Chapter 1: Obituary

Quiet concern filled my family room. But I couldn't tell. I was wrapped up in my own little world barley seeing anyone in my family. Thoughts whirled through my head like a movie being projected into the backs of my eyes. How could this happen to us? And now of all times when we need her the most we couldn't have her. Let me fill you in.

It was Friday, June 16th and the last day of school. It was also the worst day of my life. Now I know what you're thinking. You're probably saying "Oh whatever I doubt her life is worse than mine." But I can guarantee it is. How many siblings do you have? I have six, 4 brothers and 2 sisters. The girls are twins and they are 9 months old. The youngest boy is 2 the oldest 10. Me? I'm 14 the oldest. I was walking home from "school" and grabbed the newspapers out of our mailbox like I usually do. I flipped through the paper looking for interesting things as I walked to our house (if you could call it that). As I flipped through the paper, I came across an obituary. The day was rainy, completely suiting the event. Big thunderheads were growing in the sky and somewhere I thought I saw a flash. Rain started coming down right as I walked inside. I stood in the entry way mortified by what I saw. The very first obituary said;

Rosalie J. Burk

Died Thursday June 15th at Central Washington Hospital

1971-2011

My mother was dead. No wonder she didn't come home last night. We all thought she was working a night shift for extra money. She had a really hard life. First I was born. That was complete joy for her until her current husband raped her then left. That's when Sam was born. He is 10. Then she was forced to get pregnant for money so we could survive. That is how Jake, Liam, and Luke were born. Jake is 8, Liam is 7, and Luke is 2. Now she re-married and was really happy. Tasha and Lucy were born, now both 9 months. I'm Cara, the oldest and now their current caregiver and you pronounce my name Car-uh. You have to make the "ah" sound. Then Dad went off to war before mom had the youngest two. He was supposed to come back for their birth and never did. Neither of the girls can walk yet so it's really difficult for mom to take care of them. Now, that's my job. Our family is kind of a wreck. Or was kind of a wreck, now it's a disaster. Our "family" can barely get by. Mom was working 2 jobs and a lot of the time night shifts. We live in a little abandoned storage shed with one blanket. I've never used the blanket, the others have. Mom did. But now Mom's gone. I'm their mother now.

Now back to the family room. The girls were sleeping curled up on the floor. They didn't and probably wouldn't know. The boys however were trying to be strong. They were my little troupers. They've always tried to be tough but Liam is only 7. He was crying gently into his hands. The others just sat there, sad and angry. At least I was angry anyway, angry at myself for letting this happen, angry at myself for not helping Mom more. There are a lot of other things but I'm not going to go into that.

"Guys? Hey come on, we gotta get moving."

"Where to?" Sam replied hastily. I think he had an urge to put his mind to something other than mom.

"Well I don't know but I'm thinking a better shelter with food, or to find some jobs. Sam do you think you can manage to start a lawn mower?"

"Yeah, I probably can. I think. Why?"

"Because

"So that you can earn money. I'm going to see if I can clean houses or something. The rest of you boys can pull weeds or something. I'll handle the girls."

"What's weeds?" Luke asked with a smug expression on his face.

"Weeds are bad plants that we don't like." Weed is also a drug that you'll find out about later on. Just not now…