Joseph's Trials

Chapter 4

"Mom, what are you doing here?" "I need you to come back to live with me", she says. I look at her in shock but then my face contorts into a frown. "No" My mother fell back a step. The deafening silence was broken by my mother saying, "What? Why?" "Is that even a question? I'm better off here. I can get a job and maybe find me a low rent apartment to stay in. You know I can't stay with you anymore." "But please, I can get us a better place to live." "With what money mom? You don't have a job and I don't want to imagine any other way you might get it." "Please, I'll find a job", she says." "I'll do anything." "Can you stop drinking?", I say once again on the verge of tears. My mother went silent. I stood there waiting, hoping she would at least make some empty promise to make me feel better. Nothing. I say, "Goodbye, mom", and brush past her as I exit the house.

Greg is following close behind silently. He must sense I don't want to talk. We meet up with the other guys and get in some great practice. We each got in at least five strikes and no one noticed how halfhearted I was playing. I was trying to shake off all that had happened and prepare for the game. Then time finally arrives. The Parkside Strikers, our opponents, enter the alley. I watch as each one walks in. Then at the very end of there line I see a familiar face. It was Richard. I soon realize he is the leader of the Parkside Strikers. I would have never thought a brute like him to play a sport with such little violence. Whatever the case is, we have to win. I won't allow him to throw me off.

As soon as we start the match it's neck-and-neck. We start off with all spares until I was able to score the first strike. Then the strikers get two strikes in a row. We keep the spares up until Omari scores his first strike. Eventually, it comes to my last turn. We are down by only a few but if I score a strike, we win. I feel the pressure building up around me. I run up to bowl and right when I release the ball, Richard coughs. That causes me to throw the ball too far to the left. I feel the hopes of winning fade from me but at the last second my ball curves back to the right and hits the middle pin perfectly. I watch as all but one pin falls. I see the last pin spinning around in it's spot and cross my fingers. Then I jump for joy as I see it fall over. My whole team jumps for right after me. We have defeated the Parkside Strikers and are this years Oxford's Bowling Tournament Champions.

In the midst of the celebration we hear a loud, "POW! POW!" Everyone falls silent. I spin around to find the cause of the noise and see Richard with a gun raised in the air and a deranged look in his eye. "This game isn't over until I say so!", Richard screams. "You think you won don't you, Joseph?!" He aims the gun at me and I step back and throw my hands up. "What are you doing, Richard?" "I'm sick of you.", he says. "For what?!, I yell. " I literally have done nothing to you. Anything I have ever done was in defense because of how evil you were to me." "That's the problem.", he says. "You are too nice. Your life is perfect. You got great friends. Great grades. It's not fair." "Life isn't fair! You can't expect it to be, you just have to deal with it. Don't blame others for your own problems." I take a step forward and put my hands down. "Get back!", he screams. "I will shoot." I see the way his hand begins to shake. A sign of weakness. "No you won't. You aren't a murderer. Put the gun down." I take another step forward. "STOP!", he yells. "No, Richard. You stop.". I start walking closer again and see him get even more tense. This is stupid just put the gun down. You aren't gonna shoo-". The gun goes off. I fall to the ground. Guess I was wrong.