Walking down the street, one thing used to happen. It always happened, everyday at this time. It was always the same and I hated it. Now as I walk home today I remember those times and I remember how much I hated to come this way home. That was three years ago but now I’m heading home to visit my parents. That event affected me though and always will. Go back three years ago and you can see what happened exactly.
“You really can’t blame yourself.” Fifteen year old Allison said as she and her best friend walked down the street. “I can’t help it, though, it’s happening because I can’t help it.” I told her as I jogged to keep up with my best friend who had picked up her pace as she began to jog down the pavement towards the houses on the horizon. “Why couldn’t we have taken the bus today?” I asked as we came down the hill and I began to see the gates down the road. “The bus is smelly and old; really our houses aren’t that far.” Allison told me as we passed through the gates and walked past the first few houses. Really, even though our houses were only fifteen minutes by walking from the school, it was still bad enough that it was hot and our town has so many hills. I was determined, though we had to go see Molly. You see we had a secret that we weren’t allowed to tell. Molly’s dad sometimes hits her and usually she gets a black and blue marks but she doesn’t mind. Sometimes she doesn’t come to school because she is too bruised. When she does come to school it’s usually with a lot of makeup.
When we finally got to Molly’s house, her dad wasn’t there which was good for us. Molly let us in but in the dark we couldn’t see her face. When we came into the dining room we saw that her face was covered in bruises and had swollen up. We asked her to go walking with us and she agreed but first she had to get ready. Once she was gone I turned to Allison. “See what happened we have to tell someone.” “No we can’t we promised and it’s none of our business.” Allison fired back in a whisper. “Her face is covered with bruises and you know its gotten worse.” I said but I didn’t get to finish because Molly had come downstairs. Her face was covered with make up so you couldn’t see her bruises.
We walked for a couple of blocks towards Allison’s and mine houses until Molly’s cell phone rang. It was her dad and he sounded mad by the horror on Molly’s face. We had actually been on the road we had traveled to get to Molly’s house and we were quickly approaching her house when the fork in the road that divided our houses came up. “Come on you don’t have to go back and it’s just getting worse.” I said as we got ready to go are separate ways. Molly shook her head and we argued with Allison sometimes voicing her own opinions. “If you go down that road then I’m telling and we’ll never be friends again because of your stupid promise.” I was yelling now, but she had to see what was right. Instead, as Allison and I watched, she began her march down her street. I wanted to cry, no I wanted to drag her back to my house and keep her safe. Allison’s face was mixed with fear and sadness, probably how mine looked. Then I ran because I couldn’t let her do this to herself anymore.
Allison and I made good time to my house and I snatched up the phone and dialed 911. The police didn’t waste time and as Allison and I watched from the street we could see them break into Molly’s house. People watched from the street and they whispered as they saw Molly’s face and heard what had happened. Their faces sad, but Molly’s was of shock. Her dad was outraged as they dragged him away and we ran down to meet Molly. Then I remembered the promise and instead I stayed back a few feet. People and police passed us patting our backs and even our families came and whispered that they were proud of Allison and I. It didn’t matter anymore because Molly looked at us with hatred for what we had done. I swallowed my tears and together, Allison and I walked away from Molly’s house.
I didn’t sleep that night. Who would be able to? Instead I remembered the good times with Molly, when we had laughed and played together but now she blamed Allison and I for taking away her dad. Now come back to the present.
Allison and I stayed in touch and we were even attending the same college. As for Molly, she was sent to live with her aunt an hour away from us, and attended a different school. I was picking up my pace now as I saw Allison in the distance. Taking different cars, she had beaten me here. I waved, and as usual had to jog to keep up with her. We walked together and chatted until we came upon the same fork in the road that had defined our relationship with Molly. We made our usual turn down our road until a voice stopped us. “Hey! Wait, can I come home with you guys today?” There in the middle of our street was Molly. Tears had formed on Allison’s face and then we were hugging and crying. That night Molly stayed over and told us about her life. She had been on the same campus as us, but stayed away, afraid we were mad at her. She followed me home to make things right again. It might have taken four years for her to choose the right path, but four years was nothing that we couldn’t make up for in the end.