Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) (2 page)

“Just shut up already! This is my career and
my life, I have every right to decide if I want to destroy them or
not. So, just sit back and relax, we’ll be landing pretty soon.”
Damen’s voice rose to a higher pitch. “And another thing, the LAPD
lieutenant told me that they’ve already found a suspect.”

He just sat in his seat while his agent
remained silent. He feared opening his mouth to him again; he knew
Damen was at the point where his nerves were forming like wild
flowers. The young man put the Oscar on the floor and took out a
wallet from his coat pocket; his nervous hands made the wallet
tremble in his grip, making the ashes from the cigarette to fall
like snow. His agent just stared at him in silence. Damen opened it
up and pulled out a torn photo that was wrinkled and full of lint.
He just stared at the photo like he was in a trance: the photo that
was once reality, but now was a dream. The photo of his past, the
photo of his true friends whom he thought became false. That’s
where this novel begins.

It begins in a place deep beyond the barriers
of friendship, of trust, blood, and bonds. It begins at a place
where his dream began, formed itself, first made itself known to
him. It begins at a place called Sugar Valley.

Chapter One

Within a small town, along the banks of the
Mississippi River, lived a community that had a single bond,
tether, to it. A bond that was full of innocence, trust, and
peacefulness. The town, village, the place where innocence grew,
was surrounded by trees on top of trees, that acted as a fence, an
invisible shield that protected the good within it. It was like
another dimension, a dimension that most people would love to be
in, but can’t, only because this town was special: it was a town
that many souls would call paradise, would call heaven. Through the
foliage that protected it, God’s nature, shield, allowed them all
to be captured within his love, to be destined for his
paradise.

In this community, lived hard-working
farmers, fishermen, and carpenters; the types that only believed in
one of those traits to be, to take on, and achieve at an early age.
Hard workers that would sweat all hours of the day, and then go
home to their families, only to sleep and wake up the next morning,
to sweat all over again.

The children of the town of Ridge Crest were
to be groomed at a young age by their fathers to take on one of
those traits. It was a normal cycle, tradition; it passed on from
generation to generation and was never interrupted, or broken. Yet,
like always, in every sector of life, with every village or town,
there’s always a wrench that is thrown into the cycle and causes it
to break. With Ridge Crest, a wrench was what damaged this cycle of
tradition, tormenting the wheel of simplicity and allowing all eyes
to open with shock toward the determination of the wrench; that
wrench was made up of three young men.

These young men, the youth of the future,
changed the same old tradition when they decided to swallow their
fears and leave the town which nobody had ever escaped from, or
wanted to. No one wanted to leave, because they had no reason to;
they had no purpose to leave Ridge Crest behind and go to another
part of the world. Yet, Jose, Damen, and Darell did; and all
because of their dream. Power, and a magical twist of invisible
fate, ran through their veins, and made these young men see a
vision of their own future that went beyond the foliage boundaries
of Ridge Crest and stretched miles in length, to a place where they
felt, imagined, and thought they belonged.

These three individuals at one time were best
friends, like brothers who were inseparable. But, their friendship,
bond, their loving trust was not like the normal stereotype of
friendships. Like always, when you’re young, you meet friends, hang
out with them, and then leave them behind as you get older. But
these friends were different, special—they were unique because
their relationship was drawn together by a single dream that they
all possessed. A dream that gave them the courage to leave their
surroundings behind: the dream that they called “fame.”

Fame is such a small, unique, minute word
that means such a titanic symbol when it’s reached. It’s amazing
how such a word can change the lives of people; even the lives of
innocence. Fame to them was just a small part of the dream that
they wanted; the dream of becoming a movie star. It wasn’t the
normal pipe dream or fantasy that a lot of people grow within them;
it was a dream. Like with everything, an ambition has to begin from
a pipe dream, and that’s how a person is able to make it into more
than a vision, make it into reality. This word, fame, was something
they wanted since they were children, and it was something that
they knew would come true. Not being ever pessimistic, cynical
about it, they knew, in their hearts, minds, and souls that one day
their vision would come true. This vision grew on them at a young
age, as if an angel came to them and told them to take on this
dream, this vision, and follow through with it. But, like with
every dream, it has to grow or come from a single source.

They would always discuss and fantasize about
the day, night, the moment when they would walk down a red carpet
that stretched a block long. It would lead to a building, decorated
with great big lights that spelled out each of their names in hot,
bright bulbs. On the building would be a golden sign under their
names that read “Oscars”; and they would smile with pride.
Fantasizing about their names being called for the Best Actor
category, they would feel honor on this mysterious night, it would
be a moment to grasp ahold of, and remember. All of them would say
their speech and walk back down the red carpet, with an Oscar in
each of their hands, and say, “Thank you, I love you all.” At the
same time, they would sign their names repeatedly into autograph
books, autograph books that their fans held; and learn to love
their fans, not in a corny way, but in their own way. It was a
normal dream of being an actor, a normal stereotype that normal
people laugh at, and say, “They’re pipe dreams.” But were they?

Jose, Damen, and Darell always made sure to
discuss their dream only in one spot, in one place that was
concealed by nature and where they felt safe. They were frightened
of ever allowing, by accident, their town to find out about their
dream, and cause them great grief, sorrow, only because of the
normal cliché everyone believes an actor follows. This spot, place,
this piece of land was special to them. It was their home, it was
their own little piece of happiness, where their visions could be
protected from the outside world, and only have them to hear it,
and enjoy it. It wasn’t a normal place, only because it protected
them; they loved it like a mother. Through the reflections of their
fears and their vanities of happiness, this place would show it all
to them, and teach them, in its own way, about how you should
follow your ambitions all the way to the very end. It allowed them,
in a sense, to actually believe, see, and trick their minds into
having it become reality; manifesting itself, allowing them to
believe, somehow, that they were already real. That spot was called
Sugar Valley.

To their subconscious, it was called Dream
Valley. This was more than just an indentation in the land, the
earth: it was heaven, a paradise that was alive to their sight. It
was a place that was about ten blocks away from their town; so it
was close to walk to, but yet far for anyone else to even try
attempting to reach, if they didn’t know of its existence. That
place was sacred to them, it was their secret; the reason why they
went was a secret. In the stones of the Valley held the echoes of
their deepest secrets, fears, visions, passions, cravings, and most
of all, their single ambition.

They would go to the Valley every day after
school with a fishing pole and bait in one hand, and a script from
one of their favorite plays in the other. The secret of their
ambition was kept within the stones, lake, and trees of the Valley
for one reason, other than their town, and one reason only: their
parents.

Jose Rodrigo’s father wanted him to become a
fisherman like himself. He was the type of person that would beat
Jose bloody if he ever said, “Dad, I don’t want to fish today.” You
could say his father was somewhat pushy when it came to what he
thought was best for Jose’s future. He knew if his father ever
found out about his true ambition, he would definitely beat him
till his teeth fell out. Jose feared him.

His mother was a type of woman that would
stay quiet at times when Jose would have his face kicked in by his
father. After he was beaten, she would say, “Your father just had a
little too much to drink. Besides ... you’ll thank him later for
doing this.”

Darell O’Conner’s father wanted him to be a
painter like himself, also. He was the type of father that ignored
Darell altogether. He was the sort of dad that just wanted to see
his son become something that he was; the normal cliché that a dad
follows. Darell, somewhat, also feared him as well.

His mother was a person who would always look
out for Darell. But, when it came to actually listening to him and
playing the role of a real mother, she would ignore him like his
father did. Yet, his parents were a little bit more understanding
when it came to pushing him over the edge in being something he
didn’t want to be.

Darell’s father would always tell him, “Boy,
you better start painting barns or something soon, because we need
the extra money to take care of your sorry butt.” His mother would
always tell him, before he went to bed, “Darell, you can be
whatever you want to be, so please listen to your father and take
on the trait of painting. We do need a little help with money these
days.” Through the subliminal care they showed him, he feared them
as well, fearing their kindness.

Darell had an older sister. She was the one
who pushed his ambition to a positive level. Even though his older
sister, Mary, didn’t know what Darell wanted to become in the
future, she would always say, “Darell, you don’t have to be a
painter like Dad, just become whatever you want to be.” Yet, that
was just it, Darell didn’t even know himself what he wanted to be
in the future. He just went along with Damen and Jose’s dream, to
fit in with their friendships, to belong. You could say he was
somewhat of a follower.

Damen Schultz’s father and mother were
farmers, very wealthy farmers to be exact. They had 1,500 acres of
corn that his dad plowed on his own. His father wanted him to be a
farmer so much, he would wake him up every morning at 5:00 and take
him out in the cornfield to plow. But, his dad was also a little
bit pushy toward his future, like Jose’s. Every night before he
went to bed, his father would say, “Damen, if I didn’t have you to
help me and your mother with this farm, I don’t know what we would
do. Your mother and I are so proud that you want to be a farmer.”
But, you see, he never asked him if he wanted to be one, he just
assumed. Damen knew if his father ever found out that he wanted to
be an actor, he would definitely take his shotgun out, that he
hunted for ducks with, and shoot him in the head, until he knocked
his acting ambition out of it.

Or else, to be more realistic, he would
ignore Damen altogether until he said, “Okay, Father, I want to be
a farmer like you.” The phrase here was “pleasing his dad.”

Damen had an older brother who was a farmer
like his father. His brother was the one who helped push his
ambition to a positive level, just like Darell’s sister. Although
his brother, Greg, didn’t know what Damen wanted to become, he
would always tell him, “Damen, don’t listen to Mom and Dad, you
just become whatever you want to become. Don’t end up like
me...”

All of their parents assumed they were going
to the Valley to fish; even though the Valley’s secret was kept
from the whole town, their parents still knew of it. Fishing was on
the grown-ups’ minds, but in actuality, the boys were going there
to practice: practice for what they were going to become.

Each boy would be a certain character from a
script, and they would be that character for the day, seeing what
that character sees and feeling what that character ought to feel.
All of them would spend four, five, even six hours down in the
Valley practicing and never fishing, playing around with their
different scripts and having imaginational fun, just as every child
should feel.

The boys would bring a fourth person by the
name of Maria down there also. She was the person who would catch
the fish for them so that they wouldn’t return home empty handed.
They trusted Maria a lot with their secret ambition, like she was
one of the guys. She was the type of person that loved tagging
along with them—being with them every second of the day was what
she craved. You might say she loved the entertainment brought on in
the Valley. Maria was their fisherman, their audience and their
friend; she was the reflection of hope to them.

Darell would sometimes fish with her, and
Jose and Damen always wondered why he would fish, instead of
practicing different scripts. Jose didn’t think for a second that
Darell did not want to be an actor, but Damen did. You could say
that Damen was the smart guy of the group, knowing that Darell
didn’t know himself what he wanted to be.

These young men were spirited and happy lads,
living a normal life in a town of right and good, where life was
simple but unique at the same time. They were happy because of
their ambition, their longings for the future. Even little Maria
was happy, though she knew they were only using her for fishing.
Maria would look up to them all the time and say, “You guys are
going to make it big someday in Hollywood, could I have your
autographs?” These types of friends come few and far between in a
lifetime; a lifetime that was full of trust and care. They were
inseparable—at least, that’s what they thought.