15Firstly I would just like to take the time to say that this is NOT a fictional story. This 'story', for lack of a better word, is about my friend Grace-Lynn Samuel, and her life. She was shot along with her boyfriend, Mitchell, on May 9th, 2003. Her birthday. She was sixteen. They found out who did it, after reading her diary. She left small clues in case something ever happened to her, (weird, isn't it… it's like she knew that would happen.) and this is basically what was written in it. After her funeral, Lila, Grace's mother, let me keep her diary. I didn't copy her entries. I thought that would be unfair to Grace. I wrote it out in my own words. I don't know why I'm posting this… I was flipping through old photo albums, and when I was looking at old pictures of us, this idea hit me. I hope you like it. If there is any criticism, or flames, please feel free to tell me, but keep in mind that this story isn't fictional, and yeah… that's all. Enjoy. By the way, this first part, is just me recapping what happened on that night…
The rest will be her diary entries.
The wails and cries of police sirens filled the moist Vancouver air as Lila Samuel ran down the sidewalk, tears staining her dangerously pale face.
"Grace!" she screamed, running towards the clutter of police cars, ambulances and curious/shocked people. "Grace-Lynn! Baby, where are you?!"
Lila skidded to a stop in front of a buff, kind-faced cop.
"Ma'am, you'll have to step back." he gently wrapped his large hands around her frozen shoulders. She was wearing nothing but a flimsy sleeveless top and khaki shorts. Lila's estranged sapphire eyes shot to the police tape, the bars, and paramedics. Her teary eyes fell upon the most excruciating image and she unleashed a shrill scream.
"That's my daughter!" she screamed, and struggled against the officer's strong, firm hands.
"Ma'am, it's not the best idea." he growled, his voice rough but not piercing. Lila parched lips unleashed another sob as she saw blood pouring from her daughter's body.
"What's wrong with her?" she screamed, wrenching herself away from the officer. Ignoring his warnings and shouts, Lila broke past the police tape and bars. She ran past a few officers and stopped abruptly in front of her daughter.
"Grace!" she screamed and looked around at the officers and paramedics. Two older officers were talking grimly and were throwing concerned glances at Lila.
"Oh, God!" Lila gasped, and looked down in time to see three paramedics zipping her daughter into a body bag.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed at them as two powerful hands grabbed her shoulders and wrenched her back.
"Female," she heard one of the paramedics say, "Adolescent. Shot four times in the back, and twice in the back of the head."
"Grace-Lynn!" she yelled and tried to wrench herself away from the officer, whom had grabbed her again, "Why are they putting my daughter in a body bag?! Tell me, damn you!" she turned and caught the eyes of a distraught teenager. Her ebony black hair was tousled and framed her pale, tear-stained face. Her severely dark brown eyes were unleashing pained tears as she sobbed, her shoulders heaving up and down violently.
"I saw it!" she sobbed loudly, biting her bottom lip, "I saw her go down, but I didn't see who did it—"
"Sadie!" Lila wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl and held her close. Lila had always treated Sadie like she was her own daughter, and was always happy to see that her daughter and her friend's brown eyed daughter got along so famously.
"Lila…" Sadie sobbed into Lila's chest and her knees buckled under her.
"Ma'am," the officer was speaking to her. Lila turned and met the eyes of the same, kindly officer.
"No…" she gasped, "Don't say it. You're wrong…"
"I'm sorry." he shook his head and frowned, the corners of his lips twitching, "She was gone when we arrived."
"NO," Lila wailed, crumpling over the blue body bag before the paramedics could take it away, "Gracie! Baby, NO!"
Sadie fell to her knees and the officer knelt down beside her. Excruciating sobs escaped her and she trembled from the cold. Her dark hair was matted around her face, and beads of perspiration decorated the border of her heart-shaped face.
Grace, she thought, Please don't go… Don't leave your mother, or your friends. It's not your time… Mitch needs you here!
The paramedics lifted Grace's lifeless body and placed it carefully on a gurney. They placed the gurney inside an ambulance and glanced at Sadie and Lila, their eyes clouded with grim sadness. The officer, carefully pulled Sadie to her feet and another paramedic helped Lila stand. Her legs were shaking and she fell into the paramedic's arms.
"My baby girl…" she moaned, her eyes still flushing tears, "My innocent little girl… on her birthday…"
Lila had aged years in only a few seconds. Sadie stood beside her in the hospital waiting room. Both were still crying; but silent tears were what they were shedding. Neither spoke. Lila sat in a large comfortable armchair, her head tilted to the left slightly. She kept her eyes wide, and did nothing to stop the ferocious tears. Sadie, on the other hand, was standing, in front of Lila. Her head lowered, tears dripping from her eyes and off her chin.
An officer—the same one who had attempted to keep Lila from seeing the body of her daughter— walked up to them solemnly and glanced at the doors of the operating room before addressing the two distraught females.
"I truly am sorry, Mrs. Samuel," he said, gazing at Lila, "Let me assure you that the force is trying their best. We will find the person responsible for this."
Lila simply nodded and Sadie bit her bottom lip. How she craved to look into the eyes of the person who had killed one of her best friends. How she craved to see him in that court room, being charged for murder. How she craved to hear the words 'life sentence'…
"W-w-what about M-Mitch?" Sadie gasped, tears still cascading down her blotchy cheeks, "He hasn't come out of the operating room! He was shot, too!"
"Mitchell Hanson?" the officer glanced at a notepad.
"Y-yes…" Sadie was afraid. She didn't want to walk down the path that led to the unbearable answer. She didn't want to hear the officer mumble 'no' and stare solemnly at her and Lila. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't. And yet, she did;
What would she do if Mitch survived? How could she tell him that even though he was alive, his girlfriend, the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with: Grace, hadn't been so lucky? How could he tell her that she had died instantly. How could Sadie possibly look him in the eye and tell him that she was gone, forever?
"I'm afraid I have no news for you. The only thing we can do is wait for the doctor to come out and inform us."
And as if on cue, with a small sigh, the red-haired, green eyed doctor walked out of the operating room. He ripped off his blood-soaked gloves and blinked twice. There was blood splattered on his coat and he carefully took off his operating mask.
"Lila Samuel?" he spoke gently, with a faint Canadian accent.
"How is Mitchell?" Was her solemn reply and Sadie began sobbing again when the doctor shook his head slowly.
"I'm sorry. The bullets pierced his lung, heart, and neck. We attempted to remove the bullets but they were imbedded, and he lost a lot of blood. It was extremely difficult, and we were not successful."
"Oh, God…" Lila moaned and her hands shot to her face.
"Double homicide…" the officer grumbled angrily, "We'll find the perpetrator. Don't worry, Mrs. Samuel."
"Don't worry?" Sadie's voice was quivering, "She lost her daughter, Officer Winston. Her daughter. How are Mitch's parents going to react? They'll be completely heartbroken. You can't just say, 'don't worry'…" she fell silent, immediately regretting her attitude towards the police man.
"I understand where you're coming from, young lady." he said quietly as Mitch's parents, and older brother came running. They had received Sadie's panic-stricken phone call.
"Where is he?" Simone, his mother exclaimed, clutching her coat, "Where's Mitchell? Where's my little boy?!" her voice was completely hysterical as Lila stood up and they hugged.
"I'm sorry, Simone. Our babies are together in Heaven." Lila sobbed and Simone cried out in pain. Matthew, Mitchell's older brother and Jeffrey, his father, each turned away and tried to keep their sobbing to a minimum. Sadie tapped on Matthew's shoulder and they hugged, each of them sobbing painful tears for Mitchell Hanson, and Grace Samuel…
January 19, 2003
Dear Diary,
Today was my first day in a brand new high-school. I hate it, and this damned city. I don't know anybody except for Mitch. I won't complain about that, though. I'm glad he's finally in the same city as me. We don't have to have a long distance relationship anymore. But I do miss Cardinal Newman. I miss the strict teachers and slutty girls. I miss my friends. I miss the Bluffs, and STC. I miss having Sadie meet me at the bus-stop. -sigh- Oh well. What can you do, right? I had to start the school year off late, too. It sucks. I'm being bombarded with homework. I don't know why Mom pulled me out of school in November. We didn't have to move until January 5th. I could've finished my exams and everything. But nooo, she had to pull me out early. Hah, Mom. She can be such a dummy. But I love that about her.
She and Dad got back together. Yeah, he's living with us again. I hate that. I hate him. I told Mitch and he just told me that everyone will be okay. He said that he would protect me if Dad tried to hit me again. I wanted to believe Mitch. I know he loves me, but how can he protect me from him? How can he protect me from the brutal man who is my father. Dad used to hit Mom… but he stopped suddenly. Now he picks on me. Sometimes he comes into my room in the middle of the night, and I can see him standing here. Watching me. A hard scotch in his hands. Ugh. He's such a disgusting man. Only my friends understand how much I loathe him. I wish my Scarborough friends were with me; Sadie, Madge, Miki, Nikki, Kyle, Ashton, Jeron, Aries, Dante… -sigh- too many to name. The only friend I have here is Mitch. I wonder how long it takes to go to the mall. And I wonder if Mom will give me money, also. Man, I'm so tired. It's almost one a.m. over here. I'm going to call Sadie. We can giggle about boys together… well, I can giggle about boys to her… she's not really interested in them (as of this moment.) -wink, wink-
Grace-Lynn
January 23, 2003
Dear Diary,
I made a few more friends in school today. Some girl named Annabelle, and this guy from my Music class, Christopher. They're really nice, and I spent all lunch hour, plus my spare, with them. They used to live in Brampton, which I thought was cool, and they miss it there. We skipped last period and went to the mall. It was so much fun, except: Mom and Dad saw us… and they dragged me home. Dad punched me the second we got in through the door and now I have a large bruise over my right eye. Mom just let him do it. Fuck them both. Ugh.
Grace-Lynn
January 24, 2003
Dear Diary,
I love Mitch! He was so concerned about my eye and kissed itgently like, twenty million times. Andhe said he'll make me his wife someday. Grace Hanson. Sounds hot, don't you think? :) I love him SO much it hurts. But not that much. :)
:)
Grace-Lynn (Hanson)
January 24, 2003
Dear Diary… again
Mitch, Annabelle, Christopher, his girlfriend and I are going out for ice cream. Annabelle is the only one without a special someone. Maybe I should hook her up with this cute, but not-really-my-type-because-he's-a-jock guy from my Math class. He seems nice enough, but looks very intimidating. Then again, so does Annabelle. She's tall, tough, and extremely violent (When she's mad.) The angry part reminds me of Sadie. -sigh- I should really call her… I'll do it when I get home.
Grace-Lynn Moralés (My name, now that Mom and Dad are married again.) Ugh. It sounds horrible. Be back in a bit, sweet diary…
Hi! I'm back. Yup. :) I had a great time, and now I'm on the phone with Sadie. She's telling me about how much she loathes her grade eight teacher, Ms. Molloy. Apparently she's a heart-less, racist, bitch. Oh, Sadie. Always exaggerating when she talks about people. I'm going to send her a postcard of this town. It's nothing special, but at least it'll give her something to laugh about, right? Right?
Anyway, we (Mitch, Annabelle, Chris, and I) had an awesome time at Pete's Ice Cream! From the outside, it looked like a little old shack, but when we went inside, there were thousands upon thousands of different varieties of ice cream. It is so beautiful inside. I didn't want to leave. Haha. Mitch and I shared a chocolate chip cookie dough milkshake, Annabelle had a vanilla cone, and Chris and Jen shared a cherry soda with vanilla bean ice cream. Can you spell, delicious? Well I can. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. Ha. I should win an award… Well I'm off the phone now. Sadie's Mom told her to hang up and finish her homework. Hehe, Sadie. You should've heard the way she was grumbling about it. Maybe I should call someone else. Okay. I'll call the first person who I think of. Ready… now! What a surprise, it's Mitch. Haha. Okay, I'm going to call him and spend all night talking to him about how much I hate this I know he'll listen.
"Love is when the sound of his name sends chills down your spine, and you see his smile the second you close your eyes…" I love you, Mitch. More than you'll ever know…
Grace-Lynn
February 6th, 2003
Dear Diary,
It's been a while since I've last posted. I haven't been feeling very well. I think it's the stomach flu or something.
Mitch and I got into a fight today… he thinks I should attempt to get a long with my Dad. Can you believe it? Well I couldn't. I just stood there, shocked. Sadie was there, too. She came to visit me for the week. Neither of us could believe Mitch's attitude changed. Holy Jesus on the cross. That happened two days ago. Sadie's gone now. She went back to Ontario. I was so happy when her Mom brought her and her brothers over here. They are so cute! Miki came with them. We had the best time, and Sadie and Miki both made me laugh after my fight with Mitch. They are so awesome. Thank you, Lord… for blessing me with such amazing, wholesome friends. God Bless them, and their whole, kind, pure hearts…
:)
Grace-Lynn