Prep for Unguardable

Day 8 - Contest Round Protagonist Back Story

It was the day of the concert and Shoshana Cox ran down the steps to answer the doorbell.


“Got it,” she yelled, hoping her Grandparents heard her.


Evie, her friend from school stood on the other side of the door.


“Ready?” Evie asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.


“Yes!” Shoshana said, pulling her friend inside and turning away from the door. “Let me tell Moms and Pops goodbye.”


Hurrying through the living room of the farmhouse, she led her friend into the kitchen. Her Grandma was standing at the stove making French Toast and her Grandpa was sitting at the kitchenette drinking coffee and reading the paper.


“Evie’s here, we’re—


“Going to sit down and have some breakfast before you leave. Get some plates, food’s almost ready,” her Grandmother said without turning around.


“Fine,” she groaned as she rolled her eyes and walked to the cupboard to get four dinner plates and some silverware. Looking at Evie, she put the place settings on the table and gave her friend an embarrassed shrug. There was no way she was going to argue with her Moms and jeopardize getting to go on their trip.


“It smells delicious, Ms. Cox,” said Evie, giving Shoshana an encouraging smile as she sat down the table.


“Get the bacon and eggs out of the oven,” Grandma said as she placed a large pile of French Toast of the table and went to the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of orange juice.


As they all sat down around the small round table now covered in food, her Grandpa put down the table seeming to notice her and Evie for the first time.


“Well, good morning girls,” he said, picking up the plate of scrambled eggs and scraping a good portion of them onto his plate.


“Morning,” Evie and Shoshana said in unison.


“Where’s this concert you two are going to again?” he asked, placing some French Toast on his plate.


“Portland, Pops, we are going to see the Cure down in Portland,” Shoshana replied unable to keep the enthusiasm out of her voice. She shoveled some bacon and toast into her mouth.


“You’re going to choke if you don’t slow down,” her Grandmother said. “Taking the time to eat, isn’t going to hurt anything.”


“I know,” sighed Shoshana through a mouthful of food, earning her a frown from her Grandma.


“What are you driving down there? You’re Gremlin?” her Grandpa asked. He was referring to Evie’s 1974 green piece of crap that kept breaking down every time it rained.


“No,” replied Evie through a mouthful of toast. She took a quick sip of orange juice before continuing. “My Dad’s letting us drive his Camaro down.”


“Seriously?!” Shoshana asked, bouncing in her seat.


Evie nodded enthusiastically.


This was day was going to be awesome. They were driving down to the best city in the world, to see the greatest band around and it was going to be perfect. Shoshana couldn’t finish eating fast enough.


As they left the house, Shoshana’s Grandfather pulled her into a hug.


“Be careful and call if you need anything,” he said. Giving her a rough kiss on the cheek as he squeezed some money into her hand. She looked down to see three twenty dollar bills.


“Pops,” she started.


“Call us when you get down there, just to let us know you’re safe,” he said as he turned away and walked back into the house.


Her grandmother smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.


“Have fun, but be careful,” she said as she gave Shoshana a hug.


“Let’s go,” said Evie, pulling her toward the yellow T-top that sat in the driveway.


Squealing, Shoshana ran to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. She watched her Grandma wave at them as they took off. Suddenly, feeling slightly melancholic, she swallowed around the lump in her throat. It was silly. Every once in a while, she would feel a pang of loss and then she would feel guilty because her grandparents tried so hard to make everything as normal as they could. But she couldn’t help but think it should be her parents telling her to be safe not her grandparents.


She’d been ten when a concerned teacher had reported suspected abuse, after she’d wound up in the hospital for the third time in a year. After an intense investigation, the New York courts told her father she could no longer live in the same house as her mother. They’d left New Paltz, New York and father had brought her here, to Enumclaw, Washington to live with his parents.


He’d said he was staying with her and at first it looked like he was actually going to keep his promise, but then the phone calls started. Her mother would call three or four times a day, only talking to her father and as the weeks passed he started looking more and more haggard. He wasn’t sleeping and when he ate he would get sick soon after. She heard her Grandfather accuse him of using drugs, but she knew that wasn’t it. It was something much more nefarious. It was her mother.


One morning, four weeks after arriving, Shoshana went downstairs to eat breakfast and found her Grandmother sitting at the kitchenette with red puffy eyes.


“Sit down, sweets,” she’d said. “We need to talk about your Dad.”


“He left,” Shoshana replied. “He went back to her.”


Her Grandmother nodded as a large tear spilled down her cheek.


“It’s okay. Do you want me to go?”


“No!” Her Grandmother stood up and scooped her up into a tight hug. “No. You are going to stay her with me and Pops.”


Even though it was eight years ago, she could still remember the smell of burnt coffee and her Grandmother’s Oil of Olay lotion whenever she thought about that morning.


“Quit it!” laughed Evie, bringing Shoshana out of her thoughts, “You are being all morose and s***! We are going to see THE CURE!” She yelled.


“Woohoo!” screamed Shoshana.


The sun peeked out from behind the clouds casting the world in bright summer sunshine. This was definitely not the time to be thinking about the past. It was going to be perfect day.


“Music maestro,” Evie said, “Cassettes are behind you.”


Grabbing the black case, Shoshana opened it up and pulled out a Prince tape. Popping it in, they both started singing the words to ‘Raspberry Beret’. They cruised down the road toward Portland, singing loudly and seat dancing in the car.


“Sixteen Candles or Breakfast Club?” asked Evie.


“Sixteen Candles, it’s just a funner movie. I mean Long Duck Dong, who thinks up that stuff?” Shoshana asked, rifling through the tapes to figure out what was going in next.


“John Hughes,” answered Evie, taking Shoshana’s rhetorical question literally.


“Okay. Star Wars or Star Trek?” Shoshana chuckled.


“Star Wars, Han Solo is hot!” Replied Evie.


“What?” Shoshana laughed. “He’s old!”


“So. He’s still hot!” Evie retorted.


At that moment, a loud crunching sound permeated the air and the car started to spin. Evie fought to regain control and Shoshana held the dashboard trying to keep from being thrown around the car. The car hit the median dividing the highway, bounced off then tipped over on its side. Shoshana lost consciousness as she was tossed around in the interior of the car as it spun around.


When she woke up, everything hurt.


“Evie?” she said, looking around the room.


Her Grandmother took her hand, tears were streaming down her face.


“Where’s Evie,” she asked, fear gripping her.


“I’m sorry dear,” her Grandmother replied. “I’m so sorry.”


“Do you remember what happened?” her Grandpa asked, standing by her Grandma.


“No, not really. We were talking in the car and then – the car was spinning out of control. We hit the middle divider and then…. Where is Evie?”


“She didn’t make it dear. I’m so sorry.”


“No, Grandma…How? Why?”


“A semi-truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran into the back of the car. Shoshana honey, you are lucky to be alive. It’s a miracle that you made it.”


As realization settled on her, Shoshana could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She suddenly felt light-headed. Monitors started beeping emphatically and a nurse rushed in.


“Mr. and Mrs. Cox, we need you to step out into the hall,” said a nurse in a white pressed dress.


“Gone?” she whispered in disbelief.