Twisted High

|prologue.|♥

|prologue.| ♥

"It's too early for me to be murkin' yo ass like this boy!" I laughed into the headset at my best friend Zay.

"Man fuck you, Jay you cheatin'."

"Bitch I might be." I am.

"Jay! This is my last time calling you! Hurry up before you miss your ceremony!" My dad yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Comin' Dad! Ight nigga we gotta pause this ass whoopin' for a lil bit cause I gotta go. I'll be back in like an hour though."

"Aight bruh."

I had almost beaten Zay in Call of Duty: Black OPS on my PS3, and I was trying to beat him before we left. I was holding a long list of cheat codes to help me fight him, but I had to go so I decided that it'll be here when I come back if I paused it. So I put my paper on top of my PS3 and ran out of my room. I stopped in the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, where I saw my pregnant mother standing at the counter cutting fruit. Damn, she's about to pop.

"Bye mom. I'll see you later." I said as I kissed her cheek.

"Bye honey. Did you say goodbye to your sister?"

"I did but she's still asleep."

"Well after I eat this fruit, I'm gonna get back into bed too. Bye sweetie, Love you."

"Love you too Ma!" I waved goodbye before running out to the car to leave.

" Up there playin' that damn video game. This is why people say black folk ain't never on time for nothin'." my dad said pulling onto the highway.

"Sorry dad."

"Yeah, yeah."

After a 30 minute drive, we finally made it into Central Park, NYC for my MVP recognition. I was one of the best basketball players in New York. The mayor decided to recognize us on TV and on the radio and I was really nervous. When we finally parked and made our way to the area, I was immediately taken up on stage to sit next to my colleagues.

"Good morning New York City!" the mayor beamed.

"This won't take long, but as you all know, we are here today to recognize these young men and women for their incredible talent and outstanding representation of New York City. I would like each young man and woman to stand next to me to be presented with their plaques and medals."

The crowd clapped and cheered as we all stood to our feet. One by one, the Mayor announced our names and presented our gifts.

"Johnathan Nicholson." the mayor said giving me my things.

The crowd clapped for me, and my dad erupted with joy in the back, causing everyone to turn around and look at him. But he wasn't standing and cheering like I'd thought he was. He was on the ground next to his phone, screaming his lungs out in agony. People in the crowd rushed to his side to see what was wrong with him, invading more than his personal space.

"DAD!" I yelled as I ran off stage with my stuff and pushed my way through the crowd.

When the people had finally decided to make enough room for me to get through, I kneeled down by my dad to see what was going on.

"Dad, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

He didn't respond to me, he just rolled over and wailed louder than he was before. Thats when I heard someone speaking from his phone.

"Hello? Hello sir?"

I decided to pick up the phone to see what happened.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Nicholson, I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

"Our loss? What do you mean?"

"Is this Jay?" she asked.

"Yes, who is speaking and what's going on?" I tried to remain as calm as possible.

"This is Mrs. Jacobs from across the street. Your mother and sister were killed in a house fire not too long ago..." she said sorrowfully.

As the phone slipped out of my hands, everything seemed to go in slow motion. I couldn't understand what anyone was saying to me, and a wave of sadness just washed over me. Everything was a blur as we were escorted by the NYPD to the hosital where the bodies were being held. Once we arrived, my father had managed to muster up enough composure to speak with other family members and the medical examiner. He was taken into a room to decide what to do with their bodies. Some of the media from the ceremony followed us, but hospital security kept them from harassing us. I sat in the waiting room...just....numb.

What happened?

Why us?

My thoughts were interrupted by a news reporter, standing in front of what used to be my home.

"Today I am standing in front the remains of 17 year old champion basketball player, Jay Nicholson's home. This morning, at about 6 am, the Kings County Fire Department received a call from neighbor, Fran Jacobs, about a house fire across the street. The fire department arrived to the scene 5 minutes later to a collapsed, charred, house. 34 year old Elise Nicholson and her daughter, 15 year Janae Nicholson were killed in the accident."

"I saw Jay and Richard leave early this mornin' to attend the ceremony as I was uncovering my plants. When I came back out 45 minutes later, I saw that the house was on fire. I immediately called the fire department in hope that no one was in there, but sadly I was wrong." Mrs. Jacobs said wiping her tears.

"Frank Versetti of the Kings County Fire Department is here to tell us the cause of this tragedy."

"Uh, a gaming system in one of the upstairs bedrooms seems to have overheated. Apparently there was a flammable substance close enough to ignite a fire, setting the home ablaze."

"We just received word that the woman killed was indeed 7 months pregnant with their 3rd child. The fire department will continue to investigate the scene into the evening."

"Sad, sad day. We'll be right back with sports from Forrest Erickson."

It's my fault they're dead.