Page 108 of Vows In Corruption

She gives me a soft nod. “I did.”

“Did anything come of it?”

“Not like I had hoped.”

“What did you hope for?”

Ella lets the tears run down her face, but she doesn’t make a move to wipe them away. Instead, she takes another deep breath, ad comes to sit on the couch next to me.

When she speaks next, she turns to face the floor to wall windows behinds us and stares out to the Chicago skyline.

“For whoever was taking care of my sister to be a good person. I had hoped the that once they found out about me, because I know for a fact my mom didn’t tell them, that they would take me in or at the very least, let me get to know my sister, even if it was from afar.”

“But that didn’t happen.”

My heart breaks foe awe when she turns and I see all the pain swimming in them.

“No. My social worker tried because she was nice and always went above and beyond for her kids, but Charlie’s family didn’t want anything to do with me. They had enough on their plate according to them, and couldn’t take on another kid, let alone a teenager. So I dropped it and for the next two years, I stalked her dad’s social media and his girlfriend’s in hopes that I would catch a glimpse of her. The second I turned eighteen though and aged out of the group home, I took the first opportunity that came my way and went to South Carolina.”

When I first saw her resume, I noticed that she had a community college rom South Carolina on there. I also noticed that while she was at said school for almost two year, she never finished and came back to Chicago.

“What happened once you got down there?”

“On my first day down there, I looked up the address that I had memorized when I was sixteen and went to it.”

Another tear falls down her cheek and this time I reach over and wipe it away.

She give me a small before she continues down the path of her memories.

“The house looked well manicured and in what looked like a nice neighbor. There were kids playing outside, people walking their dogs and for a few minutes, I was really happy that my sister had the life that every kid deserved.”

“But she didn’t, did she?”

Ella shakes her head. More teas rolling down her face.

“The exterior was picture perfect but the inside wasn’t. The door opened and I saw all the lies. As it turns out, Charlie and I had similar upbringings. The only difference was that I spent the majority of my time with bad people in foster homes, and she spent it with bad people in her childhood home. I found out that day that her father was a drunk with anger issues would get angry and took out his anger out on her or forgot that he had a kid all together. Because of that, Charlie was living with our maternal grandmother, who I had no idea had moved to South Carolina.

She pauses. Her eyes dance a long the skyline behind use as the sun sets. The colors of the sunset fill the room and surround both me and Ella. The glow of the sunset make her look etherial. Her eyes almost dance with all the colors swimming in them. She looks absolute beautiful, even with all the pain running through her.

“You would think the living with your grandmother would bee a saving grace, but that woman was file. Had been since I was a little girl from what I remembered. She would always get mad at something that my mom did and take it out on me. Verbally, physically. And she did the same thing to Charlie. Except, my sister had it worse and had to go through for a lot longer.

“The first time I saw Charlie she was so small. To a normal person, she would look like a normal kid, but to someone that had been surrounded by malnourished kids all their lives, I saw the signs. I wanted to help her so bad, but she didn’t know who I was and my grandmother had shut me out, and didn’t want anything to do with me. For almost a whole year I couldn’t do anything.”

“What did you do?”

It takes her a few seconds to answer.

“It took time but I found out that my grandmother was getting state benefits for Charlie. She applied to every single program at her disposal and took advantage of it. Lied on the paperwork, everything. She was living the high life, using the money for her own necessities, while her granddaughter was starving and didn’t have any clothes that fit. So I reported her to the state.”

“Where the fuck were her parents?” The question slips out from all the anger rolling through me.

In the time that Ella and I have been married, I’ve gotten to know Charlie with each passing day. The girl has the biggest heart and has become as much of a niece to me as Sam. Hearing that she went though so much shit growing up, pisses me off so damn much, I’m staring to see red and the only way to make it go away is to go to South Carolina and put someone in the ground.

“Her dad lived a few blocks over, but he didn’t want anything to do with raising her so he ponded her off to our mom and well my mom cared more about having a good time than raising a child, so my sister landed with our grandmother.”

“What happened after you reported her?” I ask, trying to get a control of my voice.

Ella lets out a sigh and her shoulders deflate. “They sent Charlie to live with her dad, which was just as bad as dear ole grandma.”

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