Deadly Cocktail
At different times lives come together and they shouldn’t. All the necessary ingredients swirl around and get poured into a lethal cocktail. Glancing eyes, sun burned skin and 30 minutes before the bar closes.
Spring in Birmingham, Alabama is filled with Dogwoods blooming and Azaleas awaiting their turn to put on a show. Students prepare for final exams and dream of the long summer break. For high school seniors that is especially true, because they have reached a milestone in their lives. Life will be changing for them. They will move away from the nest and pursue their dreams. Plans have been made about where and what to do after graduation and the summer break. The whole world is before them and they are anxious about wearing the cap and gown, ending a chapter in life’s story and moving on to the next.
For a moment, the most studious and predictable forget the future and live in the moment as only youth can afford. Graduation trips and celebrations take precedence over all else!
Many miles away a little island born of volcanic activity eons ago lazily basks i
n the tropical sun of the Caribbean. A different life, a different place with a less than noticeable seasonal change, but not that far removed from this life-changing season.
Aruba was no different than any other country. Kids plan for graduation. Celebrate the end of a school season! But, place their hopes in lands foreign to them.
The atmosphere was islander, carefree and lackadaisical. Friday night football was not the game of choice on this little speck upon the globe.
In a different way, these graduating students planned a celebration, but it involved those that might visit their island that May.
Through the sound of gentle waves caressing the shore and the spectacular lightshow provided by the sun dropping off the end of the earth, there was something lingering that was sure to explode. Timing was the only constraint, but that constraint was soon to be lifted.
By the end of May 2005, things were set into motion and were gaining momentum. This run-away train was going downhill without brakes and most of us didn’t even know that there was a train! At the helm sat a middle-aged man with a failing career, a son out of control and a wife out of the country. The stage was set and the unthinkable was beginning…
"...to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction..."
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Collision Course
Posted by EasyWriter at 5:54 PM
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6 comments:
WHOA!
I want to know the rest!
This endeavor is raw to the extent it bleeds, but still interesting. lol
I’ve written volumes about the Holloway case and others. At times I enjoy releasing a few teasers. This is one of those times. lol
a work in progress....
Mike- you are a terrific writer. I actually pictured Aruba in my mind's eye.
Can't wait to read the rest.
Keep up the great job you are doing!
Rob
It is a little bit the style of Twan Huys, the NYC Nova reporter who covered the story in Holland. He has written a book and addresses a long chapter to this topic. He ends the chapter with a story of a young lad, being on a holiday on another Caribbean island, in 2010, "while the trees sweep from the hurricane", the lad tell the bar keeper about his involvement in the case.
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