Chapter 8

Brittney looked at everyone and didn't know what to think. Matthew was still eating his piece of cake.

" It's now or never," Lincoln thought.

Lincoln looked at Brittney and her sad eyes. The look wanted to make him cry.

" I think we should tell you the whole truth," Lincoln said.

" What is the whole truth?" Brittney asked.

Lincoln didn't know what to say.

" What is it Uncle Lincoln?" Brittney asked.

Lincoln sat down and so did Brittney.

" You father went to jail to help me," Lincoln said.

" You?" Brittney asked," What did you do?"

" I was already in jail," Lincoln told her.

Brittney got up," Not only is my father an ex-con, but my uncle too?" she asked," What's going on?"

Veronica sat on the other side of her," All that is important is that your father and uncle were cleared," she said," Nothing else matters."

Matthew came out of the dining room.

" What's wrong?" Matthew asked," Is Brittney going to open her presents?"

" NO," Brittney yelled.

Matthew ran upstairs.

" Young lady," Michael said," That was uncalled for."

" So was telling me this so called secret," Brittney said.

Brittney sat back down and crossed her arms.

Sara walked away with Michael.

" Telling her did more harm then good," Sara said," What do we do now?"

Michael didn't know.

" We need to keep talking to her," Michael said," I know Brittney is mad."

Sara went to the closet and got something out and went up to Brittney.

" Your father and I think it's about time you had this," Sara said.

Brittney looked at the cell phone and took it.

" It's already programmed with important numbers," Michael told her.

" Thanks I guess," Brittney said.

Lincoln and Veronica looked at her.

" Do you want to know more?" Lincoln asked.

" What were you in jail for?" Brittney asked.

Lincoln then sighed, this was harder then he thought.

" I was accused of something I didn't do," Lincoln said," They said I killed someone."

" What?" Brittney asked," Uncle Lincoln were you going to die?"

Lincoln saw the tears in Brittney's eyes. The sad look made him sad.

" Your father made sure that wasn't going to happen," Lincoln said," Your Aunt Veronica worked hard to find the evidence that cleared me and I was released. That's all that matters."

" Do you understand?" Veronica asked.

" That must have been a lot of hard work," Brittney said," I still don't get it. Why did dad have to go to jail to help you?"

Michael looked at his daughter, he didn't know how to answer that.

" I went there to be near him," Michael told her," I don't know what else to tell you."

" How did you get out?" Brittney asked her father.

" With all the support and help from your aunt," Sara said.

Brittney got up," I may never understand all of this," she said," Do you mind if I have some time alone?"

" If that's what you want," Sara said," But it's your birthday."

Brittney shook her head," I don't deserve it," she said.

Brittney then went upstairs.

" She's hurting really bad," Sara said," Maybe we should've waited."

" There's nothing we can do about that now," Michael said," The damage is done."

Brittney then came back downstairs.

" You came back down," Sara said," You want to open the rest of your presents?"

" No," Brittney said," I want answers. I don't understand."

Then there was a knock on the door. Sara went to the door and LJ came in.

" Great," Brittney thought," What kind of secrets does LJ have?"

LJ looked at Brittney.

" So you came home," LJ said," I was still looking out for you, even though I did have my runs to do."

" Thanks for caring," Brittney said," Why didn't you tell me?"

Brittney then went back upstairs.

" I told Brittney that it wasn't my job to tell her," LJ said.

" It's okay," Michael said," She knows more."

" She does?" LJ asked.

" I told her about me," Lincoln said," And now the poor kid is hurt even more."

LJ sat down," So what do we do?" LJ asked.

" We wait," Sara said," It will take a long time for her to heal."