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Shattered American Dream Chapter 1: Sharp Turn In Life
We all have the past we desire to
escape, people we feel we need to get away from, a world which we never desired
to enter. I found myself in that world. My name is Joshua Dontonio; I was
raised in a small city in Italy, Veneeseburg. I was an only child with my
mother and my father; they cared immensely about my well-being. So much, in
fact, they turned to help to pay for necessities for living; housing payments,
food and of course clothing; we were going through hard times.
My life changed in 1913 I was 13
years of age, I remember that nervous look which cloaked my parents face on
April 16th, I awoke and found my father looking out of the window
and my mother crying softly in her chair with her hands covering her eyes.
"Oh, God, there he is!" I heard my father shout.
My mother lifted her head up from her tear soaked palms and
she caught a glimpse of me.
"Joshua!" She began, "Go to your room and hide!"
"What's going on, mama?" I asked.
"Go, now!" She cried.
I did so, with fear. I had not the slightest clue on what was
happening. I ran under my bed and listened. I heard the door kick open and the
sounds of shouting emerged. I could only make out a voice say, "Where's the
money you owe Don Lenardi?" A few more lines of shouting then gun fire;
my mother screamed and he pulled the trigger again. My heart pounded and my
eyes widened. I heard some chatter and then footsteps came walking down the
hall, my door squeaked open. They were looking for me! I slowed my breathing, I
try to stay completely still, I even went as far as to keep my tears from
falling. Loud steps entered; I watched his feet. I waited, I could feel that in
any moment the attacker would throw the bed off and he would be the last thing I'd
see.
"Nothing in here, boss!" He shouted.
"Good," The voice who shot my parents answered. "Let's get
out of here."
With that, they left. I collapsed and fell asleep.
The
next day rolled by, the sun shining through the glass reflect off the floor. I rolled
out from under the bed into the light; it was blinding, I struggled to my feet and began traveling to the family room. I knew, in my
heart, it was a dream, I would greet my parents as usually and embrace a hug. I ran into the room, "Mama! Papa! I had the strangest
dre-" I stopped and fell to my knees. It was no dream. There lied my father and
mother, covered in dried black blood with gaping holes in engraved in their bodies. Tears fell from my eyes and hit the
ground. I knew what not to do so I left; I bolted out of the house and never
looked back.
A few
hours passed me by, as I aimlessly wandered the streets. I came across an Apple Stand; the delicious red fruit
called to me, but I lacked money and could only hope to rely on seller's
kindness. I lingered over to the seller and asked if I may have an apple.
"You may BUY an apple, kid." He replied and spat.
"I don't have any money." I confessed.
"Well, if you don't have any money, then you can get the
hell away from here, you brat!"
There was no use fighting him. I sighed with my head down
and walked away. I reached the curb of the sidewalk and a hand snatched me
behind a building. The attacker slammed
me against the wall, I didn't fight it; my will was diminished.
"You ain't gonna survive these streets like this, kid." The
snatcher commented.
I looked at him; he was a teenager, about the age of 18.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Relax, kid, I'm not here to hurt you." He added, and let me
go, "Seen you talking to that scrooge over there, who wouldn't give you an
apple. I like you, so I'll tell you what. I can make a distraction for you and
get the old bastard away from the apples, giving you time to run up and take one
from him. Meet me back over here and I can lend you a hand for some more stuff.
Teach you life on the streets, okay?"
I nodded and he gave a smirk and ran over to the stand and
snatched an apple while laughing and saying, "Catch me if you can, Old Man!" He
ran off with the apple the seller chased him. I took the opportunity and
grabbed up five apples and ran back to the curb. I sat back and picked up one of
my ill-gotten fruits. I bit into it and enjoyed the flavors of the fruit.
"Nice, ain't it?" A voice trailed into my ears. I turned and
saw the owner of the voice, the teenager, "Getting things free. Best part is
that the more you do it the easier it gets and the better the flavors of your
victory is!" He leaned up against the wall and bit his apple. "Tell you what;
I'll let you join our gang if you want. Stick with us, kid, we'll help you
survive the streets."
"Okay. I'm Joshua Dontonio." I said.
He helped me up and said, "Jason Bertini, now follow me."
Jason led me down the streets and into an alley there I met
three other street urchins gathered around a burn pile. He introduced me to
them and them to me. I sat down and
stared at the ground, my eyes reflecting the light and my mind filled with though for the rest of the day. I guess this was my new home for
a while; whether I like it, or not. |
