This is the life…(part 1) June 18, 2009

Amber looked around her room. Nope, she hadn’t missed anything. Gathering up the twenty pieces of cloth she had tied together, she took one end and tied it to the bed post of her antique bronze bed frame. Tugging on the other end, Amber took a big breath in and let it out. She wasn’t really sure she was ready for this, but reluctantly, she threw the ‘rope’ out of her third story window. Every step out of her window made her even more nervous. 6 feet left, 5 feet left… until her shaking body fell to the ground with only a couple of inches to go. The crisp night air was refreshing. OK, the hard part was over, all she had to worry about now was getting back up; she dismissed that terrifying thought as she slung her backpack over her aching shoulder from grasping the rope so tightly, and ran off to meet the other 17 year old girl who had climbed out of her window.

~

Marlyn peered out of her window. It was hard not to get stuck, as her bedroom was in the basement, and the only light she got came through a tiny window, connecting her with the outside world. The only downside was that the noise the window was infamous for squeaking like a sick parrot. Damn! She had forgotten to sprinkle a bit of d-w40 on it. Glancing at her digital clock, she sighed. 11:48. She had to meet her best friend in 12 minutes. How was she going to get across town in 12 minutes unless she left now? Taking a deep breath, she pushed the window open forcefully and winced at the creaking sound it made. Please don’t hear me, please don’t hear me….she silently prayed to herself as she shoved herself out of the window. Jumping up from the ground, she looked around, to make sure no one was looking, and she silently cheered as she ran across the grass, her mother’s prize roses and across town.

~

“Marlyn! Over here! Over here!” shouted Amber as her best friend bounded over to her.
“Are you ready?” said Marlyn as Amber fake smiled. Amber was really too nervous to smile. The whole thing had been Marlyn’s idea and Amber was silently prying she wouldn’t get caught.
“Yep!”
“OK! Well, I’ve got the stuff in my bag, we just have to find somewhere to go, so we wont get caught,” said Marlyn as she tried to conceal her nerves. This had been all Amber’s idea. Honestly, Marlyn didn’t want anything to do with it. As the reluctant 17 year old girls took the case of beer and the bottle of wine out of her bag, they looked at each other nervously. It was hard to tell who took the first sip. Well, Marlyn took the beer and Amber took the wine, and i think its safe to say, they both felt like they made a mistake.

~

Walking back home, Amber felt strange. It wasn’t the drunkenness, although she was drunk. It was something else. Maybe its that strange smell coming from around the corner…
OH MY GOD!
The smell wasn’t just any smell, it was the smell of smoke, and not just any smoke, the smoke was coming from a fire!
And that fire was engulfing Amber’s house.
The panic swept all over her body, as the flames swept over her home. The sweat dripped down her body as it would have had on her parent’s body in the hot house.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” she screamed as she sprinted up her drive way and attempted to climb up the grand steps until she was stopped by a tall, handsome fireman.
“Excuse me miss, nobody is allowed past this point unless they have a valid reason,” he said.
“But I live here!”
“Not anymore,”
Amber dropped down on the hard driveway. Her home was gone, her family was gone and she had nothing. As she thought about this…..she dissolved into tears.

~

Marlyn woke up early that morning. It was either the hangover or the construction workers building the third Yankee stadium in her back yard. Yep…it was the hangover. After last nights episode, Marlyn crept back to her house stopping only to make sure no one was watching. When she got to her basement window, in the early hours of the morning, she carefully dropped her bag inside and shimmied herself back into the safe, tranquillity of her bedroom and slept for at least two hours. It was good that she left for school early in the morning, long before her parents even woke up; so that the interrogation could begin once she had a chance to talk to her best friend, and partner in crime (literally), Amber. Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on her bedroom door, and when Marlyn jumped out of bed, she was shocked to see her parents, fully clothed, but even worse, Amber, standing right next to them.
“Err……I can explain!?”

~

It was three in the morning and Amber was already fresh out of tears. A kind fireman was sitting next to her handing her tissue after tissue
“Another one?” he asked. Amber feebly shook her head. How she could turn down her 2000th tissue, she didn’t know, but she did know that the feeling of guilt she had was never going to go away. She knew it was her who had caused the immense fire, even if nobody had any proof. If she hadn’t sunk out to get drunk with her best friend, she would have died in that fire that swept away her home, her parents, and her life. She would never forgive herself.
“And here we are with the last remaining member of the Holden family, Amber Holden, only 17 years old. She is next to receive the immense family fortune, which many have had their eye on in the past century. Only 25 years ago, this little girl’s grandparents were killed as a result of arson, unfortunately for the arsonist, the family fortune was then passed down to Mark and Samantha Holden, parents of little Mandi here…” said the news reporter
“I’m not little! And don’t tell everyone about our private family business! Turn that camera off! NOW!!! AND MY NAME IS AMBER!!!!” screamed Amber who had once again dissolved into tears.
“Our thoughts are all with Mandi, and we wish her good luck, and to stay out of the limelight, we don’t want you to get hurt! Now back to you Jimmy for the weather!”
Amber couldn’t believe it! She had kept her family fortune on the down low for so long now! She didn’t want to tell anybody! But now, the whole town, city, state, even country would know!

~

As soon as Marlyn said the words, her body froze. No, she couldn’t explain; she had committed a crime, at least she thought…
“What? What are you talking about?” said her confused mother as she pushed Amber, who was starting to sob, into Marlyn’s open arms.
“Oh, nothing…..Amby? What happened? Tell me!” said the bewildered Marlyn. Then it dawned on her, she wasn’t in trouble, Amber was upset, something had happened…but what?! As her snivelling best friend sobbed in her arms, the story starting forming, as Marlyn caught certain words.
“*sob*…fire…*sob*…house…*sob*…fireman…*sob*…news…,” blubbered the saddened girl. Marlyn looked up at her parents, confused.
“I think this will help,” said her father going over to her wall mounted, flat screen, hi-def, 42″ plasma TV and switching it on.
As the crying girl, the shocked best friend, the awkward father and the anxious mother all watched the news report, Marlyn felt disgusted. How could someone keep a secret like that from her best friend?!?! Slowly, suspiciously, Marlyn turned to face what was in her eyes, a traitor.

~

“How the hell do you think you could of kept this from me, your best frickin’ friend!” screamed Marlyn.
“Mari! No! It’s not what you think,” said Amber feebly.
“YES IT IS!”
“NO IT ISN’T”
“YES IT IS!”
Suddenly, interrupting the dead-end argument that was happening in the basement of the grand house at the end of Yardley Lane was a knock. A sharp, rap. A rap, filled with horror, and the kind of tingles that are sent up your spine and up your neck until they reach your head, and fill your thoughts with terrifying things. Nobody moved. After a few painfully long moments, Marlyn looked at her parents’ terrified faces and said,
“Should I get that?”
Why were they so worried? It was just a person knocking at the door.
“No!” they shouted together, looking at the floor.
Marlyn and Amber exchanged glances. What was going on?
Then, out of the blue, a huge crash came from upstairs. The two 17 year old girls grabbed onto each other, the two terrified adults, guilty as hell, flinched covering their heads. Even Marlyn’s cat shot out from under her bed, from where it was hiding.
Footsteps.
A voice.
No one could distinguish quite what they were saying.
Then the footsteps got louder and Marlyn suddenly realized they were coming downstairs. To the basement, to where it now felt, the family was hiding. Two huge black police officers emerged from the stairs, guns raised and ready to fire.
“Are you Adam Little?” said one police officer pointing his gun at Marlyn’s dad. When he nodded, he and his partner jumped toward shaking man and pinned him to the floor.
“Adam Little, you are under arrest for arson and murder of Mark and Samantha Holden. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present now and during any future questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you free of charge if you wish.”
And just like that, Adam Little’s life had changed.

~

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