Dead by 24: An Autobiography

Broken Pieces

April 8th. July 17th. December 12th. September 24th. Four dates that would always live in my brain. The day that Amara and I first got together. The day we got married. The day our beautiful baby girl, Ruby, was born. And the day I was shot. Let's relive that day shall we?

I woke up, as I normally do, around 7:45 AM. We were still in our apartment at the time, so I took Fudge out for his walk, then fed him. I watched the sunrise, beautiful as ever. When I got home, the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon immediately hit my nose, and the sound of a baby giggling filled my ears. I smiled as I unclipped the leash from Fudge's collar and walked into the kitchen. We were still living in our apartment, but with Ruby only being three years old, we could fit her bed in our bedroom, no problem. I walked over to where Amara was standing, Ruby playing with her eggs, throwing them on the floor as she normally did. I kissed my wife, I kissed my daughter, and the bump surrounding my new son, and started setting the table for breakfast. Everything smelled absolutely amazing. It was the start to the perfect day. I sat at the table with Amara and Ruby and we all ate our breakfast. We were talking about what we were going to do that day.

"Well. After this, I'm going to head to work, then pick up lunch, do some errands, and maybe sit and draw a spell in the park. I kinda miss it. I've been so busy with school, I haven't really had time." I forgot to mention. I had stopped drawing and really doing anything that was "artistic". I had actually picked up writing and found I was pretty good. I was in college getting my major in Literature and my minor in English.

"That will be a good stress reliever for you. With your midterms around the corner, you could use it." Amara said with her infamous big smile.

After breakfast, I kissed my family goodbye, and drove to work. It was a normal day, however this one customer kept creepily staring at me. He had dark brown hair, flopped over one eye, a slight 5 o'clock shadow, and a black baseball cap and sunglasses. I wasn't his waitress, but Becky, his waitress, even said he gave her the creeps.

"I don't know what his problem is. He just keeps ordering refills on his coffee and sitting there. Do you think he's some sort of killer and going to follow me home and kill me in my sleep?" She watched way too many serial killer documentaries.

"I doubt he'll follow you home. His focus seems to be more on me. Would you mind taking your fifteen when I leave, and walking me to my car?" I really did not trust this guy, and I was the only one he was staring at. I knew he saw my ring because he grabbed my hand as I walked by once and looked at it.

"Sorry, hun. No can do. Boyfriend is taking me to lunch today for our anniversary." She had a big smile on her face. I had to do this on my own.

When you die, no one tells you you can see the aftermath and what you leave behind. Devin Green: the man who shot me in the stomach and killed my baby, the man who shot me in the heart and took my life. The man who took me away from my family, from my friends, from everyone. I was walking to my car from work, everything was normal. Until I felt a strong grip on my arm, flipping me around. I made eye contact with him, and I felt my entire body go numb. I didn't know who it was, as he had his back toward me. But when he started speaking, I knew.

"That night in my house. You asked me what you had done to me, right?" I'll tell you. You had a perfect life. Yeah, you were adopted, but your parents at least loved you. You had a brother and a sister and weren't lonely. Hell, you had what I couldn't have. My parents beat me everyday. They yelled at me for nothing. I had no love at home. You did. You had everything! And then you left home because everything was 'so bad'. And now you have a perfect life again. A beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter, and another kid on the way. Meanwhile what do I have? I'm living on the streets, eating food out of a dumpster. Why do you get to have everything, huh?"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Then he turned

around. I made eye contact with the one man that I never wanted to see again.

"No. It can't be you." I said in shock, before I heard a loud bang before everything

went black.

A few days after I was killed, I stood before my coffin, looking down at my body. Amara was standing next to me, holding Ruby, holding her stomach, crying. I wanted nothing more than to just hold her, hold them, and tell them everything was okay. That I was okay. But I couldn't. All I could do was watch my family fall apart.

Five years later, Amara could barely get out of bed. Ruby and Alyxx, our son, were both in school, so she took them and picked them up. But other than that, she didn't get up. She didn't do anything except cry. Bobby tried to help as much as she could, but she had a little one of her own and couldn't do much. She missed me, and I missed her more than anything. But I didn't want to see her in pain anymore. Our children needed her. So. I did what any good spirit would do. I left her a note on the steering wheel of our car.

Amara, my love:

I know right now is tough. And I miss you like crazy. I've been watching you from the other side, and I have a few things I want to say. First of all, I love you so much. Please don't ever forget that. Even though I am on the other side, I will always love you, and I will always be right there with you. Second, despite everything, I need you to do something for me. I need you to be strong for our babies. I've been watching them grow up, and I want nothing more than to be there. But I can't, so I need you to be there for me. I need you to give them the life that we made for ourselves. A loving home, and family. Food in their bellies, and goodnight kisses. You can do it. You are so incredibly strong. That was something I always admired about you. I still do. Be strong for them, and be strong for me. They need you, Amara. Just as much as you need them. Lean on them. If you need a reason to stay alive since I'm gone, make them your reason.

I love you, shortcake. -Oren

I slipped it behind the steering wheel where the speedometer was, so I knew she'd see it. Sure enough, when she got in the car to go pick up the kids, she saw it and read it. I made sure to draw our little doodle of a plant sprout and a crown so she knew it was me. We were the only ones who knew about that. As soon as she saw it, she started crying.

"Oren, I don't know where you are, but I needed this. I will be strong for you and

our babies. They have no one else to look up to. I need to be their role model. Thank you. I love you too, babydoll."

And with that, she drove off, and started taking care of herself and picking up the pieces and puting our family back together.