My Dear Sister,
Father has been acting strange lately. Stranger than usual. Today he took me with him to the town to go shopping with him. It was my first time there. We rode in the carriage for a while until we came to the town. There were many shops there.
He helped me out of the carriage. "How do you like it here in America?" Father asked me. I thought it was strange that he was being friendly to me since he usually paid little attention to me.
"I like it here," I said. We walked through the streets.
"That's good, Lorraine," he said. I scowled when he called me Lorraine. "I've heard you speaking English. Are you learning well?"
"Yes," I said. "William's nephew is teaching me."
"You're pretty close to him, aren't you?" Father asked.
"He's my friend," I said. "He's been very kind to me."
"I saw you at the party together," Father said. My heart nearly stopped because for a second I thought he saw us sneaking to get Natta. Then I realized he was probably referring to the dancing and I relaxed a bit.
We walked into a shop. There were dresses there and other pretty things. "Do you like these dresses?" Father asked.
"They are beautiful," I said.
"Would you like one?" Father asked.
"You don't have to buy me a dress. My dress is fine," I said. The dress I had on was plain and grey. It was a bit dirty.
"Nonsense," Father said. "I said we were coming to America so we can have nice things." He told the lady behind the counter that he wanted to buy the green dress on the wall. He pulled a shiny coin out of his pocket and handed it to her. She handed him the dress. He handed it to me. I stared at him in shock.
"That you," I managed to mutter out. I could not understand for the life of me why Father would buy me this dress.
"Do you like it when I get you nice dresses?" Father asked.
"Y..yes," I said.
"Do you want to stay here so I can keep working so I can buy you nice dresses?" Father asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Well then you can never tell anyone about my work in France," Father said.
I gulped. Did Father know I told Jack about us? He had heard me talking to him that one time, but I had since convinced Father I told him nothing. "I would never do that," I said. "Why do you say that?"
"I think they're onto us," Father said.
"Who?"
"William and his family," Father said. "I think they are starting to become suspicious of us. You can't lead them on." He lowered his voice. "If they find out we've been hiding who we are we could be sent back to France. And you don't want that, do you? There are no pretty dresses like that back in France." He winked at me.
I looked down at the dress in my arms. I didn't want to go back to France. What would happen to Keeya and her sister if I left? What would happen to me? I imagined living in the Gorbeau tenement again. I thought about the icy draft and the hard floor where I slept so many hungry nights by your side. I imagined sleeping there alone.
Please Protect Me,
Your Sister, Azelma