The Tragic Truth

Everyone connects each other together in their own way. The people you meet in life, whether you met them once or a thousand times, will have an impact on you in the end, no matter how small it is. It’s kind of like the ‘six degrees’ theory. You can be connected to anyone on Earth by merely six people. You’re friends with a friend who has a friend, so on and so forth. Anyone I’ve ever met has seemed to have an impact on me. Whether that be for good or for bad, it’s the truth.

If you ask someone what their tragic truth is, they won’t know. Not many people do. Subconsciously, it’s there. But they have to find it; have to dig it out from the repressive holds that they put on it in the first place. Many people have more than one. I am definitely one of those people.

My mother and father laid their tragic truths out there on a silver platter for the world to see. Frankly, they were fucked-up, and that’s all there was to it. That was their tragic truth. My mother drank excessively, finally getting to the point where she had just gone plain crazy. Father dearest never really learned his lesson when it came to the whole ‘monogamy’ idea. The saddest part is that they never had the guts to split up and go their separate ways. Personally, I think that would have made things better for everyone.

Perhaps Nicole’s tragic truth was that in my opinion, she made a turn for the worst. She started hanging out with the more popular, shallow people at the school until finally, our friendship died out for good. She was a good friend while the relationship lasted, but once it shuddered out its last breath, there was nothing left to salvage.

Patrick, my baby brother. I’m sure fate had its plans for him, and that’s the reason it had to take him out of this world. I can respect that. But I think it’s a shame when someone that young is taken off the face of the Earth. His tragic truth was that he never even lived to see middle school.

I didn’t know much about Clover, honestly. Sure, I knew what kind of person he was, but I didn’t know what went on at his house and other things that happened with his social life. I guess we just had a falling out. Maybe his tragic truth was that he never truly opened up to anyone.

Keith’s tragic truth was simple: he was friends with Drake. I hate to put it so bluntly, but that’s how it goes. Shortly after he heard what Drake did, he cut the friendship off right then and there. It was good to know that people were on my side.

Life was the best for Dannii when she lived with me in New York. When she went back to Wyoming, things changed for a total of a week. And then everything came crashing down, just like it had before we ran away. Only this time, she didn’t have someone to back her up and convince her to leave. Dannii’s tragic truth was that after escaping the place that she called home, she returned once more to a place called prison.

Zoe’s parents never contacted her again, after trying to convince her to have an abortion. They became grandparents, but never acknowledged or spoke about it. At some point, their tragic truth would become the fact that somewhere deep down inside of them, they missed their little girl, and they wanted to meet her baby.

Derek’s dad was never caught for abusing him. After Derek was gone, it only got worse. Since he didn’t have his son to beat on anymore, he began beating his own wife. She was repeatedly abused and put in the hospital, and no one ever did anything about it. Her tragic truth was that she had a dirty little secret. And if she told someone about it, it could very well cost her her life. As for the father, his tragic truth was that he inflicted pain on others. And he liked it.

Collin’s tragic truth was obvious: the way he died and the way he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. One minute he was there, the next minute he was halfway there, and by the next minute he was gone. That kid caused so much laughter to those around him. He honestly made the world a better place. It was my only hope that one day his family would see the mistake they had made. If they had let him live one more second, maybe he would have come back. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to attend his funeral at such an early age.

Drake had a lot of tragic truths, I’m sure. For one, he was an ass. He never changed his ways. He merely got worse, almost following in the footsteps of my father. He would date girls only to cheat on them with someone else. After a while, he lost his physical appeal, simply because he didn’t care anymore. I hope that he regrets every day not saving me. I’m glad it happened, because it led me back to Kae. But on Drake’s part it wasn’t a very smart thing to do. He was destined to die alone and hated, and he put himself in that situation. I couldn’t even bring myself to feel sorry for him.

Derek’s tragic truth was that his dad hit him ever since he was ten. He would just stand there and take it, and he never told anyone (until he told us, because we pried it out of him). I’m just glad that we were able to get him out of there before anything worse happened to him. And since he had a child with Zoe, more tragic truths came along with their relationship, unfortunately.

It was a shame that Zoe was kicked out of her house just because she got pregnant. That is a big deal, granted, but parents should show more compassion to their kids, regardless of the situation they are in. Zoe gave birth to twins; a girl and a boy. Together, she and Derek named them Edmund and Sophie. Unfortunately, they were both four weeks premature and had not gone through the full fetal development process. The doctor said the premature birth was due to the fact that Zoe was so young. The babies were placed in intensive care immediately. Edmund died within the first hour of his birth. After being hospitalized for an unusually long amount of time, Sophie was deemed healthy enough to go home. She was a tiny little baby, but she started growing up just fine. Together, Zoe and Derek produced another tragic truth: they were only seventeen and they had already lost a child.

Kae and I sped down the highway, still and hour and a half away from getting to the hospital. We were driving as fast as we possibly could, even risking the fact that we could get pulled over. I downed my coffee pretty fast after the stress set in. Coffee was my stress reliever. Kae’s stress reliever was getting the opportunity to floor the gas pedal.

“You know, I don’t think we should worry too much. The first time you give birth usually takes up to twenty-four hours, right?” I said, trying to be reassuring. Kae’s eyes looked like the size of watermelons as he stared down the highway. He refused to take his eyes off the road.

“I don’t know, Skye. I don’t know anything about babies.” I shrugged. I didn’t expect him to be knowledgeable about the process of childbirth. I looked out the window at our surroundings. At the moment, we were in the middle of nowhere. The highway wasn’t really a highway. It was four small lanes all jointed together; no median or rails. There were few cars on the highway, merely my little white Jeep and the occasional semi-truck. I sighed. Waiting was so boring. It was a good thing I had practice when it came to being patient. Up ahead, I could see another semi headed our way on the opposite lane. The problem was it didn’t stay in the opposite lane. It kept swerving to and fro, which is pretty dangerous for something as big as a semi-truck. My breathing became heavier as it got closer to my car.

“Um, Kae? You should probably pull over or something. That truck doesn’t look so safe,” I whimpered. He shrugged it off.

“Its fine, Skye. We’re in the far right lane, it’s not coming over here.” I didn’t take much comfort in his words, but relaxed back in my seat anyway. The semi was headed closer and closer. When it was finally close enough, I could see the purple-maroon color of the body of the car. I started to panic again.

“Kae! It’s coming right towards us! Do something!” I yelled. Ever notice how your voice always seems louder within the confines of a car?

“Um, okay,” Kae stated, starting to sound a little worried himself. The truck was now swerving viciously, more or less just trying to stay on the road. I screamed as it drove straight for us, only inches away from my Jeep that was tiny in comparison.

Like I said before, everyone affects you in a certain way. Everyone teaches you something that you have to learn in life. My parents taught me how to be like them. By disregarding those teachings, I turned into a more respectable and successful person than they would ever be. Nicole taught me patience. She taught me that even when the going gets rough, you have to try and stick with something. I tried to stick with her up to the point where she didn’t stick back. Patrick taught me the meaning of family. Because even though my parents weren’t suitable for this job, he was the best family anyone could ever had. At least while he was here.

I think Clover taught me the meaning of music. He and his band reached out to me and showed me what melodies and harmonies can really do for you. Dannii taught me teamwork. We ran away together, lived together, and partied together. While she was still in New York, I learned that you have to compromise to be able to deal with someone that much. Collin taught me laughter. With his humor and witty remarks, he made me into a happier person. If I didn’t have him, I don’t know how I would have been able to live through the harsher times of my life in New York.

As much as I hate to say it, Drake taught me the meaning of emotions. He was the first guy I ever loved and I won’t soon forget that. He may have hurt me, but he set the bar for how I developed feelings for others. Derek taught me courage. After we found out that he was abused, I realized just how strong he actually was. We could have been hanging out and he could be completely happy, even knowing full well that his dad beat him the night before. That takes guts.

Zoe taught me friendship. I had friends before her, but she was the one that finally stopped me in my tracks and showed me what it meant to be a friend. I loved her, and I would do anything for her. She was like a sister to me.

Although Drake may have taught me about emotions, Kae hit one in particular: love. After Drake set the bar, Kae raised it to above and beyond. Being with Kae made me feel like I was on an eternal high, forever stuck in a state of pure bliss and happiness. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth. He proved something to me that, before him, I would have never though possible: “Love is like oxygen. Love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love!” Until Kae, I guess I didn’t know what I was missing. He was my miracle, my missing puzzle piece.

I probably have more tragic truths than I know what to do with. In fact, I know that I do. For one, I grew up in a compromised household with a compromised family. My little brother died before I could see what kind of man he would turn out to be. I ran away from my house at the age of sixteen because I couldn’t handle the lifestyle anymore. I ruined a friendship with Dannii because I was too stubborn to say goodbye. I never fully let go of my feelings for Drake until the day he didn’t save me, because with Drake, I felt like I was in a safe place. A place that felt familiar. I fear that I could have spent more time with Kae, making every moment last. I regret that I didn’t. I could have saved Collin. I think I could have, if only I would have grabbed his hand a moment sooner. My last tragic truth that would ever plague this world is one that I shared with Kae.

The driver of the semi-truck was drunk. I whispered, “I love you,” to Kae, a final reminder of the last seconds we would ever spend on Earth.