The Life and Death of New York Dreams

Part One
Summer

Chapter One

A hot summer’s day warmed the skin on Brooklyn Bailey’s body. He was alone outside of his backyard and basked in the sunlight. Brooklyn lived in one of the biggest estates in Manhattan, New York and in one of the most expensive gated communities called Burdette. Of course, he wasn’t shy about it; he flaunted it.

Everything seemed to be fine until Philip, Brooklyn’s brother, arrived with his friend Andrew McMullen. With two giant shrieks, the two boys stripped and cannoned into the pool.

Brooklyn gritted his teeth. He hated his brother more than anything else in the world. It had been three years since that day and still Brooklyn wouldn’t forgive. Brooklyn glared at the two and slammed his magazine on the ground.

Philip already knew that Brooklyn hated him but that didn’t stop him from having his fun. Andrew tried to keep his distance from Brooklyn. He knew how bad their fights could get. Nothing could fix their rift anyway. Most took it as a part of life.

A beautiful blonde woman walked up to the young men and smiled graciously. Her smile and wonderful demeanor immediately changed the brothers’ faces. She was dressed in a sea-foam green summer dress and matching green pumps with a leopard trim. With a picture perfect smile, vivacious auburn eyes, and the softest blonde hair, Katherine Ferry made her presence known.

“Hey all,” she breathed with a pleasant tone and voice. The Bailey brothers’ eyes immediately locked onto the lively young woman. “Hope I didn’t intrude!” Brooklyn’s eyes flickered as the two glared at each other.

“Not at all,” Philip said with an even greater smile. “I’m actually really glad you came. Perfect timing!”

Philip was a genial young man in Katherine’s eyes. He was charming and gratifyingly handsome with a big future that waited for him. Everyone was on his side except for one boy.

Brooklyn felt inadequate to Philip; most people did. The only difference between Brooklyn and most was that he knew how to hide his jealousy when he felt the need. It was his specialty along with his infamous temper tantrums.

“How’re you?” Philip asked with a suaveness and fluid like ease. Andrew got out of the pool and the two dried off separately with their own towel. Brooklyn’s hatred for Philip only grew by the second. There was never a moment when it didn’t stop growing. “I do hope your doing good.”

“I am.” She smiled and caught a glimpse of Andrew. He smiled cautiously with large eyes. Philip spoke, his stunning emerald eyes glittered like gold. Brooklyn’s eyes were the darkest browns imaginable, nothing uncommon. Philip was more striking as opposed to Brooklyn. Brooklyn had dark brown hair and prominent brown eyes, the most common combination out there.

“I’m sure she’d be doing fine.” Brooklyn said with a challenging tone. Philip made a small face.

“Yup, thanks Brook. I am.” Katherine had an endless succession of politeness and natural exquisiteness that only made the boys’ rivalry grow farther, deeper, and harder. Andrew felt that any day now, one of the two would erupt.

“Lunch is ready.” An aged female cook had entered the fiery quarrel. Aware of the mutual dislike both brothers shared, she was fearful that their anger would recoil. Just about everyone in the Burdette community knew how fiery Brooklyn’s temper was.

“Thanks. We’ll be there shortly.” Philip informed her. The elderly woman nodded appreciatively and walked back into the main house.

There was a large table centered in a luxuriantly embellished room. Paintings of just about anything hung on the peach colored walls and they sparkled from the summer days. Beautiful draperies hung from the vast glass windows to reveal a dazzling view of New York City. There was a plentiful amount of food laid about for the group. Tasteful morels and wonderful provisions were there for their revelry.

Brooklyn marveled at how repulsed he was with Philip as he wooed Katherine. Philip was a liar, a good liar. He could fool the entire world if he wanted. That mere fact made his blood boil.

Andrew, being the spectator noticed the contrast within their eyes. Philip had a natural calm but his younger brother seemed volatile. Andrew never could figure out why exactly Brooklyn had so much hate for Philip. He never bothered as is was a taboo to talk about what had happened between them.

“It’s so nice, hmm?” Katherine reflected, “Summer’s definitely my favorite season.”

“Really?” Philip inquired with accumulated interest, “Summer’s our favorite too.”

“Yep.” said Andrew. The mood was light, enjoyable, and pleasant. There wasn’t a single awkward pause. Brooklyn’s recollection was quite different. Brooklyn knew just about how harsh he was to his brother but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t give Philip the pleasure of being the center of attention. Not after everything he put him through.

“What do you think of that, Brook?” Katherine asked. All eyes were on Brooklyn. As he gained composure he realized he hadn’t paid any attention to what the three discussed.

“Excuse me?” Philip rolled his eyes and gleaned. Katherine, as wonderful as she was, smiled in a considerate manner in order to preserve the peace. Brooklyn breathed.

“Burdette.” She affirmed. He realized they were talking about the school that he would be graduating from the next year to come. It was the school that his brother, father, grandfather, and his father graduated from. “Any insights?”

“It’s a good school, I guess.” There was silence that followed soon after, the first of the afternoon. Philip tried to sustain his laughter. It was Brooklyn’s turn to roll his eyes. He couldn’t believe how immature Philip really was. In any matter, it justified the reason for his hate.

Katherine looked displeased. Greatly irritated, Brooklyn threw back his chair, glared at Philip, and stormed off. Philip gave a humph and acted coolly.

“You know, Brooklyn…” Katherine trailed off. Philip eyed her with his lime green eyes and nodded almost sympathetically. She looked unconvinced but Philip wasn’t finished.

“He does this all the time! I know why he’s like that but what can I do to solve it? I can’t change or help someone who doesn’t want to be changed.”

From Brooklyn’s balcony, he could see the two looked like a perfect pair. Philip’s eyes gazed affectionately at Katherine and she returned his longing gaze. After taking in all the frequent looks of longings, he retreated inside.

Brooklyn left unnoticed by everyone in the home. Walking outside, Brooklyn went to smoke a cigarette from the pack he always kept handy in his jean pocket. He liked to smoke even though he wasn’t supposed to. It amused him that he did smoke; after all, he thought he never would.

He lit his cigarette and began to ease. His nerves were placated as he walked around the premises of his home. From the corner of his eyes, Brooklyn saw someone familiar. Garret Ward was picking a fight with a younger boy from his car.

Garret was a boy of about Brooklyn’s age but twice maybe three times the destructiveness. He was a symbol of anger yet ironically the only thing that kept Garret out of major trouble was the fact that he could control it. Most of the time he did anyway.

Brooklyn watched as he breathed in the smoke from his cigarette. The younger boy finally appeased and scurried off while Garret sped off toward the outer gates. Brooklyn paused. The gates led to New York City, the heart of New York and the heart of the world. Those same gates Garret was about to leave protected him and the rest of his friends.

“Need a lift?” A very nice sleek, black car graced Brooklyn sight. Brooklyn grinned.

“Sure.”

Thomas Guinness was a quiet kid with a mod style preppy style. He had blonde hair, brown eyes, and was a couple months older than Brooklyn. The two were known to be best friends but as most assumed, it wasn’t a friendship built to last. Any friendship trial by Brooklyn Bailey was a major investment and risk.

Thomas and Brooklyn headed toward the Guinness estate and went inside Thomas’ room. A knock was heard and Thomas answered it. A servant came with a tray filled with herbal tea in elegant china teacups.

“Thanks.” Thomas said to the butler. He then took the liberation of setting the tray and teacups and settled them in front of Brooklyn. Brooklyn looked at them irritably and crossed his arms. Thomas sat on a plush chair opposite of Brooklyn and looked on curiously.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas questioned with a smooth tenor.

“It’s nothing, really. Do you honestly want to drink tea now when we could be out doing something? Anything?” Thomas shook his head and urged Brooklyn to go on. “Okay, okay, it’s Philip. Philip and Katherine. I know I talk about this a lot but well, it’s mainly Philip.” Thomas nodded and insisted that Brooklyn drink some of the tea. “I just don’t get what Katherine sees in him. I’m not the only person that thinks she can do better than him either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Philip just loves to have everything I want and he usually gets it. It’s not fair. Everything!” Brooklyn banged his fist on the table, shaking the teacups. Thomas had a placid and sympathetic look of concern on his face. In comparison to Brooklyn and most of the offspring in Burdette, Thomas was the definition of stable.

Thomas Guinness was a well-liked boy all around the community. The seventeen-year-old boy was the most prized athlete at the school for his polo skills. Thomas was a marvelous and kind person that seemed to captivate everyone’s attention. Brooklyn admired Thomas’ affability and amiability but with just the same manner, was pissed off by it.

“He doesn’t have everything,” Thomas reassured, “but he does have you angry and all.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” Brooklyn pondered. “That bastard.”

“You’re better than that.”

Thomas and Brooklyn became friends three years prior but the two had known each other for almost their whole lives. There were many people like that around the community. You’d only know them by name and association, what they did, who their parents were, and how much money they were worth but you never got to know who they really were.

Thomas knew that Brooklyn would be an interesting fellow to befriend. Brooklyn’s family was one of the more influential and wealthy families from all around the east coast. The Baileys were the it crowd to befriend because once they’d been associated, all the biggest and grandest parties became an instant reality. The Baileys were socialites by birth and by jurisdiction, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Thomas stayed the night over at the Baileys estate. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey absolutely loved Thomas as they felt that he was a good influence. Thomas had become a regular fixture at the Bailey home. It wasn’t uncommon to see Thomas lagging close behind Brooklyn; he was really hard to miss.

As the sun ran away from the moon, the sky fell into a shade of dark cobalt. Brooklyn and Thomas were out on the balcony that overlooked the pool. A candle was lit and smoldered as its smoke and warmth embraced the area. Very few stars were out and the few that were, shined faintly. Brooklyn grew increasingly uncomfortable at the peaceful sight.

“The more I look at the stars, the less of them I see.” He quietly noted as he stared into the vastness. “I wonder what happens to them.”

“Maybe they’re hiding.”

“Maybe.” He paused but then continued, “It’s kind of annoying.”

“Why?”

“You ask a lot of question don’t you?” Brooklyn noted. “Well that’s something you have to find out for yourself. I’m not that much of an open book.” Brooklyn then stood up and stretched.

“That’s a tough one.”

“Well, since I’m tired I’m gonna go to sleep.”

They ended the night with unsaid thoughts, untold stories, and unprogressive means. To Brooklyn, it would take a lot more to crack him open. He learned from his mistakes already and he wouldn’t repeat them again.


The following morning, Thomas was driven to his doctor. Dr. Hilliard was a close friend of the Guinness family and to many others. Since he was little, Thomas had problems with his knees due to the sports he played. His knee was heeling but he had to go to a check up with Hilliard.

“Thomas, dear boy,” Mr. Hilliard smiled with a young yet aging smile. Thomas smiled in return, “How’re you?” Thomas was ushered to sit.

“I hope I’m good. I don’t wanna hear anything other than that.” Thomas said with humor.

“I should hope everything goes well today, boy.” Thomas sat down on the patient chair and Hilliard did his regular routine. As soon as all the medical routines were over, the two spent a good amount of time and conversed over the issues that surrounded their very closely intertwined families. “I hope you’re parents’ marriage is doing well. It must be tough being the only child there.”

“Marriage issues?” Thomas mused with a laugh. “Where did you hear that? That rumor’s all wrong. My parents are doing fine.” Hilliard’s eye sparkled as he sat opposite. He was an old, graying man yet he still maintained a sparkle of youth in his blue eyes. It was those same eyes that made him such a genial and well-liked doctor.

“When I was growing up, I had six older sisters. I was the youngest and the only boy at that in a Catholic Irish family. It was lonely growing up because I didn’t have any friends my own age.” Thomas frowned.

“I have friends. I don’t know why you’re telling me all that.”

“That’s not quite what I had in mind. Just listen, boy; I’m saying that when I was younger, I had no one close to tell my problems to because there was no one that I trusted more than my family.” He paused and the continued, “I know things are a bit rough with your mom and dad but don’t hesitate talking to a friend about it because we don’t want you to bottle up and explode.” Thomas didn’t say anything. He found it hilarious that Hilliard still felt that his parents were having marriage issues.

“Uh huh.”

“And another thing,” Hilliard added, “Do take care of Brooklyn.”

“Why’re you telling me this now?” Thomas asked. Hilliard gave Thomas a look that was unreadable. He paced around for a bit and then stopped.

“He’s changed, that boy. Ever since Rosa–.” He trailed off leaving a bitter impression on Thomas. Hilliard already knew that Brooklyn was troubled but he felt that it was natural. “As they say, time heals the heart. We just don’t know how much time it takes!”

“Right.” Thomas nodded. Hilliard grinned.

“You’ve always been my favorite, Tom. Well, you’re set. I wish for your health as does my little Stella.” Mr. Hilliard smiled graciously and Thomas mirrored his actions. He departed from the room and returned to his car.