her bag and we walk out the door together.

**********

8:45 am

            Standing at my locker, trying so hard to fight back tears and make it look like nothing is wrong. I don’t usually cry, but the thought of living with that monster again scares the crap out me. I just keep telling myself it’s not going to happen, just forget about it. Sometimes I wish I could believe myself.

            Michael walks up to me, all corky as he usually is. “WHOA! Looks like someone finally decided to come to school!” His smile fades into a frown. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

            I look up at him. “It doesn’t matter! Let’s just get to class.”

            We walk into our first hour together and notice that everyone is gathered around the television. I’m too short to see over everyone’s head, so I attempt to push myself to the front. All I can hear is whispers of “Oh no!” and “Oh my gosh!”

            “What’s going on? I can’t see the T.V.” The tall brunette girl moves aside to give me a clear view of the screen. My teacher turns the volume up so that people in the back can hear what the woman from the news is saying.

            “This is unbelievable!” The newscaster exclaims. “If you are just now watching, I will repeat what happened. Something, people are saying a plane, has just crashed into the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Centers!”

            My eyes go wide and new tears start flowing down my cheeks. “Michael! My dad works there! On the 96th floor! My dad is in that building right now!”

9:00 am

            I sit in one of the desks in the back of the room, not bearing to watch the news any longer. My body is visibly shaking and my eyes are so dried up from crying that I just stare at the floor. I can hear other people crying from other classrooms, as well as every person in this one.

            Michael comes back and sits in the desk right next to me. “You don’t know whether or not your dad was in the building. And even if he was, he could’ve been in the lobby or on a lower floor!” I know he’s trying to be comforting, but at the point, it’s slightly irritating.

            “My dad gets to work every day by 8 o’clock, except today. He dropped me off here at 8:15 and it’s about a 10 minute drive, including traffic. That gave him 30 minutes to get there and park in his spot, walk inside, and take the elevator the 96^th floor. I know you’re trying to be helpful, but don’t. Please.”

            Before he can get another word out, a girl staring at the television releases this high pitched, blood curdling scream. I run to the front and see the south tower looking just like the north, only lower. “OH MY GOD! IT WAS A PLANE! IT JUST HIT THE SOUTH TOWER!” My heart sinks to my feet and I can’t hold my weight anymore. I fall to ground, burying my face in my hands, still unable to cry.

            The only thing running through my head right now is my dad. The conversation last night and this morning. What if that’s the last time I see him, or speak to him? I try to think of something happier. I remember sitting on the floor with my dad when I was about 14, just after my mom left. He held me close to his chest, telling me that everything was going to be better soon. Then he turned on some classical music until I fell asleep in his arms. That’s the safest I have ever felt, when my dad would hold me.

Reviews

[Chris]

My initial thought at the very beginning was too many I's. It did get better. Characters came across well. Story developed with a twist.

[Sir Drift & Mr. Pulse]

And yet another piece of the gigantic puzzle added, more and more added silently through the years and still it remains as a moment event. Thank you for sharing