The Prices I Pay ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X ERWIN SMITH X OC))

Chapter 33

"She sold me," Silica sounded a lot more blunt than she had intended. "To a brothel."

The collective look of horror on their faces made her feel incredibly small, and she chewed on her cheek so intensely that it bled.

"I, uh, worked there for a long time before buying my way out," Silica continued to fill the suffocating silence. "Gained my independence when I was fifteen, and met my best friend, Levi, shortly after that."

"So you weren't entirely alone?" Moritz sounded hopeful at Levi's mention.

"Things started to look up when I met him," Silica nodded, and smiled fondly while she thought of him. "We looked out for each other."

"That's wonderful, sweetheart," Annalise sounded genuinely pleased. "Dot tells us you have children. Did he father them?"

"Oh, no," Silica shook her head quickly. A laugh slipped at the idea. "He's their uncle. My kids have two different fathers, and the other I adopted recently."

"Oh, I see," Annalise giggled with her, as did Dot. "Could you tell us about them? If you're comfortable."

"Sure," Silica brightened at the chance to talk about them. "Amelia is my first and only daughter. She'll be thirteen here pretty soon, and she lived with me in the Underground District until last year. She's joining the cadet core to become a Scout in a few months."

"Following in your footsteps?" Lake guessed.

"I guess you could say that," Silica sounded sheepish. "I was married to her dad for ten years, and had my youngest son, Lucas, almost five months ago now. His father is a Scout as well."

"Are you still with Lucas' father?" Annalise asked.

"No," Silica sighed, trying to smile. "That's a long story that I won't bore you with."

"Of course, you don't have to tell us anything you don't wish to," Annalise was incredibly understanding. It comforted Silica. "And what of your adopted child?"

"Peter," Silica relaxed as she thought of him. "I rescued him when Wall Maria fell. He was in Shinganshina that day, and his mother was crushed when I found him. I was able to return him to his sister-in-law, — Nora — who also happened to be my late squadmate's fiancé. We stayed in touch and they both became incredibly close to my children. They were already like family."

Silica looked sad suddenly as Nora popped into her head. "But Nora took her own life recently, and I took Peter in."

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry to hear about your friend," Annalise placed a hand over her heart. "That boy would have been lost without you."

"I wanna do him justice and raise him right." Silica stated. It made Dot smile.

"I'm sure you'll do just that." Moritz added.

"I've thought of a question." Lake said, breaking his short streak of silence.

"Hm? What is it?" Silica shifted to face him.

"You lived underground for most of your life, so you had to have had a job, right?" Lake continued. "What was there to do for work?"