It wasn't every day that there was a knock on the door. If there was, it was usually bad because that would mean Child Protective Services was at the door to take her away from her mother. Erica knew she had to answer the door because whoever it was would come in anyway. The nine year old stood on shaky legs and unlocked the door to open it. When she saw that it was Amanda and Michael standing there, shivering from the North Yankton cold, she smiled at them. If she had been back in Los Santos, perhaps she would have hugged them. However, she did notice that she was avoiding body contact again. She couldn't bring herself to hug them, more so because she was still sore from the other night. "Please, come in," she said, standing aside to let in her aunt and uncle. She didn't notice the look of confusion on either of their faces when she invited them to come sit on the couch while she took a fold out chair.

"I didn't think I'd see you again," she said, crossing her legs and looking like a mini adult all over again. She was surprised to see Amanda have tears in her eyes when she looked at her. What had Erica done to make her upset? She stood up and stood in front of her aunt. She sucked up the uncomfortable feeling and climbed up onto the couch in between them. Hesitantly, Erica hugged Amanda. She flinched when she felt Amanda's arms hug her back, but she relaxed when she forced herself to remember that her aunt and uncle never hurt her.

"Now why would you think that? We told you we'd see you again," Michael replied. Erica turned to him and hugged him.

"I don't know. My mommy doesn't like that you were so nice to me I think," Erica pointed out.

"Speaking of her, where is she?" Amanda questioned.

"She's out." Erica had no idea where her mother was. There were a number of places she could be and most of said places weren't the safest and the red head would never go trudging into that territory. She did wonder when her mother was getting home, though. When she got home from school, she had been gone. The girl was happy about this because she didn't mind having the trailer to herself. When she was home alone, she didn't have to comfort her mother or make her feel better about the mistakes she made; she didn't have to see her mother's new boyfriend because he'd never come over when it was just Erica as he hated her.

"You mean she just left you home alone?" Amanda asked incredulously.

"I told you, remember? I can take care of myself," Erica smiled. "I never needed a babysitter. But Ashley was a nice babysitter. I liked her."

"Yeah, Ashley's a good kid," Michael agreed.

"How have you been? How's school?" Amanda asked.

"School's school," Erica rolled her eyes. "I've been okay. Trevor told me not to tell my mommy, but he didn't say anything about you guys. But he gave me one of those gift cards you can use anywhere so I don't have to be hungry!" she exclaimed, too excitedly for a little girl who should have never had to experience hunger.

"Yeah, T's been telling me you've been calling him a lot," Michael said.

"Don't feel bad that I didn't call you," Erica said. "Please don't. I should've called but I was…I was really mad."

"At us?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah. I was mad because you sent me here. I was mad because you made me come home when I was really happy with you guys. But I get why you sent me back here. I belong here," Erica shrugged. "My mommy needs me."

"Erica, we came here because Trevor told us that you told him your mother's new boyfriend hurt you," Michael said slowly. Erica bit her lower lip and looked down at the ground. She knew she should have kept that to herself. She wished she hadn't gotten so emotional the other day. If only she had kept quiet; if only she kept it a secret. She thought Trevor understood where she was coming from since he revealed to have a somewhat similar childhood.

"Sweetie, how about you and me go into your bedroom," Amanda suggested.

"Why?" Erica questioned.

"I need to see if what he said is true," she replied. Erica looked down at her feet, realizing her defeat as she led Amanda into her bedroom. She stood in the middle of the room with her head down. Amanda knelt in front of her and asked her to push up the sleeves on her dress. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, Erica did as she was told and shook. She didn't like this at all and she had to stop the negative thoughts running through her head. She revealed the bruises on her forearms to her aunt. "Oh my God," Amanda whispered as she inspected the bruises. "Sweetie, I'm going to ask you to show me your thighs, okay? Can you do that?" Erica nodded and pulled down her tights and pulled her dress up high enough for Amanda to see. She felt incredibly vulnerable, but it was over rather quickly with Amanda sighing with relief at the absence of bruises on that part of her body.

"I told Trevor not to tell," she said to her. "He promised he wouldn't. He lied to me."

"Erica, I'm glad Trevor had enough sense to tell Michael," Amanda explained. "I hate that man, but I'm grateful he broke that promise."

"Why? Now you know and now you're gonna try and take me from my mommy."

"Didn't you want to stay with Michael and me?"

"I did, but now that I'm back, my mommy really needs me. Who else is gonna make sure she sleeps in her bed instead of the floor? Who else is gonna make sure she's okay when she's crying?" Erica queried.

"That shouldn't be your responsibility," Amanda explained. "I can't let you stay here anyway. It wouldn't be right."

"How come?"

"Because he hurt you," Amanda replied.

"He did, but it's okay."

"Erica, it's never okay. Nobody should ever hit you or hurt you like that."

"Then why does my mommy let it happen to me?" Erica questioned. If it was that bad, obviously her mother wouldn't let it happen, right? She was confused when Amanda's eyes were watery for a moment. She was brought into a tight hug. She hugged her back and wished that her own mother would do this to her. She longed to be hugged by the woman ever since she returned from Los Santos.

"That scar on your arm…is that true?"

"I guess I can't tell Trevor secrets," Erica said and gave her a small smile when she looked her in the eyes.

"Not when it comes to your safety," Amanda said. "Come on," she stood and held out her hand. Erica took it and left her bedroom, but not before picking up the pink teddy bear she had grown to love. She was thankful that her mother hadn't thrown it away. When she had first seen it, Elizabeth had hated it but Erica liked to believe that her mother let her keep it because she loved the stuffed animal and it made Elizabeth feel good to see her daughter happy.

"How'd it go?" Michael asked Amanda quietly when she sat down. Erica strained to hear their conversation since Amanda was sitting in the middle. The girl wished she was in the middle so she could hear what they were talking about. Amanda said something about her bruises, but said she was relieved when she didn't find any bruises where they were afraid of them being on her body. Erica shrugged it off and decided to climb onto Michael's lap. She wasn't sure what was going on and he just made her feel safe and more secure when she thought about the unknown.

"Erica, why is there a red car out there?" Elizabeth yelled into the house. When she didn't get a response, she shouted, "You better fucking be home this time!"

"Right here, mommy!" Erica said and scrambled over towards her mother. "I was on the couch." Elizabeth craned her neck and saw her sister standing up alongside her husband and made the few steps it took towards the door.

"Mandy?" Elizabeth said. It was the first time she saw her sister in years. Erica watched her mother look her up and down, grimacing when she looked at her. "You got them bigger? Seriously? You should have just kept your small tits. They looked better than those things."

"You look good," Amanda tried.

"Don't I always?" Elizabeth smiled. "Can't believe you'd stop by and give me a visit. You've taken me by surprise! I apologize that the place isn't cleaner. Should have warned me."

"Yeah, we should have," Amanda replied.

"Hey, Michael. I think we only met once."

"A few times," Michael smiled. "Nice seeing you again."

"Let's all go out to the bar!"

"Doesn't seem like that would be too fun for Erica," Amanda pointed out. Erica wondered why Amanda thought that she'd be included; in North Yankton, she never was and most likely never will be. And why was her mother being so friendly? Was she really that desperate to be around her older sister? It seemed like it by the way she was looking at her despite their obvious painful phone conversations while Erica was in LS.

"She can stay here," Elizabeth said quickly.

"Surely you're joking," Amanda said.

"Why would I?"

"You can't leave her here on her own. She's only nine," Amanda said as nicely as she could. Erica began to see that her aunt wasn't as happy as she was making herself seem to Elizabeth. Underneath the fake smile and friendly body language, she was enraged.

"She's fine on her own," Elizabeth said. "Besides, mom left us home alone when we were nine so it's fine."

"You know it's not fine. Just because mom did it doesn't make it right."

"Mom did her best with what she had, just like I am. If you didn't fuck every man that came across your path you'd be right where I am," Elizabeth replied with a nasty tone in her voice. Erica could tell that her mother did some kind of drug by the look in her eyes. It was kicking in and hitting her all at once. One of two things could happen: she'd break down and cry or become angry and scary. It didn't take Erica long to make the conclusion that she was going to be scary.

"Lizzy, mom would hit us, remember? She wasn't a good mother," Amanda reminded her. Erica's eyes went wide and she looked up at Amanda. She had been hit as a child? Just like she had? The red head looked down at the floor feeling horrible about herself. She was always saying how Trevor understood where she was coming from, but this entire time Amanda had as well, if not more than him. Despite being close with Amanda, Erica hadn't felt a real connection with her until that moment. Erica wanted to be like Amanda and overcome this horrible cycle of abuse. She was going to be better than her mother.

"I don't hit the kid," Elizabeth yelled. "I never hurt her! Ever!"

"But you tried to put a fucking needle in her arm!" Amanda yelled back.

"You weren't supposed to tell you little brat! Always causing trouble! Always doing the wrong thing!" Elizabeth yelled at her daughter. She grabbed Erica roughly by the arm, digging her nails into her arm. Erica didn't allow herself to cry out because her mother wouldn't be happy if she did such a thing.

"Whoa!" Michael spoke up. "Get your hands off of her!" He proceeded to get Erica out of her grip and picked her up.

"Put her the fuck down! She's my daughter and I can do what I want with that brat!"

"Elizabeth, we're here to take Erica," Amanda said with anger in her eyes. This woman most definitely wasn't her little sister that she remembered. Taken aback, Elizabeth glared at her.

"You can't fucking take her," she hissed.

"And why not?" Erica could tell the two were both a bit hotheaded.

"Because she's mine." Elizabeth and Amanda continued to argue. Erica couldn't watch as she didn't want her mother to find out that she desperately wanted Amanda to win the argument. She could tell Michael was restraining himself from interfering as one of the adults there had to make sure Erica wasn't caught in the middle. She was thankful when he carried her into her room. He shut the door and sat in silence with her as they heard the muffled yells from the main area.

Meanwhile, Tracey stayed late on campus because she knew Jaylen had a class that got out at five thirty. She wondered if she was doing the right thing by waiting for him by the parking garage. She couldn't believe that she actually cared about him this much. Her philosophy had always been that boys were replaceable. She had lived by this and was usually the one who lost interest in the relationship before diving right into a new one a few days later. She hated herself for ruining the beginnings of a relationship with Jaylen. It occasionally kept her up at night. She had thought about texting him that her parents weren't home and that he could spend the night. However, Tracey stopped herself from doing so as he didn't like that about her.

Jaylen was so much different than the boys she dated in the past. All of this was new to her. Her last boyfriend loved that she was on the internet doing unmentionable things with other men. He thought it was, in his words, fucking hot.

"What are you doing here?" Jaylen spoke up when he saw her waiting. Tracey nervously rung her hands together, something she hadn't done since she was a child, and forced herself to look him in the eyes.

"Waiting for you," she said as she wanted to be completely honest with him.

"I have to go," Jaylen said and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Tracey exclaimed. "I mean, um, I need to tell you something important."

"Go on," he said and nervously darted his eyes around. She had a feeling he didn't want to be seen with her and that did hurt her a little bit.

"Like I never really pursued a guy before. I mean, guys usually pursue me and stuff. Um, I guess what I'm trying to say is I really like you, Jaylen. You are so not like the other guys I've been with. You treat me like a person and that doesn't happen a lot," Tracey explained quickly. She had a feeling she sounded like that stupid typical blonde that she usually was, and she wasn't too happy about how she sounded. When she spoke, she realized her voice sounded rather preppy. It wasn't that she was trying to sound like that, but it truly was her own voice and it was just a coincidence it went along with the fake personality she presented. She had a feeling this lowered her credibility when explaining this to him.

"I have to go," Jaylen said, trying to leave, but Tracey was stubborn and reached out to grab his wrist.

"Please don't go," she said close to tears. She wasn't entirely sure why she was about to cry since she usually had temper tantrums when she didn't get what she want. This time, she realized, was different; she was hurt. She would have just kissed him, but that wouldn't have been right. He probably would have pushed her away and called her a whore before walking quickly to his car. No, she thought, he was much more of a gentleman than to do something like that. "Look, I told those porn producers I'm not doing that anymore. I'm done with it. I don't want to do it anymore."

"You said that last time," Jaylen said to her. "How can I trust that time was the last one?"

"Because that was the last one. I told them I quit and they said they'd pay me, like, a lot of money for one last video. So I did it. And I regret it."

"So basically, you think it's okay to do something degrading for money," he pointed out.

"I don't think it's okay; not anymore. But what do you expect? My mom was a stripper until I was like five. She rented our house to porn producers last summer. I mean, I really didn't think about it when I did that stuff."

"Seriously? Your mom doesn't seem like she'd do any of that," Jaylen responded.

"You have to understand something. For the first twelve or thirteen years of my life, I grew up poor in a fucking trailer park. You can take a girl out of a trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the girl."

"I didn't have the most ideal childhood until I was adopted," Jaylen pointed out.

"But your dads are normal!" Tracey exclaimed. "My parents are the definition of dysfunction. Not long ago, my mom found my dad cheating on her so then she spread her legs wide open to all of Los Santos." Tracey took a deep breath to calm down. "My parents just fixed their relationship like eight months ago. Nothing is normal about me or my family. We're like one big ball of dysfunction."

"Maybe I could use some dysfunction in my life," Jaylen smiled and took her hands in his own. She looked up at him and felt her face heat up and she immediately knew she was blushing.

"Does that mean…" she trailed.

"Let's give it another shot. Just no more porn, please."

"It's a deal."

Erica was sick and tired of the fighting going on outside of her bedroom. She was grateful that Michael was in her room with her so that she wasn't afraid. Instead, she was incredibly angry. She didn't like it when her mother or her aunt yelled. Michael knew this was his wife's battle to fight, not his. Erica flopped onto her bed beside Michael, face first, and let out a frustrated scream into the blanket. She heard her mother call her name a number of times. She looked up at Michael and sighed before exiting her small bedroom. She walked over to her mother dutifully and stood in front of her. "I'm going to give you a choice."

"Elizabeth, don't," Amanda said to her, most likely knowing what was going to be said.

"Shut it," she snapped at her older sister. "You can choose to live with me or you can choose to live with them." Erica was at a loss for words. How could she possibly make this choice? It only got harder when her mother told her to think carefully because if she chooses her, she'd never see Amanda and Michael again or if she chose them, Erica would never be able to see her mother again. Amanda spoke up, saying that those conditions weren't true, but all Elizabeth did was state Erica's options again.

Erica would admit she most likely would have chosen to stay with her mother if there weren't those conditions. She couldn't go the rest of her life never seeing the De Santa's again but she also couldn't go through her life without seeing her mother. It wasn't an easy choice and her mother pressuring her to make that choice didn't make it any easier.

But when she looked over to Amanda, she remembered what it was like to be cared about; she remembered how she didn't have to sneak food but at the same time, the freedom that she enjoyed while living with her mother was absent. Then again, she didn't want to get hurt anymore. She remembered the look of shock and sadness on Amanda's face when she saw those bruises. She remembered how her mother just sat on the couch and watched this new boyfriend of hers hit her daughter.

Erica looked back up to her mother who gave her a cold look. Elizabeth didn't care about her, so why did she want her so badly? And why make up these conditions? Elizabeth would remind Erica how she was a mistake and how she wasn't wanted-going as far as to calling her an accident. Amanda never said those cruel words to her. She always made sure Erica felt safe and loved, which had been foreign concepts to her before she went to Los Santos. "Well?" Elizabeth said. "We're all waiting here for your fucking answer. Hurry it up, you little brat!" If Elizabeth had any social skills at all, Erica thought she'd at least try to be nice to her to win her over. The red head knew she wasn't important enough to her mother. It would be hard going the rest of her life without seeing her, but it would be even harder to go without Amanda's kind words of encouragement, watching old movies with Michael, getting beauty tips from Tracey, playing Mario Kart with Jimmy, and she'd definitely miss seeing Trevor and his craziness as well as his more serious side when she talked to him about things. There simply was too much to give up by staying with Elizabeth who would laugh at her when she fell. She certainly wouldn't miss anyone in North Yankton, that's for sure.

Erica took a few steps away from her mother. "Why do you want me so bad?" Erica questioned her mother with tears in her eyes.

"Because all Amanda wants is to redeem herself from failing me when I was young. Isn't that right, Mandy?" Elizabeth sneered. "She doesn't really want you. If she did, why did she take so fucking long to meet you? It was only after I called and begged her to take you that she finally did."

"What is wrong with you?" Amanda questioned her sister.

"Nothing," Elizabeth shrugged. "Just telling the kid the truth. I always tell you the truth, Erica."

Erica continued to back away from her mother. Even if she was telling the truth, she honestly didn't care. She was over this horrible woman who never did a thing for her. "No," Erica said with tears in her eyes.

"You're choosing them?" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "You're just a fucking failed abortion."

"Enough!" Michael yelled. Erica turned from her mother and rushed over to Amanda who quickly brought her into a hug. "We'll see you in court."

"You can't just take her now!" Elizabeth yelled. "I'll have the fucking police come after you!"

"Sure you will. But we'll be out of here and down at the hospital getting a fucking doctor to look her over!"

"No you won't!" Elizabeth screeched. "You won't! And Erica, I hope you're happy with this stupid decision of yours. You will never, ever see me again if I lose custody of you, do you hear me?"

Erica turned herself around and stood close to Amanda. She clutched her aunt's hand before saying, "That's a dream come true."

Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! Sorry it's been over a week since I last updated but school's keeping me really busy :(