Just Friends [ m. arguello ]

9) A Horrible Tragedy To Befall A Family

ix : A Horrible Tragedy To Befall A Family

"Zach!" The words echoed through the home as Avery laughed. Her brother was holding her over his shoulder while parading down the family's hallway. "I'm sorry," she squealed as the older boy shook his head. "You took my gameboy." "So?" 

He walked out of the house and into the backyard, Avery's eyes widening once realizing what he had planned. "Zachariah Carlos Martinez," she screeched, "Don't you even think about it! Mom! Mom!" 

Their mothers voice echoed from the kitchen as she yelled at her oldest son. "Zachariah put your sister down," she yelled in Spanish as the boy scoffed yet obliged. "Of course, Mama!" He playfully glared down at the younger girl, "Mama's girl." "At least they like me," she shot back. 

"Three." 

She took off running into the house, screaming for help as her brother counted down to one. "Mama!" She rushed into the kitchen, cowering behind the counter as her mother yelled at her to "take that nonsense out of the kitchen."

"He's gonna kill me," Avery wailed as her father entered the room to see what was going on. "Who's going to kill you," Arlo Martinez wondered before watching his 15 year old run past him and into the room. "Zachariah," Arlo called as Avery screamed and ran to hide behind her father. She clutched onto the man as she yelled at him to protect her. 

"Be nice to your sister," the man scolded while watching the teenager huff and look over his mothers shoulder. She was busy chopping vegetables. "Do you need any help," he wondered. The woman pointed at the sink full of dishes and Zachariah regretted asking. Nonetheless he did as told. 

Meanwhile Avery slowly walked out from behind her father, hesitantly letting go of his leg as she decided her brother was going to let her go. 

"What'd you do?" 

Her father on the other hand wasn't going to be so merciless. 

"She took my gameboy," Zachariah complained while scrubbing a pan. "I thought you said I could use it!" "Yeah, last week!" "You're giving me a headache," Rosabella complained. Arlo muttered a few apologies to his wife before directing his 10 year old daughter towards the living room. 

"You need to apologize to him," Arlo instructed his youngest. "But he tried to drown me!" "And you were being a thief," her father countered. 

The girl huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "He'll also have to apologize, no worries, Mija," the man stated after a moment. "He should be grounded for a month," Avery decided. "Should not," Zachariah yelled from the room over. Arlo chuckled. "I'll consider that." 

Avery grinned as her father nodded his head at the stairs. "You should go get ready, we should be leaving soon." With a grin the girl took off running upstairs to find her shoes. 

The family was leaving to go on a mid afternoon picnic at the park and the girl couldn't wait. What if she saw a cute dog and got to pet it? What if she got a photo of the sunset with the family's new camera? There were so many what ifs and Avery awaited all of them with a shining grin. 

When the four crammed into the family's car and headed down the road Zachariah and Avery started a petty argument about who would get the camera. Zachariah insisted he should since he wanted to be a photographer and Avery insisted she should because she's the one that remembered to grab it.

"Come on, Zach," Avery complained, "Stop being annoying!" "Me being annoying? You're the one that's crying over not getting your stupid photo-" Arlo started loudly singing along to the radio to tune out the pairs arguing. As he belted along to some random song in Spanish Rosabella flipped through a book she brought. 

Avery clutched her toy duck, accurately named Donald, to her chest as she began a stare off with her brother. The girl always carried the animal with her everywhere, it being a gift from the girl's grandmother soon before she died, and refused to let it go. 

Her mother, Rosabella, decided that the toy inspired Avery's obsession with ducks considering the girl wanted everything related to the animals and knew hundreds of duck facts by now.

It was so bad that Avery decided she wouldn't date anyone unless they got her a duck. Arlo heavily agreed with this statement considering he didn't think any fellow ten year olds would give his daughter an actual duck. 

As the stare off to see who would cave first continued it got even more intense within seconds. It was so bad that Zachariah kept his eyes locked on his sisters even when he shrugged off his uniform blazer and sat it on the floor of the car. 

Avery remembered the uniform and its dark color palette or the way that her brother would leave and stay at his "fancy private school" as Avery described it and visit after hours. 

According to Avery's parents she would have to go there as well when she was older, her mother speculating that she would go there at age 12. 

Years later Avery always wondered what the school would have been like. What it would be like to share a dorm and run around the old school. She used to hate the idea. Now she wished for it.

When the boy finally caved and handed her the camera Avery grinned. "Thankyou, Zac-" She was cut off by her own screams as the vehicle suddenly flipped through the air. It was almost like a giant decided to start playing with the car as it twirled through the sky before landing on its side. 

Avery groaned and blinked in and out of consciousness. All she could see was blurred lights and broken glass covered in koolaid. At least the girl hoped that the red liquid was koolaid. She continued to think so even when she saw her brother and parents coated in the stuff. It's just koolaid she thought to herself.

It's when she woke up in the hospital the next day that she was informed of the cruel truth. It was, as the papers said:

A Horrible Tragedy To Befall A Family