New House, New Struggle

                                          New Town, New Struggle


         He looked upon the new house in disgust. Just as he was making new

friends and becoming popular in school, his parents wanted to relocate to some

place more “comfortable.” His parents could never make up their minds about

where to stay for very long. Since the day he was born he couldn’t remember one

house that he lived in for longer than 9 months. Every time, he was torn away from

civilization that he was just about used to. This time was no exception.

         Before his family moved, they had lived in a small house on the outskirts

of New York City. He had had trouble making new friends, but he eventually did

and by then he didn’t want to leave his new home. His house was not too big. It

had about 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. Though it was not

the best living quarters, he had started to like them when his parents decided to

leave.

         His mother had long brown hair. She had it since she was born, and she

would never let it change whatsoever. Her eyes shone a bright shade of green, but

were covered up by sunglasses which she never removed. His mother was

absolutely incapable of changing herself because it was the one thing that she liked

that way it was. She always wore a shade of brown to match her dress, and her

outfits resembled that of a cartoon character because they are always the same.

         His father, on the other hand, was submissive in every way. If anyone

ever told him to do or change anything about himself, he would never think twice

whatsoever. He would go to work with his normal white hair, and then he would

come home with a dark shade of red on the top of his head.  One thing about his

father is that he was always changing, whether he knew it or not.  He just couldn’t

resist asking someone’s opinion because he hardly ever thought for himself!

         When his mother and father finally met, they instantly fell in love. When

their first son was born, they named him Jeff. Jeff’s mother was named Gloria and

his father was named Juan. From there on, they never stopped going anywhere.

Thus there son, Jeff Zosi was born.

         Gloria Zosi always wanted to keep moving. Knowing Juan, he always did

whatever she thought they should do. From Atlanta to San Diego and from

Tennessee to Chicago, the Zosi’s never had a set home. As Jeff grew up, so did

his displeasure about his family going from place to place every couple of months.

When Jeff started school, he found it unbearable to have to start all over in a new

school at least 3 times in one year. Juan and Gloria always found jobs, but they

had no problem giving them up and starting new ones….                                                                                                              When Jeff’s parents moved from New York City, he was 14.

He stared at the new house in Wyoming for hours on end, because he knew that

once he was inside that he would have to once again start over. When he looked

around the neighborhood he located a couple of people his age, but they didn’t

look too friendly at all. Jeff sighed and slowly walked inside the new house, afraid

of what might happen if those kids got to him.

         Once he was inside, Jeff absorbed a huge foyer with breath-taking

images painted onto the ceiling. He walked down the hallway and found a

gorgeous bathroom, an enormous living room, and a couple of other rooms that

were amazing just because of their appearance. He ran upstairs and found his

parents inside of a large bedroom thinking of what to add to the already amazing

house.

         “Where is my room?” Jeff had asked.

         “Right down the hall,” His mother said with a smile.

         Jeff ran outside the room and down the hall in a rush to see where he

would be living for the next 2 or so months. He at once saw a dark red room with a

large fan, a stained glass window, a long closet, and a soft red carpet that was

incredibly soft. Attached to his room was a red themed bathroom, which almost

looked as if the walls and the floors were covered in blood.

         Along the hallway he found a kitchen and a small upper deck which he

could look over the street on while eating his breakfast in the morning. It caught his

breath when he saw how amazing the view was from the deck, and he couldn’t

imagine a better way to eat his meal.

         Jeff had short black hair, which always made his mother very upset

knowing that he didn’t have his natural hair color of brown like she did. He had

dyed it because he knew that his parents had always had changes, so he decided

to give it a try. His fierce blue eyes could pierce anyone’s retinas, and that is why

his parents never looked Jeff straight in his eyes. He was a normal kid, sporting

clothes that could make his mother’s clothes look like a work uniform because

they barely seemed to change. Ever since he was born he tried to be different then

his mother, because she didn’t think that anyone should change their physical

appearance. He couldn’t stand that whatsoever.

         After his parents had moved in his bed and his stereo, Jeff was all set to

start his new life in Laramie, Wyoming. Soon his parents had brought in all the

furniture, and it was like living back at his usual homes. Except this time, it was

different. This house was extravagant, and he would never get used to its beauty

and divine appearance. Every day, he ate breakfast outside on the deck and

enjoyed seeing the people go through their daily routines.

         As time passed by, he knew it was just a matter of time until he had to

begin starting school again. This time, he heard his parents say, the school bus

would pick him up after breakfast and bring him to school. Jeff knew this was a bad

idea. He had watched those children he met when he first got here every morning,

and he didn’t think it was such a good idea to be on the same vehicle as them.

Nevertheless, he went to the bus on his first day of school.
         
         Apparently, his stop was the last before the school. When he made it

down to wait for the bus, one of the other kids of the neighborhood started talking to

him.
         “Hey, are you new to Laramie?” The kid had asked him.

         “Yes,” Jeff had answered, “My name is Jeff.”

         “That’s cool. My name is Randy.”

         “Okay, Randy. Do you want to be friends?”

         “Yeah, sure!” Randy had answered.

         Even though Randy had decided to be friends with him, Jeff was still not

sure if Randy was a nice as he was trying to be. His other friends that lived in his

neighborhood didn’t seem so trustworthy, and neither did he.

         When the bus came to the street, Jeff ran onto it. Randy followed and

sat behind him with a kid that Jeff would come to know as Vincent. As the bus

went by the street, Jeff had a look at the house he hadn’t seen since he first saw

got there. He saw the magnificent structure for what it really was: a tall building with

vines and flowers growing all over it that made it slightly more beautiful on the

outside then it did on the inside.

         When he got to the school, Randy directed him to the principal’s office,

where the principal gave Jeff a schedule to all the classes he had. It didn’t take Jeff

long to get bored. After his first couple of classes, Jeff had to practically punch

himself to stay awake in school. Luckily for him, in his fourth class he saw

something that made him wake up in an instant.

         A beautiful girl, with long red hair was sitting in front of him. Every couple

of seconds, she would turn around and look at him. Jeff just needed to find out

more about this girl; she was like a princess right out of a fairy tale. He began to

think that living in Wyoming would be a lot better than he initially thought that it

would be. With the beautiful house, his new “friend” Randy, and this beautiful piece

of art looking back at him in his fourth class at school, life couldn’t treat him too

much better.

         Within the next week, life was relatively simple for Mr. Jeff Zosi. He

learned that Randy had been living back at Texas until last year, so he and Jeff had

a lot more in common than he thought after all. Randy has also told him some

things about Angela Decos, the beautiful redhead who sat in front of Jeff. He

learned that Angela had lived in Laramie since she was born, and that she was a

very nice person to be around. Randy had commented that if they were all friends

together, he wouldn’t voice any disapproval.

         On Monday of the next week, Jeff decided to finally say hello to Angela

after their English Class. They had just got finished reading a book about a silent

killer in the mid-18th century when the bell rang. Angela started walking out of the

room, but Jeff dashed to the door with enough time to stop her from leaving the

school.
         “What?” Angela had asked with a smile that would make anyone’s heart

pull a 360 degree flip.

         “I have wanted to talk to you,” Jeff said. “I was wondering if you might

want to hang out this Saturday.”

         “Do you want to go out?” She asked him curiously.

         “Yes! I really would like to,” He answered louder than he expected to.

         “Where do you live?”

         “I live on Bea Trail Road”

         “All right, I’ll see you at…let’s say 7:00? We can walk to the diner.”

         “Sure,” Jeff replied with a smile that his mouth could barely contain it.

         Then, Jeff left school with just enough time to catch the school bus as it

was leaving. His heart was pounding within his chest. He couldn’t believe that he

had just scored a date with a girl that had looked so beautiful to him. Jeff stayed

so still because he was afraid with a slight movement he would wake up in his bed,

realizing that his biggest dreams….were only dreams.

         When he made it home, he finished his homework in a rush and had an

enormous amount of free time. To relax, Jeff decided to relax in the living room and

watch the TV his parents had recently unloaded into the house. As the TV turned

from black to a vivid picture with the click of the remote, Jeff found himself watching

the news which was relentlessly boring. Just as his hand touched the remote to

change the channel, he suddenly heard a story about a murderer who had killed

innocent teenager just days before. Finding out the murderer lived right in Laramie,

Jeff paid close attention to the report to try and find out what to watch for.

         “It turns out that this young child was killed in a back alley right behind

Dr. Reary Lane. Reporters at this time are unable to detect who the killer was, but

they assure us that he/she will be behind bars in due time. From what we can

detect, our victim Will Broton was stabbed in the chest several times.”

         ‘Broton!’ Jeff thought. ‘Broton was Randy’s arch enemy.’

         He suddenly remembered that Broton used to go out with Angela, and

Randy had wanted to go out with her at the time.  It must’ve been Randy; he was

the only one who would go so far to eliminate a potential target. Randy’s act had

almost fooled him, and now Randy would be after him next! He had to find a way to

discover the truth, and put Randy behind bars before Jeff was dead.  All he needed

was some proof…but how?

         Time passed until school let out for yet another two-day weekend break,

Jeff staying away from Randy as much as possible in fear. Jeff couldn’t sleep at

night, scared that he would never wake up ever again. Randy had found out about

the date Jeff had on Saturday with Angela, and he put on a smile and gave Jeff his

support.

         “I don’t want to date her anymore,” Randy had said. Jeff wouldn’t believe

him.

         Finally, Saturday had come. Jeff found himself able to relax for most of

the time, and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of nervousness take over him at

about 6:45 pm.
                When 7:00 came, Angela appeared right on cue. It was almost as if she

had been waiting since 6:30 to make her appearance known at Jeff’s house. When

she finally rang the doorbell, Jeff opened the door and was shocked at her amazing

beauty. She had a light shade of pink on her lips and dark eyelashes that just

made his eyes melt. Dressed in a white blouse and dark black jeans with a pair of

red sneakers, Jeff yet again couldn’t believe that they were about to go to a diner…

together!

         Jeff found enough strength to walk outside and talk to Angela.

         “It’s a beautiful night,” Angela had said with her smile that lit up the sky,

         “Just like you,” Jeff had answered with his own unique smile.

         They started walking and soon found themselves at the diner in no time

whatsoever. Soon they were seated, and Jeff had sought out to learn more about

his dream in life form.

         “So, have you done this with a lot of guys?” Jeff had asked them when

they had sat down.

         “Surprisingly, no,” Angela had answered with a small laugh.

         “That’s odd. It seems like you would go here a lot.”

         “Well, I usually go by myself. It’s much better with you here, though.”

         “Thanks.”

         As time passed in the diner, both Angela and Jeff had ate their dinners

and talked about anything imaginable. Jeff was nervous the whole time, making

sure that he didn’t say something that he thought would be the “wrong thing” to

say. She had her fair share of things to say as well, and she didn’t really seem

nervous at all to Jeff. He couldn’t stop hoping that this wasn’t the end of their

relationship, and he hoped that Angela liked him as much as he did her. Her face

would never be forgotten by Jeff for as long as he lived.

         When they finished their time at the diner, Jeff decided to walk Angela

home considering that she didn’t live very far away from the diner. When they got

to her house, Jeff remembered the murder report he saw on TV. He thought of a

quick plan to get Randy in jail, and still manage to spend time with Angela in the

process.

         “Angela?” Jeff had asked.

         “Yes?” Angela answered with her gorgeous smile.

         “I heard about Will Broton getting murdered and I think that Randy is the

murderer. If I skip all the details, can you come and hide in my room and listen

while I try to make Randy confess? If he kills me, you can still put him in jail.” Jeff

said.

         “It’s too dangerous.” Angela said.

         “I need to try, so please help.”

         “Ok,” she smiled. “I guess I will, if that’s what you really want.”

         “Thanks.” Jeff replied.

         As she turned to Jeff when they got to the door of her house, she told

him: “You have to be careful who you trust.” With a kiss on the cheek, Angela

went inside of her house and left Jeff with a very good night. He ran home,

completely ecstatic about the terrific date he just had with Angela. But, as he

approached his house, the reality caught up to him. Randy was coming over

tomorrow, and he might just kill Jeff then and there.

         Sunday passed by slowly. His parents were on a weekend trip in Fiji for

work, and they wouldn’t be able to help him if something went wrong this night. Jeff

just stayed out on the patio waiting and thinking about what would happen and

what would not. Jeff could not help but think that things could go wrong and he

might be facing Randy without Angela in his corner. This was all up to him, to put a

criminal behind bars and save the town from a potential psychopath.

         Night soon came over, and he heard a sudden noise that almost made

him jump right through the ceiling. It was only the doorbell. He walked down to the

door and answered it. Much to his relief, it was only Angela. Jeff helped her out

into his room and they sat on his bed, just talking about the potential outcome of

the nights actions.

         “What if he tries to kill you?” Angela had asked.

         “Then you will be there and be able to report it to the authorities.” Jeff

had answered.

         “I can’t lose you!” Angela exclaimed.

         “Then, I promise, I’ll be very careful.”

         Jeff pointed out his closet where she would stay, and then they just

waited until they heard another ring from the doorbell. Angela had scurried into the

closet and Jeff slowly but surely answered the door. When he opened it, Randy

stepped inside.

         “This is a very nice house you have here.” Randy had told him.

         “Yes,” Jeff gulped. “Want to see my room?”

         “Sure.”

         They walked up into Jeff’s room, and Randy gasped.

         “Did someone die in here?” He asked with a chuckle.

         Jeff couldn’t take it any longer. “Did you kill Will Broton?”

         “No! Why would you think that?”

         “Because of the people you hang out with, because you were his arch

enemy, and he had what you wanted.”

         “Yeah I can see where you get the idea, but it wasn’t me.”

         “I don’t believe you.”

         “I thought we were friends. You don’t even believe me?”

         “You did it, I know it. I can tell you’re lying, and you’re going to kill me.”

         “Whatever.”

         Randy ran out and slammed the front door. He couldn’t believe what

happened, but he could tell that Randy didn’t commit murder after all. Jeff just sat

on his bed, completely embarrassed that he just accused his best friend of killing

Will. Never did he think that Randy would be friends with him ever again, and he

couldn’t feel more stupid than he did at the moment. He was close to tears, having

lost his one and only friend in Laramie since his arrival.

         Angela came out from the closet and sat on the bed next to him. She

held him in her arms and she could feel the disappointment radiating off of him,

and she comforted him greatly. With her arms around him, Jeff felt a lot better than

he did all alone with no one around him. At least Jeff still had Angela around;

nothing could replace her in his world because she was all he ever wanted.

         “It’s ok,” she said. “He’ll forgive you, after all.”

         She slowly brought Jeff to his feet. Nothing else needed to be said about

Randy’s departure from Jeff’s house, as well as his friendship. He could feel the

disappointment leaving him, and his warm feelings for Angela suddenly rush in. Jeff

embraced the company, and he hoped that Angela wouldn’t take away her arms

forever.

         Suddenly, in one swift motion, Angela took out a knife from her jacket

pocket and drove it into Jeff’s heart. He suddenly couldn’t breathe, and he could

feel his whole world going black right before his eyes. As if one disappointment

wasn’t bad enough, now he had two. This time, though, he wouldn’t escape with his

life. His blood blended with the carpet as he fell to the ground, dead.

         “I told you,” Angela said with a sickening smile. “You have to be careful

who you trust.”