Fighting My Way to the Top

Prologue (Photo of Bike)

Prologue-

“I’m leaving, Aaron, nothing is going to change that. There isn’t anything here for me anymore. We can talk on the phone and if you’re ever in Washington-”

“You’re moving to Washington?! What are you trying to do, get Alex back? He’s never coming back, I told you that already. He can’t have a family and train to be a doctor, maybe once he is a doctor, but for now we should let him have his space.”

“He’s had space! He’s had seven freackin’ years of nothing but space! We didn’t even know he got married, and the only reason we even know where he lives is because of the Seattle, Washington postal stamps on the envelopes he sends mom’s pills in.” I took a deep breath to calm down. I promised I wouldn’t yell at my older brother when I told him I was leaving. That’s how Alex left us when I was eleven and I still hate it. I’m eighteen now, and taking a step out of his book by getting out of this suffocatingly small town.

My 5’4 petite frame lacked in comparison compared to his 6’4. My coal black hair hung in natural ringlets, coupled with my large black eyes that hid my pain, I was the picture of innocence even if that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Aaron, on the other hand, had dirty blonde shaggy hair that was unkempt, but I guess when you move people for a living there isn’t really a point in making your hair all nice. His arms are huge and he has a two pack, it would be more, but he doesn’t have much time for gyms even if there was one in this microscopic town that no one but the locals know about. It’s not even on the map.

“What would you even do in Seattle? What would you do to support yourself? You won’t survive.”

“I’ll get my money the same way I got my bike.”

He scoffed, “You mean you’ll steal everything? Gonna rob a bank? Cause it’s pretty damn hard to steal an apartment, and big cities have cameras in their stores but you’ll need food.”

“I have never stolen anything in my life! Well I’ve taken stuff from you and Alex, but that’s totally different.”

“Yeah like my toy story action figure.”                     

“Okay seriously?!” I stared at him in anger and disbelief. “That was like ten years ago and I gave it back! So would you get over it already?”

“No I won’t, just like I’m never going to change my mind about you moving to Seattle.”

I took a defeated sigh. Not defeated about going to Seattle, that’s going to happen no matter what, I just didn’t realize how hard it would be to get Aaron to let me go. Our dad beat us together, we were in the foster system together when our half-insane mother was deemed unfit and out father left us after…….well my father is a really long story I don’t like going in to, and we were even the only ones together when we celebrated my eighteenth birthday last week.

“Look, Aaron, I can’t stay in this small town anymore. I promise to come back for the holidays, okay? Bare minimum Christmas and New Years, and I’ll see about Thanksgiving, that way you have me for a whole month, alright? I finished high school like you wanted me to- with flying colors by the way- and I stayed till I was eighteen. Plus this isn’t the olden days, so we have this little thing called a cellphone. It won’t be that bad, and you’re on the road most of the time anyways, okay?”

We looked at each other for a good four minutes. Me trying to convey my hope that he’ll understand, and him assessing me and my proposition. I really hope he takes it because I don’t want to leave my brother on bad terms, that would really suck. He’s the only person I give a crap about.

“Fine.” It was a whisper but in the quiet I could even hear the aching sadness it was filled with. “You’d go anyways, you’re too strong minded for your own good Amber, it’ll get you into trouble one day.”

“But it may get me out of that same trouble.” We smiled softly at each other and he bent down and picked me up by my tiny waist into a huge bear hug, half squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

I know exactly what I’m going to do in Seattle: I’m going to become the best street fighter the world’s ever seen. Literally, fighting my way to the top.