Chapter Four
Chapter Four
On Saturday afternoon, my aunt took Jake to taekwondo, and my uncle had to rush out for something at work.
Before she left, my aunt stroked my hair.
“You stay here and watch some TV. There’s yogurt and little cakes in the fridge. Help yourself if you get hungry.”
“We’ll be back before six. Your uncle says he’s taking us out for sushi tonight.”
I curled up on the couch watching cartoons, happy as could be.
The fruit my aunt had cut that morning sat on the coffee table. The sunshine made me so drowsy I almost dozed off in front of the TV.
Around five o’clock, the doorbell rang.
I figured my aunt had forgotten her keys, and I skipped over to open the door.
The door swung open.
And all the blood in my body turned to ice.
My dad was standing there.
Next to him was my stepmother, belly swollen, wearing that fake smile I knew so well.
I found out later that the front desk wouldn’t let them up, so they’d followed a resident’s car into the underground garage and slipped in that way.
Dad rubbed his hands together, his voice eager and anxious at the same time. “Winnie, Daddy’s here to take you home.”
On instinct I took a step back and grabbed the doorframe. “H-how did you find me?”
My stepmother peeked out from behind Dad, all smiles.
“Oh, Winnie, your dad missed you so much he couldn’t sleep. He drove eighteen hours to find your aunt’s place.”
I looked into her eyes, and all I saw was calculation.
“I’m not going back.”
Dad’s expression flickered, but he quickly pasted the smile back on.
“Come on, don’t be like that. Your stepmom’s having the baby soon. You’re gonna have a little brother. A family should be together.”
“I’m not going back!”
My voice went shrill.
“Aunt Sophia said this is my home!”
My stepmother’s smile finally slipped.
She tugged Dad’s arm and lowered her voice, but I heard every word.
“Look at this place your sister’s got. That’s gotta be worth millions, easy.”
“If the kid lives here, she’s paying for school and everything, right?”
“We take the kid home, and if she wants to see her, she pays us every month.”
She gave Dad a shove. A flash of guilt crossed his face, but he stepped inside anyway.
“Winnie, be a good girl.”
“Come with Daddy. I promise I’ll treat you better from now on.”
I backed away as fast as I could, trying to run to my room and lock the door.
But Dad grabbed my wrist, so hard my bones ached.
“Knock it off! I’m your legal guardian. Your aunt doesn’t get a say!”
“Let’s go. You’re coming home with me!”
I wanted to scream, to yell for help.
My stepmother clamped one hand over my mouth and used the other to push me out the door.
She leaned down to my ear, her voice light and airy.
“Be a good girl now, Winnie.”
“If you make a fuss, your dad’ll call the cops and say your aunt’s interfering with custody, keeping somebody else’s kid from them. And you know what? She could end up losing her own son over it.”
Tears flooded my eyes. I fought with everything I had.
But how is an eight-year-old supposed to fight off two grown-ups?
Dad half dragged, half carried me into the elevator.
The instant the doors began to close, I twisted around to look back.
The apartment door was still wide open.
The cartoon was still playing on TV. The couch still had the little dent where I’d been curled up.
Everything was just fine.
But I was already gone.
As the elevator dropped, only one thought filled my head:
Aunt Sophia, please come home.
