15 Minutes of Fame

This is No Way to Get Fames

     They say that everyone is supposed to have fifteen minutes of fame sometime in their life. Most of the time the fame comes from doing something amazing; such as helping in your community, saving someone's life, winning an award, staring in a movie, etc. There are times where someone's fifteen minutes of fame is related to something tragic happening. At the young age of ten I had my fifteen minutes of fame in a tragic way; I lost my younger brother, Andy.

      The Christmas lights were still shining bright on our Christmas tree the day after Christmas. The tree sat in the corner of the living room looking lovely with tinsel, ornaments, and pretty colored lights, but it was just a cover up. The tree was hiding a dark secret from my younger brother, Andy, and I. My parents knew the trees secret, but they thought they could keep it until their days off to take care of it. Little did anyone in my house know that that the tree was a ticking time bomb.

      It was just another day at our little brick house with the huge picture window in the front. My step-dad had already left for work at four am and would be home in just a little over an hour. My mother was watching TV before going into work when her boss called to ask her to come in a little early. On a normal day my brother and I were left home alone for no more than 20 to 30 minutes. With my mom now leaving early my brother and I would be left home alone for a full hour.

      I wasn't worried about being left home alone. It was a normal thing while I was growing up. I had been left home alone since my brother was five and I was seven. So when my mom told us she was going into work early I just took it as more time to watch cartoons before step-dad got home from work. I just gave my mom a hug and started to head out to the living room to watch TV.

      Andy became upset with the news that our mom was leaving early for work. His face became sad and tears rolled down his cheeks from his hazel eyes. He begged my mom not to go in early. Andy wasn't normally like this, but today he just didn't want my mom to go into work. He asked her to call out sick and just stay home with us. My mom pushed the black hair back from his face and gave him a kiss. She told him that she had to go to work or we wouldn't have the money to do all the nice things that we liked to do. My brother hugged her and begged her again not to go, but there was nothing he could do. If there was any chance for overtime our mom took it.

      Andy came out into the living room and began changing the channels on the TV. We began to fight back and forth because I was watching TV first and he didn't have any right to change the TV on me. Mom came into the living room to see what the yelling was about. I was told to go into my mom's room to watch TV and Andy was told to stay in the living room to watch TV. This was what usually happened when my brother and I fought over the TV. My mom kissed us both good-bye and headed off to work.

      The next hour was the same as always for my brother and me. We would watch TV in two different rooms. We would chase one another around the house. We would fight with one another over stupid stuff. It was just another day.

      The only difference to this day was that after an hour of being home alone my step-dad still wasn't home. He was usually home around four or five since he went into work so early. Andy and I really didn't make a big deal of it because we were scared of our step-dad and the more time he was away the less chance we would be yelled at or spanked for doing something he felt was wrong. Step-dad was a former bull rider that chained smoked and had a short temper. On a view occasions Andy and I had felt the back of his hand for one thing or another. So step-dad not being home on time was not something my brother and I worried about too much.

      At the almost two hour mark of being home alone the nightmare began. Andy was in the living room watching TV and I was down the hall in my parents' bedroom watching a VHS when I heard my brother's scream. I ran to the living room to see Andy standing next to our living room curtains with the bull rider lighter that my step-dad had got for Christmas from a friend was in Andy's hand and the curtains were a blaze with flames.