Bradford Schofield

Part 11

I felt quite tranquil as I heard those words. It was like I finally got something I was eager to get and that was, assurance. No one ever made me quite this assure before. I thought that maybe home was not as bad as I thought. There are some who care about me. As I was imagining all the good things in my mind, she suddenly punched me on the upper arm. She said, "Don't start to live in paradise now. Wash your face and get ready. Oh, did I tell you about this outing? No, I didn't. Well, all of us have planned to go for a movie. You in?" "Umm, I don't know." I replied. "Hey, Cole's coming with us too. Now?" she knew I would say 'yes' if she said this. "Yes, count me in." and I got up from bed to get ready.

Beatrice was the most excited among us all. Martin and Devin arranged for some music in the car, and Beatrice was the cold drinks in-charge. Penelope, Judith, Trevor, Cole and I were enjoying at the hard work done by the younger ones. Years later, I loved these moments I was spending with my siblings. I don't remember much about the movie, but the memories we created that day. Martin puked in the hall, Judith missed the part after the interval as she was still in the bathroom, Trevor sneezed so loud that the family in the front row changed their seats, Beatrice was about to murder the kid sitting beside her, and Penelope and I were the two who were laughing and handling them both at the same time. No one (except for Devin) watched the movie peacefully, but greatly savoured themselves. Cole, totally confused on what he should do, didn't see the movie either. Then we all went for some snacks in the nearby restaurant. Till date, I did not understand which one was snack as we had our dinner back there. That day, I slept the best in San Diego or more specifically, in my house.

The following day, none of us woke up before 10. We all somehow managed to get up and ate our breakfast during the time of lunch. In the evening, all of us were invited to Devin's room to play video games. Of course the winner was Devin 'cause he knew all the operations and ways to win the game, which is why he deliberately called us for a game. As I heard the bell ring, I went down the stairs to open the door. Before me, Mom had opened the door, and I stood there in the middle of the stairway. It was Dad. But that day, he returned from the court rather upset. Mom asked him the cause of his disappointment. Dad said that his friend, Joshua, who was also a lawyer, was murdered the day before. He was found lying on the next lane. He was shot on the shoulder and died because of profuse external bleeding. What? Another murder in our neighbourhood? What was happening? Who was this murderer? Dad went on, "Joshua was a close friend of mine. I knew him very well. He was a person of proper and practical mentality and had no enemies and even if he had some, they would not kill him." His eyes were partially filled with tears and partially with grief. I knew what Dad was saying about Uncle Joshua was not wrong. He visited us frequently. Then why was he suddenly murdered?