The Imposter

Chapter Four

I arrived at the Jackson’s house at about 8:00 that night. My foster parents were waiting for me outside. They said goodbye to Mrs. Richardson and waited for the car to leave.. They rushed me inside. I didn’t know that this would be the last time I felt any joy.  Mr. Jackson took my belongings to a small room in the house. Mrs. Jackson walked me to the kitchen. There she gave me some fruit and a slice of bread and yelled at me to eat. Mr. Jackson returned to the kitchen and sat down next to his wife to eat. They didn’t eat what I was eating. They had some coffee with a nice slice of white chocolate cake. The cake smelled amazing. It reminded me of the cakes that my mom would always make us. The thought of her made me want to cry, but I held it in. I didn’t want the Jackson’s to see me cry. 

After the late snack, Mr. Jackson walked me to the tiny room. It was so tiny that I could barely fit in the room. The bed was too small, my feet hung off the bed. Mrs. Jackson told me that I had to sleep, that the morning started early and that I had to be up by six am to shower. I couldn’t sleep that night, but I forced myself to. All night,  I thought of my sisters. Were her foster parents as strict as mine? I hope they weren’t. I hoped they showed some compassion to the girl who had just lost their parents. 

I woke up after hearing some loud thumps on my door. It was Mrs. Jackson. She had left me a bar of soap, a bottle of shampoo, a toothbrush, and a towel. She informed me that I had five minutes to shower and be ready for breakfast. I quickly got up from the bed and headed to the shower. I showered as quickly as I could, I had no choice, the water was so cold I couldn’t stand to be there any minute longer.  Mr. Jackson was standing outside of the door barking at me for taking too long. He demanded that I go sit at the kitchen table. I did as he told me. 

There on the table was my breakfast. An egg, toast, and half a glass of juice. It looked and tasted disgusting. I ate my breakfast as quickly as I could, I didn’t want to miss the school bus. After I finished breakfast, I thanked Mrs. Jackson for the meal and asked her at what time the bus would get there so I could go to school. They both laughed at the comment. What was so funny? Once Mr. Jackson stopped laughing, he said “school bus? There is no school bus. I have a friend who is coming to pick you up soon to take you to his farm to work.” Farm? Work? What was this man talking about? I had to go to school, I wanted to finish my last year in high school. I would then apply to college and study to be an architect, like I had once told dad. 

“There must be a mistake, I can’t go to work, I have to go to school.” Mr. Jackson slammed the table. “This is my house and in my house you go to work. School is for losers,  you're here to help me, do you understand?” I nodded. How could I not understand? This man promised to take care of me and now wanted me to work.  Mr. Jackson’s friend came and took me to his farm. I must have worked there for several hours. I couldn’t even feel my body. His friend as opposed to Mr. Jackson was way nicer and showed me some compassion. He fed me some lunch, which was way better than the meal I had at the Jackson’s.  

After work, I returned to Jackson's home. Mr. Jackson’s friend left some produce for them and said he would be back for me tomorrow. This routine went on for days. 

One Saturday, Mr. Jackson’s friend didn’t come and I didn’t wake up early. When I woke up Ms. Richardson was there. The three of them were having coffee. I walked to the table and said good morning. Ms. Richardson asked the Jackson's if it was okay for us to talk in private. They agreed. 

We walked into what I believed was an office. Ms. Richardson asked me to sit down with her. She smiled “how is it living here?” she asked. Um I don’t know, why don’t you ask these people? How did I end up in this house? I can’t do anything. Is there some law against them keeping me from going to school? These were all the thoughts that I had, but all I could simply say was “fine”. Ms. Richardson smiled once again. She was about to say something, when I interrupted her.  “How is my sister?” I was so worried about her that I didn’t even care that I was living in this house. “She’s doing great,” Ms. Richardson said “She has  been adjusting to her new home very quickly.” I could just imagine her playing games and eating a meal with her new family. “Can I visit her…. please?” I already knew the answer to the question, but I didn’t hurt to try. 

“I’m sorry, I wish you could, but you can’t.” She began grabbing something out of her bag. “She did ask me if she could send you a letter.” She handed me the letter from my sister. I couldn’t believe a letter from my sister. I wish I would have written something for her. “Is it okay if I quickly write something down for Valeria?” She agreed to the note and handed me a piece of paper and a pen from her bag. I wrote: 

Valeria,

I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to keep us together. I wish I could have kept the promise that I made to mom about always protecting you. I will try my best to keep the smile that I always had on my face. I hope that your foster family takes care of you and loves you as much as I do. Don’t forget that I love you and that w someday we will see each other again.  I love you so much.  

Erick

As I wrote the letter my eyes began to water up. I gave the note to Ms. Richardson. I know that she saw how affected I was after writing the note. She gave me her notebook and the pen that she had let me borrow. “Keep this, next time I come you can have something better written.” I thanked her for the nice gesture. We both walked out of the office. Ms. Richardson asked me to go to my room, she had something to say to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. I quickly walked to my room. I hide the notepad and pen so that the Jacksons wouldn’t see it. From my pocket I grabbed the note that Ms. Richardson gave me. I opened it and began to read. 

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I miss you so much. Why does distance always make you miss someone more? Mr. and Mrs. Cortez have been very welcoming to me. They felt bad that you couldn’t come with us. They explained to me that the reason they didn’t want a boy was because Mr. Cortez’s youngest sister lives here and he didn’t want her to get the wrong intentions with you. I wish you could have come. It isn’t the same without you. How is your foster family? Do you love them more than I do? 

That  was such a silly question. How could I love Jackson's more than I loved my sister? It could never happen. 

Well anyways. Mrs. Cortez says that she wants to take me on a trip to Colorado. This should be fun! We have never been to Colorado. But it won’t be the same without you. I will try to get a souvenir to give to Ms. Richardson to you the next time she visits you. Hopefully by the time you get this note, you still love me as much as I love you.  Don’t ever forget me! Promise?

Love, Valeria

I read the last line in my head a couple more times before putting down the note. How could I forget her? 

As I placed the note down on my bed, I noticed the Jackson's in front of me. Mr. Jackson grabbed the note and began to tear it into small pieces. I couldn’t believe what he was doing. I tried to grab the note from him, but he pushed me against the bed. “Please, don’t do that,” I begged, “it’s the only thing I have from her.”  Mr. Jackson ignored me. He marched up to the fireplace and started lighting a fire. There he threw the pieces of the note. I watched how they burned. I started crying and screaming at him. I ran to him and tried to hit him. I missed, but he didn’t. I landed on the floor. I could feel the blood rushing out of my mouth. Mr. Jackson dragged me to the end of the bed and left me there. Unconscious. 

At around  five in the morning I awoke. The house was silent. The Jackson's didn’t wake up until 5:30. It was my chance. I had to make a run for it.  I quietly got up and grabbed my backpack with all my belongings and the notepad Mrs. Richardson had given me the night before. As I opened the door to the room, I could hear the floor screeching beneath my feet.  I took off my shoes and rapidly got out of the house. When I got outside, I put my shoes on and ran off. I couldn’t leave a trail behind. I wanted to get close to my sister, but where could she be? I had no clue as to where she was, just that she was being well taken care of.