“My son!” Papa cries out. “Please! My son is upstairs sleeping!”
Sneering, Mr. Ciccone turns back and glares at him. “Do you think I give a fuck about your family? This is called retribution. You took something from me, and now I’m taking everything from you.”
“No!” my father screams as Ciccone leaves.
The bad men continue to hit him until my father isn’t moving anymore.
And then they leave too.
Scurrying down the stairs, I pull at Papa’s arm to try to get him up. “Come on, Papa. We gotta get out of here! We have to go find Mama and Sara!”
But my father doesn’t move. Doesn’t open his eyes. Doesn’t say a word.
The next thing I hear is glass breaking. I turn to see a bottle filled with liquid and some kind of cloth that’s lit sticking out of it hurl past us. The moment the bottle hits the floor, the liquid catches on fire and starts burning everything it touched.
Suddenly, flames are all around us. Thick, black smoke rises to the ceiling, darkening the room.
Tugging at my Papa’s arm, I pull and pull and pull, but I can’t seem to budge him even an inch. I can’t move him. But if we don’t get out of here soon, we’re going to die!
“Please! Please, Papa!” I beg, sobbing. “Please! We have to get out!” Coughing violently from the smoke, I finally let go of my father and hoist the neckline of my shirt over my nose and mouth. “I’ll go get help, Papa!” I promise before reluctantly stepping away from him.
The entire downstairs is completely engulfed by the fire, so I run back up the stairs to my room. Sometimes, whenever I’m grounded, I sneak out of my room to meet Victoria in the treehouse in her backyard, so I know a way out.
I open the window, kick out the screen and jump down onto the small porch roof below. Then, I shimmy down a drainpipe until my feet hit the ground.
I think about running and asking Victoria to call nine-one-one, but her father might find me. He might throw me back in the fire.
A couple of explosions come from inside the house, and then the flames are so high that I can no longer see the roof.
“Papa!” I cry, tears blurring my vision. “Papa…” I choke on my sobs when I realize that my father is gone. And then I cry even harder when I realize my mother and sister are gone too.
Balling my fists at my sides, I sob for the loss of my father. The loss of my entire family.
And then a dark fury overtakes the sadness, and I become angry. Angry at my father for killing Victoria’s mother. Angry at Mr. Ciccone for taking my family away.
I know I have to run away, hide, so that Mr. Ciccone doesn’t find me. And once I’m safe, I’ll come back, find my family and save them.
I turn away from my house, ready to run and not look back…but I catch a glimpse of a small figure standing in the distance between the two houses.
Victoria.
She stands there in her white nightgown watching the fire with tears in her big, dark blue eyes.
And she’s clutching the locket I gave her for her tenth birthday.
“I’ll come back for you, too,” I vow, my voice getting carried away by the cold, night air. “I promise.”
I AWAKE WITH a start, my heart threatening to pound out of my chest. Struggling to catch my breath, I toss back the tangled sheets and sit up in bed.
Even though it’s been thirteen years, I can still smell the smoke, feel it burning my lungs.
Blinking and glancing around at my surroundings, I begin to calm down, my breathing slowly returning to normal.
Another fucking nightmare.
Fuck, I can still hear their screams…even in my dreams.
Swiping a hand down my face, I breathe out a long sigh before glancing at the clock. It's only five a.m., but I have a busy day today.
