A few months passed, and I was still suspicious of Grandpa. He continued to give out hints that he probably murdered my father when I was really young. Grandma never spoke to me, unless I spoke to her. When I asked her about my father, she dodged the सवाल and changed the subject. Either she was involved, या she was trying to protect Grandpa. One cold December day, I was walking in the forest with my dog. I suddenly heard someone faintly say my name. I looked over and saw Barry. He was lying in the snow, shivering. I said, "Oh, my God! Barry! What happened?!" He कहा weakly, "I was walking through the forest. I saw your grandfather. I confronted him about beating you. He had a gun, and he shot me." There was blood everywhere. Still, I tried to comfort my friend. I said, "You're going to be okay! I'll go get help!" He said, "Erin, please don't leave me." I said, "Barry, I have to help you." He said, "Erin, don't bother. I've लॉस्ट too much blood. It's too late for me." I cried, "Barry, please!" He said, "Erin, sit beside me. I want to tell आप something before I die." I said, "You're not going to die. You're going to be all right!" He said, "Erin, I'm glad we're friends. I'll tell your mother that आप प्यार her. I'll watch over you...best friend." He closed his eyes, never to open them again. I cried, "Barry! Open your eyes! Please!" He didn't respond. I became a waterfall of tears. I held my lifeless friend in my arms. I कहा reluctantly, "Goodbye, my friend." I cried so much at his funeral that I was too exhausted to cry anymore when I got home. How could Grandpa murder my friend like that?! Barry didn't deserve to die like that. I later confronted Grandpa about it, and he beat me again. This time, he beat me with part of a पेड़ branch, and it drew blood. My aunt and uncle had to pull him back. I was not only hurt physically. The real pain was deeper. I told my aunt, "Barry was shot standing up for me. I should be the one dead, not him." She said, "Erin, honey, I know you're upset about Barry. However, saying things like that isn't going to bring him back." I said, "He probably murdered my father, too." She nodded. "Yes, Erin. Grandpa murdered your father, but he made it look like an accident. Your mother wanted to press charges, but Grandma threatened to frame her for your father's death instead." I said, "Damn! Why didn't anyone tell me this?!" My aunt said, "Your mother drastically sheltered आप after your father's untimely death. She wouldn't even let me tell you." I asked, "Does Daniel know?" My aunt said, "Yes, he knows about it. Your mother told him later but made him promise not to tell आप या anyone else." My uncle was right. Grandpa really was a monster.
When I had entered the fifth grade, I was dreading it. I had heard rumors that the teacher was really mean. When I met her before school started, she seemed really nice. On the first दिन of school, I was wearing one of my Beatles t-shirts. She noticed it, and she said, "Darling, I प्यार आप already!" I said, "Okay, then." She would take up for me all the time. The other kids often called me glasses. She heard them and said, "She has a name, guys. Her name is not glasses. It's Winter." There was one दिन when another girl kept picking on me. I finally had enough and said, "I might look sweet and innocent, but that shit is for suckers, and I'm no lollipop." I looked at the teacher. She winked and said, "I heard nothing." I would have had her for the sixth grade, too, but unfortunately, I moved to Tennessee as soon as the school साल was over. We both cried. We promised to keep in touch with each other, and we've kept in touch to this day.