The Silent Thief

V

V

      "Today is the day, my dear," my father said picking me up and spinning around. He was a handsome Englishman that was too loyal to his employer. He was needed back in England for some reason, at the time I was too young to know.

"Daddy, I'm getting dizzy," I said between giggles. He set me down and looked into my eyes.

"I love you Grace, I'm sorry I have to leave," my father said with tears starting to streak his cheek.

I started to cry too. Why couldn't he just quit his job and live with us in Spain?

"Make sure you give lots of kisses to your mother for me," he said once my mom came to stand by us. My father stood up and kissed her. They hugged each other for a while and then my dad left. He boarded that yellow and white ship that I will never forget. Tears stung my eyes and I buried my face into my mother's dress before looking back to see him wave.

Two years later when I was ten, my mother came into the house with tears streaming down her face. She came to kneel by me and hugged me.

"My dear, I have to leave immediately," she said with her perfect Spanish accent. She met my father in Spain twelve years ago. "You are to live with Auntie Rosa. She will take care of you. Do you understand, Grace?" She took hold of my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"Mother, what is wrong? Why are you leaving?" I asked in a small voice. I was so confused and didn't understand.

"It is your Father. He is...," she paused, "sick." I knew she was lying. She never lied to me, but now she was and I could tell. But why? What could she possibly be hiding? "Do you understand me Grace? I love you."

"Yes, I think I understand," I answered. "But, when will you return?"

"I...," she looked down and opened her mouth to speak. A carriage stopped at the door of our house.

A man yelled, "Come Milady, we mustn't be late!" She kissed me and got into the carriage.

"I love you Mother," was the last thing I said to her before she left.

I sat there looking at the place where my mother stood. I didn't recognize the woman that came to get me. She packed my things and took my hand, locking the door to the only home I knew. We rode in a carriage for what seemed like hours, and when we finally arrived I was led to a small bedroom in a large building full of other children. Later, after I overcame my shock, I knew that I was in an orphanage owned by an older lady called Auntie Rosa. Everyone spoke Spanish and I was forced to learn it too. I soon started calling her Tía Rosa.

I had to learn to be tough and independent; or else I wouldn't get anything. I loved Tía Rosa though. Days, months, and years went by so fast. I grew up getting paid by the older kids to steal things from the towns. There, when a child turned eighteen, they had to leave and find their own way in life. So when I turned eighteen, I did just that. I remembered only a few things that my parents taught me, and that was about God. My mother and father never came back.

They didn't abandon me, they are probably busy with their jobs, I would think to myself every day.

I found my way back to my old house and had been living there ever since.
Well, if you don't count staying on this darn ship for the last two days. The thought of the ship woke me from my day dream.

I looked down to my lap. Jake was laying his head there sound asleep. I admired his features; his straight nose and choppy gold hair, his long eyelashes and little smirk on his lips. I shook my head. This was my friend; and he thinks that I am a man. A man doesn't let another man sleep in his lap. Certainly not!