Starr Buchanan Chronicles
Introduction
'That which doesn't kill us, makes us that much stronger' –Fredrich Nietzche.
Everyone has heard that quote sometime in their life because of how famous it is and how true it is. What doesn't kill us just makes us a hell of a lot stronger.
I learned that at an early age.
My dad is in the Military. He is a U.S Marine. But he used to be a cop. He was never home so I spent most of my time with my brother Dom. Well, his name is Dominic, but we all call him Dom. My mom always had to work so she was never home, Dom practically raised me at eleven and he is by far the coolest big brother out there.
Well, my mom did work all time, until my dad got shot. It was just a routine thing, a car was speeding, he pulled them over, and when he went to talk to the driver, he was welcomed with a gun that shot him. After he hit the ground the driver sped off.
The bullet hit him in the chest and got lodged in one of his lungs, but Nathan Buchanan, my father is a fighter, he fought hard and survived getting shot. I was eight when this happened and an officer coming to your second grade class to get you because your dad just got shot is not a thing you want to happen. One of my dad's colleagues or fellow officers came to my class, I remember it like yesterday.
He just walked in right when Mrs. Hanson was letting us out to recess. I was talking to my friend James by my desk (I will tell you more about him later) when he walked over with Mrs. Hanson. I recognized him as someone my dad worked with before and someone we have had over for dinner once. One of his 'cop buddies' as Dom said it. I didn't know what he was doing there so I kind of stared as James was telling me about the last night's new episode of SpongeBob Squarepants.
Anyway, the officer walked over and said that he needed to speak to me alone. I was really confused, the only thing on my mind was, oh god, what new stupid thing did Dom do. So I walked off with him and he told me that my mom and Dom were at the hospital and I needed to be there. I was really confused so I was like 'why do I need to be there?' he then told me my dad was admitted and my mom asked him to come get me from school.
The whole ride there in his squad car I was silent as I sat in the backseat while he drove. I was wondering what had happened. But when we got there, and I was with my mom and Dom, I saw what critical condition my dad was in. he looked awful. But who doesn't when they get shot in the lung and just had major surgery to repair the damage.
But my dad pulled through, Nathan Buchanan wont give up on anything.
I was ten when my mom was killed.
Yeah, I said killed. When you have a dad for cop, he always has enemies. It was an assassination attempt on him. but who would try to assassinate a patrol officer you may ask. Well, after getting shot, my dad moved over to forensics unit. He became a 'Horatio Caine' as some would say. So, he put away a lot of people with that job and some weren't happy about that. one especially.
Walter Desmond was his name. Madison, Minnesota was a small town, so not much he could do there, so he worked a few towns over at a bigger city. Granite Falls.
Walter Desmond was a serial rapist on the streets of Granite Falls. My dad worked long and hard on putting that case together for almost year. So when their was finally enough evidence, he made sure he was there and was the arresting officer.
As soon as Walter got out on bail, he and his buds decided to get payback on my dad. So, our house was shot at in a drive by shooting. My mom had the day off, Dom was at work and I was at school when it happened. Hundreds of bullets were fired at my house and mom just so happened to be in the front room near the front door when it happened. It only took one bullet to kill her. it was a headshot. No one can really survive getting shot in the head. They always play that out on TV where people can get shot there and live like Eric Delko on CSI Miami or Michael Corinthos III on General Hospital. But anyway, the bullets continued because the gun was an automatic weapon and she was shot five more times.
Dom came home first that day to see a bunch of people and cops in front of our house. He called my dad and my dad got there and freaked. He immediately felt guilty because it was an attempt to kill him. then he thought what if it was me or Dom who got shot and killed. He then decided to go back to patrol. He did not want to risk Dom and I's lives.
After her funeral was when Dom joined the military. He trained hard for a year before he was deployed to Iraq. It was hard to see him go, he was who I was closest to, besides my friends James and Karly. (again, I will get to them later). My dad still worked all the time, it was his way with dealing of mom's death. he wouldn't stop blaming himself, so I was home alone all the time.
After two whole years of Dom being overseas, my dad got that dreadful phone call. There had been a bombing and shootout and Dom was injured. He wasn't dead, but he was severely hurt. He was close to the bomb and the blast knocked him really far away, his spinal cord was crushed. He was paralyzed from the waist down.
My dad blamed himself of course, just like when mom died. He pulled away from us again. As soon as Dom could come home, my dad did the only thing he could think of doing to make himself feel better about it.
He joined the military and a year later was deployed.
And ever since, he has been over in Iraq fighting, leaving me to stay with Dom who was confined to a wheelchair. He won't say it, but I don't think he can stand to look at me anymore. I look so much like my mom. I am a constant reminder of who he got killed. But Dom doesn't see me that way. He still sees me as the little sister he loves.
That quote I mentioned before, the 'what doesn't kill us makes us that much stronger' one, that I couldn't do alone. I couldn't be strong on my own when my dad got shot, or my mom died and when Dom was forced to be in a wheelchair. I have some pretty amazing friends.
When you grow up in a small town like Madison in Minnesota like I did, you literally have friends that you have literally known since kindergarten and have been extremely close to. No matter how cliché it sounds, it is ironically true.
My bestest friend in the whole world is Karly Tisdale. We met on the first day of kindergarten and we both found out we loved Hilary Duff or Lizzie McGuire. So, as kindergarteners, that's literally what made us close friends.
But the closest friend I have. That is James. James Diamond. We met when he moved to Madison mid year in kindergarten. He moved from Florida to Minnesota so he was not used to the winter weather at all. He had not seen snow before and lets just say, some first graders thought pelting him with snowballs packed with rock would be a great way to 'welcome' him. but, Karly can be VERY viscous sometimes, so she really scared those first graders away after she was all up in their face being 'Karly,' as I would say. James was thankful for that. who wouldn't be though, I don't think anyone would love to be attacked by first graders with rocky snowballs. It sounds very painful.
So anyway, after that, James just stuck with Karly and I. The three of us just clicked. It was good for his safety because some people were afraid of Karly. If I wasn't her friend back then, I personally would be afraid of her too.
Anyway, going through those tough times, I always had a friend by my side, whether it was Karly or James.
I was in shock after I found out my mom died. I never got to say goodbye and to hear she was killed in a hail of bullets and even see the outside of what was left of our house, that was just to much. I kept it bottled up inside and just went around not saying anything until her funeral. I sat in the front with Dom to my right. James and Karly were to my left. Dom gripped my right hand while James had my left gripped in his. They both knew how hard this was for me. Losing your mom in a bloody drive by shooting isn't easy.
Right after my dad went up there to say some words, I broke down for the first time. I just completely broke down. I started sobbing and everyone stared at me because I was crying loud. I then got up and kicked off my fancy black Mary-Jane shoes and I just sprinted out of the graveyard. I couldn't be there. I didn't know where I was going I just ran. I heard my dad, Dom and other voices screaming my name, but I didn't stop. I just needed to get out of there if you know what I mean.
I made it to the town park when I finally stopped running. I leaned down against a tree let the tears flow from my eyes. My mom used to always say tears were the words that your heart could say. As soon as I remembered that, I started sobbing harder. Its like I could hear her voice in my ear.
We weren't as close as me and Dom were, but still, I felt like my world was crashing down. us girls, we look up to our mothers. We see them as role models. Who we want to be when we grow up. our hero's. you know. They are our female influences. They inspire us to do good in everything we do, and I just lost mine. She died a violent death. it didn't matter that we didn't have the perfect mother daughter relationship that most girls have with their mothers like Karly and her mom Leslie.
As I continued to sob by the tree I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up expecting to see Dom, but instead, James was there. I expected him to try to get me to go back to the funeral. But instead, he just sat down next to me against the tree and stayed with me until I stopped crying and Dom came and found us with Karly.
Earlier, before my mom died, when my dad got shot, James was there for me also. He would do anything to get me to laugh and would cheer me up when I was freaking out if I heard from Dom or my mom that he wasn't doing well in the hospital.
Even when Dom was confined to his wheelchair, James was there for me along with Karly. They didn't leave my side once when I was hurting about that or crying and since then, they have just proved their loyalty to me more.
But once we hit middle school, Karly, James and I weren't as close as we used to be. Well, Karly and I were, but James made some new friends, I guess he was just sick of hanging around us girls all the time. So he started hanging out with three other guys, Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia and Logan Mitchell. Logan and Carlos are still his friends, they hang out every once in a while, but, James and Kendall started hanging out with Karly and me, and that caused Karly to devolope a HUGE crush on Kendall. She has it bad for him.
Carlos and Logan, they seemed nice, and I kind of think of them as friends now. But I am not nearly as close to them as I am James. Its like we have this bond. It's so hard to explain, I don't know how to even start. But James is always there for me no matter what. I can really count on him. and I can also really count on Karly.
So anyways, my name is Starr Buchanan and my story begins October 1, 2010.
