CHAPTER ONE
Burning down her dad's apartment building hadn't initially been on Reagan's mind when she got home after a long day at school. But somehow it worked its way into her schedule. Reagan had come home to find her dad in the shower with not one, but two women. She'd exploded at him and stormed out of the apartment, only to come back later to pack some personal things one would take if they were running planning on running away, which she was. There was a lighter on the table next to the cigarettes Reagan's dad had bought, and it gave Reagan an idea; an idea much better than running away. Her dad deserved punishment, he deserved to be burned. Taking the lighter in one hand and her backpack in the other, knowing perfectly well that the apartment complex was a piece of shit with no sprinkler system. The building would burn like a piece of cloth covered in nail polish remover.
After trying for a few minutes to get the lighter to produce a flame, Reagan was ready to give up. She listened for a minute and heard the giggling and squealing of the girls her father was with in the bathroom, then the shower started up again. This made Reagan even more determined to make her dad pay. She tried one last time to get the lighter to work, then poured some Windex on the floor and held the lighter to it until it caught fire. Nobody in the bathroom heard anything. Smiling to herself, Reagan slipped outside.
Once across the street, she turned around to watch the building as it burst into flames. Little explosions and screams could be heard from the inside, but none of them caught Reagan's attention. She was focused intently on making her dad suffer for the hell he'd put Reagan and her mother through. When Reagan was a mere five years old, Daniel Mullally (Reagan's dad) started beating on his wife when things went bad at work, making Reagan watch while he hit her and cut her with carving knives. Charlene Mullally had filed for divorce and custody of Reagan, but Daniel lied to the judge and got full custody. Reagan's mother committed suicide a month later. Daniel had forced Reagan into independence and self-reliance by going out with his drinking buddies or his 'women' every night. Burning down the building was her way of letting him know that she wasn't going to put up with it anymore.
A few minutes later the building was too far gone to be saved, and the fire department hadn't shown up yet. By the time they arrived and put the fire out, it was nothing but a few beams and some charred furniture. A tall policeman with a Hitler mustache approached Reagan, who was still sitting in the same spot she had been when the fire became visible from the street. "Are you Reagan Mullally?"
"Who wants to know?" Reagan shot back at the man, who was staring down upon her like she was a hardened criminal.
"We just got an anonymous report that you exited the building just before it started burning, and that you had a tan bag with you. Do you know anything about the fire?"
"Maybe I was just leaving." Reagan countered.
"If that was true than why did you only walk across the street and do absolutely nothing when the fire started. Any normal person would have called 911." The policeman was clearly annoyed with Reagan's attitude.
"I thought that the fire was pretty. I didn't want it to get put out by some volunteers in ugly yellow suits." She smiled up at him "and what does my bag have anything to do with a house fire?"
"May I see what's in it?" the policeman held out his hand.
"Why?"
"Just give me the bag kid."
"Okay sir." Reagan held out her bag, "I want it back though, that means you can't use it on your little cross-dressing escapades every Friday night when your wife is out of town, you got that?"
"Watch your mouth kid." He glared at her as he searched through the contents of the bag. "Why do we have a lighter?"
"I smoke, see my yellow teeth." Reagan said. This wasn't true, but Reagan was just focused on pissing him off.
"Right. It looks as if you were getting ready to run away, why?"
"Sleepover?"
"Nice try kid, get in the car." The policeman pushed Reagan into the back of his squad car and slammed the door.
"Hey, can you turn on the siren?"
Burning down her dad's apartment building hadn't initially been on Reagan's mind when she got home after a long day at school. But somehow it worked its way into her schedule. Reagan had come home to find her dad in the shower with not one, but two women. She'd exploded at him and stormed out of the apartment, only to come back later to pack some personal things one would take if they were running planning on running away, which she was. There was a lighter on the table next to the cigarettes Reagan's dad had bought, and it gave Reagan an idea; an idea much better than running away. Her dad deserved punishment, he deserved to be burned. Taking the lighter in one hand and her backpack in the other, knowing perfectly well that the apartment complex was a piece of shit with no sprinkler system. The building would burn like a piece of cloth covered in nail polish remover.
After trying for a few minutes to get the lighter to produce a flame, Reagan was ready to give up. She listened for a minute and heard the giggling and squealing of the girls her father was with in the bathroom, then the shower started up again. This made Reagan even more determined to make her dad pay. She tried one last time to get the lighter to work, then poured some Windex on the floor and held the lighter to it until it caught fire. Nobody in the bathroom heard anything. Smiling to herself, Reagan slipped outside.
Once across the street, she turned around to watch the building as it burst into flames. Little explosions and screams could be heard from the inside, but none of them caught Reagan's attention. She was focused intently on making her dad suffer for the hell he'd put Reagan and her mother through. When Reagan was a mere five years old, Daniel Mullally (Reagan's dad) started beating on his wife when things went bad at work, making Reagan watch while he hit her and cut her with carving knives. Charlene Mullally had filed for divorce and custody of Reagan, but Daniel lied to the judge and got full custody. Reagan's mother committed suicide a month later. Daniel had forced Reagan into independence and self-reliance by going out with his drinking buddies or his 'women' every night. Burning down the building was her way of letting him know that she wasn't going to put up with it anymore.
A few minutes later the building was too far gone to be saved, and the fire department hadn't shown up yet. By the time they arrived and put the fire out, it was nothing but a few beams and some charred furniture. A tall policeman with a Hitler mustache approached Reagan, who was still sitting in the same spot she had been when the fire became visible from the street. "Are you Reagan Mullally?"
"Who wants to know?" Reagan shot back at the man, who was staring down upon her like she was a hardened criminal.
"We just got an anonymous report that you exited the building just before it started burning, and that you had a tan bag with you. Do you know anything about the fire?"
"Maybe I was just leaving." Reagan countered.
"If that was true than why did you only walk across the street and do absolutely nothing when the fire started. Any normal person would have called 911." The policeman was clearly annoyed with Reagan's attitude.
"I thought that the fire was pretty. I didn't want it to get put out by some volunteers in ugly yellow suits." She smiled up at him "and what does my bag have anything to do with a house fire?"
"May I see what's in it?" the policeman held out his hand.
"Why?"
"Just give me the bag kid."
"Okay sir." Reagan held out her bag, "I want it back though, that means you can't use it on your little cross-dressing escapades every Friday night when your wife is out of town, you got that?"
"Watch your mouth kid." He glared at her as he searched through the contents of the bag. "Why do we have a lighter?"
"I smoke, see my yellow teeth." Reagan said. This wasn't true, but Reagan was just focused on pissing him off.
"Right. It looks as if you were getting ready to run away, why?"
"Sleepover?"
"Nice try kid, get in the car." The policeman pushed Reagan into the back of his squad car and slammed the door.
"Hey, can you turn on the siren?"