All the Little Secrets

The Beginning.

In order to understand what happened here tonight,

What led to this life-shattering moment that changed all of our lives;

That unraveled a secret, a dark and murderous secret hidden for so long,

We have to start back at the beginning,

Back to when it all began.

Back to when I first met him...

When my mom told me we were moving away to sunny California to be with her boyfriend and his family, I could feel my heart literally shatter. To leave everything I've ever known behind for some guy that she barely knew was the worst thing that could ever happen. I hated her for a moment. But when I looked at her, really looked at her as she shared the news; the woman who has the same long, blonde hair as me, the same multi-colored, ever-changing eyes that now sparkled with excitement, I knew deep down that I couldn't hate her for very long. It wasn't fair for me to hold a grudge because she fell in love, but I was not excited that life had to change for her to pursue him.

Our lives were so simple before they met. My mom, Leanne Joyce-Casey, was a hairdresser in Hoboken, New Jersey, raising my brother Parker and me on her own. She worked hard to give us the life she felt we deserved with barely anything for herself, and we love her so much for it. We loved the life we had. Or so I thought. Everything changed when she met William.

It was the weirdest way to fall in love. Some would say they were "destined". My grandma Linda got sick towards the end of my freshman year of high school, and my mom flew to Virginia to check on her. She spent about a week taking care of her before Grandma's life took a turn for the worse, and Grandma passed away. My mom decided to bring her body back to New Jersey for the funeral, to allow us the chance to say goodbye to our only living grandparent. At the airport, my mom stopped for a drink before she boarded her Red Eye flight back to Newark. Then, as she described it, "the most handsome man in a blue-pressed suit" approached her and asked to buy her a drink.

Cue William Winters, the richest and most powerful attorney in California. In all the photos my mom showed us, mostly in magazines, he looked as if someone used a lot of filters. His dark silver hair, always styled, making his light blue eyes pop against camera flashes. His charming smile fit his face perfectly, with his straight, white teeth. I guess it was no surprise that my mom became smitten with him almost immediately, even though she never dated before him. Not since our dad left when we were really young. Let's not call him "my dad", he doesn't deserve that title. We shall call him Ian.

Ian left us when Parker and I were young; Parker was two, and I was five. Ian Joyce, the sad excuse of a Rock-and-Roll man. He left to pursue a music career that never actually happened, but he never returned. The only thing to return was signed divorce papers. This forced my mom to get three different hair stylist jobs to raise us. She was used to being pretty guarded with her heart.

Mom at first declined William's advances. She wasn't ready for what he had to offer. But he was persistent, so she finally agreed to "one" drink. One drink turned into many chats long-distance and William flying her out every other weekend to spend time with him and his three kids. Months passed with her traveling to California, leaving me behind to take care of my brother and keep up with school. I didn't mind it, though; I enjoyed my freedom to hang with my friends and stay up late on school nights.

Then, six months into their relationship, I finally met William. My mom thought he was still working on this major, high-profile case with a celebrity that he wasn't allowed to disclose. But he fibbed a little: that case ended a while ago and was the perfect cover for his surprise to fly to New Jersey for winter break. Not by himself, but also with his three kids. He called my mom right before they showed up, and her face went pale as she ran around the apartment, screaming for us to clean. Parker and I hid as much as we could in the closets as Mom raced into the shared bathroom with the toilet bowl cleaner.