The Marlette 24 Chain Story

The Marlette 24 Chain Story By Allyson Volz & Jon Morgan 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Alicia Jones reached over from beneath her bed covers to slap the snooze button on her screaming alarm clock. The noise ended, but Alicia was already awake. The clock said that it was 7 o’clock. She had one hour to get to school. It was June 17 and she only had four more days before the end of the school year, then she will be out for the summer. Next summer she was going to be in the seventh grade. She stumbled out of bed and over to her closet. “What am I going to wear?” She asked herself. There was so much to choose from but so few pieces of clothing actually interested her. She decided to wear a green haltertop and khaki pants. She decided that this would help bring out the purple highlights in her hair. Tony Snow coasted to a stop in front of the library. From here he could see the Jones’ three story house. He knew from a week’s worth of observation that the Jones family didn’t really get moving until it was closer to 8 o’clock. That was after their oldest daughter, Alicia, would leave for school with her brother Alfonzo. This was all important information that Tony would need later that day when he broke into the house and stole the case of gold coins that was rumored to be buried somewhere in the basement. He and Alicia were approximately the same age so he almost hated to do this to her family. He knew that this would upset her most of all. But, Robert Tillerano, owner of the Beagio’s pizzeria, had really left him with no choice. Tillerano had threatened to kill Tony’s girl friend, Veronica, if he didn’t go through with the robbery. 7:20 a.m. Alicia rubbed a layer of steam off of the bathroom mirror with her little brother’s Thomas the Train bath towel. She picked up her favorite brush, the one with the big bristles, and began to run it through her long hair. Her mother was always saying she should have her hair cut shorter, but Alicia couldn’t stand to do it. She liked her hair too much, and besides the purple highlights had cost too much at the hair salon. 7:30 a.m. Robert Tillerano stuck a key into the lock of his pizzeria’s front door and turned it. From where he was on the sidewalk, he could see a little bit of the Jones’ house and, if he peered hard enough, the glint of sunlight off of Tony’s bicycle. Suddenly, Robert’s mind was filled with a list of the things he would buy with the money Tony was going to steal from the Jones’ house. The anticipation was so powerful that Robert almost couldn’t stand it. The best part was that the Jones family most likely didn’t know about the hidden treasure, so they weren’t going to really miss it. They had only lived in that house for a few months, so after Tony was done they were going to think it was just a typical robbery.

Robert’s thoughts drifted towards Tony’s girl friend, Veronica. She had been tied up, gagged, and left in the basement. He decided that he would check on her in a little bit after he got the ovens fired up. She would be okay for a few more minutes. 7:40 a.m. Veronica wiggled and struggled to get her hands free of the ropes that had been tied around her body, but they still would not budge. She still couldn’t understand why she had been taken from her home or left in this cold dank basement, but something in her memory suggested that Tony had something to do with it. 7:45 a.m. Alicia heard her mother cry out in pain as she descended the stairs towards the kitchen. She peeked around the entryway to the kitchen to see what was wrong. “Are you okay mom?” She asked. Her mother, Samantha Jones, was crouched over a bit with one hand on her back and the other held underneath her bulging belly. Samantha was in her eighth month of pregnancy. “I’m okay,” She said in between some quickly inhaled and exhaled breaths. They sounded strange to Alicia until she realized that her mother was performing her Lamaze breathing that she had learned at the hospital. “Its just some contractions.” “Okay,” Alicia said. “If you’re sure.” She grabbed a box of cereal to pour into her bowl. While she was eating her breakfast her seven-year-old brother Alfonso came downstairs. “What’s going on with mom?” he asked. “She was having contractions,” Alicia snapped. “Is she going to have the baby now?” Alfonzo asked, his eyes were wide open. “No, you dweeb, it just means its getting ready to come out.” “Wicked!” 7:50 a.m. Tony checked his watch. There were only a few more minutes before the Jones family would begin to leave for the day, and then he would make his move.