Chapter Two

Growing up in a small house with both parents and three other older siblings was hard, there was a limited amount of space, and a limited amount of patience. I had two older brothers, Craig and Ian, Craig being the oldest of us all, and an older sister, Danny, I was the baby of the family.

When I was twelve, Craig being eighteen, he joined the military and left us, everyone was mad at him for leaving, but when he came home months later, having graduated his training and wearing his uniform, no one could stay mad at him, and we were proud of him. We weren’t able to see Craig a lot, always on the road somewhere, sometimes in other states, sometimes other countries, he took his career seriously and proudly, I was proud of my brother.

Ian was a quiet sweetheart who just wanted to take pictures. From the time he could walk or even grab things, Ian’s always had a camera in his hand, mom use to tease him saying that he was born with a camera in his hand. Ian was two years younger than Craig and four years older than me. When he graduated high school, I was fourteen; he left right away to go to an art college to take up photography, I was sat to watch him go, because that only meant that it was Danny and I left.

Danielle was the queen bee of high school and an even bigger bitch at home. I couldn’t stand my sister and we use to get into fights constantly, she was always starting an argument and trying to set me off, most of my Aunts and Uncles were a big fan of her because she was known to cause trouble. Danny was the partier of the family and would always come home drunk. She was the one with all the luck, because I had no clue how she was never caught and my parents didn’t have the heart to rat her out. When she graduated from high school I was so happy, because that meant that she was going to be out of the house and it was just going to be me. She had gotten accepted into Penn State main campus and was even going to dorm there even though we lived about forty five minutes from the campus, but I had no problem with that. She was a smart girl when it came to school, but outside, she was an idiot, she liked to act before she thought things through. Danny had a full scholarship to Penn State, everything was paid for, and while there, she flunked out and got herself knocked up. My parents were so angry that she had just ruined her chance at a good life, my parents were old fashion, they believed that you should have sex after you were married, I know that the time is different now, but that didn’t change how upset my family was about her pregnancy. To make matters worse, she didn’t know who the father was and she became a big disgust to my family when we found out that there was a chance that five different guys could be the father.

When she had her son, Jake, he was very small and sickly, he had a heart condition and we believed that Danny had drank when she was pregnant. At first my parents didn’t want anything to do with Jake, they wanted Danny to be stuck with her own problem. She was an adult and if she wanted to grow up so quickly, then so be it. During Jake’s time in the hospital, Danny was off parting, Jake was at the hospital for six months, trying to get his strength up to survive, maybe three or four times did Danny show up to see her son.

Children and Youth was called for neglect and instead of being placed with a foster home, my mom said that she was take care of her grandson. When the system finally found Danny and told her what was going on, she was upset that her son was taken away, she didn’t understand why there was an investigation being brought up against her. Danny was so upset that she decided to go out and party, nine

Danny disappeared for three days after being released from the hospital; apparently the government had hinted that if she had another baby, then another investigation would be opened, since the first one was still going on. I didn’t know all of the details, I was sixteen at the time, but I knew that my parents didn’t trust Missy and Jake in Danny’s care. The mother in her was shown and she talked to the Child and Youth person and said that she would like to adopt her grandchildren.

It took two years for everything to go through, Jake and Missy were ours, those two years were long and tortures. Many tears, many raised voices, many police calls, many social service surprise visits, many holes in walls and many hugs. I was in the middle of taking a final when mom called the school and told me that she was on her way to get me because we had to go to the court so that my mom could officially make my niece and nephew, my brother and sister.

No one saw my sister after that, at least not for two years. Jake and Missy were healthy and well taken care of, they were happy with us. I was twenty years old, graduated high school two years ago, and beginning my Sophomore year at the local beauty school. Craig being twenty six, and Ian being twenty four, they came around a lot more since Danny was not here, she was not allowed near our home. When it came to Craig, he visited when he could; it was a little hard being in the military. Ian had graduated from the art college and went out into the world. Instantly he was picked to join some sports team in New Jersey and take their pictures, apparently his pictures were amazing.

It was close to Thanksgiving, Ian was going to be coming home, and Craig was planning a surprise visit, but I was the only one who knew. It was three days before the day everyone was suppose to come, it was a cold snowy November day, Jake was sick with a cold and was running a low fever; mom and dad asked if I could watch the kids while they ran to the store. Mom knew what to get, but didn’t want to drive in the snow, and she didn’t trust dad to do it on his own. I had just gotten home from my classes, when they were gone for over five hours with no word; I had a strong feeling that something was wrong. That feeling became even stronger when there were two officers at our front door saying that they would like me to come with them. I told them no because I’ve watched too many movies where kidnappers dress up as officers, but when they put my father on the phone, telling me to go with the officers; I grabbed the kids, threw their coats on them and followed the officers to the back seat of their cruiser.

I nearly had a panic attack when I saw my mom in the hospital bed looking physically broke, my dad sitting next to her looking emotionally broken. They were in a car accident, they hit black ice and slid into oncoming traffic, my mom was hit and she wasn’t doing well.

My mom died the next day, her injuries were too horrible to fix, she had died in her sleep. I had called my brothers when I got to the hospital the day before, now I had to call them to tell them that our mother was gone. They weren’t expecting me to call again five hours later to tell them that our father was gone as well, he committed suicide, revolver to his head, with a note saying that he didn’t want to be without his soul mate and that he was sorry. That was definitely not my favorite Thanksgiving, and what was worse, because of my parents death, Danny truly believed that she had every right to come and take her kids, which she didn’t, the guardianship was passed down to myself after my parents’ death, just what every twenty year old wants. Danny was saying that she was going to come for the kids, but no one believed her, we all thought that she was bluffing, sadly we were proven wrong. On the day of my parents’ funeral, Danny showed up and tried to take the kids away, with most of my family there, most of them not liking her, Danny didn’t have a chance on getting far with Jake and Missy. She grabbed the kids so hard that she ended up fracturing Jake’s wrist and breaking one of Missy’s fingers. I lost it and went after her, the police were called, a lot of people were interviewed, I was arrested for assult, Danny was arrested for abuse and a few other charges, and things went downhill from there. Ian and Craig bailed me out and from there started the long process of making sure Danny didn’t come around ever again.

The day we went to court to try and put a restraining order on Danny, we must have had a stupid judge or Danny somehow paid him off. We were not granted a restraining order, and the most that we could do was, if she came onto my property, I could call the police.

I was a twenty year old girl going to school full time and had a part-time job. Ian ended up quitting his fancy sports photography job in the other state, so that he could move in with me and help me raise our siblings/ niece and nephew. Craig sent money in whenever he could, and we were doing pretty well.

When I was twenty two, I graduated from beauty school and started an internship at the local spa. I was there for about four months before I put my résumé into the big time day spa in the city of Pittsburgh, only a half hour drive away. I was hired instantly and have been working there for a year now, the money was amazing and I was a hit with the staff and clients.

Ian decided to work for the local newspaper, working when the kids were at school and then picking them up after, staying with them until I came home from work and then going back to work to fix his pictures. That worked out well until he put in for a new job in the city, something with sports again, I wasn’t sure because I never really paid attention, I think he took pictures for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Veronique Fleury was my first client ever, and we clicked instantly, she had even invited me to her wedding in the summer, but I wasn’t able to make it because I couldn’t call from work. I saw her about once a month, but that one day she comes in, she spends about five hundred dollars and then gives me about a hundred dollar tip. I was never introduced to her husband, Marc, who apparently played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, I knew nothing about sports, so she had to explain everything to me.

This past summer, I had moved out of my family’s home, sold it for a bigger home that I had saved up for. It was closer to the kids’ school and a little bit closer to my work. We were in a pretty nice neighborhood, and I was surprised that I was able to afford the home, but with my brother’s help and the money that we had gotten from selling my parents home, it was all made possible. We’ve been living in the home for almost seven months now; I was still designing some rooms, painting and furnishing when I had the time and money. My budget was pretty tight; I wasn’t made of money, until my favorite customer.

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“And I tell Marc, I’m like, ‘You have enough damn money to buy your own ping pong table, why would you want someone to get it for you?’” Vero reenacts and I laughed.

“Everyone loves free things,” I smirked and Vero scoffed.

“Now you sound like him,” she said and I laughed.

“Well it’s true,” I stated and Vero laughed a little nodded her head just as I finished on the last curl, “Ok V, what do you think?!” I smile brightly as I finish with Vero’s hair and makeup, already finished with her nails.

“Oh I love it, Sarah! It looks just like the picture,” she squealed and I laughed.

“That’s what I was trying for,” I said as I take the smock from around her, adding some last minute hairspray touches.

“Mon petit artiste!” Vero said happily as she stood up and hugged me.

“Sweetie, I haven’t had time to practice, I still need my translator,” I laughed and Vero blushed.

“I said my little artist, you’re very good at what you do,” she said and I felt proud.

“You should see me brother with a camera, now there’s an artist,” I laughed and Vero smiled.

“Oh! Your brother! I forgot to ask- Is his name Ian?” she asked and I looked at her confused and nodded my head, “Eeeek, I thought so! He works at the arena for the Penguins!”

“What?” my eyes were wide, ‘…Since when?...’

“I think he just started, Marc told me the other day that they got a new photo person director thingy,” she laughed and waved it off, “Anyways, he said that his name was Ian Lynch, and I knew that your name was Lynch, so I thought that he was your brother and, oh he is! So exciting!”

“Yeah, wow, I didn’t know, I haven’t really had time to talk to Ian, good for him,” I smile and Vero grabs my hands.

“Mon cher, you must make time for just yourself,” she said worriedly and I gave her a small smile and nodded my head.

“You are by far my favorite client,” I smile brightly and Vero squealed and hugged me, “Careful of the hair!”

“Oh, right, eek, thank you so much,” she said and then slips some money in my smock and I laugh and shook my head, “I know you won’t take it if I give it to you,” Vero winked as she walked away, towards the front desk to pay for her day.

I smirked and shook my head, ‘…That woman, she’s too much…’ I laughed as I turned and started to clean up my area, slipping my hand in my pocket and see the one hundred dollar bill, ‘…Definitely too much…’

“So Sar-bear, how was our favorite Frenchwoman?” I turned and saw Carrie standing by me, arms crossed and annoyed look on her face.

“She’s fine, happy to be back in Pittsburgh,” I answered and Carrie scoffed, “Is there a problem?”

“Why does she only go to you?” Carrie asked annoyed.

“Oh, I take it Veronique was scheduled for you?” I asked and Carrie nodded her head, “Sorry, she just likes to come to me, I don’t know, guess she likes my company.”

“So you think you’re better than any of us just because you’re the one who does the rich woman’s hair?” Carrie barked and I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t think I’m better than anyone, I’m just as good as anyone else here,” I stated as I finished sweeping up my area, “Just a tip, if you want bigger clients, maybe you should be a little nicer.”