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CHAPTER-13
"We'll have a small tree and a few gifts-something that all of them
can share. "You're welcome to visit Christmas Eve. . . ."After we said our good-byes, Amelia and I walked in silence without saying anything. I could tell she was sad. The more I hung around Amelia, the more I realized she had lots of different emotions-she wasn't always cheerful and happy. Believe it or not, that was the first time I recognized that in some ways she was just like the rest of us."I'm sorry it didn't work out," I said softly."I am, too."She had that faraway look in her eyes again, and it was a moment before she went on."I just wanted to do something different for them this year. Something special that they would remember forever. I thought for sure this was it. . . ." She sighed. "The Lord seems to have a plan that I just don't know about yet."She was quietRelated chapters
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-14
By early September, just over two weeks into rehearsals, the sky was winter dark before Miss Chole would let us leave, and Amelia asked me if I wouldn't mind walking her home. I don't know whyshe wanted me to. Beaufort wasn't exactly a hotbed of criminal activity back then. The only murder I'd ever heard about had occurred six years earlier when a guy was stabbed outside of Maurice's Tavern, which was a hangout for people like Charles, by theway. For an hour or so it caused quite a stir, and phone lines buzzed all over town while nervous women wondered about the possibility of a crazed lunatic wandering the streets, preying oninnocent victims. Doors were locked, guns were loaded, men sat by the front windows, looking for anyone out of the ordinary who might be creeping down the street. But the whole thing was overbefore the night was through when the guy walked into the police station to give himself up, explaining that it was a bar fi
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-15
The next night, as I was walking her home, she asked me about my father."He's all right, I reckon," I said. "But he's not around much.""Do you miss that? Not growing up with him around?""Sometimes.""I miss my mom, too," she said, "even though I never even knew her."It was the first time I'd ever considered that Jamie and I might have something in common. I let that sink in for a while."It must be hard for you," I said sincerely. "Even though my father's a stranger to me, at least he's still around."She looked up at me as we walked, then faced forward again. She tugged gently at her hair again. I was beginning to notice that she did this whenever she was nervous or wasn't sure what to say."It is, sometimes. Don't get me wrong-I love my father with all my heart-but there are times when I wonder what it would have been like to have a mother around. I think she and I would have beenable to talk about things in a way that my fat
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-16
By then, Amelia's story had left me completely, and I could practically hear my friends laughing about me, all the way from Cecil's Diner.See what happens when you're a nice guy?By the next morning everyone at school knew I was walking Amelia home, and this started up a new round of speculation about the two of us. This time it was even worse than before. It was so bad that I had to spend my lunch break in the library just to get awayfrom it all.That night, the rehearsal was at the Playhouse. It was the last onebefore the show opened, and we had a lot to do. Right after school, the boys in drama class had to load all the props in the classroom into the rented truck to take them to the Playhouse.The only problem was that Eddie and I were the only two boys, and he's not exactly the most coordinated individual in history. We'd be walking through a doorway, carrying one of the heavieritems, and his Hooville body would work agai
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY -PROLOGUE-
Part of me wanted to scream, to see how far I could reach before the sun rises again. Gazing out the bedroom window, I wondered whether she was asleep or not. Obviously, I am talking about that minuscule square apartment, second floor. Was I innocent? "yes?", if I said this I would be lying to myself. I wasn't innocent entirely, but let's not judge me by the post-haste actions, for neglecting the journey. I still pass by the streets, apartments, restaurants, and parks, all a part of this story. Somehow, my story is their story too, 'cause it was something that all the people around me knew. And, while these spots are no longer same, can still stop me dead in my tracks. I think to myself, "what happened here?" totally not practical, somewhat self-centered. I can't acknowledge that place, it moved on.Without me.When I was 17, my life changed forever. I know there are people who wonder about
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-1 APRIL 1974
In 1974, Beaufort, one of the oldest town in North Carolina, was a place like many other small southern towns. It was a kind of place where people wave from their cars whenever they see someone on the street whether they know him or not. It was a kind of place where humidity rises so high that walking out to get a mail made a person feel as if he needed a shower, and kids walked around barefoot from April through October beneath oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and the air smelled of pine, salt, and sea, a scent unique to the Carolinas. Only three channels came in on the television, though television was never important to those of us who grew up there. Instead our lives were centered around the churches, of which there were eighteen within the town limits alone. They went with the names like Fellowship Hall, Christian church, and the church of forgiven people, and ofcourse, there were Baptist churches. When I was growing up, it was far and away the most popular denomination
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-2 APRIL 1974
Amelia Garcia, was a senior in highschool, yes! 2 years elder than me, roughly. She was a nice girl, and a popular girl too. Beaufort was small enough that it had only one elementary school, so we have been in the same schools our entire lives, and I would be lying if I said I never talked to her. After all she lives right in front of my house. But this didn't mean that I spent a lot of time hanging out with her in my spare time, even back then. Amelia was never been once in my social calendar. Who I talk to in school is one thing, who I talk after school is another thing. She was the daughter of our English teacher, Mason Garcia so, I kept a distance!! Amelia was thin, with honey blond hair and soft blue eyes, most of the time she looked sort of...plain, and that was when you notice her at all. It's not that Amelia was unattractive- don't get me wrong. She wasn't hideous or anything like that. Fortunately, she had taken after her mother, who, based on the
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-3 APRIL 1974
The homecoming dance was tomorrow, and I wasn't sure if I need a date or not. Like it's not really important I guess, actually I don't know. Going alone there, so far what I have heard "you'd end up being the guy scooping punch all night long or mopping up the braf in the bathroom", that's the last thing I would ever wanted to do. So, that's people without dates usually do.When I was in junior high, I clicked with a girl named Emma Locklear. She was my first real girlfriend, though it lasted only some months. Just before summer breaks I got dumped by her for someone else, he was already 18 at that time and had a car. His father had a garage, no big deal! not at all. He was kind of guy who would flirt with every girl he see, his name is Charles. His primary attributes so far I could tell was only that he had a real nice car. He would mainly wear light coloured T-shirts, which suits his face- not so handsome kind of well. He would lean on his car and say while moving his finger
TOOK MY BREATH AWAY CHAPTER-4 APRIL 1974
I doubt if the evening could have been much worse, If you want to know the truth. Amelia came out and said she need our help, after entering the restroom I saw Emma, and her marvelous job, I'll tell you. The puke was everywhere except the toilet. The walls, the floor, the sinks- even on the ceiling, though don't ask me how she did that. Amelia, fate would have it, was the one who found Emma and obviously she wasn't doing too well. Seems like one glass of punch really done Emma in, the only option was to clean her up and take her home before the teachers found out about it. Getting drunk was a big deal back then, she'd be looking at suspension or maybe expulsion, if she got caught.Amelia, bless her heart, didn't want that to happen any more than I did. Though some part of me was like "go ahead! get a suspension letter, punishment for breaking my heart!". But then helper instincts take over me and everyone else too, Amelia took a look at Emma and took immediate charge of the si
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