Covering Bruises (On Hold)

missing person

I had been waiting in the security line of an airport for about 20 minutes. I impatiently tapped my foot as I kept my head down, not wanting to risk being seen by anyone that could know Rich or tell him where I was. He was probably furiously looking for me right about now.

When it was my turn to go through security, they asked me for my I.d. I handed over my birth certificate,a and social security card. The man at the desk look confuse, but reluctantly accepted them. He started to look over both documents, but something seemed to have caught his eye.

He quickly slid his chair on wheels over to a large computer monster, and started typing in something from my social security card.

People behind me were getting impatient, so he gave some orders for another officer to open up another booth to get people through the line. Once his orders were complete, he turned back to his computer screen and shook his head.

He looked me up and down and said, "can you please tell me your full name, and where you live?" I was reluctantly nervous, and there was a crack in my voice, my hands started to fumble around, "I'm Alexandra Brown, I don't have a middle name, and I live here in Arizona with my uncle." I felt like I was about to cry, but I held it together.

"And it's your birthday today yeah? 18, finally an adult.." I could tell he was just trying to ease the mood, but it wasn't working, I gave him a nod and a small smile. "Okay well Alexandra, I'm going to need you to come with me, we have a few more questions, and then you are on your way!" He jumped out of his chair, grabbed the paperwork, and led me down the back hallways of the airport.

The security man, whose name I found out was Tim, was very nice. He offered me water, and talked to me about where I was headed and what I was going to do. He asked me about my uncle, and how I ended up with him, he asked what happened to my mother and father, and if I had any siblings.

The sibling question took me a little by surprise, "Umm.. Well.. I-I have a brother I thi-think, but we were separated when my mo-mom died, and he ended up with-with my aunt." A tear rolled down my face and I quickly tried to hide it, but Tim noticed.

He gave me a look of sympathy, and picked up his walkie-talkie and mumbled something into it. Minutes later four other police officers arrived. Two men, and one women. They all carried papers and files of some sort, and that's what made me nervous.

Was I in trouble? Was I going to jail? Did something happen to Rich? Did he find me? Did they find out? All these questions raced through my head, I couldn't think. Tears poured out of my eyes, but I couldn't make a sound. My heart was beating faster than a race horse, and I started to get dizzy. I was so out of it, I almost didn't hear Tim say something.

"W-what?" I asked "I didn't get that."

He looked at me with sad eyes, and all the other officers looked at the ground.

"Alexandra Brown, you are listed as a missing person."