Erin's eyes got wide and her breathing quickened. Oh shit! She was in so much trouble. She turned around and saw that her dad was leaning against the hallway wall, his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. Erin had never seen that expression before, and to be honest; it scared her.
"Um…Dad, I, I can explain!" Erin spoke quickly.
Hank scoffed and strode towards her. "I'd like to see you try." he stated, as he wrapped his fingers around her upper arm. He pulled her towards the entrance and opened the door.
She didn't dare make a sound as she was lead outside by her father. She saw that they were heading to his car, which was parked right outside of the apartment complex. How had she not seen it when she was walking inside? It was right there!
Hank opened the passenger side door and guided her inside the car. Erin was silent as she placed her backpack on the floor and then put her seatbelt on. Her dad seemed pissed.
It was quiet in the car as Hank put the engine into drive.
He couldn't believe his daughter would come all the way down to the Southside of Chicago. She knew better! The thought of her being in this part of town alone made his stomach twist. His daughter could have been raped, mugged, kidnapped!
"Honestly Erin, what the hell were you thinking?" Hank asked exasperated. He was getting real sick and tired of his daughter's attitude and behavior lately.
Erin crossed her arms over her chest looking like a petulant child. Her worry and guilt was suddenly replaced with anger. After-all, her first natural defense was fight. "Well maybe I was thinking that since you won't tell me anything, that I had to find out on my own!" she mouthed.
Hank turned his attention off the road and glared momentarily at his way-ward daughter. "You really want to get mouthy at me right now?!" he yelled.
"Why not?" Erin sassed with a shrug of her shoulders. Hank gripped the steering wheel and turned his attention back to the road. His daughter was in for it when they got home with the way she was acting.
"How'd you find me anyways?" Erin inquired angrily.
Hank shook his head. He couldn't believe that she had the nerve to ask him that. "You know that school you go to—they call your mom and I when you decide to skip your classes"
Shit. She forgot about that detail. But it didn't matter right now. Her teenage mind was clouded with anger and injustice. She wasn't even thinking about all the trouble she was in.
Hank pulled up in the drive-way and as soon as the car was in park, Erin grabbed her backpack and slammed the car door shut. She was pissed! She was mad at everything. She was angry with her life. She was this close to meeting her biological mother but her dad just had to be there! Why wouldn't he tell her anything? In her mind, he was just being that overly-protective Hank Voight crap. She was 13-years-old; that was old enough to know things!
Erin stormed up the side-walk and opened the front door, as Hank was trailing behind her. As soon as the door banged open, Camille was up on her feet from the living room. "Erin! Oh god, are you ok? Where were yo-" Her voice trailed off as her daughter brushed right past her and up the stairs.
"ERIN!" Hank yelled, as he came inside, closing the door behind him. "Erin Lindsay, get your ass down here. Now!" he yelled, but all he got in response was a slammed door.
He turned back to Camille.
"Where was she?" Camille asked. She'd had been the one to inform Hank when she got the phone call from Erin's school.
"She was at Bunny's apartment, on the Southside of the city." He answered. Camille's face fell. "Oh' Hank. Did she see Bunny?"
"No, I caught her right as she was walking inside the building."
"What the heck was she thinking?" Camille muttered.
"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." Hank stated, his voice raspy and full of anger; as he started walking towards the stairs. "With the way that kid was acting, she going to find herself-"
"Henry Voight!" Camille moved quickly and caught his arm before he took one step up the stairs.
"Cami!"
"Now don't 'Cami' me" She warned, looking at her husband with hard eyes. "You are not going to go up there and laying into that child and start yelling at her."
Hank sighed in frustration. "Camille, she knew better than to skip school and go to that part of Chicago. And she sure as hell knew better than to go looking for Bunny, after I told her last night not too!"
"I know that, Hank." She agreed, then she gently tugged on his arm. "Come sit in the kitchen with me and calm down…Come. On."
Hank followed her. There was something about his wife's tone that he didn't want to disagree with her. Camille might be soft-spoken and slow to anger, but she was also determined. And there was a side of her that even Hank didn't want to mess with.
They each took a seat at the table, and Camille waited until she met her husband's eyes. "Hank, I know that you're upset and frustrated with Erin, as am I; but you also have to look at it from her point of view" she pointed out.
Hank furrowed his brow, "What point of view?"
"Hank, she is thirteen, okay? She's trying to figure out who she is, and she has all the irrational emotions and logic that being a teenager girl brings. Erin has questions about her mother and she wants to know-"
"And she's not going to know anything about Bunny until she's older." Hank interrupted with finality in his tone.
"Why?" She challenged him.
"Because-well because I'm protecting her by not telling her." Hank exasperated. Erin was his little girl, and he wanted to protect her from the harsh reality of life for as long as he could. Being a cop made him ever more aware of the dangers for teenage girls.
Camille sighed at her hard-headed husband. "Hon, I know you want to protect her but you're actually causing more problems by being so secretive about it. This is Erin were talking about. She's never taken no for an answer and if she wants something bad enough; she's going for it." She explained, then added "And she does have a point, she does have the right to know."
"Yeah, and she'll have that right when she's older." Hank differed. "And this way I'm protecting her from Bunny."
"Hank, I want to protect Erin from Bunny too. You forget that I know all about her and I even dealt with her a couple times. Remember when Erin was three?" she prompted. Hank sighed, "Yeah." He remember the time when Erin was a toddler and Bunny tried to take her when Camille and Erin were at the mall. It had been a hell of a fight in the court system too that year.
"But why not tell her some things now? What's it gonna hurt?" Camille countered, "I'm not saying to tell her the whole story, but at least answer her questions."
Hank leaned back in his chair. Damn, his wife had a point. He hated when that happened.
But he was still upset that she went to the Southside of Chicago. "So you're not mad at her for what she did today?" he asked her incredulously.
"Oh, I am very upset about what she did!" Camille stated firmly, "And you can go up there and ground that little girl all you want; she knows better than to go to the Southside by herself. The thought of her being in that part of the city makes me sick" she shuddered at the thought. "But, you need to be more understanding about her feelings because right now you're being unreasonable, and I think you know it."
That was his wife Camille. Always pulling him back in line.
"Ok" he finally conceded. After a moment, he said "I'm gonna go up and talk with her." He then stood up.
"And you are going to be understanding, Hank Voight." Camille cautioned, giving him the 'look'.
"Yes, Camille Voight." He retaliated with a smirk.
He didn't even knock on Erin's door before he went in. He never knocked on his kids' doors when they were in trouble. This was his house, and a door was a privilege in his mind.
Erin's eye's flickered up as Hank entered the room. She was sitting on her bed with her back against the headboard; knees tucked up by her chest.
Hank had a flashback to this exact image five years ago when Erin was 8. She had decided that she was going to be a detective for the day and was accompanied along with her little friends. The then eight-year-old went all the way down to the Chicago River. He and Camille had been worried sick when they couldn't find their daughter, but luckily his partner Alvin Olinsky was doing off-the-job patrol down by the pier. He spotted Erin and bought her safely back home. Erin was sitting in the exact position when Hank came up to her room that day.
But here he was now, starring at his thirteen year old daughter. It seemed easier to him back then when Erin was younger. But now he was faced with the uphill battle of dealing with a teenager for the next couple of years.
Hank went over sat on the edge of her bed. "What were you thinking, Erin? Skipping school and going all the way down to the damn Southside of Chicago?!"
"It's all your fault that I had to go down there! So don't get angry at me!" Erin attributed harshly.
"Excuse me?" Hank fumed. "How the hell is it my fault?!"
"Because you won't tell me anything!" She said.
Hank took a deep breath, trying to reign in his temper. "Erin, I already told you-"
"Yeah, I know, you'll tell me when I'm older" Erin interrupted. "But I want to know why?!" she hissed, though her tough façade was beginning to break by the second. "I don't understand why won't you tell me anything about her?"
Though he didn't like the tone his daughter was taking with him, it was then that he realized that Camille had a point. He was originally going to wait until Erin was around sixteen to talk with her about Bunny, but now he realized that he was going to have to have this conversation with Erin now.
He stood up and went to Erin's side. "Move over."
"Why?" Erin questioned skeptically. She was confused by the change in his demeanor. She was half expecting him to yell at her.
"Do you always have to question me?" He asked rhetorically. Erin rolled her eyes and scooted over. Hank sat down on the bed next to her. "Ok Erin, ask me whatever questions you want."
Erin furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"Any questions you have about your mother. I'll answer them right now, but I'm warning you Erin, if you start getting sassy with me, I'm done, and we can just talk about what you did today and your punishment." Hank said, laying it all out on the table.
"Uh, ok." Erin said, her voice calm. It was like the entire atmosphere in the room had changed in the last sixty seconds.
"Alright, so what do you want to know?"
Erin had think for a moment. She wasn't expecting her dad to answer her questions because he'd been telling her for the last for days that he wouldn't. "Um…so why did she give me up?" she asked.
"Well, she didn't exactly give you up right away. It was more of me taking you from her to protect you." He answered.
Erin rolled her eyes. Again with the protective crap!
"Erin." Hank warned.
"Ok, sorry" she apologized quickly. "Uh, so why did you have to protect me from Bunny?"
Hank sighed. What he was about to tell her was what he really didn't want her to know. But like Camille said, she had the right to know.
"Erin, your mother was an addict. And I'm not talking about a let's get stoned on a Friday night, I'm talking about an Addict. Alcoholism and hard-core drugs, and you know what I'm talking about because you went through that DARE program at your school. Heroin, crack, anything she could get her hands on." Hank described, "And I didn't want you to have a life with an addict. I couldn't even imagine you with Bunny, on the streets, living god knows where. You deserved better than that, Erin. I wanted better for you."
Erin was quiet as she took in the information. She wasn't surprised by this. She kinda expected it seeing the dirty apartment building where her mother lived. "So were you two married?" she asked.
"Nope. We briefly dated for about three weeks."
Erin's face turned to confusion. "Then how did you find out about me?"
Hank took a moment to answer that, wondering how much information to give his daughter. "I found out about you when Bunny was seven months pregnant. The details about that time aren't for your ears, but she did eventually relinquish her rights when you were a couple months old."
"And she's never seen me since?" Erin questioned. Hank shook his head. "Nope." He wasn't going to tell her about the time when she was 3. She didn't need to know about that.
"Do you have any more questions?" He asked. Erin shook her head. She really couldn't think of anymore.
"Erin, Bunny is a bad person, and she's connected with some really bad people and I have no idea if she's told those people about you. And that's why your mom and I have put up limits of this city for you, and that's why I don't want you going to the Southside." Hank explained, though he was giving his daughter a stern look.
Erin quickly down-casted her eyes.
"And you know better than to go in that part of town by yourself." He scolded.
"I'm sorry dad." She said, this time sincerely.
"Listen kid, I am your father and it's my job to protect you. I'm not always going to explain what I do or my reasoning for things and you're not always going to like me for that. And I know that sometimes I may seem like a hard-ass but Erin, I love you, and I would be devastated if something happened to you." He said as softly as he grave voice would allow. Erin looked up at him with a smile.
"You, Erin Lindsay Voight, are a pain in the ass. You are stubborn and determined and sassy, and you feel the need to question me about everything." Hank stated lovingly, putting his arm around his daughter. "But you are my kid, and I'll always protect you."
"I'm sorry, daddy, for what I did today" Erin said softly, as she turned and gave him a hug. Hank grinned and hugged his daughter back. It melted his heart when his daughter called him 'daddy'. It didn't happen that often nowadays.
It was a couple seconds before he spoke up, "But I'm afraid that sorry doesn't cut it this time, kid."
Erin grimaced, "So I take it I'm grounded?"
Hank sneered, "Oh yeah. You're grounded."
Erin sighed in discontentment as Hank continued "Two weeks. School, home, and if your mom can't pick you up, you'll be down at the department with me. And for the next month, you're not to leave the yard when you go outside to play."
"Why?" Erin questioned, though she knew that she should just accept the punishment. She was expecting the wrath of Hank Voight after this stunt.
"Because Erin, I trusted you." Hank said, "I trusted you by giving you limits of this city but you broke that trust, and now you get to deal with the consequences, which for you means not leaving the yard."
Erin pouted and crossed her arms, "But Justin gets more of freedom than that and he's eight." She whined.
"I wouldn't be copping an attitude right now if I were you" Hank warned, pointing his finger at her. "Originally I was going to do more than just ground you when I came up here, but you can thank your mom for that."
Erin's eyes got wide.
"Ah-huh." Hank nodded, then he turned to stand up. "Alright, I want you to stay in here until dinner, your mom or I will called you down." he stated.
"Okay." Erin conceded, even though she thought it was unfair.
"Erin, just remember everything I said, ok?" Hank said, looking at her. Erin glanced up and then nodded, "Okay."
Hank gave her a sad smile and with that, he left the room, leaving Erin to her own thoughts.
She sat there on the bed, picking at the purple nail-polish on her finger. Yeah, she was upset that she was grounded, but she knew that she deserved that. And with the whole Bunny thing, she was content for now. She wasn't gonna bring it up again for a long time…but maybe in a few months, when everything had cooled down; she'd go meet Bunny. But of course next time she'd be sneakier about it!
Ok, so that's that story. Hope you all liked it! I'm thinking about doing another story in this little world. Maybe one where Erin is younger, around 7 or 8. Tell me what you think and I would love some suggestions!
~Please Review~
