My Own Four Cents [2016]

Chapter 8: Goodbye

We drop Veronica off at the orphanage later that afternoon. Veronica and I are afraid we'll cry if we try to communicate with each other . I was so happy, relieved, joyful when I found out that Veronica was alive, but now I feel worse. If she hadn't come to find me, she would still be in hiding and... well, free. Now she's being sent to an orphanage again.

I hug Veronica. She hugs me back.

Bye, Maria. You're the most important thing in my life. I will never be happy until I see you again.

No. You can't! I don't want to make you sad.

I don't care. I won't be happy until you are safe next to me.

I love you.

Me too.

See you... sometime.

Veronica turns away from me, her eyes filled with tears. I grab her, turn her around and hug her. A strange light appears in her eyes, a twinkle I haven't seen in years as she hugs me back. Then we walk into the orphanage again. I feel tears streaming down my face as I say goodbye to Veronica. Then she walks away, two caretakers on either side of her like prison guards. I watch her walk bravely into the place she'd never wanted to see again. And then I go into the car, determined not to show my tears to Mom.

Mom obviously feels very sorry for me, but she can't say anything that will make me feel better. I sit in silence (duh!) in the back seat of the car, thinking about Veronica and how I failed her, discovered her secret and sent her to the orphanage. It's my fault she is in the orphanage in the first place.

I set my alarm that night feeling sadder than ever. I wonder whether Veronica is thinking about me. I wonder how she feels. I wonder when I'll see her again.

The vibration wakes me up and I sit up in bed, wondering what's going on... and then it all comes back to me- everything that happened yesterday: the stranger begging me for food, convincing me that she was Veronica, my happiness at finding out my sister was alive, Mom coming home and sending Veronica to the orphanage. It all comes flooding in, the memories, and I almost burst into tears. Then I pull myself together and get ready for school.

Tanisha, I say the second she gets on the bus. You'll never guess what happened yesterday afternoon...

So you mean to tell me, Tanisha says to me ten minutes later, that Veronica is alive and she came to your doorstep yesterday afternoon, then your mom sent her to an orphanage knowing that she was your sister and you hadn't seen each other for six years?

Yep, that's pretty much what happened yesterday.

That's both incredibly awesome and incredibly horrible.

I look at her face and she looks very sympathetic. You must be pretty mad.

And it hits me. I am mad. Mad at... who? Veronica? Mom? The world? Everybody? Then I think about how Mom found out that Veronica was my sister and she sent her to an orphanage despite my pleading. I'm mad at Mom.

Yeah. Yeah, I am. At Mom.

I don't blame you.

Why would she do that to me?

I don't know. Maybe she couldn't afford another child.

And... my father lost his job.

Oh no! That's terrible!

I know, and he was supporting our family. I shouldn't be mad at Mom for not taking her in, because we couldn't feed ourselves or pay taxes and stuff like that. We could lose our house.