Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“I love you too, sissy. Don’t forget about me?”
My heart was breaking. Leaving her got harder and harder every day. But I couldn’t take her. I didn’t have custody of her yet.
“Never! I’ll never forget about you!” I gripped her shoulders and looked down into her sweet face. “I’ve done good. Done what the judge said I had to do. Once I turn eighteen, I’m sure I’ll get to bring you home, and we’ll be our own little family. March, booboo. We’ve only got to make it ‘til March.”
“It’ll be like it was before Mom died?”
“Better, even. We won’t have to worry about food or if we’ll have a safe place to sleep. I’ll take care of us.”
Jerrica smiled the smile of a trusting child. The smile I’d kill to keep on her face. She was only nine and shouldn’t have to worry about shit like this, but the reality was all too different. The group home we’d lived in for three long years was about as far from a home as we could get. Sure, we were fed -- most of the time. But we’d learned the hard way the place wasn’t safe. Not all the time. More than one girl had disappeared in the night. I hated leaving Jerrica without my protection, but if I wanted custody of her, I had to start somewhere. Just because I was eighteen wouldn’t mean they give her to me. I had to prove I could support us both, and that was exactly what I was doing.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. I don’t have to work, so I’ll be here right after breakfast.”
“Will you bring me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” Jerrica rarely asked for anything. When she did, this was it.
“Absolutely. I’ll bring you two.”
“Yeah!” She threw herself into my arms and hugged me tightly. “I love you, sissy.”
“Love you too, booboo.”
I had a bad feeling. It was an itch between my shoulder blades I couldn’t ignore. My instincts were screaming at me to grab Jerrica and run. But that would ruin my chances of getting custody of her. Two-and-a-half more months. I turned eighteen on March fifteenth.
Finally, I let her go, and Jerrica went out of the main hall back to her room. As she was about to round the corner out of sight, she turned and gave me a brilliant smile, waving at me. I waved back, trying to keep from crying. If she saw my distress, she’d come back and refuse to go. It was time for everyone to go to bed. If we created a scene, they might not let me back in. It would definitely hurt my chances of getting custody of her.
I waited until she’d continued on before turning to go. Once outside, I started the walk home. It was about an hour walk from my tiny apartment to the home, but for once I was glad of it. I needed the time to think. Pacing always helped, and my apartment was too small for much of that.
The next morning when I got there, they wouldn’t let me in.
“Jerrica is no longer with us,” the administrator told me.
“What do you mean she’s no longer with you? I brought her back here last night after the Christmas party!”
“She was adopted. Her new parents left with her about an hour ago.”
The man gave me a smile that was more like a sneer. Everything inside me was screaming this was wrong.
“What have you done? Where’s my sister!”
“I told you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
He tried to leave, but I stepped in front of him. “You tell me where my sister is. Now!”
“I’m sorry, but, since her parents are deceased and there was no qualified relative to take custody of her, the adoption was a closed one. It’s a sealed court record.”
I felt like my whole world had come crashing down. My little sister. I’d promised her I’d always take care of her, and I’d failed. There was no way she’d been adopted out in the middle of the night. They wouldn’t have even been able to process the paperwork that fast. No. She’d disappeared like too many other girls had over the years we’d been there. Logically, I knew this wasn’t my fault, but it felt like it. I’d sent her back inside. I’d refused to take her with me. There was no way I could have legally, but it still felt like I should have prevented it.
“If anything’s happened to my sister, motherfucker, I’ll fucking kill you.” I hissed out the words, baring my teeth at him.
“That’s it. I’m calling the police.” The bastard pulled out his phone, calling 9-1-1.
I waited for the police, knowing this was a battle I couldn’t win. The administrator -- Mr. Brown -- had all the right answers, even explaining why the girl had been taken in the dead of night. Saying it had all been arranged beforehand, and they hadn’t told either of us because the couple who’d adopted Jerrica hadn’t wanted to upset either of us. They also wanted Jerrica to sever all ties with her previous family so she could make a complete and healthy transition to her new family.