English 1010 the Other Side

Kenzie Massengill

Tempi Hale

English 1010

18 September 2018

 The Other Side

Fourth down, thirty seconds left on the clock, and the Tigers had the ball. The quarterback threw it to number twenty-one. He made a clean catch and began to run toward the end zone. He made it half way before he is sacked and thrown to the ground. As the players clear, the audience sees the body of twenty-one still laying on the ground. Referees, coaches, and a few players run over to see what is wrong. He explained it is his knee. He is taken out of the game and sent to the hospital where he is told he will never play football again.

As a young man who loved the game and knew that he would make playing football his career, this news was life changing; however, not for the better. Just as any other injured player he was prescribed pain pills which helped with pain and the depression of losing his only love. This addiction was something that his family tried to help him with, but no rehab or treatment would work. The young player met an attractive woman that also had the same love for the pill that took away all forms of pain. As their relationship grew, so did their relationship with the pills. A day came where the pill-induced couple began to fight. It ended with the female’s lifeless body on the floor and the frightened young man standing above her. Unable to wake her up, he could not believe what he had just done. How would he explain this? To make matters worse, she was pregnant with what would be his son. What the pills had hid from him was that she was only knocked out, he had not killed her, but this is something he would never know. With this heavy weight on his shoulders, in his mind there was only one solution…. suicide.

This young man, devoted athlete and addict was my uncle Cain and the day came that we would have to say good bye forever. The funeral was on a hot June afternoon, I had just won my softball game and I was riding in the car with my best friend in the whole world, her dad, and her brother to what would become the worst thing I would ever experience. The car ride there was nothing but laughter and comments about the game. Her dad was the coach so, like normal, he was telling what we could have done better and where we succeeded. We pulled up at a little white church in the middle of town and there are cars and emotionless people all around. I knew this day was coming but not today, not now. I looked at the once smiling faces in the car and could not find a smile not even on her baby brother. They told me to go in and my mom has my change of clothes. I slowly walk toward a black side door that seemed to be a mile away. As I got closer, I saw my mom waiting on me. She opened the door, and then her arms to embrace me in a hug. I cannot hold back the tears any longer and I lost every will to care about what others thought of me still in my dirty uniform. I walked to the main sanctuary where it was cold and calm. It smelled like fake flowers and old lady perfume. I look around and see strangers and familiar faces, sitting and standing everywhere. No one seemed to be as upset as I was. “Why are these people not crying?” I thought. “Why does everyone seem to be okay?” I wanted to see him, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at the lifeless body just yet. I sat down about the fourth row from the front. As I tried to talk myself into going to casket, everyone that walked by wanted to hug me and tell me they are sorry for my loss. I was so angry that people, people I didn’t even know, wanted to feel sorry for me. Finally, I got up and walked down the aisle. Before I could even get close, I felt someone grab me, “Are you sure you want to do this” “I don’t think you need to go up there,” it was my parents. “Yes!” I said boldly. And kept walking. When I got to where I could see just the tip of his nose, the tears began to flow again. The more I saw, the more I wished I hadn’t. I turned around and went straight back to my seat where I tried to gather myself, no one else is crying so why should I? As this thought ran through my head I looked up and saw a picture of my uncle Cain and me. It was my favorite picture of us and just as quickly as it came it was gone. My heart stopped beating and I couldn’t breathe, all that my body could do is cry. As I sat there in my own emotional turmoil, a lady came and sat beside me and put her arms around me and just held me. It was not my mother nor my grandmother, but I was so upset and in my own world I didn’t care who it was. This woman and I were the only two people in the room, other than that body that was not my uncle. I didn’t know this person. I tried to get my act together and stop crying but as soon as the tears were gone another picture of the two of us appeared. This time the lady was not there, no one was there. They were eating the food that was brought, talking, or leaving to enjoy the rest of their day. It was just me, my tears, and these pictures of the man I once knew.