Thanks for all the feedback. Keep it coming!
Here is the second chapter to this story. This will probably be a 3-4 chapter story. I don't know yet.
Erin turned the knob and walked inside. She went over to the desk and started opening the file drawers. If there was any information in this office; it would be in the file cabinet. Opening the drawers, Erin kept glancing over at the door. It was so unnerving being in her dad's office. She knew the rules of this house, and she was breaking a good one being in here.
Scanning through the files, Erin looked for anything that might pertain to herself. It there was anything that would have Bunny's information, she knew that her name would be attached to it.
Voight, Erin Lindsay –Custodian Rights
Jackpot! Erin grabbed the file and opened it. She looked through strews of paperwork, most of which she could tell were from the courts. Finding an official piece of paper, Erin smiled. State of Illinois – Birth Certificate. She looked at the two names under her own. Of course there was Henry William Voight in the father's line, but was she was concerned about was the mother's line.
Barbara Marie Fletcher.
Her biological mother's name was Barbara Fletcher? She'd heard the name Barbara but she'd never heard the last name. In the folder there was other paperwork.
Termination of Parental Rights – Barbara Fletcher
Sole Custodian Rights – Henry Voight
Legal Adoption of Erin Lindsay Voight—Camille R. Voight
Erin threw that folder aside and started looking through the filing cabinet, she was on a mission to find an address. She had come up with the idea that morning that she was going to find her mother and meet her. Since her dad wasn't going to give her answers, she was going to get them herself. What was it about Bunny that her dad didn't want her to know about? It's not like the woman could be that bad!
She searched through the files and paperwork for the next ten minutes, coming up with nothing. Erin carefully put the files back where they were, making sure that it was left the way she found it. Sighing, she leaned against the wall, wondering what to do next. Glancing down at her watch, she noticed that it was almost four. Her dad would be getting home in an hour. Surely her mom would be in from the yard soon. She really couldn't look in this office anymore because she ran the risk of getting caught.
Well, at least she had found a name. Even if she hadn't found an address in here, she could do her own searching for that. She had a computer in her room and she knew that it was easy to find people on the internet. She'd just have to wait until tonight, when she was alone in her room and…
Buuzzz!
Erin quickly ducked as a something flew right past her head! "What the fuck?!" she exclaimed, her heart racing. Turning around, she saw that it was Justin's toy helicopter. She heard footsteps as Justin came running into the room.
"Is my helicopter in here?" Justin asked.
"Yeah." Erin hissed.
Justin's eyes grew wide as he looked around the room. "Hey! What are you doing in daddy's office?!" Justin exclaimed loudly.
Erin sprang up from her seat and ran towards the door; peeking her head outside. She looked for her mom and gave a sigh of relief when she didn't see it. Good, the woman was still outside. She shut the office door and turned towards her brother.
"We're not supposed to be in here, Erin!" Justin stated, "You're going to be in so much trouble when daddy finds out."
"He's not going find out" Erin said, taking an intimidating stance over her younger brother.
"Yes he will, dad always finds out." Justin said, using his eight year old logic.
Erin took another step, "He's not going too, and you're not going to say anything!"
"I'm not going to lie to daddy, you know what happens if we lie."
"Justin, we're not going to lie!" Erin said. She started thinking about how to explain it to him. Justin was a little kid, he didn't understand things like she did. "We're just not going to tell him."
"No Erin, I'm going to lie!" Justin argued, starting to walk away. Erin grabbed his arm. "You're not saying anything, Justin."
"You can't tell me what to do! And I'm going to tell mom." He said, trying to escape his sister's grasp. But Erin held him tightly. "If you tell mom and dad, I'm telling them who really broke the basement window last Saturday" she threatened.
Justin's jaw dropped. "How do you know about that?"
"It doesn't matter." Erin stated. "But if you tell dad about me, I'm telling him about you. Understand?"
"Erin" Justin whined. Erin raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for his answer.
Justin sighed. "Fine, I won't say anything." He finally conceded.
"Promise?" Erin held out her pinky finger. Justin's finger locked with hers, "Promise."
"Hey Hon" Camille smiled, turning around from the stove.
"Hey." Hank replied, his voice rough. He took off his coat and hung it on the hook after a long day of work. Camille look at him, reading his face. "Bad day?" she asked.
"Yeah." He answered, shaking his head. "Some people don't know how to do their damn jobs in this city and on the Southside there was another homici-" he stopped, catching a glimpse of his son sitting at the table. "It was just a bad day." He rephrased. He didn't want his son knowing about all the bad in the world.
Camille gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, the day's over and hopefully dinner will cheer you up." She grabbed the pot on the stove and started walking towards to the table. "Want to call Erin? She's upstairs" she asked.
"Yeah." Hank walked over to the staircase. "ERIN. DINNER." He yelled.
"COMING" Erin yelled in reply. Hank turned to return to the table. Seconds later, Erin came running down the steps.
"Hey" she said, taking a seat at the table. The family of four then began to eat their dinner. Hank and Camille talk a little, then Hank brought the conversation over to his kids.
"So Erin, how was your day?" Hank asked.
Erin gave a shrug of her shoulder, "Fine" she mumbled. Hank shook his head. Teenagers! So he turned to Justin. "So, how was your day, kid?"
"It was awesome, Dad!" The eight year old exclaimed, "I practiced flying my helicopter!"
Hank smirked at his son, "Yeah, how'd that go?"
"It was ok. I started in the hallway and I flew it down the stairs; that was the hardest part, flying it down the stairs. Then I flew through the kitchen and it went right into your office, and it almost landed on Erin's head, but it crashed on the floor instead" Justin told.
Erin's eyes got wide as she heard her brother. The damn kid just ratted her out!
Hank turned his head and looked at Erin, his face serious and stern.
"I think it might be broken" Justin stated, finishing his story.
"You were in my office?" Hank questioned Erin, his voice raspy. A big rule he had for his children was to never go into his office. He had confidential police records and his computer in there that he didn't want them to mess up or touch. But the big thing he had in there was his handgun. Of course it was in a locked box and the gun had a safety lock on it; but safety was first in his house, and he didn't want Erin or Justin to touch it.
"Erin, I didn't see you in there. When did you go in there?" Camille questioned.
"When you were outside." Justin answered absentmindedly, not realizing what he was doing. "OW!" he yelped, as Erin kicked him from underneath the table.
"Shut Up!" she hissed.
"Erin!" Hank boomed.
Erin narrowed her eyes at Justin, "Well, Justin was the one that broke the basement window last week! He lied to you about it!" she revealed, pointing her finger at him.
"Erin." Justin whined, "We promised and I didn't say anything!"
"You just did" she said through gritted teeth.
"Did not!" he argued.
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Erin. Justin. Stop it!" Camille scolded, trying to stop the fighting. But the two kids ignored her, continuing to fight.
"Did not!"
"Did to-"
"ENOUGH!" Hank barked out. Erin immediately froze. She knew that tone of her father's voice. It was the one he used when he was pissed off. He had hardened criminals shrink up in their chairs at that tone. Erin and Justin barely ever heard it.
After a few moments, Hank looked over at Justin. "After dinner, I want you to go upstairs to your room. You and I are going to have a discussion about lying, young man" he ordered.
Justin looked down and quietly nodded.
Hank then turned to Erin. "And you" he said, pointing his finger at her, "What were you doing in my office?"
"Um, you know, just looking at stuff" she said casually, once again; shrugging her shoulder.
"Looking at what-"Hank stopped, realizing what she had been looking for. "You were looking up Bunny, weren't you?" he questioned steely.
Suddenly getting defensive, Erin sassed, "What's it to you?"
"Excuse me?" he boomed. "Erin." Camille warned quietly.
"I'm serious. What's it to you if I look up stuff about my mother? It's not hurting you now is it?!" she sassed.
"HEY!" Hank fumed, his face full of anger. "You want to get mouthy with me, you can go to your room"
"Well sor-ry" She muttered insincerely.
Hank narrowed his eyes at her. His daughter was on thin ice. "Erin, I already told you; when you're older, I'll tell you about Bunny" He stated firmly, "But until then, this conversation is closed and I don't want to hear another word about it. Understood?"
Erin's eyes matched his own as she glared at him. Hank was getting more and more upset and angry at his daughter. He had more respect from his unit than what he was getting from his thirteen year old daughter right now. But he was not about to let Erin have the upper hand. "I said is that understood?!"
"You said I couldn't say another word about it." She sassed.
Hank's eyes hardened. "Erin, your room. Now" His voice grave.
"What! Why?" Erin questioned. She hadn't done anything!
"Because you're being mouthy and disrespectful. Now go." He pointed towards the stairs. Erin stared at her dad for a moment, her pride stopping her from getting up.
"Erin, now!"
"Fine!" Erin exclaimed, equally as hard-headed as her father. She stood up, pushed her chair back with force and left the kitchen. Hank and Camille heard as their daughter stomped up the stairs. Camille silently prayed that Erin would know better than to…
BANG! Erin's door slammed shut and began to rattle.
Camille winced. Nope, Erin was angry and definitely pushing it tonight.
"Hank." She warned, as she watched her husband slid his chair back. Hank glanced at her as he stood up. Camille knew that she couldn't stop Hank. Erin knew the rules of the house and she had this one coming.
Hank stormed up the stairs to his daughter's room. He didn't even knock as he went to open the door, only to discover that it was locked. Since when was there a lock on her door? He tried opening it again, this time realizing that something was blocking the door. "Erin, open the door!"
"Go away." She yelled, as she angrily sat on her bed.
"Erin, I'm not telling you again. Open the door." Hank said, his voice dangerously low.
Erin stared at the door, almost if she could see her father right through it. "No, go away. I don't want to talk to you!"
"Erin, open this door before I break it down! And then you'll lose it for a month." Hank threatened.
Erin quickly got off her bed. That wasn't an empty threat. She had lost her door a few months ago, it was when she decided to sneak out with Kim. Her dad had been less than pleased when he found them at one in the morning. So needless to say, Erin was grounded and had lost her door for a month.
Opening the door, Erin glared at him. "What?"
"You better watch your tone with me" Hank warned, stepping into her room. "And don't lock me out of this room!"
"It's my room" Erin argued.
"It's my house" Hank retorted, turning around to glare at her. "And it's my rules."
Erin couldn't resist rolling her eyes, as she sat down roughly on her bed. Hank took a deep breath. His daughter was sure walking a fine line tonight. Glaring at her, he leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms.
"What's with the attitude, kid?"
"I don't have an attitude!"
"Then what the hell was that downstairs?" he demanded, looking at her with hard eyes. "You know better than to slam your bedroom door and you sure as hell know better than to cop an attitude to me."
Erin glared right back at him. "Why can't you just tell me about my mother? I mean, I'm not a little kid, I have the right to know about her!" she hissed.
"I beg to differ." He scoffed, "First of all, you are a kid. My kid. And second of all, I'm your father and I make the decisions around here, not you. If I say you're not old enough to know about Bunny, then you're not. I don't have to justify my reasoning to my thirteen year old daughter, because I'm the parent."
That made Erin roll her eyes again. Such a stupid reason! Her dad was always pulling that 'I'm the parent' crap. She had the right to know about her own mother!
"Erin!" he yelled.
Erin looked down, she was definitely crossing the line tonight. And it was then that a lightbulb went off. She realized if she was going to meet Bunny in the near future, she had to play her cards right. She needed to make her dad think that she didn't care, that she wasn't concern with her biological mother anymore.
"Fine, I don't care anymore, ok? When you feel like I'm old enough that you want to talk to me about it, then I accept that."
Hank was questioning her change in behavior. Why had she just given up so easily? This wasn't Erin. Erin fought tooth and nail for what she wanted, and she never back down from anything. If she was passionate about something, she wouldn't let anything or anyone get in her way.
She was up to something; that was for sure. Hank read right through her act. "Erin, I'm telling you right now, don't go looking for Bunny."
For a millisecond, surprise and panic flashed through Erin's eyes. How did her dad know was she was planning? But she quickly recovered and her face went to confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about?"
"I mean it" Hank stated, looking directly at Erin with a hard eyes. "Don't even try and test me on this, kid. Because I'm warning you Erin, that if you go looking up information or hell, even go looking for Bunny; you're going to be in a world of hurt."
Erin laid down and turned over on her side, ignoring her father. Some fear and panic started to course she body because that was exactly what she was planning on doing. "Fine, whatever! Can you just like, leave me alone?!"
"Fine." He said, walking towards the door. "And don't leave this room. You're grounded to your room for the night."
"What! Why?!" She sat up quickly and argued. She hadn't done anything!
"Because of that little show you gave us downstairs" he said, opening the door. Turning around, he looked right at her and said "And I meant what I said, Erin. Don't you dare keep pressing the issue about Bunny." And with that, he shut the door; leaving Erin sitting there.
"UGH!" she exclaimed, throwing the closest object, which happened to be one of her favorite CD's, at the door. Damn it! She hated being treated like a little kid, and she absolutely hated being a Sergeant's Daughter.
Erin opened the door to her locker. "Ok Kim, so you're covering for me, right?" Erin confirmed quickly. It was the next day at school and it was almost the end of the day. She had one more class left but she was going to skip it.
She had come up with the plan last night to visit her biological mother, Bunny, today after school. A quick google search got her the address and using a website for maps; she found the directions from her school. Erin knew that she needed to do this. She needed to meet her mother, and she had to do it today. Her dad was getting suspicious and she had to do this before he found out.
"Erin, why are you doing this again?"
Erin gave an aggravated sigh, "Because Kim, I need to meet my mother. My dad's telling me nothing and besides, you were the one who said I needed to know about her" Erin pointed out.
"Well, yeah" Kim admitted, "But I was saying to ask your dad about her. Not go behind his back and meet her yourself." Kim was a little afraid of Erin's dad. Yes, he was nice and all; but he was one father that you didn't want to piss off!
Erin grabbed her backpack and shut the door to her locker. "Kim, I have to do this! Now I just need you to cover for me next class, ok?"
"Ok" Kim finally conceded.
"Thank you" Erin then looked over her shoulder and saw Jay and Adam coming towards them. She and Kim were friends with the guys and had all been going to school together since kindergarten.
"Hey Erin" Jay grinned.
Erin nodded her head up at them, "Hey Jay. Adam."
"So what are you doing after school today?" Jay asked, leaning against the locker. Erin shrugged, "I don't know. I'm busy."
"With what?"
"I'm just busy" she answered. She didn't need to give him a reason. Yeah, Jay was her friend, but she didn't want him to know that she was skipping. He'd probably want to come with and follow her. Jay Halstead was just that way—overly protective.
At that moment the bell rang. Erin gave Kim a look and said, "Ok, well I gotta go." Then she started walking off.
"Erin, where are you going?" Jay asked. He knew her class schedule and the next class they had together. But Erin continued to walk, ignoring him.
"Erin?" he repeated, and as he started to go after her, Kim grabbed his arm. "Jay, just don't go after her. She doing something important, ok?"
"Ok." He sighed, as he watched Erin turned down the next hallway.
Erin held on to the straps of her backpack nervously. She driven through this part of city with her dad, but she'd never been in the Southside of Chicago by herself. She knew the limits that her parents set for her of the city; school, maybe some friends' houses and the corner of the local drugstore. That was it. Her dad would kill her if he knew that she was all the way down here.
Turning a corner, Erin continued walking the sidewalks. Being known as fearless, she didn't want to admit it that the Southside of the city scared her, but in all honesty; it did. With observed eyes, she watched as different people on the streets looked at her. On the corner of the opposite street, Erin saw two people together. She was smart, she knew what they were doing, what the one guy was selling.
She hitched a breath as she arrived at the address. It was a run-down apartment building with different garbage littered outside by the door. Walking up to the door, Erin looked at the worn out list of residents. Scrolling down the list, she found it; Barbara Fletcher, Apt. 34. 'It's her' she thought. Glancing up at the building, she swallowed hard. 'It's now or never!'
Her heart was racing as she opened the apartment building door. She knew that this was a rough part of town when you didn't even have to get buzzed into the building. Erin had visited different friend's apartments in the city where you had to be buzzed in, or even have to be personally let it. Opening the door, she stepped inside. It wasn't the most pleasant smell that welcomed her. The building smelt old and musty. So she started walking down the hallway as nerves began to overtake her.
"And where the hell do you think you're going?!"
Erin froze! She knew that voice. Oh Shit!