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Chapter 4

"So how was your first day at Elise's house?" Maxine asked as she sat across from John at their mother's kitchen table.
   "It was cool. She wasn't annoying at all." Max chuckled.
   "She isn't an annoying person."
   "She is to me sometimes."
   "That's only because you're not in love with her."
   "You and her with this love thing. You really believe her when she saids that?" He asked. "It's only a crush."
   "A crush for more than thirteen years? It's more than that."
   "Whatever Max I'm not trying to get into that. Just know that I'm not in love with her, and I will never be in love with her so just drop it from now on."
   "Okay whatever." Sighing he said.
   "She's a good cook though."
   "She cooked for you?" His mother asked and he nodded his head.
   "Already cooking for you, um." Max retorted. Ignoring her he said.
   "She has a nice home also."
   "Where did you think she lived...under a bridge?"
   "I just didn't think that it would be a house. Maybe an apartment."
   "Yeah well she's almost done paying for it also."
   "She's not renting?" He asked surprised.
   "No. She's paying mortgage and almost done paying it off."
   "Impressive." He said really meaning it. "Why doesn't she have pictures up of her family?" 
   "She does. Us."
   "I meant her real family. Her birth family."
   "We don't know and we no longer ask." Barbara said. This was a touchy subject. Yes she wanted to know answers about Elise past but she wasn't going to bug her about it. As long as Elise was happy then so was she.
   "What do you mean?"
   "I told you how we met." Max said. 
   "Yeah she tried to steal your car." He said as if that didn't explain anything.
   "Look you're the one that wasn't interested in her in all these years now suddenly you are?"
   "Well I'm staying with her so I figured I should know something about her. Where's her family?"
   "No one knows. She wasn't in the system as a little girl." Max answered.
   "And...?" He said once she didn't continue.
   "And she’s our family now." His mother chimed in. "She cried and boo-hood when we told her we were going to tell the police about her only because she wasn't in the system. The way she cried...it broke my heart. She's had our name ever since. We don't ask her about her past and she wouldn't tell us even if we did ask so we just left well enough alone. Something tells me that she rather forget her past then remember it anyways." Barbra said.
   "So you don't even know if her real name is Elise?" There silence gave him his answer.
   "Y'all got me staying with this woman and don't really know who she is?"
   "Well you've been there. Did you feel like your life was in danger? Did you have to sleep with one eye open? Was the food she cooked you poisoned?" Max said smartly and there mother chuckled.
   "Stop being a smart ass." He said.
   "Well you asked a stupid question. You've known this women for thirteen years now. More than that and you have the nerve to ask that question now? You're a grown ass man John. I think you have more of an advantage on her then she has on you. Relax your life isn't in danger." Max said.
   "Well do you know where she's from at least?" He pressed.
   "From twelve on up we know everything about her that's all we need to know." Maxine said defensively.
   "So she could have family out there looking for her."
   "She made it clear that she had no family and we didn't stress it. Beside we never held her hostage. I'm pretty sure that if she had family she would have went back to them by now. For thirteen plus years we haven't seen anything on the news about her. No one has put up any missing person posters about her, nothing. She's happy so we're happy and we're going to leave it at that." Sighing he decided to drop it. He never went word for word with his mother. He knew better then that. Besides he didn't want to get clocked upside the head.
   "I have one more question." He said.
   "What's that?" His mother asked.
   "Where does she work? She left last night and haven't returned. Not even this morning."
   "She works at an orphanage. She spends most of her time there. I guess she loves to help since she was an orphan herself."
   "That's cool. But working at a place like that helps her pay a mortgage?"
   "You see the hours she put in right? She still isn't home yet." He nodded his head in understanding.
   Elise sighed as she opened the door to her house. Finally she was home. Her job was taking a toll on her but she would work as long as she could to help any kid in need of help. She enjoyed her job because she knew that she was working toward saving a kid. Each step she took was a step to saving a life so she would work until she couldn't anymore. She climbed the stairs to her room and as soon as her head hit her pillow she was asleep.