Remembering

The Suicide

Not necessarily a great title, yet it summarizes the chapter adequately. So, Mom found Melissa's father, and once Melissa found out he wasn't rich, she moved to Arkansas and went to High School there, staying with friends. Gary didn't want to go to school anymore, so Mom sent him to boot camp. He actually liked it, and now he's in the Army.. or something. Mom and Phil moved into a different house, and my Dad moved nearby, so Tasha and I stayed with him most of the time. Eventually, I moved back to my Mom's house, as did Tasha, because my Dad was going back on the road again to work for Prime, a truck business.

Now.. the reason my Mom kicked Phil out was because Tasha woke up one night, came into my room, woke me up, and told me Phil had tried to lift her shirt up while she was sleeping on the couch. I called my Mom, who was at work, and she kicked Phil out. It was around that time when Dad bought a new car, and since Tasha got her license, he let her use it while he was on the road, so that we could get to and from school. When Dad was home for a few days, we would go to the movies or out to eat, and he'd stay at the house.

One night, Tasha was asleep on the couch, I was watching TV in the living room, and Mom was getting ready for work when I saw a shadow at the kitchen window in the shape of a head. I ran and told Mom, who thought it was the cat at first until she went outside, saw Phil, and chased him. He got away, but he forgot a bag that he always used to carry around. A previous time when Dad was home, he left his wallet in the car, and Phil took some of his money. At that point, we didn't know it was Phil who took it, but when she found Phil's bag, she also found some CDs that were in the car and were taken, and some items from our house. Basically, he was sneaking into our house while we were gone.

Tasha and I were almost home from school one day, when we saw police cars around our house, though most were just Security Officers that Mom worked with. When we got out of the car, and Mom told me that Phil had killed himself, for some odd reason, even though I hid it behind a fake gasp and covered my mouth, I was smiling. Why? I'm not certain. Usually when people tell me bad things, I find them funny. I doubt anyone saw me smiling, though.

It turns out that after walking with a friend of hers, Mom returned home and saw Phil jump out of my sister's bedroom window. It's a one story house, and the window's close to the ground, so although the window shattered, that's not how he died. Mom chased after him, and he tried shooting her twice. Or was it three times? I'd ask, but I doubt I should bring it up. After he tried to shoot her and failed, he stuck the gun in his mouth and shot himself.