1986 – Smallville; Kansas
Tragedy: is a form of art based on human suffering that paradoxically offers its audience pleasure.
I was too young to understand or appreciate a good tragic story. As I grew older I never felt the need to indulge in them on screen, or waste my time at parties where the drama was more intense than the July sun. Why spend precious time examining someone else's tragedies when I have lived my own. My brain wasn't fully developed when it happened, so I never was able to retain the events that played out on that dark day. But it is a day, that with stories and immense digging, I will always remember.
October 31st 1986: My first birthday
The decorations were hung perfectly, balloons tied around every corner of the small but quaint living room, with orange and black streamers lining the walls. Typical Halloween colors clashed horribly with the blue floral décor of the small farm house. But it didn't matter. They were sure it wouldn't matter, being different was something to be prided on, not something to fear. So they embraced the day that their daughter was born, they celebrated it more than anything. As was half the county.
Mrs. Vivian Kent spent the whole morning making sure the orange tulip cake was perfectly, the letters were looped in well legible writing, and the candle was placed precisely in the center; one large white candle to represent the purity of her child.
She didn't worry about getting herself ready for the party, being well put together with her looks wasn't something she ever worried about. And she didn't need to. Vivian always kept her hair cut short, so she never had to mess with it, and her clothes were always simple. That was the life that she had chosen in marrying the son of a farmer. Jason Kent was her knight in dusty flannel. He was her everything.
He was gentle, kind, hard working, and the most amazingly patient father any woman could ask for. And right now, he was hanging the last of the "happy birthday" decorations on the walls.
"What time is your brother and Martha coming over?" Asked Vivian as she dumped the last of her dirty baking dishes into the hot soapy water.
"They should be here," a knock on the door prevented him from finishing his sentence.
Neither of them had to move from their chores to answer the door, it opened on it's own, and in walked Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kent.
"Right on time, only half and hour early this time," said Jason, stepping down off the chair and shaking his brothers hand.
"Well we just wanted to see Laila before everyone else gets here to compete for her attention." Martha smiled glowingly as she picked the baby up from her cradle and started gently swaying her back and forth.
"Lucky for you we still have to pick up the meat platter down at the grocery store, mind sitting for twenty minutes?" asked Vivian, drying her hands and placing her apron over the dining room chair.
"Of course, we'd love to," Jason knew his brother would never pass up an opportunity to baby-sit his only niece.
"Thanks so much, we'll be back in a few." Neither Jason nor Vivian grabbed their coats as they headed out the doors, they didn't think they needed them. The store was just down the street, and it was oddly warm for an October evening.
Martha cradled the young blonde baby in her arms as she took a seat on the plush couch. The way she was looking at little Laila made Jonathan almost sad. His thoughts always found a way back to the day they found out Martha would never be able to have children. It didn't make him love her even less, it just made him concerned about the regrets he knew they would both one day come to have.
He turned on the game while they waited for the rest of the guests to arrive, sitting with Laila in his arms while Martha decided to finish the dishes for her sister in law. By the time she had finished the neighbors had shown up, bearing a few gifts for the young girl, followed by Vivian's sisters and parents, each of them taking turns awing over the baby.
The cake stayed uneaten on the dining room table while the small talk dwindled down. Laila's parents still hadn't gotten back from the store yet, and it had been almost an hour.
"Jonathan, I'm getting worried about Jason and Vivian," Martha didn't announce her concerns in the room full of people; instead, she had taken him aside into the kitchen.
"I am too Martha, I'm going to go out and see what's keeping them, you just stay here and take care of Laila." Martha kissed her husbands cheek as he grabbed his truck keys and headed to the door. Knowing that he was out there made her feel a little better about the situation.
"Where is Jonathan going?" Misty, Vivian's older sister had broken away from the small crowd and joined Martha in the kitchen.
"He's just going to see what's keeping Jason and Vivian so long at the store."
"Knowing Jason he probably forgot to put gas in the car and they have to walk back." Misty had never approved of the lifestyle her sister had chosen over what she saw as their birthright. Martha ignored her petty comments; she was a bigger person than that.
She made herself busy by getting out the plates and setting the table, anything to keep her hands busy and her mind preoccupied. She didn't want to think the worse, but with the child involved, she couldn't help but worry.
As soon as the last dish was placed on the table the phone rang. Being the closest, and the quickest, Martha grabbed it and tried to sound as calm as she appeared.
"Hello?"
"Martha, I found Jason and Vivian." Martha glanced at her watch as he continued. "It's not good honey, Ethan is on his way to break the news."
"Jonathan, what happened?"
"Please, I'm on my way with Ethan, I'll explain when I get there."
She didn't argue with him, that wasn't her nature. She didn't tell anyone else either, it wasn't her job to break the bad news to people, and she wasn't even sure what that bad news was. All she could do was look at the sweet innocent baby that was sleeping peacefully back in her crib.
It was only ten minute until Jonathan showed up with the town Sheriff in his shadow. Ethan removed his hat from his head as he entered the house, his eyes downcast and sad. She jumped up from her seat on the couch and rushed to her husband.
"What happened?"
He gently told her to wait, while Ethan explained.
"There's been an accident."
"What kind of accident?" Vivian's father spoke for the group.
"Some teenagers decided to hold up the grocery store, shot the clerk and Jason and Vivian," this was the worst part of Ethan's job.
"But they're going to be ok aren't they? Jonathan?" Martha grabbed her husbands arm as she felt the tears burning her eyes.
"There were no survivors; everyone was DOA by the time paramedics got there." Pain was the only emotion everyone felt; only Martha seemed to be thinking something different than everyone else. She picked little Laila back up from her crib and asked the hardest question she ever had to.
"What's going to happen to Laila?"
"We won't know until the lawyers go over their will, but until then, I trust she can stay with you and Jonathan?"
"Of course Ethan, that's no problem at all." Jonathan answered for his wife who was weeping with the child who everyone knew would never get the chance to know her parents.
That night everyone went back to their homes and hotel rooms. Martha packed a bag of all Laila's favorite things. They were a close family, so there was no need for guess work when it came to her niece. Jonathan loaded her crib into the back of their truck so she could have a safe place to sleep that night and couldn't help but wonder how they would explain this to her when she was older.
It was no surprise that Jonathan and Martha were named Laila's godparents; the two couples were inseparable in their younger years and remained that way as they grew. She would be raised as their child, and told of her parents so that she would never forget them. Laila was also given her mothers favorite piece of jewelry that was given to her by her father on their first date. It was a large silver oval locket that contained their high school year book photo's, and it was the only material possession that she ever learned to care about in the world. When she was three she was allowed to wear it, and never took it off. Before she could even know the truth about her parents, her life changed again for the second time in an unbelievable way.