Winnebago

 Rebellious

Chapter Four

Vicki Rebellious Ronaldo.  The Wardon read the name out loud for all in attendance to hear.  This included her sister Angela, her brother Jonathan, and two correction officers.  There was hesitation in the Wardon's voice before reading out Vicki's full name.  But it was indeed her legal name and could be found on her birth certificate.   The parole board was there to determine whether or not Vicki had been transformed enough to be cycled back into society.  After seven years in prison, at the Vacaville Penitentiary, this would be her second chance at parole.  Ten years earlier, Vicki had stolen her parents Winnebago.  She drove it to the high school in Bowling Greene and set it on fire.  She also made sure to open up the stove valves so that propane had built up inside, basically turning the Winnebago into a bomb.  Nobody was killed.  A homeless person was living near the trash bins across the street and was badly burned but survived.  Her parole would once again be denied.  Looked as though she'd spend another five years in Vacaville.  Angela spoke to her brother Jonathan for a while in the parking lot.  She mentioned to him that she had just applied for a job as campus watch for a local private school and that she was fairly certain the school was going to hire her, and she needed to get back as soon as possible.  Jonathan was the manager of a grocery store back in New York.  They were both saddened by the results of the parole boards decision but knew that their sister had committed a serious crime in which people could have been killed.   Jonathan gave Angela a hug, and they both ventured off, Angela to the airport, and Jonathan in his full-size Dodge pick-up.  Jonathan did not like to fly.  He had asked Angela if she needed a ride, but Angela had already rented a car.  Jonathan, Angela, and Vicki all shared the same parents.  Donald and Vicki Roldano.  Their parents lived on a farm in Bowling Greene and were not in attendance at the parole hearing.  Donald had vowed to never speak with his daughter Vicki again after the Winnebago incident.  He was the one that drove Vicki to the Sheriff's substation the day after the explosion.  Vicki was quick to mention that it was her father Donalds fault that she lived an early life of trouble, just look at her middle name she would say.  Nobody knew why Vicki's parents chose the middle name, it wasn't ever a topic at the dinner table when all four siblings were young.  But Vicki, who shared the same first name as her mother, was definitely rebellious.   

Five years went by in a flash.  Vicki stood in front of the parole board once more.  This time would be her lucky day.  Her freedom was granted by the board, and she would be released back into civilization.  She had nothing to her name.  No cell phone, no car, only a few items of clothing the prison had given to her along with a pair of shoes.  She was also given three hundred dollars in cash to get her new life started.  Having spent the last eleven years in Vacaville prison, Vicki was not sure what to do.  The three hundred in cash would buy her a bus ticket back to Bowling Greene Pennsylvania.  From there, she was not certain where life would take her.  A full year would go by after stepping off of the bus.  Vicki had picked up odd jobs here and there.  Her latest, a janitorial job at the papermill just outside of town, was by far the best job she had obtained.  The news of her sister being killed by a mountain lion on the job was a massive blow.  Vicki was hanging by a thread as it was, this shockingly sad news was another heavy blow to Vicki's wellbeing.  She no longer had any relationship with her mom and dad.  Her brother Jonathan was busy with his career and his two kids.  His wife's job kept them hostage to the New York area and Vicki had never even met Melanie and Robert her niece and nephew.  Vicki had found a room for rent with a guy that was fairly creepy but harmless in Vicki's opinion.  She lived in the basement of his house.  She had just enough money to live month to month.  She was able to afford internet service and she had a smartphone.  The rest of her income went to rent, and food.  The old beat-up car she drove was given to her by her landlord who in all actuality had a crush on Vicki.  The resentment over the past year had continually built up and Vicki had even become somewhat angry towards her family.  Angela was her only friend left within the family and was really the only one that still talked to Vicki.  The news of Angela's passing was the final blow.

Roman liked having Vicki living in the basement of his house.  She was the prettiest thing he had ever seen, and he would at some point, when he got up the nerve, ask her out on a date.  But for now, he tried to accommodate Vicki's needs as much as possible.  He didn't charge her much for rent.  He had given her his parents old car.  They died in that car a year ago in a bad traffic accident.  His left eye dragged a bit from an accident as a young boy.  His job at the stripper club washing dishes didn't make him wealthy.  He was basically living the fine line of poverty.  His father had left him six thousand dollars and a beat-up Ford F250.  On the back window of this truck, Roman had a gun rack in which he carried his twelve-gauge shot gun.  Vicki had ridden in the truck before when her loaner car had broken down.  She saw a form of protection in Roman that gave her a bit of comfort.  She knew that Roman was sweet on her and she would use this to her full advantage.  It was a rainy Friday night that the plans were made.  Vicki, distraught over the death of Angela, and angered that her brother, mother, and father never showed her any love or attention, had become filled with malice.  She had forgotten that her brother had driven across the country to attend all but the last parole hearing.  The last time she saw or heard from her sister Rebecca, was just prior to her being placed in prison for the Winnebago incident.  Rebecca was dead as far as Vicki was concerned.  Roman fueled this depression by buying copious amounts of alcohol.  The two drank well into the early morning.  Vicki, looking at her cellphone, became more and more angry.  The videos of this privileged young girl, mowing the fields of her grandfather's farm, made her sick to her stomach.  She should be the one mowing those fields.  Why didn't any of her family show her any love and ask her over for dinner, or even for holidays.  She had to send some kind of message, had to make them feel some of the pain she was living with every day! 

The summer sun had all but set.  They had watched Jonathan, Sheryl, and Vicki drive off a couple of hours earlier.  Vicki asked Roman one more time if he was certain the shot gun would be good enough to do the job.  He assured her it was.  The two were only half sober and Roman had added some meth into the mix of his cocktail of bravery for the job at hand.  Vicki wanted to scare the life out of her family.  Roman would approach the house while Vicki watched for traffic out on the street.  Once Roman located Melanie, he'd tie her up and he and Vicki would take her back to the house and hold her hostage for a couple of days.  That was the plan anyways, just long enough to make her brother and sister-in-law scared to death.  Roman knocked on the main door while holding the screen door open.  When Donald opened it, Roman panicked.  He was not expecting Donald to be home.  The sound of the gun going off didn't register in his meth induced stupor.  He didn't stop after watching Donald fly back and fall lifeless onto the living room floor.  Roman quickly moved to the kitchen catching Robert with his head still buried in the food pantry.  Another squeeze of the trigger and Robert's life was over.  Melanie ran for the bathroom.  Roman quickly outpaced her and grabbed her by the hair.  Knocking her to the ground, he then tied a rag over her mouth.  Vicki came running into the house in a panic.  What are you doing she yelled out.  You've killed him!  You killed them both!  The crime had been committed.  There was no turning back now.  Vicki quickly turned off the kitchen light so that no one could see inside the house.  They would take Melanie with them.  They'd drive out to the papermill, put Melanie on her stomach, place a pillow over the back of her head and end her life.  Vicki was scared to the point of throwing up.  What had she done!  She would be an accomplice at minimum.  The two back tracked their actions of the last two hours and Vicki was sure that there'd be evidence back at the crime scene.  They dumped the body in the dumpster behind the papermill.  Vicki told Roman she was not going to be put back in prison.  She asked Roman to kill her, she did not want to live any more.  Roman had the idea of getting in the truck, driving out into the trees in a remote area where nobody would ever think to look for them.  They would douse the F250 with gasoline, firmly strap themselves to the seats, and set the truck on fire.  If the fire was hot enough, there would be no evidence left behind.  Nobody saw the glow from the fire.  Nobody heard the screams from inside the truck.  Just before setting the truck on fire, Roman use the shotgun one last time.  Firmly placing the barrel on Vicki's left temple and squeezing the trigger.  The passenger side window immediately darkened with a red mist.   There would be no need to fire the shotgun again.  The raging fire would consume all within.