All Chapters of Back at Seven, I Jumped Into the River Before My Dad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

A bag of reeking garbage slammed against our front door.Foul-smelling liquid seeped under the door and into the living room."Open up! Come out, you cold-blooded freak!""A murderer's family has no place in this neighborhood!"The shouting outside went on and on, punctuated by hard kicks against the door.Mom wrapped her arms around me, her face ghostly pale."Michael, what is going on?"Dad sat hunched on the couch with his head in his hands, saying nothing.His phone screen was still lit with a message from his transit manager, George Smith.George: [Michael Carter, we've received over a thousand complaints about your conduct.]George: [You're suspended effective immediately. Don't report to work tomorrow.]My chest ached so badly I could barely breathe as I stared at Dad's slumped shoulders.That night, a strange sound woke me.I pushed open the bathroom door, and my heart lurched at the sight.Dad was standing at the sink, trying to wash his face with cold water.As soon as the wa

Dad's hands were shaking so badly he could barely control them.He tied one end of the rope around a bridge support, wrapped it around several times, and cinched it tight.Then he looped the other end around his waist and tied it off securely."Mia, stay back. Don't come any closer."He looked at me, his eyes filled with grim resolve and quiet despair.To keep the frenzied mob from hurting me, he had no choice but to give in and jump into the deep water that had become his worst nightmare."Oh, so now you're trying to act like the good guy?"Brenda sneered. She let go of me and stepped aside, putting on a show of concern.I slowly got to my feet. I didn't cry or make a scene. I kept my eyes on Brenda, watching her every move.Dad gripped the railing and swung one leg over.Just as he was about to jump, I caught two chilling details.First, the edge of a phone screen was sticking out from Brenda's loose sleeve.Lines of live chat raced across the screen, and one word glowed red in the u

[This account has been permanently banned for suspected violations of platform rules.]All three livestreams went black at once.Instead of Brenda's updates, all Derek could hear over the radio were sirens and her panicked screams."It's over..."His hand jerked. The wineglass slipped from his fingers and hit the carpet, splashing wine across his shoes.Derek froze for three full seconds. Then he shot to his feet, grabbed his backpack, and swept every hard drive and USB drive on the table into it.He booked the first available train out of state, planning to flee that night....Under the harsh overhead light in the interrogation room, Brenda's face looked ghostly pale.She was still holding out, insisting it had all been "just a prank video to scare him."Officer Cooper slapped the folding knife down on the table."Brenda, you know how much time you could get for reckless endangerment, right?"And then there's this knife..."He tapped the nick in the blade with the tip of his pen."We

Six months later.Superior Court, Courtroom 3.Every seat in the gallery was taken, and a row of reporters with cameras lined the hallway outside.Derek Lawson stood at the defense table in jail-issued clothing, his hands restrained in front of him.He was almost unrecognizable.He'd lost so much weight that his cheekbones jutted out, his eyes were sunken, and deep hollows had formed in his cheeks.There was no trace left of the arrogance he'd shown at the river.Still, he refused to admit what he'd done."Your Honor, I'm innocent!"Derek's face was a mess of tears and snot."I admit I staged the drowning for views."But it was just a prank. I was only trying to make it more dramatic!"I never meant to kill Michael Carter!"Brenda brought that knife herself. I didn't even know she had it!"His defense attorney rose and argued that Derek had never intended to kill Michael, pushing for a lesser charge.He spoke for more than ten minutes, citing case after case and laying out his argument

It was that time of year again, when families visited the graves of loved ones.Around this time in my last life, Grandma would take me to the two lonely graves by the river and lay flowers there.She would cry and murmur over and over, "If only I hadn't taken you to the river that day. If only I hadn't let your dad go save that man."After paying her respects, she'd crouch beside the graves, unable to bring herself to leave.But in this life, everything was different.Dad had quit his job as a bus driver.His work in drowning prevention and safe rescue had caught the attention of a major local company, which recruited him as its safety manager.His salary tripled. He had every weekend off and even received holiday bonuses.Mom didn't have to work three jobs anymore, either.She quit the backbreaking job at the textile mill and used their savings to lease a small storefront just outside our apartment complex, where she opened a neighborhood convenience store.The shelves were always ne