Chapter 1

Bobby's POV

" It's not your fault Bobby " people can say that as much as they want, but it is what happened to my sister is my fault; my name is Bobby Brady and I am going to tell you the story that needs to be told the story that you need to hear. I'm a key character in this story, but it isn't mine it belongs to my sister and I am determined to tell the truth about what happened to her and why and how it happened and it all began when together Cindy and I moved to New York City.

"We never should have left California "I remember saying that when things started getting bad, but when we left we were in search of our dreams in search of new lives away from our parents and the stress they brought to our lives without meaning to.

"She was my best friend "that is what I say now when I'm asked about my sister and that's the truth for as long as I can remember Cindy wasn't just my sister she was my best friend and the only one I could trust with my every secret, we supported each other as we followed our dreams even when our family didn't and I will miss her till the day I die.

"I'm going to become a writer "I remember saying that to my parents when I had finally gained the courage to tell them I knew they wouldn't be happy and I was right in the end Cindy was the only one who encouraged me every step of the way and with her help I had a book published as my career progressed and even though it wasn't a huge success I did it just like Cindy always said I would. Many times along the way before my book was published I tried to give up, but Cindy would never let me she always had a word or two of advice and encouragement to keep me going; you could say that if we didn't have anybody else we always had each other no matter what and soon after my book was published my career took a turn for the better and when I was offered a job in new York I was determined to take Cindy with me I couldn't leave her behind now I wish I had. My sister Cindy was a wonderful dancer, but in California her career wasn't as good as it could have been so when I offered to take her to new York she jumped at the chance; we both knew she would make it she had graduated from one of the best dance schools in the world and she was graceful with poise and Cindy never had been hard on the eyes. No matter how hard it was for her Cindy never gave up not even at the end when everything including her career great she never gave up she wasn't worked at it till it killed her almost that's one of the few qualities we don't share she always said I was too eager to give up. In the days before we said goodbye to California we had stars in our eyes; I saw myself as the world famous writer while Cindy had visions of dancing on Broadway in shows like phantom of the opera and Swan Lake.

" Come with me to new York " I remember those words leaving my lips and I remember how happy Cindy was, but now knowing what I know I wish I had never asked her I wish I had gone alone saying those words is the worst mistake I've ever made. I'm trying to take all the blame here, I'm trying to say that everything that happened did because of me alone, but I'm not alone in this.

"Mom and Dad they could have prevented it if they'd have been more supportive to us both "I'll tell that to anyone who asks even though I'm the only one who thinks so. They always wanted us to be something great and when the rest of our siblings did something great with their lives with successful careers that only made mom and dad push us harder.

" No matter what we were outshined by one of our brothers and sisters our entire lives " that was my opinion and as I've said before I would tell it to anyone who wanted to hear it; our careers were nothing as far as our parents were concerned when it was compared to the greatness of Dr. Greg Brady, Marcia Brady attorney at law, Jan the architect she made mom and dad especially happy when she took in dads path, and Peter Brady president of a multi-million dollar company their careers outshined ours every time.

As their careers took off they all left California and moved away Greg to Seattle, Marcia to Chicago, Jan all the way to Europe, and Peter in new York and soon Cindy and I would be there too. When we arrived in New York in was a beautiful night the type of night that California couldn't touch and when we first stepped onto a New York Street Cindy and I were in awe. Peter had been nice enough to find us an apartment in Brooklyn that we would share till we both got off our feet and I remember our first night in new York clear as day we were going to have dinner with Peter and his wife Joanne before accompanying them to a party that Peter insisted we go to with them saying he wanted to show us a good time.

" It was partly his fault too Peter got her into that world he got us both in and me I was able to get out, but Cindy couldn't she wasn't strong enough " this is a statement I gave when asked how we ever found that world when asked. That night we wore our best clothes, I was in my best suit and Cindy wore a pretty violet dress then we left going to Peter's Manhattan penthouse. When we first entered his home Pete greeted us warmly hugging us both and picking Cindy up off her feet spinning her around.

It had been eight years since we had seen our brother not since his wedding and in that time he had changed so much. Peter still had all his hair except now it was well groomed and curly his eyes alarmed us both they were glassy bloodshot almost popping out of his head going well with his pale white nearly corpse like skin.

" The man in that room didn't look like our brother he looked like he had already died and come back to life as a living zombie like corpse " this is the way Pete still looks now and in my opinion my family and I will probably be burying him very soon. Peter was decked out in the finest suit and soon his wife Joanne was right next to him they both looked ready to die. Neither of us had ever really liked Joanne when we first met her there was just something about her that made the hair on our necks stand up, but we said nothing because Peter loved her.

"Joanne looks like one of those people who didn't know the world continued outside New York "this is just my opinion of her she was a pure blooded new York born girl from queens and she had the accent to prove it.

Growing up we were all used to seeing women like our mom women who looked pure and real, but Joanne was the complete opposite I don't think she has one thing on her whole body that is real.

" The only way I can describe to you what Joanne looks like is like this one day in twenty to thirty years you'll probably see Joanne in a bingo hall in Vegas " most people I tell this to laugh, Joanne has dirty blond hair and it's the only part of her that could possibly be real though I think she's died it a few times to make it that blond and she had more work done on her body then my first car, but what alarmed us when we saw her that day was her and our brother had the same bulging popped eyes. Joanne is a very scary woman when we asked Peter how he met her he answered us honestly telling us he met her at the strip club she worked at.

"Joanne would encourage Cindy or an of my sisters to try anything when she was around that very night she told Cindy she needed to try Botox "I later told this to the rest of my family after it was all over in my opinion Joanne had as much to do with what happened to Cindy as Peter or anybody else did maybe she had more than anybody did. Joanne had not changed since the last time we saw her she wore more makeup then a circus clown or any type of clown for that matter and like peter her clothes probably cost more than mom and dad's first house and her clothes always matched her messy hair and fake fingernails.

We went out to a swanky restaurant called the rainbow room and the minute we sat down Cindy and I knew we were never coming here again we couldn't afford it. Peter and Joanne had to order for us because we couldn't read half of what the menu said. Despite our protests that we didn't want him spending too much money on us Peter ordered the most expensive wine and Cindy and I made sure to eat whatever they ordered for us whether we liked it or not because of the amount of money our brother was spending on us. Cindy seemed to like the wine that was the first time I ever saw her drink anything harder than soda and I didn't know it then, but it wouldn't be the last.

The food Peter ordered for us was very different in a lot of ways and some of it was very good, but some of it was stuff I wouldn't eat ever again. The only thing I can say about the food other than that is that thank god Peter ordered us both a salad or Cindy and I wouldn't have eaten; Peter ordered us Caesar salad with Snell's in some sort of sauce, the salad was fine, but the Snell's were terrible. The Snell's were slimy and kind of rubbery and we hated it though we hid it well from Peter eating what we could, but hiding the rest in our napkins.

" Pete what is this and how do you eat it " I remember Cindy asking as she tried to get a smell out of the shell though at the time she didn't know what it was neither of us did making one fly off her plate and into the wine bottle spilling wine everywhere. Peter and Joanne laughed at her as Peter handed us both something that looked like players telling us to do as he did. After a struggle between Cindy and I and our food in which in the process many Snell's went flying we finally got one free and took a bite and the taste that filled our mouths as I said before was terrible.

"This is different "I remember saying in response to the taste in my mouth looking at Cindy as I tried to swallow the stuff in my mouth with a struggle.

"Snell's in a white wine sauce after you get used to it it's not so bad "said Peter smiling at them as him and his wife finished the food on their plates. The rest of the night went equally strange, but some of it was very good especially this Italian cake that we had for dessert it was delious and its Italian funny sounding now made it sound delious. We left after Peter had paid the check going to the limo we had arrived in and driving to the party they were taking us to; we didn't know what to think we didn't know where we were going or who we could meet. Cindy and I didn't want to embarrass Peter we didn't want him mad at us because we'd said something stupid to his New York friends.

We rode in the limo passing by the streets of New York and Cindy and I were both amazed at how beautiful the city was, but all we could think was where we are going who we will see and what do we say to them. I'm sure everyone could tell I was nervous the way I kept checking my appearance.

" That was one of the things about Cindy and I that was different she never worried about her appearance she was always more concerned with sounding stupid while I worried about my looks " I remember this now with a smile because she would always tell me I was the handsomest guy she knew. Cindy always worried about sounding stupid even though she was the smartest person I knew and I told her every chance I got. The building we arrived at looked a lot like the one Peter lived in and it was bright with lights and Cindy and I looked at each other as we walked inside next to them.

The elevator ride was short as we headed to the penthouse, but during the ride Peter and Joanne could tell we were scared and nervous.

"Don't be nervous guys just go in there and meet some of our friends and partake in whatever you want it's all on me "said Peter just as the elevator doors opened. They were greeted by their friends while Cindy and I watched in shock at what the people were doing around us.

" I wish I would have grabbed her hand and ran out of there back into that elevator because the minute we stepped any further into that apartment we were in the world that would ruin both our lives, but my sisters more than my own " I said this to anyone who asked because that was my biggest regret and I remember looking around seeing as Peter and his wife started doing the same as the others around us and looking at each other we knew why their eyes were the way they were.