My Dear Sister,
I spent all of yesterday in my room away from everyone. It wasn't until this morning when I finally decided to confront Jack.
I saw him walking down to breakfast this morning and stopped him by the stairs. "Jack," I said.
"Azelma, he said. "I didn't see you yesterday. Were you alright?"
"Don't talk to me," I told him.
"What is it?" He asked me.
"I don't appreciate you playing me for a fool," I said.
"Azelma, I didn't-"
"Don't call me Azelma," I said. "I trusted you. You lied to me. You told your uncle everything I told you. All this time." I continued walking down the stairs, away from him.
"It wasn't all this time. I never wanted to tell anyone. I never intended on it," Jack said. "My uncle kept hounding me because he knew I knew something."
"What did you tell him?" I asked. I tried to hold back tears. I hate crying.
"All I said is that I thought your Father was involved in crime in France and he changed his identity before coming here," Jack said.
"Well I hope you're proud of yourself," I said. "Thanks to you your uncle told my father he needed some identification paperwork and my father searched my room for it. You know what he found there? A bunch of letters I wrote. And you know what I wrote in those letters? Everything about Keeya and Natta!"
"I'm so sorry," He said.
"Thanks to you Father knows all about them and he has plans to hurt them somehow! And thanks to you I'm probably going to have to leave here. Maybe go back to France. I never should have trusted you."
"I know what I did was terrible. I'll try to reverse it."
"When did you tell him?"
"What?"
"When did you tell your uncle?" I asked. "Was it before or after you said you loved me?"
Jack took a deep breath. "My uncle asked me if I knew anything about your father and I said I thought he seemed suspicious and that you seemed to be hiding things. He told me to talk to you and find out more information." Jack took a deep breath. "That was the day before I took you to the lake."
My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe he only took me to the lake to get information to use against me. "So it was all a lie?" I said quietly. My eyes burned from trying not to cry. "When you said you loved me?"
"No, I wasn't lying," Jack said. "I mean at first I was trying to get some information but then, I don't know, something changed. I really meant it when I said I loved you. The kiss was sincere. By the end of that day I completely forgot that I was there because of my uncle. All I cared about was you. Please believe me."
He reached his hand out for me to take it. I folded my hands under my arms. "I don't know who to believe anymore."
I walked away from him, arms still crossed. "I'm so sorry," Jack said as I walked away. My stomach began to hurt. Part of me knew that Jack was truly sorry. He didn't realize what telling William really did. I knew he really cared about Keeya and Natta and I knew he cared about me. He just couldn't go against William.
I wanted to completely forget about Jack. Part of me hated him and part of me loved him. I walked down the stairs to the front room. The vibe in the house was strange. None of the slave workers spoke, they just whispered and looked at me. I knew something was about to happen.
It happened this afternoon. I was in my room and Father came in. "Get downstairs now," He told me.
"Why?" I asked.
"The police are here," Father said.
I jumped up from the chair I was sitting on. "Don't tell them anything," Father said. "I know how to get us out of this." I nodded but I was skeptical. Father's plans rarely work.
We walked downstairs. William, Jack's parents, and about five police officers were standing in the living room.
"Gregory Maze," the police officer said. "Just the man I wanted to see." I stuck close to my Father. Jack wasn't there.
"Hello, officer," Father said.
"Sit, Gregory," the officer said. "We would like to talk to you for a bit."
"Alright," Father said. He sat on the couch and I sat next to him.
"Is that your daughter?" The officer said.
"Yes," Father said. "This is Lorraine."
"Hello, Lorraine," the officer said. "Can we ask you a few questions?"
I gulped. He wanted to talk to me. He knew I was weaker and less able to lie. I slowly nodded. "My English not good," I said.
"Just answer as best you can," the officer said.
"Okay," I said.
"Was your name Lorraine Maze in France?" The officer asked.
"Y-y-yes," I said.
"Where did you live?" He asked.
"Paris," I said.
"What did your Father do there? What was his job?"
I tried to think of what to say. My lying abilities are almost as horrible as my English. "An inn. We own it and live there also."
"Is this true?" the officer asked Father.
"Yes. We owned an inn in Paris. It was an honest business," Father said.
"You speak English better than your daughter. Why?"
"I used to live in the United States when I was a young boy," Father said. "I moved to France when I was twenty."
"Why did you come back here?" The officer asked.
"Well," Father switched into his sympathetic voice. "After my dear wife past away it was so hard on Lorraine and I. I couldn't stand watching my poor dear have to upkeep the inn alone, and every part of Paris just brought back so many memories of her. We could hardly bear it." He put his hand on his heart. In Paris this was my cue to fake cry. My family had it down to a science.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the officer said. "Now when you came here you had to have some paperwork proving who you were. I don't think we ever got a chance to look it over. May we see them?"
"Right here," Father said. He handed the officer the fake papers. I tapped my fingertips together nervously as he looked them over. "Is everything alright, officer?" Father asked.
The officer started speaking legal terms that I didn't understand in English. Jack never taught me any legal words about fake identities. The officer said something about how the papers he gave did not looked like the old papers they gave out, not the new ones. So according to the officer there was no way we could have arrived in America this year.
"Please, officer," Father said. "These are the papers they gave me.
"Can I see a birth certificate?" The officer asked.
Father rummaged through his papers and pulled out the fake birth certificates he had made. As the officer looked them over William spoke. "I don't mean to interrupt but my maid found these while cleaning Maze's room." He handed over a stack of birth certificates.
The officer took then and I peered over his arm to see what they were. I saw the words Thenardier written on them. It was all of my family's birth certificates. Father had kept them. I saw as the officer flipped past Father's and Mother's, then mine, then yours and Gavroche's. "Eponine's," I mouthed to Father.
"Shh," Father hissed.
"What are these?" The officer asked. "Who's Thenardier?"
"I don't know," Father said.
"Yes he does. He is Thenardier," William said. "His daughter told my nephew that her name is Azelma. He pointed to my birth certificate.
"Is this true?" The officer asked me.
"No," I said.
"She's lying," William said.
"Don't say that to Lorraine. I happen to know some secrets about you, William!" Father said.
"What secrets?" William asked.
"William is illegally taking slaves from people and hiding them. There is a slave girl in his barn right now that he stole from the Bartholomew's," Father said. I stared at him, mouth wide open. I couldn't believe he said that.
"He's a dirty liar!" William said.
"Check the barn if you don't believe me," Father said.
"Fine," William said. He, Jack's parents, the police officers, Father, and I walked outside to the barn.
I walked nervously behind Father. I was angry at him. I was angry at Jack. I knew everything was about to come crashing down. They were going to send Natta back and send Father and I to jail. I've been to jail once before only for two weeks and I never wanted to go back. I bit at my fingernails.
They walked into the barn. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop them. They looked around. Some of the policemen went up to the top section where Natta usually stayed. I wanted to do something. I wanted to stop them. Natta needed to hide but there was nowhere in the barn to hide.
I saw the police officers come down. "Anything?" One of the officers at the bottom level asked.
"Nothing," The officer said. "This barn is empty. There is no one here."
I couldn't believe it. Keeya and Natta were gone. I didn't know what happened or where they were. I ran away from the barn to my room. I couldn't stand to listen to my Father lie anymore, nor did I want to lie to him. I was mad at him. All I wanted to do what write you a letter.
It is sad when you think that the only person I can talk to is dead. I wish you were here. I also wish I knew where Keeya and Natta were. I wish Father would stop all these gimmicks. I wish I could trust Jack.
I wish you would help me right now in any way you can,
Your Sister, Azelma