• To me my mother, Samantha Nite, was just my mother. To the people of the South, she was a hero, an illegal one, but she was. I just never knew it, she was nothing more to me than just my mom. Of course, I was only 3 so I never truly understood what was going on.

    Samantha Nite was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Stephen and Laura Nite. She had an older sister, named Vicky, who for 90% of the time wouldn’t give Samantha the time of day.

    Growing up, Samantha was somewhat of a tomboy and most girls, like her sister, wouldn’t even give her a chance. She always held her head up high though, until one day things became too much for the current 7 year old to handle.

    “What’s the matter Sam?” Her mother Laura would ask sensing something was deeply disturbing her daughter. Samantha just shot her a quick pain-filled glance, and sighed deeply.

    “Why don’t they like me mother?” she said quietly. “They all despise me so, act like I’m some sort of germ.”

    “Who doesn’t like you, sweetheart?” Laura responded, slightly flustered. She watched as her daughter turned her head to look out the window, then it came to her. “Is it those bloody girls again? I mean… ugh.. You are so much better than what they will become. More unique.”

    Still silence.

    “So what did you do today, Sam?” It was the one question you couldn’t not answer, or at least not answer with one word.

    “Y‘know, played Tyrannosaurus Rex with the boys. It’s quite fun you should really try it some time.” Samantha replied with such sincerity and innocence that Laura couldn’t help but smile, and shake her head. Her daughter was sure something.

    As they started to drive out from the school parking lot, they looked out to see all the boys run out and scream, “Bye Sam!”

    It was also apparent that she was quite stronger than most boys by the age of 12, not to mention smarter.
    “I’m going to be late for dinner tonight,” Samantha brought up one morning as the family was eating breakfast.

    “Late? Why?” her father Stephen grumbled as he sat down the newspaper he was reading. “You don’t have detention do you?” her father said jumping to conclusions.

    Samantha let out a small, nervous laugh, “No, no, it’s not that. It’s just..,” she paused quietly looking at her sister’s annoyed expression.

    “Well, spit it out slime ball. You’ve already wasted 12 years of our lives, just spare us a few seconds.” Vicky snapped.

    “Vicky Anne Nite!” Laura yelled, shooting her other daughter a scornful gaze. “Carry on, Sam.”

    “I’d like to join the chess club.” Samantha said, letting out a huge breath of relief.

    There was a dramatic pause at the table. “Why, that’s wonderful Sam!” exclaimed Laura cheerfully. Vicky made a face of utter disgust and groaned, then left the table.

    “Ooh, my Sammy’s got the ‘ol chess gene huh? Back then my brother and I were in the chess club, no one ever beat us. Kept our chess team in the #1 slot for 4 years. Good times.. Good times. You take all the time you need tonight, okay? I am so proud of you, oh my little girl.” Her father was a little bit too excited about the whole chess club thing, and that wasn’t good according to Samantha’s plan.

    “Oh, well, uhm tha- oh would you look at the time, the bus is going to be here soon. Gotta go, love you.” Samantha raced out the door, trying to figure out what to do now. If her father ever decided to show up to one of the “chess matches” she was dead. She decided to go through with it anyway, it would be worth it.

    That afternoon she roamed around the school halls until she found the room she was looking for. Everything in there was covered in a deep blue padding, everything. The walls, the floors, the doors - everything.

    “Can I help you, little girl, are you lost?” Samantha spun around to see a man sitting at a desk looking straight at her. He had a thick black mustache, and only enough hair to cover the sides of his head, not the top. He was wearing a tan colored pea coat, with deep brown pants, and a pipe in his mouth.

    “Yes, I am here to try out for the wrestling team. This is the right room, is it not?” Samantha replied proudly. The man stared blankly at her for a few seconds, then burst into laughter.

    “What’s the matter coach?” said a tall and lanky boy coming in from the weight room.

    “T-this girl,” the man started laughing again, “wants to join the wrestling team!” he started laughing so hard that tears were spilling from his eyes.

    The boy had just about the same reaction the man did, and started calling in some other boys, “Nick, Greg, George, everyone! Yal gotta see this!” A heard of teenage boys started crawling into the small room.

    “This girl wants to join the wrestling team!” the boy repeated what the man had said. They all started laughing.

    “Y-you mean to tell.. Ahahaaha.. Me-that-this pretty girl wants to join us?” Another guy said laughing so hard in disbelief. Samantha was indeed pretty, with her light, wavy brown hair and ice blue eyes, she was a stunner.

    Samantha was starting to get annoyed, “Excuse me!” she shouted, but it was muffled by the laughter of the current wrestling team. “EXCUSE ME!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, shutting everyone up. “Yes, indeed I would like to join the wrestling team. What qualifications do I need to have to be able to do so?”

    The man, struggling to compose himself replied, “Good grades, good attitude, oh, and to be a guy.” He said, starting to laugh again.

    “I have better grades than probably every single guy in this room, my attitude is quite good being as though I’ve put up with all of your rudeness for even this long, and girls can be just as strong as guys. Name any one of your men, I will take them down right here, right now. I guarantee it.” Samantha hurled her words like venom at the coach. All he could do was stare at her dumbfounded until her witty come-back slowly absorbed into his skull.

    “Fine then, prove it.” the coach finally said watching her eyes turn dark. When he realized she wasn’t going to say anything he called over one of the boys. “Eh Georgie! Come give this girl a good ‘beat down’ will ya?”

    “Oh I will, Coach.” the boy who apparently was George chuckled darkly eying Samantha.

    “Alright then, on the count of 3; 1..., 2..., 3.….!”

    It all happened in a flash then. Samantha kicked the boy in the shin and right before he shouted in pain, she flipped him over, and he landed on his head. He collapsed to the ground on his stomach, and she grabbed his arm, twisted it, and pinned it behind his back. She waited a few seconds for someone to say something, but the room was silent.

    “Ow…OW! Can you please let go of me now? Oh, me head, ow…” George’s cries of agony broke the silence.

    “Get up,” snarled the coach, angered by George’s failure. Samantha let go of his arm and watched as he rubbed the back of his head tenderly, limping towards the other boys. “Oh, c’mon! I mean, someone else come up and pin her down! Geesh..You! Greg, you were telling me about this new technique you learned, right? Show me, do it to her.”

    Greg shook his head and walked away, along with the rest of the team.

    “Nicki, my man. Show that girl who’s boss, will ya?” The coach was becoming worried.

    “Uhm, no thanks coach. I value my head.” replied a soft spoken, large boy whom went by the name of Nick.

    “Alright then, practice is over. Get lost.” the coach watched as everyone spilled out of the room. Well, all except Samantha. She hovered by the door for around 20 minutes until the coach turned off the lights and started to head out. He looked down at her for a second, and started to walk away.

    Yet, before Samantha could open her mouth to say something, he shouted, “Practice is next Tuesday. Same time, same place.” and on that note, Samantha was on the wrestling team.

    Samantha did quite well on the wrestling team, and stayed until high school without her parents ever finding out. Year after year she made a new excuse as to why she would be late for dinner, chess, cheerleading, glee club, anything you could imagine she used. The only person who knew was Vicky, but she didn’t dare peep a word to anyone as she was worried if someone found out her sister was on the wrestling team, her reputation would be ruined.

    When Samantha was 16, soon to be 17, her parents finally started to accept the fact that their youngest child would never be the proper, ladylike girl of their fantasy. She was something else, a tomboy, a pig, no manners whatsoever. Yet, brilliant, entertaining, sweet, and compassionate. She was just one huge mystery.

    Early one Saturday morning, her father, Stephen, called her into his shed. It was mainly his work place, a place where he could think. “Sami I think we should talk,” he started.

    “Well, I somewhat guessed that otherwise you wouldn’t have called me here,” she replied. He continued anyways ignoring her comment.

    “I truly think you should consider becoming a lawyer. I know how you like a challenge, I know I do. That’s why I decided to become one.”

    Again, Samantha interrupted. “I thought it was also for the money.”

    “No, I mean, it helps, but I love to fight for justice. You’re quite witty, and clever too, you’d make an excellent lawyer. You could go to Harvard even, I mean ima-”

    She cut him off, “Dad, I don’t want to be there just sitting on the sidelines handing out documents and explaining them. I want to.. I want to actually be there, when it happens. Bring in real justice. Fight for what I truly see, what I truly know happened. I want to be the one who’s putting them behind bars, not fighting for the bad guys just because they flash a dozen $100 bills in my face.” She too late realized that speaking her true opinions on her father’s career was not going to end well. She was about to rephrase it, but she saw that it was too late, his face was turning red, his eyes showed hurt.

    “We fight for the law, justice. Don’t you believe in justice?” He said with a menacing tone.

    “Dad I do, and I appreciate all you do. But, I think I might be better a cop or something,” she replied as sweetly and calmly as she could.

    “A cop! A cop, you know very well girls like you are not permitted to be cops!” He screamed out of anger. Samantha didn’t move her gaze from his eyes.

    “And where’s the justice in that? Where’s the righteousness? The government is flawed dad, look on the news dad. Just two children were killed by the same gang that you ‘fought’ for, dad. You may have gotten the leader in jail, but what about the rest of them? There’s hundreds of people like them out there and doing what you do won’t fix that.” She yelled, tears pouring from her eyes. Samantha was like a firework, once she’s ignited, she exploded.

    She headed towards the door.

    “Samantha Anne Nite, if you walk out that door I will take you out of my will!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.

    “I never wanted your money,” was all she said, and then she walked out and headed towards the house. Her mother was cooking in the kitchen, pretending that she didn’t hear any of the argument. Samantha walked right by her and headed up into her room.

    Surprisingly, her sister Vicky, was in there, looking out the window. “Heard your fight with Dad, well, pretty much the whole neighborhood heard it, but still.” Samantha said nothing. Vicky decided to drop the subject, and peaked out the window again, “Strange, the same black Mercedes has passed this house like, 5 times. They’re even taking photos, stalkers much.” She flipped her black hair behind her back and went to sit beside Sam on the bed.

    “I’m sure Dad didn’t mean it, the will thing and all. You’re his daughter, he wouldn’t do that to you. He’s just angry.”
    “I could care less about the will,” Samantha said quietly. “I guess I’m just frustrated the he keeps trying to make me something I’m not, trying to make me his perfect daughter.”

    “Wait a little bit for him to cool down, and talk to him. You’ll feel better, I promise.” Vicky nudged her sister in the shoulder encouragingly.

    “I think maybe, I should apologize first, though.” Samantha glanced out the window. “I don’t know what comes over me sometimes, Vi.”

    Vicky hugged her sister, which is something she hardly ever did. “Why don’t you take a little nap, clear your head. Before you know it, this whole fight will be the thing of the past.”

    Samantha nodded, and watched as her sister gently closed the door, but she couldn’t sleep. She kept having horrifying visions of something bad happening, and a sickening feeling came to her stomach. Yet, a loud crash coming from outside had her jolt out from her bed.

    “It’s the Mercedes again, except this time, the people inside are headed here.” Samantha turned to see a panicked Vicky, with so much fright and terror on her face than she had ever seen.

    Samantha quickly looked out the window to see a couple men wearing what appeared to be suits stepped out of the vehicle heading to the front door. Her mind immediately remembered them from the news, “Vicky, I want you to hide in the coat closet down by the back door. When I give you the signal, run outside as fast as you can, don’t look back. Don’t pause. Just keep running until you find a cop or someone that can help you.” Vicky flew down the stairs without a second thought.

    She hurried after her, “Mom, dad!” she screamed. They shot her confused glances.

    “Sami, I actually wanted to talk to you I wanted to say -” before her father could finish she interrupted.

    “Dad, there’s no time for this now. The guys from the news are here and -” The door swung open, it was too late.

    “Stephen, you remember me don’t you? It’s Vinny, and this is my brother, Bobby, and some of my, acquaintances, Joey and Billy.” Sam watched as the plate in her mother’s hands crashed into the ground.

    “H-how’d you get out of jail, Vinny?” her father chocked.

    “Hmm, jumping right to the questions, eh? How I got out doesn’t matter, how I got in, does. You failed me, Stephen.” All eyes were on her father, everyone knew something bad was going to happen.

    “I did the best I could,” her dad’s voice was turning into a whisper. He took a quick glance at Samantha, and then looked around a bit, trying to figure out where Vicky was.

    Vinny misinterpreted it. “Ah, yes. The family, nothing hurts a man more than killing his family, no?” He walked towards her mother. “This must be the beautiful Laura, a very beautiful wife indeed.” He spoke of Samantha’s mother in a tone that made her want to vomit. She had to turn away when he grabbed her mother’s hand and kissed it.

    “Kill me, just not my family,” her father begged.

    As much as Samantha hated leaving her family alone, she ran down to the closet to get Vicky out of there. As she ran she started hearing screams coming from her mother, “No, no Stephen, I love you! Don’t!”

    “Sorry, Stephen, I don’t make exceptions.” was all she heard, then several gun shots.

    “Vicky, hurry get out now!” Samantha whispered, as she banged on the door, Vicky shot her one tear-filled glance. “Go!” then her sister was out of the door running like the wind.

    “Where’s the girl?” she heard them say.

    “No! Not her too!” Samantha ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, but when she turned around she saw her father running after her, and she began to hear sirens in the distance.

    “Led us straight to her, thanks Stephen.” her father’s heart sank into his chest.
    “Shame, she seemed like a decent kid.” Samantha shut her eyes as she heard the gun shots. Yet, she didn’t feel dead. She opened her eyes to see that her dad dodged in front of the bullets that were meant for her.

    She quickly sat him down in front of her and kneeled over him, he was just barely living. He was coughing up blood, “Daddy..” she cried, “I’m so sorry. I love you.” He reached up weakly to touch her cheek, but his arm fell to the ground. He was dead. Vinny and the gang apparently heard the sirens from the front, and made a run for it leaving Samantha behind, alive. Samantha was totally oblivious to all the officers pouring into the room, or her sisters cries when she saw her dead mother by the front door, or the stretcher being pushed in to take her dead parents away. She just sat there.

    Slowly it sank in to her, her parents were dead, Vinny killed them.

    He would pay.