"Stop it!" she laughed and tried to block herself from the view of the camera. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and she wore a cute little sunhat that was light blue and matched her sneakers. Her skirt was a darker shade of blue while her shirt was white. She couldn't stop laughing as the camera was still filming her on the boat Michael purchased. "What are you doing?" she asked him as she lowered her hands from blocking her face as she accepted her fate.
"Just filming you," Michael replied nonchalantly.
"Do you have to document a boat ride?" the ten year old asked him.
"Yeah, why not? From what I remember you're the one who thought it would be a good idea to get me a video camera for my birthday," Michael reminded her.
"And what? Now you're using it?" she laughed.
"Yeah, why not? It's a nice day out."
"Hey kid, there's a dolphin over there," Trevor's voice was in the distance.
"Oh my God!" Erica jumped in excitement. "Michael, come on! We have to go see!" She rushed over to the other side of the boat where Trevor stood. Erica gasped in awe when she saw the dolphin swimming about. The camera panned away from Erica and focused on the dolphin that was surfacing from the water. "Put the stupid camera down and look at the dolphin!" the girl demanded. Michael and Trevor exchanged a few words before the camera was handed over to Trevor. Michael approached where Erica was and stood with her and watched the dolphins.
"Hey look another one," Michael pointed. The camera was focused on Michael and Erica- father and daughter- as they watched the two dolphins.
"They're best friends," Erica concluded.
"And how do you know that?" Michael questioned her.
"Because they're swimming together," she claimed.
"Makes sense," Michael said.
"How come Amanda and Tracey never come on the boat?" she queried. "They're missing the dolphins! They're really weird."
"Yeah, women are weird," Michael laughed.
"Hey! I'm a girl!"
"You're still a kid," Michael said and rubbed her back. "You haven't had a chance to get weird yet."
"Stop it," Erica giggled. "I wanna see a whale!"
"Why's that?"
"I like whales!"
"Since when?"
"Since I'm not sure!"
The camera was turned towards Trevor's face and he began to make faces into it. The screen went black.
The whole video had been adorable, Amanda thought, but Trevor had to ruin it with a close up of himself making ridiculous faces. She could never figure him out and she didn't think that she actually would. Nobody understood Trevor Phillips, not even her husband. She thought she understood the girl in the video like the back of her hand, but she no longer understood Erica. She had been gone for five days now and Amanda wished she at least heard from her. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Erica would only come back when school was back in session to have her sign permission slips and pay for those senior trips that she'd be taking.
Why did she have to go? Amanda sighed and wished she could turn back time and maybe show her the letters even if she felt it was wrong. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was have this happen. She knew Erica felt incredibly betrayed, but wasn't she taking it too far? She heard footsteps behind her and she went rigid as she was caught watching these videos again. It had only been five days, but she missed her despite the fact that she barely saw her anyway. "Not again," Michael shook his head.
"It's all your fault for letting her go," Amanda pointed out.
"Not this again," he repeated himself. "Look, I already told you I thought she'd be back by now."
"Even though she says my sister is okay, I feel like she's still dysfunctional and it doesn't make me feel better that's she's living on Grove Street," Amanda added.
"Oh, like we're real functional?" Michael laughed and sat down beside her. "I told you she'll be back. Just trust me on this. Maybe this'll be good for her and she'll be grateful for what she has," he explained.
"How can you be so sure?"
"She's a smart girl. She'll figure it out whether it's the easy way or the hard way."
"Those stupid fucking letters," she swore. "Why did she even have to write them? Why couldn't she just leave Erica alone?"
"Because she's her daughter."
"No," Amanda growled. "Erica is our daughter. Lizzy was so horrible to her, Michael. She's not her mother. I don't give a crap what Erica says."
"What happens when she goes to college? You gonna freak out then when she moves out?"
"No," Amanda shook her head. "At least I'd be able to contact her. I think my sister blocked our numbers. I can't get a hold of her."
"Yeah, I figured," Michael sighed. "But Franklin says she goes to his house sometimes so he's keepin' an eye on her. Don't worry so much. It's like the time when Tracey claimed she moved out with a friend. She ended up coming back," he reminded her. Amanda did recall this incident when Tracey moved out for about two weeks when she was a senior in high school. But the thing was, Amanda dismissed this; she hadn't really been that concerned because she knew Tracey was coming back home and she didn't need to worry considering she was just staying down the road. But Erica was a completely different story. She wasn't confident that the sixteen year old would come back despite Michael's constant reassurance.
"Maybe I should write her," Amanda pondered.
"Go for it."
"Will you give it to Franklin to give to her?"
"Yeah," he shrugged. "Just don't be disappointed if you don't get a response right away."
"I won't be, I promise," Amanda said before she got up from the couch, bent down to kiss him, and went upstairs. When she left the room, Michael waited about five minutes before he took the remote and skipped back a few scenes on the Blu-ray disc before he paused on the part where he was pointing at the dolphins and he stood behind her as she talked about the dolphins being friends. Just as he was feeling a bit sentimental and kind of wanted to take a picture of what was on the television before him, he turned it off and threw the remote on the floor.
"Fucking-A," he said under his breath. "You better come home, kid."
Meanwhile, Erica was in her mother's place on Grove Street. She didn't particularly like the gunshots she heard throughout the night and occasionally during the day. She had difficulty sleeping at night so she'd manage to get to Franklin's to spend the nights with Jason. Her mother was usually out at night and Erica hated being alone in this neighborhood. She completely forgot what it was like to come home and not have any food available. Her mother's friend (whom Erica assumed she was sleeping with) wasn't the friendliest looking person ever. He would completely ignore Erica which she was okay with, but he looked scary and he was scary. He'd take out his gun sometimes and go out there to get the gangs away from his home. Even though he was protecting his property, Erica felt that he took it too far one day when he shot someone in the head.
He had quite a reputation on Grove Street to the point in which the gangs would go away when he was around. Rumor had it that he did belong to the Ballas. Erica wouldn't know nor did she want to ask. It was going to get dark outside soon and Elizabeth said that she'd be out late again. The red head had to get out sooner rather than later since she lost track of time and was leaving about an hour later than usual. Her mother's friend (or boyfriend-whatever he was) grunted when she told him she was leaving.
Upon exiting the small house, she made sure her phone was in her pocket. She began to walk towards the end of the neighborhood and get somewhere safe where she could get on the bus without people freaking her out. "Hey, it's the Rockford bitch," one of the teens on the streets yelled. The African American boy pointed her out to his friends.
"What's a lil' white girl doin' up in here?" another boy queried.
"Pro'lly fuckin' that old Ballas dude, know what I'm sayin," the third said. The three boys laughed at her and Erica was simply frozen in place. She didn't know how to respond to the jeering boys until one of them slapped her on the butt and she let out a scream.
"Nice ass," the first one said. "Can see why he'd be fuckin' her."
"Not too big, though," the third commented. "But sure as hell firm. I'd fuck it," he said and gave it a squeeze.
"Where you runnin' off to?" the second one who was taller than the other two asked her. "Answer me," he demanded when she didn't say anything.
"I'm just going to my friend's house," Erica explained.
"She's got legs," the first one said when he noted that her legs were relatively toned. "What you do?"
"What do you mean?" Erica queried.
"Don't be a stupid bitch. What do ya do to get legs like that? Rich girl got a gym membership?"
"I just dance," Erica replied. "I don't go to the gym," she replied.
"Ah, stripper?"
"No, nothing like that," she said quickly. "I dance at a studio."
"Let's see what the white girl can do," the third one laughed and the other two joined in as well. It didn't take Erica long to figure out that she was supposed to dance when one of them took their phone out and put on music. It was definitely rap and had quite an intense beat to it. It was incredibly inappropriate and she wasn't too fond of this kind of music. They looked at her expectantly and she forced herself to ignore the derogatory lyrics. She found and felt the beat before doing a quick routine she made up on the spot. She was surprised when the boys called over more people and they watched her dance. One of the boys challenged her and she had no choice but to accept. After a while, she was actually having fun as the insults turned into cheers towards her and eventually the girls were rooting for her to win.
She never had a dance contest like this, so she wasn't entirely sure if she won. It seemed as if she lost though because she couldn't break-dance like the other boy. She had to admit, it did look cool and she wished she could thrash her body around like that and have the upper arm strength for it. "You got moves," her competitor said to her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"You're really good," she complimented.
"Come hang out with us," he invited her.
"Yeah, you're not that bad for a white girl," one of the girls put in.
"How come you guys are always calling me white girl?" she queried.
"Because you are a little white girl," the other girl laughed.
"Well, my name's Erica. Maybe you can call me that instead?" she tried.
"Kimara," the African American said after a moment of silence. Most of the other teens split up and went their separate ways beside the boy that danced with her, the three that found her, and Kimara. She quickly took her phone out and texted Jason that she'd be over later. "And this is Tyrone," Kimara said pointing to the first boy. "That tall guy's G, this one is Darrel, and this one over here who challenged you is Vince." Right after introductions were made, gunshots rang through the neighborhood. Erica put her hands over her ears while the other four looked around to see where it was coming from. The boys took out their pistols and waved them around wildly. "Don't be fucking stupid," Kimara yelled and took G's wrist in her hand, yanking it hard.
"I can do what the fuck I want," G yelled back.
"Nah, Kim's right," Darrel said. "Come on, let's get out of here." The four ran, but Erica was glued to her spot in fear. When the gunshots were this prevalent she was usually in the house or at Jason's. Actually, she should have been at Jason's and she was regretting that she decided to go over later. She let out a small scream when she felt someone pull her roughly by the arm. It was Vince who went back for her and she had a difficult time keeping up with him. She was a dancer, but she wasn't a runner. In her panic, she was tripping over her own two feet which was extremely rare for her. Amanda always said that she was very graceful. She shook that thought out of her head immediately. Why on Earth did Amanda come into her thoughts? She should be thinking about her mother, Elizabeth. Yes; Elizabeth. What if she was shot and wouldn't get to see her mother again? Strange, she thought, that this didn't trigger any strong emotions. She blamed it on the gunshots.
"In here," Vince said and pushed her into an abandoned house. The windows were boarded up and it didn't look like anyone kept it up.
"Hide," Kimara hissed from behind a pile of rubble. Erica looked around and found an overturned bookcase. She squeezed between that and the wall and waited. Nobody said anything when they heard the fighting going on right outside the old and abandoned house. One of the gang members stumbled inside. Erica had to close her eyes because she heard a shot and a body fall onto the floor. She didn't dare open them. She didn't think that she'd be able to deal with staring at a dead body. The teen held her breath when footsteps passed her hiding spot.
"Hey, they're gone," Vince said to her. Erica crawled out of her spot and saw that the four were waiting for her.
"Never been around for one of these, huh white girl?" Kimara stated. Erica didn't even want to correct her. All she could think about was the dead man lying on the floor with blood pooling around his head. "Better toughen up and get used to it if you live here now. Or you could go back to Rockford Hills and be with the bitches."
"Rockford Bitch don't know what she's in for," the boys laughed.
"Look at her face!" G pointed.
"Poke it," Darrel said to her. "Poke the ol' dead black man!" Kimara grabbed Erica's hand and pulled it towards the corpse. Right before she would have touched it, Erica's adrenaline kicked in and she ripped her hand away.
"No!" she yelled. "First of all, my name is Erica; not Rockford Bitch, not white girl, Erica! And second of all, I spent most of my childhood with my mother in a fucking trailer park in North Yankton. Yes, I lived with my aunt and uncle in Rockford Hills because they're rich. But I'm back living with my mom now and I will not let you guys fucking bully me. If you don't like me, fine. But you don't have to go around being assholes." It didn't take long for her to be slapped across the face by Kimara.
"You need to fuckin' relax," Kimara said. "Come with us."
"Why would I come with you?" Erica narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Kimara rolled her eyes before grabbing her sleeve and pulling Erica out of the abandoned house and leading her down the street. They went into a house (she assumed it was Kimara's) and the boys sat down and immediately started smoking marijuana.
"Relax," Kimara said and handed her a joint.
"I don't think I should," Erica denied it.
"It won't hurt you," Kimara promised.
"It's fucking great stuff," G told her.
"I should go," Erica went to leave.
"Just try it. Weed don't kill people," Darrel assured.
"It's not like other drugs," Tyrone said. "Sit down." Erica couldn't explain why she sat down and started smoking. She couldn't explain why she was doing this after she was told by both Michael and Amanda to stay away from drugs whether it was marijuana, alcohol, or cocaine. They always told her to be careful and don't accept drugs from anyone. Even Trevor told her not to get involved and he sold and took meth. Trevor always said she was too good for getting involved with things like this and she always felt bad because it made her think that he didn't think he was good enough to be above it. But she had seen her mother get high over the past few days and nothing bad happened. In fact, her mother offered it to her and she had declined. Elizabeth assured her it was okay but respected that she didn't want to do it. This time, though, Erica felt she couldn't say no when she knew she'd be fine. Even though she could hear Amanda's voice at the back of her head telling her to get out of there, she did not and welcomed the marijuana which made that voice in her head go quiet.
