Chapter One
Drip, drip, drip. I watched the dark red blood slowly begin to puddle underneath my brother’s limp body. From behind the bush, where I’m currently hiding, I can count about eleven stab wounds. The skin slowly puffing up around the cuts, ranging anywhere from olive to sangria. His blood slowly leaking over the lip of the wound as his ragged breathing stretches the skin taut. He winces at every breath, grinding his teeth through the insufferable pain. It was a dreary morning. The sharp wind cutting through your coat, no matter how thick, and causing a chill to go through the entirety of your body. But the next chill I feel is different. I quickly spin around but see nothing there. I let it drop assuming I had just imagined it, but knowing deep down that something wasn’t quite right.
I had just woken up after a frigid night. Rubbing my hands together, I thank my past self for putting on nice, big, puffy socks before bed. I slip out my blanket into another cold November day. You just knew it would be one of those days where you stayed in, maybe watched a movie, or finished a book you had been putting off. It is late in the month, right after Thanksgiving, but it is not yet cold enough for the delicate white flakes of snow to fall from the sky. I anticipate those days, waiting for when me and my best friends can go out and sled down the biggest hill in our neighborhood and I can get out of the house. But that will have to wait. After brushing my teeth, I head down stairs two at a time. I look around and hope that my brothers and father are not yet up. It is only six-thirty, and it is a weekend so they should still be asleep. My family never liked me much, so I didn’t enjoy their company. I have three older brothers. I’m the only female because my mom died due to birth related problems shortly after her difficult labor with me. Now my family absolutely despises me for it. They wish I wasn’t born so Mom could still be alive.
But when I walk into the kitchen, something feels wrong. My dad is pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He’s on the phone and appears to be crying. Then, he spots me.
“Go wake up those lousy pieces of shits known as your brothers and get in the goddamn car!”, he shouts, “and make it quick!”.
Now, I know my father doesn’t like me, but why would he be up so early, demanding that the others get up as well?
We had all piled into the car, except for Alekanekelo because I couldn’t find him. I know he went out last night, but he should have been home by now. We pull up just inside of the woods at the south end of Rivermore. Dad tells me to wait in the car because I’m only twelve and I guess I shouldn’t see what had happened in these woods. No one is discussing it, and I’m starting to get concerned. I thought that I should have been able to go out there because I’m very mature for my age. Everyone says so. But I decided to wait. I waited with my stuffed bunny Lily for a few minutes but then I grew impatient. What was taking so long? What was waiting behind the shrouded veil of mystery? I quietly slipped out the car and ran to hide behind a bush. I look around the bush and try to see what’s happening. When I see what’s lying on the forest floor I almost vomit. His face is smeared with blood, and he is badly disfigured but I can still recognize my middle brother. His body is bleeding all over the place. The blood pooling under his dead body reminds me of strawberry jelly dripping out of a donut. I feel the bile start to rise in the back of my throat but I push it down. I slowly scoot closer, the chill of the night hitting my skin.
“Ahhhhhh!!!!!”, I scream as a hand grasps my shoulder and I spin around.
“Hey, it’s just me,” a police officer says.
I recognize him from when my English teacher had a heart attack. I was in the sixth grade when it happened. She had lived but we had a substitute for the next few months.
“Okalani?” he asks.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked if you wanted to come with me down to the police station”.
“Why? What about my brother? We can’t leave him here,” I sob, my voice starting to break, already knowing what the officer is going to tell me.
The officer’s face drops, confirming what I already knew.
“I didn’t want to be the one who told you but…,” his voice trails as he tries to avoid the inevitable, “Your brother is gone.”
He helps me off the ground as my sobs rake through my body. I can feel my throat start to hurt at the same time as my eyes start to sting. I wipe my nose on the sleeve of my black winter coat and follow the officer. He loads me into the back of his police car next to my other two brothers. My dad has already sat in the passenger seat, and he looks as white as a ghost. Malulani, who’s sitting next to me, has eyes that are red and puffy, his hands shaking uncontrollably. While Ikaika is completely calm. He’s sitting there leaning his head against the window not shedding a tear, but his face is clenched which means he’s biting the inside of his cheek so he won’t cry. I see him do that anytime someone mentions our mom. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and see my dark wavy hair sticking all over the place. My hair is so long and thick that I have to brush it every morning and every night, but I didn’t have any time today. My eyes are bright red and I see snot coming from my nose. My cheeks are stained with tears, and I don’t ever remember crying this hard.
I wasn’t aware of how much I cared for my middle brother. He was only four when mom passed away and doesn’t remember her as much as Ikaika. Mom named him Alekanekelo, which means protector. I scoffed the first time I found that out because he has been nothing but a jerk to me, and definitely didn’t protect me from my eldest brother, Ikaika. I tried to stay on his good side, and once in a while he even treated me like an actual younger sister. But I believe he didn’t want to get on Ikaika’s bad side, so he never really stood up for me. This wasn’t normal family love-hate, it was just hate. He, like everybody else, blames me for mom’s death. It’s not like I chose to be born. Nevertheless, I still loved him.
We finally arrived at the police station after fifteen minutes of grueling silence. It is now about 7 O’ clock and the sun has almost risen all the way. A few drops of rain fall, but nothing more than a light drizzle. I slowly stand up still holding my stuffed bunny. I rub my eyes because they have been crusted over by the tears. I wipe my nose one more time, and I try to smooth my hair down. The rest of my family is in front of me and they look just as bad as I feel. I catch up with them, and we slowly shuffle through the door.
“Right over here,” the police officer says, motioning to an open door. We all walk in and he stands in the doorway. I see the genuine sympathy in his eyes that is so rare in this world. He tells us that another officer will be coming in shortly to see us. He apologizes a few more times and backs out the door, shutting it behind him.
“This is bullshit,” Malulani says.
My dad just keeps muttering to himself that he can’t be dead.
Ikaika is completely silent. Everyone looks collectively hurt. I hear a slight knock on the door as a police officer walks into the room. He introduces himself as Officer Pentlesky. He apologies multiple times, but other than that, I don’t remember much of what he said. While I was sitting there, I kept zoning out. I didn’t know what to do. How could someone close to me be dead? Is this how my brothers and father felt after mom died? No wonder they hated me. I feel so empty, like a piece of me was ripped away.
Then something the officer says catches my ear.
“... hacked into,” Officer Pentlesky finished up.
“What?” I questioned.
“I was just telling your father that the security cameras were hacked so we have no idea who could have done something so horrible to your brother. We need to look closely at the crime scene, and see if we can find an….”
“I JUST WANT TO FIND MY SON’S KILLER YOU BASTARD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, LOOK AT MY SON TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY CLUES?! HE DESERVES PEACE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM! NOT TO BE LOCKED AWAY IN SOME LAB!! I CAN’T LIVE WITH THIS! I NEED TO HELP BECAUSE NONE OF YOU ARE DOING ANYTHING!!!” My dad screams at the officer, pushing his chair back and standing up, “Please I need my son back” He whispers as he collapses back into his chair. His hands rise to cover his face, his elbows resting on the officer’s oak desk.
After hours of questioning our whereabouts the night before, at about 8 O’ clock that night, we got to go home. As soon as we arrived at the house, waves of exhaustion hit me. My brothers went upstairs and right to their rooms. My dad trudged to his room too, while I stood there all by myself. I wanted to be in my room but felt too heavy to move. I ended up falling asleep in the doorway that night, into a restless slumber. Sometime during the night I made it to my bed, but other than that, there were no disturbances.
