The Truth About Erica

Chapter 3

   Sterlingier was a cop. He always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we were at Long Island, he was also at Long Island. "It's creepy." I told Mike, Zoe, and Ben. I had just told them about Sterlingier. 

   "Why does he want to put you guys in jail?" Zoe asked.. Her green eyes seemed to grow larger as she asked as if she was thinking of all the possible situations. Zoe was easy to read. It was Lily who was not.

   "We were acting weird." I told her. I didn't think I should tell her that all four of us had been in jail and had escaped. Sterlingier had many reasons why he thought we should be put in jail. He did think we were acting weird and we had done a few other things like break a few guys out of jail and stole a bit of food. We had fallen upon hard times.

   "Oh." You could tell that she wasn't thrilled with the idea that we had been in jail because we were acting weird.

   Ben and Mike didn't buy it. They looked at each other. Gave a slight nod of agreement. Turned back to me and both said, "Lie" at the same moment.

   "Fine, fine, you caught us." Liam said. "We had broken a few guys out of jail. We were hungry so we stole food. And Sterlingier thought Erica looked weird. And he thought that since we started hangin' out with Erica we had been acting weird."

   Ben nodded as if this made sense and said, "Because she is from the future."

   "Yeah."

   "So, we may be put in jail for acting differently?"

   "Not likely. Erica had been coming for a while. We were on our way to Long Island to see Leo. Erica had been here nine other times before and Sterlingier had seen the way she looked and dressed and acted. He hasn't seen y'all before so I think y'all safe." Liam sounded like he had grown up with boys who smoked cigars and got into fights, but most boys were like that. It was a time when nobody made much. Things were cheaper and nobody knew much about health. The doctors didn't know much and not many people cared about the children. Kids would sell papers, or as they called them papes. These boys were rough around the edges, but were very kind and when they met Leo and I they asked us if we wanted to join their group.

   Leo wanted to join, but I wanted to stay. We decided that I would visit Leo so that Alexander wouldn't learn about Leo. 

   I suddenly remembered that she had told Ben, Mike, and Zoe that she would tell them the family secret. "Do you guys want to learn my family's secret?" I asked them.

   "Yeah." All five boys and one girl said together.

   "Well, you cant tell anyone." This got followed by a chorus of yeahs, of course', tell us the secret', tell me the secret', I wont tell anybody', and I promise'. After I had confirmed that everyone agreed I said, "It is a secret that Grandpa, my mom, Leo, and I share." I paused for dramatic effect. During the pause they said things like okay and come on. "Leo is my sister, but she is only my half sister. We haven't told my dad because he would spill it to the world that Leo was HIS daughter and that she lived in the past. People would assume she was dead and information like that travels to the past. And I know. My dad would tell everyone he knows, which is like half the world, we would have people flying in and lining up on our doorstep. There would be a line of people that stretches for miles. When my father explains that sh isn't dead, they will all want to meet her. They will think that she is a newborn baby and bring baby toys and want to cuddle her. It is safer to keep it from him. I would rather die than have random people cuddling Lily."

   "Are you and Lily close?" Mike asked as if it was impossible for me to care about someone.

   "She's my sister!" I snapped back. I had gone back to my icy self. I had gotten to emotional for a minute and need to regain myself.

   "I get that but..." Mike trailed off, unsure on weather or not it would be safe to continue.

   "She is practically my sister. We have the same mother. Grandpa treats her and I equally, as if we were both his blood." I was fully back to ice queen mode. "I would die if she was killed." I let a little emotion show on that last bit.

   "Yeah." Zoe agreed as if she totally understood and then I remembered that Zoe has a half sister and half brother. I remember that she was on the phone with them when I was walking to tell Them to get ready for a trip. I was telling them to pack for a long trip because you dont know what could happen. They asked if there was cell service and I told them no. Zoe had been crying as she said, 'I'm going on a trip and it may be a while until I see you, but you two are the best siblings ever. I will really miss you.' There was a pause as the people on the other end talked. Zoe answered 'Of course I have pictures of you. I have my favorite picture of Ethan and my favorite picture of Aubrey.' Ethan was 9 and Aubrey was 6. 

   "Ethan and Aubrey, right?" I asked Zoe.

   "Yeah. It's the worst part about spy school, being away from them."

   "You have siblings?!" Mike and Ben asked at the same moment.

   "Can I see a picture?" Mike asked.

   "Sure. I have a family picture and separate ones." Zoe reached into the backpack at her feet and pulled four pictures out of the front pocket. The backpack was a pastel pink color with pastel purple zippers. Zoe handed a picture of her family to Liam and the other boys leaned in to see. She handed a picture of Ethan to Mike and Aubrey to Ben. She then handed the fourth picture to me. I looked and saw that it was of her and her siblings. 

   Zoe stood with her arm wrapped around Ethan's shoulder and the other around a boy who looked about my age. I assumed this was Jonas, Zoe's real brother. Ethan's arm was wrapped around Aubrey's shoulders and her arm was around his.

   Jonas had dark hair that was cut long enough to tell that he had black hair, but to short to tell anything else. He had dark brown eyes. He was pretty tan and had a few freckles on his face. He was wearing a purple shirt with cargo shorts. Ethan was wearing the same thing but he had blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair was long. It went down to his shoulders and was wavy. Aubrey had strawberry blonde hair and in the picture her eyes looked green, but I know that her eyes always seemed to be changing colors. She would have blue eyes one minute and the next they were green. She didn't wear contact lenses, it was weird. Aubrey and Zoe were both wearing a purple shirt with khaki overall dresses over top.

   It was cool that they had family pictures. We didn't have any family pictures. Grandpa was always hiding, mom and dad are divorced, and Lily lives in the past. Dad doesn't even know that Lily exists. I held the picture close and drifted off to sleep know it would take all day to get to Long Island.

Sorry for taking so long to update. My family is fostering a mother and her puppies. They are cute, but a handful. We were also out of time and I have been pretty busy.