Hello, my name is Cassie, and this is my story. My
father, or as others like to call him, Papa Joe was the former owner of a
theater in New York. It was nothing like Broadway but in the dance community it
was like Broadway. My family was made up of me, Papa Joe, and Michelle, my
sister. Back when I was three, there was another member, my mom, Leah. My dad
and my mom met centuries ago at a…yep, you guessed it, at a dance recital. My
mom was an amazing dancer, or at least that’s what dad used to say.
It was love at first sight. Leah was the main dancer, and
my dad was a talent seeker. He worked for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
(AAA) and was looking for a new member. After Papa Joe offered my mom a job,
they started talking and talking, and soon they were dating. Leah continued as
dancer of AAA until she had to retire. A few years later her retirement, my dad
proposed. My mom wanted to be a lower case teacher and Papa Joe wanted to keep
looking for talent, so they opened up their own theater and dance company. The
years passed and Michelle came, two more and I, Cassie, was born.
When I was two, mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. Two
weeks before my birthday, she was gone. Ever since, my dad has tried to forget
that month ever existed. The theater became very popular and when AAA closed,
dancers had nowhere to go, so they came to Leah’s theater. My dad decided to
rename it after mom passed. Since I was born in an artistic family, my life
revolved around dancing and dancing. God forbid I was interested in anything
but dance, especially sports! Thankfully, that was never my problem. I always
enjoyed dance, and it was what pleased Papa Joe the most. As I grew older all I
wanted to do was please dad and be just like mom. Well, I didn’t really have
much of an option. By the time I was seven, my dad had planed our lives.
Michelle was going to attend Skidmore College while I helped Papa Joe with the
theater. After I graduated high school I would attend the same college, while
Michelle helped dad with theater. Once I was done with my studying me and
Michelle would run the theater. I didn’t mind the plan as much as Michelle did.
She had different ideas. She wanted to be bigger, dance for major companies,
and go on tours. She thought she belonged in Hollywood.
A couple of years later. I was at home, still dancing,
still helping Papa Joe, and one more year till I graduated. Michelle was then
in college and, yes, she made it to Skidmore College. The problem was she
didn’t want to follow the other half of the plan. She wanted to be famous and
acted a bit spoiled. It almost summer, and dad was trying his hardest to
convince Michelle to come back home. He believed that if he got her to come
back for the summer, she would’ve come right after her graduation. Papa Joe had
been planning and planning, leaving him with no time to do anything and me with
too much on my plate. I was used to it. Growing up without a mom wasn’t easy. I
had more chores than friends when by the time I was five.
After weeks of thinking, Papa had finally come up with
a plan to bring Michelle back. Papa Joe
would hire a dancer, pay him to date Michelle, make her believe they were meant
to be together and would convince Michelle to stay after graduation. Michelle
was then a junior in college, so if this guy became Michelle’s summer love she
would want to stay and help Papa Joe with the theater. The guy Papa decided to
pick was some dancer named Bob.
June finally came and Michelle was home. The first
thing Papa made her do was work at the theater. Michelle HATED IT, and she made
sure EVERYONE knew how she felt.
“Ughh I hate working here!! All my friends are
traveling the world and enjoying life, and all I ever do is work for Dad!!”
Michelle said, and I quickly snapped at her “Are you kidding me!?! I’ve been
working here the ENTIRE year. You just here and you’re complaining. Brat”
instantly she responded with, “Whatever.” I hate when people said “whatever,”
and my sister new that. She was trying to get me mad. At that time I could not
wait for Papa to present Bob to Michelle, but little did I know what was
coming.
Two days later everything changed. Papa Joe organized a
casting for incoming dancers. Dancers from all over New York, including Bob,
came to our theater. At that time I didn’t know that. Dad knew that keeping secrets
wasn’t my thing, so he thought it would be a good idea not to tell me. A few
hours after auditions had started, a cute, handsome, tall AND muscular guy
showed up. I remember Michelle’s face expression like it was yesterday. She
quickly looked at me and , “let me take care of this one.” Like always, I said
yes. The eye contact they were making was intense. As I was interviewing
another girl I could feel the tension between them. Michelle’s heart was
beating extremely fast. I could have sworn it was going to come out and the way
this “mysterious guy” looked at her it was like love at first sight. Michelle
looked at the guy and started asking him questions. “Why do you think you’re eligible
for the Leah’s theater team?” The mysterious guy answered, “Well, I’ve been
dancing since I was four, Dancing is my passion. I’ve been watching Leah’s
dance recitals since I can remember.” Oh my god. His voice, no EVERYTHING about
him was so perfect. I was dying of envy but there was nothing I could do.
Michelle happily nodded her head at everything he was saying. She was
practically drooling. Michelle wrapped up the audition, “Well, Bob I think
you’re wonderful dancer, and you can definitely expect a call by the following
week.” I started choking so hard I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.
Could this really be “the” Bob, as in the Bob dad had hired?!?! At that moment
so many thoughts were flying through my head I didn’t even know what was going
on anymore. Before I knew it, I was on the floor surrounded by Michelle, Bob
and three other people who aren’t really relevant to the story. I just stood up
and nodded every time someone asked me if I were okay. All I wanted to do was
to run to Papa Joe’s office. He confirmed everything. That was “the” Bob. The
miraculous Bob who was supposed to work his magic over Michelle, at least
that’s what we thought he was going to do.
That summer Michelle and Bob were INSEPREBABLE. They
did everything together. They ate together; they danced together; they worked
together; they even shared some of the same clothes. I know, how disgusting?
Since Michelle had left for college we started to grow apart. I wouldn’t have
really minded if I had other friends but working at the theater and balancing
friendships wasn’t easy. I didn’t really mind that she was spending so much
time with Bob, because after all I knew they weren’t going to last. I remember
watching Bob and Michele hangout. I could not believe Bob was pretending to
like her, it seemed so surreal. They were known as the perfect couple. The
summer was coming to an end, and I had no idea what Bob or Papa Joe had in
mind.
One afternoon after work I found Papa crying. I
quickly ran towards him, “Papa, what’s going on, are you okay!?” He tried to
speak but nothing came out, yet he was sobbing so hard he was shaking. “ I..
I.. I don’t know what to..oo do.” I asked him to explain but for the following ten
minutes all he did was sob. After a while he finally got himself together and said,
“We’re done. Bob keeps asking for more money, and we’re in debt, and I don’t
know what to do.” He was still trembling but no longer sobbing. “How much is
Bob asking?” I asked, afraid of the answer. There was a pause. It felt like it
an eternity. He answered “Too much, and I don’t have the money.” at that moment
I was starting to get angry. I kept on wondering why he wouldn’t want to tell
me sum. I practically managed everything at work. I guessed he read my mind
because he said, “Eighty-five million, and he wants it by the end of the month.”
All I could think of was what a douche Bob was. He no longer seemed miraculous-let
alone handsome.
That afternoon during dinner, Michelle announced that
she was finishing college here in New York and would still work for the
theater. I just smiled at Michelle, said congratulations and hoped she wouldn’t
read my mind. Papa Joe did pretty much the same thing.
A week later, on a Sunday morning I woke up. I
remember feeling like something was wrong, but I couldn’t quite shake the
feeling. I thought that I had maybe forgotten to turn the lights off from the
theater, so I headed down to go check. Right as I was opening the door to
leave, Michelle yelled, “Wait up!! Where are you going?” as I rolled my eyes, which
of course she didn’t see. I said, “to the theater! I think I forgot to turn off
the lights last night.” As she came out of her room, she said, “I’m coming with
you, think I forgot my purse there, I can’t find it anywhere”. We both headed
down together. As we opened up the back doors of the theater we realized only
one light was on: Papa’s office. We both exchanged a look, and without saying a
word we started to walk towards the office. The door wasn’t even closed. We
opened the door and there was Papa. Lying on the floor. Everything paused.
There was blood everywhere: Splashed all over the walls, floor, desk and
papers. He was just there. I felt like I was just hit on the stomach, multiple
times. I couldn’t breathe and every single part of me felt numb. “Oh my god!!!”
I was suddenly back in reality. Michelle was screaming, shaking. She touched
Papa’s face. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. She yelled “What are you
doing? Call 911!” I took out my phone and started to dial, told the lady who
picked up the phone what had happened and before I knew everything went black.
I woke up in a
hospital bed. A nurse said “Hello sweetie, are you feeling better” my head was
hurting so bad, so I just asked, “where’s my dad?” Her mood instantly changed,
“He’s dead.” Everything around me was spinning and I felt like I was going to
pass out again. But this time I didn’t. She held my hand and said “Everything
is going to fine.” After I had calmed down I asked to see my sister. A girl
that looked a year or two younger than me walked into the room. Her eyes were
red and puffy. It took me a couple of seconds to recognize her, yet she was my
sister. Michelle sat on the bed next to me and cried. We both cried for an hour
straight. We had not yet exchanged a word but our eyes said everything. She
explained everything to me. She said someone attacked dad. He was stabbed in
the stomach multiple times and once in the heart. After Papa was stabbed a
large quantity of money was stolen from the safe. The police had no suspects.
The months went by and nothing about Papa came up. Michelle
and I took over the place. We never realized how much work Papa had. Every day
felt emptier than the one before. Our mornings weren’t the same. Our afternoons
felt empty and the nights made us feel nothing more than lonely. Bob helped us
tremendously. He helped us run the place. During that time we needed a male
figure in our lives. I had completely forgotten about the eighty-five million dollars,
or at least I made myself forget. Until one day Bob came up to me, “Hey Cassie,
I know you’re really busy and everything but I was wondering if you knew about
the deal I had with your father?” My heart beat started to rise, but I managed
to keep my cool and responded, “Umm, no. He never mentioned anything” He acted
like nothing had happened and said, “Oh, alright no problem. It was nothing
important,” we both said bye and walked away.
I wanted to tell someone, but I couldn’t. I had no
close friends and my only semi-close friend was Michelle. That night it was my
turn to close the theater. As I was turning off the lights I decided to stop
off at Papa Joe’s office. It had been cleaned by the police and anything that
had a drop of blood was taken to a laboratory. It no longer looked or smelled
like his office, but it still felt like his. As I was looking at what was left
of the room, I heard a noise. The noise was coming from Michelle’s office. I
silently walked towards her office. It was a tall man, muscular man. He was
dressed all in black. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out who it was.
As I began to search for my phone to call 911, something grabbed my wrist and
before I knew it, I was flying across the room. I landed on the floor. I opened
my eyes, and I saw the man was wearing a mask, I don’t know how I got the
courage to say anything but I did “Who are you?” Nothing. “Who are you!?”I
repeated. Nothing, “Who are you!!” I yelled. The man reached for his head, and
slowly took of the mask. I gasped. It was Bob. “You know what your father owes
me, so where’s my money!” There was no point on lying, especially when I
thought I wasn’t going to make it out of that room alive. I answered calmly,
“We have no money” His face expression got more and more angry “You’re lying!!”
before I could protest he quickly walked over to me, until his face was less
than five inches away from mine, and said, “Don’t provoke me or else you’ll go
through what Papa Joe went through.” In that moment everything clicked. Bob was
the man who had killed Papa. He stabbed him in the stomach and in the heart, yet
he was the one who was there all these months pretending to care. I felt so
angry with him, but mostly with myself. He had been right under my nose. How
did I not know it was him!? I kept asking myself. Before I knew it, he had
picked me up again. He swung me across the room, and once again I landed on the
floor. Bob was filled with so much rage I thought he had rabies. I’m almost
positive he did. Once again he picked me up, but this time he threw me towards
the window. We were on the second floor, and I can remember looking around the
theater as I was falling, thinking it was going to be my last. Me and shattered
class hit the floor. I didn’t feel anything. My back was numb. Bob went down
the stairs and took a glance at me. I pretend I was dead. Bob laughed, and
walked out of the theater.
I woke up in a hospital bed. I could not feel my back.
My sister had found me a couple hours after the incident. I saw a nurse walk in
the room. It was the same nurse from last time, but I don’t think she
remembered me. “Excuse me, why can’t I feel my back” She looked at me and gave
me a look I didn’t quite understand, “Sweetie you’re spinal cord is broken” Before
I could process what I had just been told, the nurse went on “You’re paralyzed
for life” She walked out of the room. I couldn’t even comprehend what the nurse
had told me. I kept on wondering if that meant I could never dance again, not
be able to travel, get a job or got to college. My soul and mind were filled
with rage. At that moment the police came and interviewed me, they asked me
what had happened and if I recognized the man who did this to me. I said no. I
believe Bob wouldn’t be able to be punished properly by the law so, I decided
to take care of it myself.
After the cops left, Michele came into the room. I
told her everything. Her heart shattered. I told her how it was Papa’s idea to
hire him so she would stay, how Bob asked for eighty-five million, how he
killed dad for not paying and how he hurt me. After hours of planning, we came
with a plan of how to destroy Bob like he destroyed our family.
Michele would invite Bob for a romantic dinner in the
theater. She would wait behind the doors and right when Bob would come into the room she would stab him multiple
times before he could get up again and used his rabies strength on her. Once he
was unconscious Michelle would take a larger knife and cut him into little tiny
pieces. The pieces had to be tiny enough for them to fit in a blender. Michelle
would blend everything up until it turned into red paint. That’s exactly what
Michelle did. Everything went perfect. We just didn’t know what to do with the
bloody, grinded up body parts. Michelle came up with the idea of buying white
curtain for the theater and soaking them in the blood. She said it represented
how pure our lives where before Bob, but after Bob came everything fell apart.
I didn’t think of anything better to do with Bob’s blood, so we stuck with her
plan. Either way we needed new curtains.
Fast forward to today. I now have a husband. He’s
blind in one eye, but he’s a wonderful man. His name is James, and he and I run
the theater. Michelle met another man, who also dances and is not paid to be
with her, let alone a killer. She has been traveling the world with him on
dance tours for the past two years. Michelle and I have never been this close,
and yes, we still have the curtains.
