Chapter 1
Teenagers look forward to summer because of
vacations, some even stay home, but all are glad to be out of school. Marie and
Jessica Hamilton, two teenage sisters who had no clue what was in store for them
were still glad to have heard the last school bell. Marie, who had turned
fifteen the summer before, felt protective of her sister Jessica who was
fourteen and had a timid personality that seemed to cause attention towards her.
Their parents Bill and Allison Hamilton decided the summer of 1999 to move to
Springfield. Even so, being the new kids on the block was proving to be quite
difficult. Bill Hamilton had received a promotion, so Allison agreed to
relocate. She bought new wardrobes for the girls so they’d fit in at school.
The majority of the time, Marie and Jessica did
things together since they were trying to get to know a new town. Walking home
from school on that last day of classes they realized they had been in their new
setting for one. Marie realized she was looking forward to the summer.
"Jessica, since it's summer vacation and we’re not going anywhere, what
would you like to do tonight?" she had asked Jessica. "We could go
swimming, hang out at the mall, or just stay home and play some board
games," answered Jessica with a question in her voice. "What do you
want to do?" she asked after a few seconds after not getting a response.
"I'm not sure," chimed in Marie, "maybe we could go
roller-skating or see a movie if dad and mom will let us. We can ask them when
we get home." "A movie sounds great. How about the new one with Keanu
Reeves?" Jessica said making more of a statement than a question.
When the girls arrived home and found their
parents sitting silently on the couch, they could tell their mom had been
crying. This was not usual for their mom. She had been so happy with the move
and the redecorating. Marie and Jessica were walking towards them when they
heard their father Bill say, "girls, have a seat. Your mother and I need to
talk to you."
Marie peered at her sister Jessica's eyes to see
if she could tell what Jessica was thinking. Then they looked at each other for
more than thirty seconds as if to ask, "what did we do?" Sitting down
next to each other on the love seat their mother had put nicely to the left of
the sofa - they could hear the plop sound that came from them both touching the
cushions at the same time. Then simultaneously they turned to face their
parents. Fear built up… nothing seemed the same from when they left that
morning. "Oh what could be wrong?" Marie thought.
Their father began speaking and as he did, the redness in his eyes became apparent to Marie. Allison looked over at Bill as if to say, "go on dear." "What we need to discuss with you two is, well is that, " trying to swallow a dray gulp, Bill picked up a glass of water from the coffee table and took a drink. Everyone present could see the glass tremble.
"What your father and I wanted to talk to you about is… that… well we both decided this morning after you two left for school it would be better if we got a divorce." Their mother had blurted the words out so fast their heads were still swimming. They could tell she had just saved their dad from having to be the one to spill the beans by finishing his sentence for him. Marie and Jessica looked towards each other but didn't react. They weren't sure what to say. Jessica's mind had gone blank the second she had heard the word divorce.
Marie was able to ask the first question.
"Why? Why do you guys want a divorce? Is there something that we did
wrong?" "No, honey that‘s not it," their mom answered,
"your father and I have fallen out of love." Finally their father
could speak again and he began with, "we seemed to have lost that spark a
husband and wife have for each other. You will understand as you get older.
Understand this doesn't mean we love you any less. It is just something your mom
and I agreed to do," Bill finished with his last word sounding like he was
out of breath again.
"It's for the best," explained their mother. "The best for who, mother?" Jessica asked with anger and tears. Before either parent could answer, Jessica made a mad dash up the stairs to her bedroom. Still sitting in the living room, feeling the vacancy in the air was Marie. She had heard the door slam and witnessed the sight of her mother's jaw clamping down as the sound echoed.
Looking hatefully at her parents for the first
time ever, Marie yelled at the top of her voice, "this sucks! You two think
we should accept this and go on. If this is how it's going to be, fine!"
Marie was so fired up, it was like roles were being reversed, and she was
becoming the parent. She continued, "Now you have hurt us both. Don't
expect any forgiveness from us for tearing our family apart." Marie turned
and with the same speed as her sister, ran up the stairs and slammed her bedroom
door. For the moment she felt like being alone or she would have gone straight
to Jessica’s room and cried with her.
Marie didn't bother to look back at her mother even though she had heard her begging, "Marie, honey, wait a minute. Let's talk this out as a family." "Family yeah right family," she thought with some finality because plans were already occurring to her and she would have to take matters into her own hands.
A couple of hours later it was time for dinner.
"Marie… Jessica… dinner!" Allison called up the stairs wishing
that the stairs did not circle around. She wished she could see into her girls'
rooms to see if they were together consoling each other; or if they were still
alone grieving by themselves. Allison looked over at Bill who was still there to
have one last dinner with them. They let out a sigh of relief as they looked at
their daughters coming down the stairs to join them.
Dinner silently ended. Marie mentioned with her
head hanging down, "Jessica and I are going to take a walk to get some
fresh air." "We need some time to be away from you guys," she
continued. Their parents knew a walk would calm them down more than talking
could, so they agreed to let them go. "Surely they will be back soon,"
Allison thought. Marie and Jessica excused themselves from the dinner table and
left.
The walk to the park seemed forever since they
carried fear and sadness with them. Once at the park they sat down and began
sharing about the earlier events. Jessica begun to cry again, asking her sister,
"what do you think about dad and mom's divorce? Do you believe they have
fallen out of love? Do you think there is something we can do? Do you feel it
was anything we did?" Once Jessica started asking questions, it seemed she
could not stop. "Honestly, Jessica, I am not sure. I tried to think of why
they would fall out of love, or if it had something to do with us, but nothing
came to mind. I have been too upset to wonder."
Jessica retorted, "what are we going to do,
Marie?" Marie was quiet for a moment then answered, "I think that we
should pretend to run away. I saw it in a movie once where that actually brought
the parents back together." "Where are we going to go?" asked
Jessica. "Let's stay here and see if they look for us," Marie
answered. "If they don't come, then we’ll know it had to be something we
did.”
Jessica had learned to trust her sister's
instinct but she was feeling that this might be a wrong choice - the park looked
empty and dusk was arriving. What were they going to do about food? Questions
were spinning.
Night fell. Marie and Jessica were still in the park. Marie decided to find a place for them to sleep. "Maybe, the bench?" she thought but knew it was noticeable. Someone might see them and call the police she determined, so she continued to search. Some tall bushes came into view and she turned to Jessica saying, "How about under those bushes? We can get up in the morning then head out somewhere else." "That sounds dangerous, Marie," Jessica said for the first time questioning her sister's decision. She had a gut feeling this was crazy. "Well that's our camp site for the night anyway," said Marie with authority.
They both got up and headed to the bushes. With their camping experience, it would be easier for them than for most teenagers in Springfield. Marie took her light jacket off, folded it up into a pillow for herself. Then, Jessica took hers off and snuggled up to her sister praying that they would be safe.
By Michelle
Korgis-Fitzpatrick
© 2001-02
