Cassie's sis

Mr. Embers, my thirty-two year old teacher, took the call.

“Yellow!” He answered enthusiastically. After a few moments of listening to the person on the other side of the line he said, “Yeah, Cadence is right here…” He trailed off, still listening.

That’s when my heart started to race. I knew it was for me. I looked back to my best friend, Vanessa Aiken, my eyes popping out. I mouthed: O-M-G. She mouthed back: I know! I mean, I knew that what I did earlier that day; smoking in the halls where there were no cameras to hide from, was bad, but I never knew I’d get caught.

Vanessa and I were still staring at each other when Mr. Embers said, “I see, but don’t you think you should just wait… I mean…” Pause. “Yeah, I know, but the class is gonna end in fifteen minutes.” Then came another pause. “Oh, alright.” He hung up.

I knew my cue to stand up, but Mr. Embers simply didn’t see my motions, or he was playing stupid, “Ms. Cadence Anderson…”

“Yes, Mr. Embers.” I answered in a goody-two-shoes tone of voice.

“Take all your stuff and go down to Ms. Wilshire’s office, please.”

“Okay,” I said without a fight.

Ms. Wilshire is my counselor and adult-friend because she was young, only twenty-seven. Well, actually she’s been an old family friend, her and her family to my family and me. She’s always been Chelsea, not Ms. Wilshire. But as a student I have no choice but to call her Ms. Wilshire.

When I came into the counselor’s office where the other four counselors’ offices are located, I peeked from the little gap of the door window of Ms. Wilshire’s office. I saw her brown bob that went down on her shoulders and her brown eyes staring into the faces of three big guys dressed as police officers; and I would later find out that they were cops.

“Wait, what is this about, Ms. Wilshire?” I asked walking in.

“Cade, it’s nice for you to have come with out a fight.” She said smiling with her big brown eyes looking sad. “Sit. Don’t worry; you aren’t in trouble, sweetie.”

“I bet not, because I didn’t do any harm to anyone.” I said relieved, but hearing it now; it seemed ironic that I said that.

The three cops looked at each other as if trying to figure out what I said and how it’ll connect to what I was about to hear. They introduced themselves, “I’m Adam Dominguez and these are my fellow police officers, Justin Evans,” He said pointing to a tall, blond man with sparkling blue eyes. Mr. Dominguez had black hair and dark brown eyes. Continuing, he put his hand on the other cop’s shoulder, “And this is Allan Quest.” Allan as I call him had green eyes and brown hair. “We’re in charge of the search of Cassidy Anne Scott.”

“Wait, what search?” I asked outraged standing up from my seat. “You search for someone when you’re looking for someone missing! My sister is sooooo not missing!” I sat back down with the help of the second cop, whom I will grow fond of and love like an older brother, Justin.

He said, “Cadence, please calm down. We’re sent here to tell you the news and to bring you home to your parents safely, okay?”

I shrugged him off saying, “No! I am not going home with any of you. Ms. Wilshire, please tell them to lay off. My sister, my sister is gonna come home in no need of any of your help.” I wanted to leave the room because I knew that if the cops were involved, there surely would be something wrong. I wanted to leave the room because I felt I was being suffocated by the heat and by the crowded-ness of the room. I wanted to leave the school because I knew I had to find Cassie without any of their help. I wanted to leave the school because I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to leave my life because I knew something bad had happened to Cassie while I tried dismissing the fact. I had to leave my life because from that day on, my life would’ve changed forever.

Cassidy was not my only sibling. We’re six in all. My mom had a son out of wedlock, my twenty-seven year old brother, Caleb John Allen. My dad was a widower, and from his previous marriage, he has a daughter, my twenty-six year old sister, Camille Marie Anderson… And her ‘C’ is only a coincidence. Then came my sister, twenty-five year old, Cassidy Anne. My other brother, Conner Richard, now twenty-one came after Cassie. After Conner came me, Cadence Denise, sixteen year old junior. The youngest, Cameron Tucker is only twelve. Even though we were a pretty big family, my closest confidant is Cassie. Cassie and Caleb are both married. Caleb to Jenna Mayhems, they have a two year old son, Carson Mark Allen. Cassie’s also married, to Anthony Scott. They have a son, two-year-old Christopher Jacob. They were expecting a baby boy within a month and a half. They were planning to name him Charlie Logan. Camille had a daughter, three-year-old Christina Adrienne Jenkins. She wanted to continue the ‘C’ mark, because she was also part of it. She isn’t married, but she lives in with her college hubby and Christina’s dad, Kobe Jenkins.

I asked Ms. Wilshire to drive me home because I did not feel comfortable tooling around and back home in a cop’s car. She nicely said okay but the cops looked at each other weirdly. They weren’t sure if my mother would let, Allan said.

“They’d let. They trust Chelsea. I trust her. You guys could follow along or something, but I’m not driving in that cop-mobile.” I said furiously.

“Alright, but you drive safely and do not do anything that you would regret, Chelsea. We will trust you.” Justin said, and somehow, now knowing that my sister, my comfort, my confidant, my Cassie was missing; I felt an urge to hug Justin, for standing up to my protection, even if it did kinda probably hurt Chelsea’s feelings.

“Oh, Chelsea.” I cried, hugging her and tugging against the urge to cry. “Please tell me Cassie’s gonna be okay.”

Chelsea patted my back and hugged me at the same time, “She’ll be alright, Cadence.”

I took assurance to that and walked to the parking lot where Chelsea’s car was parked, a few slots far from the cop-mobile. I stepped inside the white Ford truck, sitting down in the passenger seat. Chelsea followed along to the driver’s seat.

“Cade, do you need a hug again?” She asked.

“Oh, God… So bad.” That was when I started crying. I felt in the tip of my guts that something horribly wrong happened to Cassie. I couldn’t put my finger on it, or I could, but I bluntly didn’t.

When she released me, she said, “Cadence, I want you to know that we’ll find Cassie, okay? Don’t show anyone that you’re scared. Stay calm. Don’t show people that you’re fragile. Cry with family and friends, where you feel the comfort and love. Not in front of cameras where people will criticize you. Your mother called before the police officers came.”

“She did?” I interrupted.

“Yes, and I got to talk to her and your brothers. They’re vulnerable. And you know that I love them like family, as I love you. I want you to be their standing fence, I’ll help you and everything, but I just want you to be the one leading them, okay? Stay strong for them and for all of us. I’m not pressuring you, hon, please don’t think that… But I just want you to know how much trust and respect that I’ve got for you and that’s the reason that I think that you could be the only hope to keep this family together, okay?”

“Okay.” And that was it of that conversation. We drove in silence for the rest of the drive to Cassie and Tony’s house. When we got to the three-bedroom-home, there were about seven police cars parked out front and a crowd of people that I both knew and did not know. I knew they were all looking for my Cassie. The three cops were still trailing after us, even while walking towards the house.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm, “What the…” I started.

“Young lady, you aren’t allowed inside unless you’re close relatives or friends.” The older man of his forty’s said to me.

“That’s nice, cause I am family! I’m Cadence Anderson; the fourth child. Cassie’s sister. Let me in!” I screamed.

Justin chipped in saying, “She’s Cadence Anderson. Don’t worry, Walter.”

By that, I was let inside where I found my mom sitting side by side with my sister-in-law Jenna, my brothers, Conner and Cameron and my cousins, Jade, Laura and Sean. Cassie’s son, Christopher or Santa as he’d like to be called, and it fit his persona too, because of his jolly appearance and friendly attitude sat on the floor next to Christina or Doll because of how close she resembles a wax doll. Carson sat on Conner’s lap playing with baby keys. My sister’s best friends, Amber Clad, Ashley Buoyant, Christina Whitman, Jane Ashford, Cory Valmont, and Justine Rembrandt were standing next to my oldest brother Caleb. Some of mom’s friends were also standing by, along with my dad’s friends and some uncles and aunts. My dad was at a business trip in Manhattan.

My brother Cameron stood up and hugged me. While hugging my brother I could see my mom sobbing silently, and that’s when everyone else started crying also, except for the cops. “She’s gonna come home, Cameron, don’t worry.” I assured him, but also at the same time assuring myself.

After everyone wiped their tears away, the cops pulled out my mother, to investigate on her I guess. I wanted to scream at them, even at Justin, for thinking that my mom could have had something to do with this nightmare. But, I held against my will because I thought to myself, It’s their job to count everyone as a suspect. But right after my thought came through my head I quickly dismissed it because to count someone as a suspect, there has to be a crime committed: does that mean some crime has been committed to my big sister. I wish that wasn’t true.

When my mom and the three cops left I looked Camille while she hugged Caleb, silently crying. I heard her say, “Caleb, what’s happened…?”

I wanted to give her a hug but I couldn’t move. To support myself, I sat down on the rocking chair that Tony’s bought for Cassie since her stomach started to grow. When the door opened and we heard snapshots and people talking outside (the reporters), everyone looked up; even the little ones, Christina, Carson and Christopher. Only when Christina came running to the door did I realize that my best friends Vanessa and Keith Mayer were the ‘intruders’. Keith grabbed Christina and gave her kisses like a dad would, but Keith was only sixteen as Vanessa and I.

I walked up to Vanessa and gave her a hug. She continued on to the others, conversating as to when was the last time they’ve seen Cassie. I led Keith into the living room as he sat down quietly, Christina slowly drifting into her own world in his lap. I took Christopher, who looked exactly like Cassie into my lap and kissed his forehead. He laid his head on my shoulder and took my arm and wrapped it around him. I started to cry. Where are you, Cassie? I thought. Where are you to hold Chris?

After a few hours, it was already seven thirty. It’s been three hours or so since I got home. I wasn’t holding Chris anymore and now I’m sitting on the kitchen island where as my siblings and niece and nephew sat on the chairs eating on the table. My aunt, Kelly and Uncle Robert cooked some mashed potatoes and ribs and served it along with soup and orange juice.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist, it was Conner. “How you doing, you?”

“Well, I don’t know. Cassie hasn’t returned my calls, Conner. How about you?” I answered.

“We’ll find her tomorrow, Cade.”

“I wonder if she’s eating right now. What’s she eating do you think?” I looked as his green eyes sparkled.

“I don’t know. But knowing her, I bet it’s at some fancy ass restaurant, you know?” He giggled a bit as he let go of my waist and I let myself down on the floor, walking towards Vanessa, who was still at my place.

“Vane, do you think she’ll come home?” I asked.

Everyone looked at me quizzically. I knew they thought I doubted Cassie’s homecoming. I held my hands up defensibly.

I said, “I’m just asking. I want to know the facts.”

Shawn laughed nervously, “Like always, you wanna know the facts.” Everyone giggled even more, but not the normal family laugh that we’d always shared, it was fake; trying to just ignore the sadness lingering over us.

“Look, I just don’t…” I started but I felt my arms wiggling away, my feet began to shake a little and my voice broke. I looked at Camille for help, my only sister that I can count on being here right now.

She walked towards me and said, “Cade, shhh.”

After that, she put her arms around me as I melted away in her sweet hug. I clung on to her and softly whispered, “I’m not sure if we’ll get Cassidy back.” It hurt me to say that, but it was what I was feeling; what needed to be out in the open.

I felt Camille flinch a little and I could also feel everyone’s eyes on us. My mom crept away, out of the dining room. Camille motioned everyone to kinda keep away for a bit. She sat me down and pulled my Aunt Kelly and Uncle Johnny for a second. The only things I heard from their conversation was, “She needs me right now. I’ll just talk to her. I don’t want her to lose hope.” This coming from Camille, and all was true. They replied okay and pushed everyone out of the dining room.

When we were alone, Camille sat across from me and took my hands. “Cadence, why do you think that we won’t get Cassie back?”

“I don’t know. I just have… have a feeling… you know.” I answered, tripping off it.

“Well we will. Please Cade, don’t loose your faith. We won’t end up in anything that we want if you lose hope. Look at Mom… and get the picture of Dad crying. Cade, be strong.”

“I am, I’m trying, I really am.”

“I know, but… I can see your holding your feelings off. Why?”

“I’m trying not to. I mean… no, I am not trying not to… I don’t know. Camille, I’m so confused. I don’t know where Cassie is and I can’t eat and I won’t sleep and I don’t know what’s happened to her. I just don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Cade, tell me what you’re feeling right now. Just so you can vent. So when we go out there to meet with everyone, you’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. Please don’t ask me that right now, Cam. I don’t know. I really, really, really don’t know. I just don’t know. I feel like it’s all not true. It’s just a nightmare, but I’m awake… I mean, it seems all so fake; I seen Cassidy a few hours ago. I seen her. I seen her! I was just with her. I gave her a hug and we talked, we talked and talked. She was so happy and beautiful… She was so beautiful. I was just talking to her… And then suddenly I was being picked up by cops at school telling me they were in charge of the search of Cassidy Anne Scott. It seems so surreal. It’s just not real, it’s so not real! I want to think that she’ll be coming back, but how if she’s not? What if she’s gonna be gone… forever, for us not to see? I don’t want that to happen, Cam. I don’t want that to happen.”

Camille put her arms around me and said, “I don’t want that to happen either, Cadence… I don’t either. And let’s pray to God that she’ll be safe. Let’s not lose hope, Cade; I mean, we’ve got all day tomorrow. We’ll find her, and if it makes you feel better we’ll help with the search for her. If it makes you feel better, we won’t sleep tonight. We’ll go with Allan and Justin to look for her, kay?”

I looked away, I looked at the picture magnet on the fridge… it was of Cassie sitting on the rocking chair while pregnant with Chris and I was sitting next to the rocking chair and holding her belly, making a weird face. She was only six month pregnant that time but she was huge! Chris was a big baby. Unlike little Charlie. The last time that Cassie went to the doctors to get a check-up for Charlie, I went with her. Then they took a picture and Charlie wasn’t that big. The doctor said it was because Cassie was stressing a lot.

“You promise?” I asked.

“Yeah, I promise. Come on, let’s go out now.”

I followed her as she held my hand into the living room where everyone was positioned, watching the news displaying Cassie’s latest picture with Chris. It was at my mom’s house three weeks ago. I stopped for a little while to stare at Cassie; she was smiling while Chris held on tight on her blond curls.

I started to cry but I choked it up. Camille just tightened her grip on my hands. After that she pulled me out of the house looking for the cops. Though we did find so many cops and many reporters talking to either their cameramen or the camera itself, we couldn’t find the two cops we were most comfortable with, Justin and Allan. Camille’s boyfriend, Kobe, was outside too. When he saw us he hugged me and kissed Camille.

“How’re you, young one?” He asked me, taking my cheek in his left palm.

“I don’t know.” I answered giving him another hug.

Camille asked him, “Did you see Allan and Justin?” When he looked at her quizzically, she continued, “Allan Quest… Justin… I forgot.”

“Evans.” I continued for her.

“Yeah, Evans.” She said.

“Yeah, babe.” Kobe replied, “