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Chapter 1
.Just the beginning.
~
In my life I was never able to experience true happiness. Not that I wasn't allowed to, more like I didn't allow myself to be happy. Every time I experience happiness, something bad always happens as a result. It's like with great joy also comes great loss. I realize that many people would say that this seems like an unfortunate accident, or it's just a coincidence, but I believe in fate, and as Sir Isaac Newton stated himself `For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.' it's a weird philosophy to live by, but hey what can I say...its fate.
~
Five more minutes...just five minutes. That's all I needed. Five minutes. I feel as if I had been waiting for eternity for five minutes elapse. I guess that happens when you are looking forward to something. Time seems to stand still. Four minutes. Freedom is right around the corner I could almost taste it. My heart began to speed up in anticipation. Three minutes. My whole life has come to this. Everything that has happened over the past 18 years has all been for this one moment. All the work. Two minutes. All the stress. Everything. One minute. In less than 60 seconds.
Everything changes.
"Congratulations to the senior class of 2008" Cheers erupted throughout the auditorium reverberating all around, as we stood up to bow and throw our hats up celebrating all that we've accomplished. I glanced around looking for him but he wasn't there. I had figured as much they didn't call his name when the rest of us received our diploma. A frown flashed on my face for a second, only to be replaced by a wide grin. I had finally made it.
Post ceremony we all retired to the back to receive our real diplomas. Taking part in tradition we hugged, cried, and departed with promises to keep in touch. I walked through the crowd alone receiving pats on the back and cheers of congratulations from random people. The one person I wanted to congratulate me the most, the one person whose appearance would have meant the world to me...wasn't there. I finally made it to my family, by then I had gotten my act together, and another round of congratulations was in order.
Graduation had been the happiest moment of my life. It was the last time I could remember that I was truly happy. It was also the last time I saw my parents.
~
My parents were business executives. Always on the go, always flying off on business trips, never once stopping to rest, to take a load off, spend time with family. Don't get me wrong, we did have some good times together as a family; actually one time in particular I can remember vividly. I had just turned 14 and I guess it was a big deal at least my father thought so. So he flew us, my mother, my two older sisters, my older brother and my younger brother, out to Florida and we spent a whole weekend as a family. No business calls, no work, just family time. I remember my father pulling me aside to talk to me privately.
"Okay now Golden." Yes my name is Golden. Golden Brooks. It was my great grandmother's name and I was thought to have been a girl when my mother was pregnant with me. Imagine the looks of shock on their faces when I came out of the womb. Still she had decided on the name Golden so that's the name I was stuck with. But I digress.
I just stared at my father. He truly was someone I aspired to be someday in every way. He was successful, rich, and he had the looks to go along with it. I nodded my head for him to continue.
"You're a young man now. That means that you have some decisions to make as a young man. And none is more important than taking up the family business one day."
"But dad I thought Leslie was heir to the family business, after all he is the oldest."
"Yes but it is MY business and besides your big brother isn't remotely interested in the business, let alone best suited to run it." He paused and looked me in the eye. He brought his hand up to rest on my shoulder. "I'm counting on you kiddo. I want you to run the corporation." He seemed to have so much faith in me, so sure of his decision. But did I want to be responsible for a whole corporation? What if I wasn't good enough? What if I run all his hard work straight into the ground? Then what? He must have sensed my inner turmoil because he quickly responded.
"You are good enough. Your smart, perhaps the smartest kid I know. Don't tell your brothers or sisters I told you that." He joked lightening the mood.
"You really mean that?"
"Yes son, you're top of your class already. What kid does that his freshman year?!" He laughed causing me to laugh with him. "And you're dedicated, loyal, and you are very considerate in everything you do. I couldn't be more proud of you if I tried."
Tears began to pour from my eyes. That was the first time I had ever heard my dad speak of anyone so highly in my entire life. I felt overwhelmed. All I could do was hug him and promise that I would make him even more proud the day I take over and follow in his footsteps. He patted my head and murmured something along the lines of `I knew I could count on you.'
~
A part of me hated them as I stood in front of their graves. Everyone was in silence or either crying hysterically, as the preacher spoke. My two older sisters Faith and Serenity sat on the bench next to me holding my little brother, Miles, close to them in a maternal like manner. I guess with the death of our parents they felt like they had to become them. I glanced over to my other side to where Leslie was sitting. He was unusually quite. He didn't look interested nor uninterested...he just looked. I had never seen my family so...sad. It only made me hate my parents more. How could they leave us? How could not think what would happen to us if they were not here? The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to cry. It seemed ironic really. The one thing that they worked so hard for was ultimately the thing that caused their downfall.
It was raining. That's an understatement, it was pouring. We were all sitting at the fire place when the phone rang. It was Dad's corporation unit in New York. Apparently one of his client's from Paris was in town and needed to go over some business matters with him. He tried to put it off, saying it could wait, but the guy on the other side convinced him that it was too important to put off. The call ended and my dad briefed my mom. She agreed to come as well so they quickly packed and left, kissing us all except my little brother who was asleep goodbye. That was the last time I saw them alive. We received a phone call at three in the morning from the airport. They said that the plane that our parents were on was struck by lightning and crashed into the ground. There were no survivors.
The ceremony ended and slowly they were lowered into the ground, disappearing from this world forever. My aunt and her two daughters were the only other family, besides my brothers and sisters that I had left. They walked over to us after the ceremony to give us their condolences. I too gave my condolences to her; she had lost her only sister. They offered us to stay with them in which my oldest sister Faith accepted. Leslie the oldest of us all was nowhere to be found. He just disappeared after the funeral. I didn't blame him. My aunt hugged us all one last time before leaving us to mourn the death of our parents. Faith and Serenity stayed a while longer before leaving me with Miles. He wanted to stay with me. I looked down at him. So innocent. So young. He didn't know what was happening. The only thing he understood was that mommy and daddy were gone and they weren't coming back. I picked him up and held him in my arms close to me. He just put his little arms around my neck and hugged me back. We stood there for ten more minutes by then he had fallen asleep. I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to. A hand on my shoulder made me turn around. I had half expected to see Faith or Serenity, but instead it was Leo. Leo was my childhood friend; we had grown up together and known each for so long he was practically my brother. His skin was a caramel brown color, and his eyes were kind of an onyx gray. His hair was long and wavy. He was about 6' and had a muscular frame, not body builder big but more of a sports athlete, in fact he played basketball in high school. I don't know why he quit, I mean the boy had skills, any NBA team would have been begging for him to sign.
I hadn't known that he was at the funeral. But then again I didn't notice anyone else either. He just stared at me. His hazel eyes holding my attention. He reached out and silently grabbed miles and held him in his arms like a newborn baby, then reached out and hugged me softly.
"I'm so sorry." he whispered in my ear sending a shiver down my spine. I shook it off. It was just the closeness that all and it was kind of cold with it being the middle of November. He held me for a while longer before releasing me and offering to walk me to the car where my sisters awaited. The walk was short and oddly enough calming. He had that effect on me. When we got to the car he gave Miles to Serenity and turned to me and hugged me again. I just wrapped my arms around his waist and silently thanked him for everything. He pulled back and smiled. I smiled to. Then we left.
Once home Faith began to pack immediately. She wanted for us to be packed and ready to leave by tomorrow morning. I couldn't help but get mad again. They haven't been in the ground for a day and here she was acting like she was in charge. They wouldn't want us to leave this place. This is our home. They had this mansion built specifically for us. It even had our name on it for Christ sakes, and here she was in less than 24 hours throwing it all away. But I hadn't the energy to argue with her. I went up to my room. Stripped down to my boxers and fell into bed.
I was awakened in the middle of the night by a knock at the door. It was Miles. He had a bad dream and he wanted to sleep with me. I moved over giving in room in my bed and he climbed in and fell asleep in my arms.
The next morning I woke up and Miles was gone. I slipped on a tee shirt and shorts and went down stairs to find him since he wasn't in his room. As I walked down the stairs I saw boxes and suitcases all packed by the front door. She was actually serious? I walked into the kitchen and Faith, Serenity, Miles, and some guy in a suit was sitting at the table. When Miles saw me enter the room, he smiled so big I thought his head was going to split in two. I smiled to.
"Hey big brother." He said as I made my way to the table to take a seat.
"Hey little guy." I replied, my normal greeting to him.
I looked at Faith trying to find the meaning in all this. She only acknowledged my presence and turned her gaze back to the man in the suit. I glanced to Serenity, she too avoided eye contact.
"Would someone like to tell me what's going on?" I asked to no one in particular.
"I took the liberty in packing some of your stuff; anything I left out you can pack yourself." Faith spoke up still not looking in my direction at all.
"What?" I asked, my voice laced with anger.
"Do not raise your voice." Faith answered. She was unbelievable. "You know what we all decided."
"I didn't decide anything." I said trying not to yell in front of Miles. "And who is this guy?" I pointed to the man in the suit.
"I'm glad you asked." Faith said. "He's our parents' lawyer."
"So what is he doing here? Huh? Here to collect his last payment of our parents money?!" I was now yelling. I don't know what triggered my anger at that moment. Probably the lack of emotion shown my Faith, or her need to be in control of everything, or even the fact that Serenity just sat there through it all. All I knew for sure that I was pissed and I wasn't going to let it go that easily. I turned to Miles who was completely confused by the situation.
"Hey Miles tell you what. You know my x box 360 upstairs, the one I told you not to play with?" I asked him, all traces of my previous anger gone. He stared at me wide eyed and nodded his head enthusiastically.
"YEAH!" he shouted.
"Why don't you go upstairs and play with it." Before I could finish my sentence he ran upstairs, yelling `thank you' along the way. With him gone I turned back to Faith.
"Well." I said.
The lawyer took this as an opportunity to speak up. He was a frail man in his thirties, kind of on the geeky side. "Actually sir I'm here to read your parents will." He sated stuttering along the way.
"Their will?" I asked still confused.
He nodded and continued. "Your parents designed a will. In case anything should happen to them. They designed it in a way that your mother's will would be assigned to the women and your father's will, to the men." He paused. I nodded for him to continue. "First of all I will read your mother's will. In case of an unfortunate accident. I leave my two daughters all my inheritance to be divided among them equally, as well as my half of the family business to Faith." Who didn't see that coming? "I also leave 5 million dollars to my only sister." I looked to Faith, she seemed unaffected. She probably expected it as much as I did. Serenity however seemed shocked. My mother alone was worth more than they could spend in their lifetime. I think she was shocked that she would be receiving that much money.
"And my father's will?" I asked.
"Yes your father's will. Let's see." He flipped about a hundred pages before he began to read my father's will. "In case of an unfortunate accident I leave all my inheritance to be split amongst my three sons evenly. And I also want for my half of the family business to go to my son Golden, as well as the mansion." Faith gasped and Serenity looked as if she was going to faint.
"There must some sort of mistake." Faith said snatching the paper away from the lawyer. Sure enough it said that his half business would go to me. She was furious. If this were a cartoon, she would have steam coming from her ears and her head would explode like a volcano. That's how mad she was. I however expected it. I silently thanked my dad. The lawyer began to put the papers back into his suitcase. And Faith walked him to the door.
"One more thing." he said turning around to face us. "The elder brother stopped by my office this morning and has already collected his half of the inheritance. He didn't however specify his intentions, and he asked for me to tell you all that he was going away for a while and not to look for him. He was more than certain that Faith would be able to take care of things."
Great that's exactly what I needed was for Faith to be left in control yet again. I wanted to be mad at Leslie but I couldn't blame him. If I could I would probably leave too. But that would mean leaving Miles alone with Faith and Serenity and I couldn't do that. Once the lawyer was out of the house, Faith resumed packing as if the lawyer had never come. I just went back to my room and studied.
A few hours later I heard Faith yell my name. I closed my laptop and walked down stairs to the main hall where all our stuff was. I still wore the shorts and tee shirt I had on earlier. Faith and Serenity had on matching white dresses that contrasted with their milk chocolaty skin. Miles wore a little blue suit with a bright red tie. He was smiling at me as I came down the stairs as usual.
"Why aren't you dressed?" Faith asked, more like demanded. I stared at her eye to eye. Unmoving. I felt like I was in one of those old fashion cowboy movies where they would draw their guns and shoot.
"I'm not going." I stated. She glared at me unbelieving like dare to defy her. Before she could reply I continued. "You heard what the lawyer said. I own this mansion...and I refuse to give it up." She was about to speak up but I silenced her. "Also," I paused and looked at Miles. "Miles stays here with me." As soon as I finished my sentence a loud `YES' was heard as Miles ran over to me and jumped in my arms. Faith looked completely furious. But there was nothing she could say or do. I had made my decision.
"Fine." She muttered which caught me off guard. Obviously Serenity felt the same way as she let out a loud gasp. I thought she was going to put up more of a fight. "Your 18 now you can make your own decisions. You seem to think you know everything about how to raise a child then so be it take on this responsibility. Just know this you will be back. You'll come crawling back because life is too hard." She said the last part in a baby-like mocking tone. Serenity began to protest but Faith put up a hand to silence her. "No, let's see how long he can juggle college, the corporation, and raising Miles." she finished before walking away without so much as a good bye. Serenity followed after her.
I had fired the first shot. Victory was mine. The rest should be a piece of cake.