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Justin darted down to the TV room. He sat down on the plush couch and stared at the blank television. He turned it on and tried to concentrate on the images in front of him but all he could hear was Margot. Margot repeating over and over something he really shouldn�t have heard.
�We were always a happy family. We loved each other endlessly. It was the kind of family you�d see on those stupid happy-go-lucky 50�s TV shows. Except in French. Then Mr. Happy-go-lucky himself had to move in.�
Justin stared even harder at the screen. Currently, a repeat of the first episode of Real World New Orleans was being aired. As much as Justin tried to listen to the television and tune out the voice in his head, the words just kept replaying themselves.
�Apparently, Uncle Jacque had lost his job�and his house. He and his wife, my aunt, Colette, had had a baby but they both died in a plane crash. During the landing. That�s part of the reason why I hate landings so much. Anyway, when Jacque moved in, everyone loved him. Especially my younger sister, Chloe and me. He was just so much fun. He�d take Chloe and I out for ice cream every Sunday.�
Justin frantically looked around the room for something to smack himself with. He never should have listened to JC and Margot�s conversation, but he couldn�t pull himself away from her door. How he wished he had now. Justin picked up a large pillow sitting next to him and smashed it against his face. Alas, her voice got even louder in his ears.
�One Sunday, Jacque wanted to take Chloe and I out to the country. My parents had been planning a family trip for almost a month. Somehow, Jacque convinced them to let him take us on his little �trip� instead. Before our parents left, my mother gave me a chain with a pendant on it. Two little silver hearts. Chloe, being the adorable little child she was, complained that she didn�t get a necklace. So I let her have the pendant. She smiled so widely. I can remember it so well.�
�Jesus, why are you doing this to me?� Justin moaned through the pillow. Currently a commercial for Herbal Essences was playing on the TV. He suddenly threw the pillow at the television and shut it off in the process. He stood from the sofa and went out on an adjoining balcony. Justin observed a few sailboats pass on the water down below. He frowned when her voice started again.
�We were in the car on the way to the ocean. Jacque decided he wanted to take us out on his boat. How he had a boat, I will never know. He didn�t even have a job. Or a house. God, we were so stupid. Chloe and I were so excited to be going out on the water. The moment I sensed something was wrong, though, it was far too late. We were in what seemed like the middle of the ocean and Chloe was telling me about something her second grade teacher had done on Friday. I was laughing at her adorably childlike voice and I saw Jacque in the corner of my eye. He had this vile grin on his face. I still get chills thinking about it.�
Justin shivered involuntarily. He turned away from the water and slowly walked back into the house. He stopped in the middle of the TV room and looked strangely at his surroundings. He closed his eyes as grief washed over his handsome features.
�It was so quick. A blur of hair, flesh, and belt buckles flashed before my eyes as he lunged for her. I was only 12, what was I supposed to do? I tried to pry him off of her. But he was just too heavy. When I heard Chloe�s little voice scream out to me, a sudden burst of strength surged through my body. I picked up the closest oar and hit him with it. I hit him so many times. It had to be at least fifty times when he started slowing down. I rolled him over and looked at his eyes. They were closed before, but when I screamed at him to wake up, he looked up at me. That same vile grin on his face. With all the strength I had, I rolled him over the side of the boat and began rowing with all I had back to the shore.�
Justin eventually found his way back to the couch and let all of his weight fall back onto its cushion. His eyes quickly wandered across the ceiling, not looking for anything in particular. His entire body felt tense. His eyes hurt. His head ached. And his heart was breaking for the same girl he swore he�d never change his mind about. That promise was now long forgotten.
�After almost two hours of constant rowing, we finally got to the beach. I remember holding her in my arms at the side of the road. She was so limp. I kept calling her name over and over and over. And she just kept slipping further and further away. Eventually, a car stopped for us and the young couple inside rushed us to the hospital. The doctors said it was too late. It was too late.�
�Justin, are you alright?� Joey asked, his voice laced with concern. Justin turned gradually toward his friend, his eyes almost brimming over with tears. Joey saw the moisture threatening to spill out of his friend�s eyes and immediately sat down next to him on the sofa. He punched his shoulder lightly and asked again.
�Justin, man, are you ok?�
Justin just stared confusedly at him. He shook his head. He hadn�t really heard the question, but the answer was definitely appropriate. He was far from �ok�. Even though it was Margot that this had happened to, he still felt like a broken man.
�The doctors drove me back to the house. My parents had told me they were going to shorten the trip to one day in order to come home to see their daughters. When we pulled up into the driveway, I expected to see our old fashioned, yet beloved Cadillac in the driveway, but I saw nothing. Nothing except for a few police officers standing at my front door. The doctors got out of the car and told me to stay put. When I saw one of the doctors� expressions change from sadness to shock and back to sadness again, I jumped out of the car. �Apparently, the uncle rigged the car�s brakes. Her parents were found a few hours ago, in their mangled car. They ran right over the side of a bridge.� I don�t remember anything else after that. I fainted and fell at the officers� feet. Within 12 hours, my entire world had crashed down around me. It was too late.�
Justin continued to stare peculiarly at Joey while Joey, in turn, continued to search Justin�s eyes for a hint to why he wasn�t feeling, or looking for that matter, too well.
�It was too late.�
Joey's brow furrowed in confusion. It was too late? Too late for what? What was he trying to tell him? Joey's questions went unanswered, for Justin suddenly rose from his seat and made his way back upstairs. He first stopped at JC�s room. When he heard his friend humming random melodies to himself, he continued his trek to Margot�s bedroom. He stopped in front of the door for a few seconds before murmuring to himself.
�It may have been too late then, but let�s pray it�s not too late now.�
Justin took a long breath before knocking loudly at her door.
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