Chapter 1: The Ten Commandments

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ELIJAH

Present Day

Elijah Russo leaned back in the kid-sized chair that the social worker, Kim, had stuffed him into. He thought better of it when the legs started to creak and brought them all back down to the floor. His butt was getting numb waiting here. Kim had promised to come back with his sister in two minutes. It had been more than fifteen.

For the first five minutes, he had been wild with panic about meeting this girl he hadn't seen in nine years. For the next five minutes, the panic had turned to excitement. That had put him in a better mood to see her. During this time, he wondered whether it had been Kim's strategy to take longer than promised so he was less anxious during the meeting.

Now, he was just bored.

He was sitting in a children's playroom, not much bigger than his living room. Toys had been stacked neatly on the shelves, cleaned up just for his arrival, and small chairs were placed here and there in an attempt at a welcoming atmosphere. To Elijah, the place just seemed sad. He wondered if his sister had been here long. Kim hadn't told him much about what she had been doing the past few days.

Just as he was about to go down the hall to the front desk and ask them to call for Kim, the social worker herself opened the door. Behind her, a curly haired girl with a splash of freckles across her nose and a sheet of paper clutched in her hand walked in. Her eyebrows were drawn tight across her forehead.

Elijah stood up so fast he knocked over the tiny chair behind him and the tiny table in front of him. He noted that while Kim laughed, made an offhand joke about it, and helped him pick up the knocked over things, the girl stood stiffly behind her.

"Hi," he said to her.

Without a shadow of a smile, without even opening her mouth any wider than was barely necessary, she said, "Hello."

"I know that you both know each other," Kim said, "so I won't do all the introductions. I'll leave you guys to talk. I'll be back in a few minutes. Olivia, be good."

Olivia murmured something that sounded like it was neither an agreement nor a disagreement. Kim seemed to understand, however, and left the room.

Elijah sat back down in the chair. It creaked beneath his weight in the silence. Olivia stood stiffly in front of the chair meant for her. "I didn't really think we would be meeting in these tiny chairs," Elijah said. "You sure you don't want to sit down?"

Olivia sat in the chair across the table from him. "The actual meeting room is being used," she told him.

Kim had told him. "I heard."

There was another awkward silence.

Elijah knew it was his job, as the older one, to carry on the conversation, but he couldn't remember how to talk to kids or girls. Unfortunately, Olivia was both of them.

"So," he prompted. "This must be really weird. You probably don't remember anything about me or the others."

"I know everyone's names," she said slowly, as if assessing his question while she spoke, wondering how much to reveal. "I remembered that from before. Elijah, Logan, Blake."

"Anything else?"

She shrugged offhandedly and looked down at the floor. She didn't say anything else. Elijah felt the silence press down on him again. He decided to ask her about the other thing he had been really curious about.

"What's that paper? Is it for this meeting?"

Olivia put the paper flat on the table, facing her. "Yes. We were late because I was writing this."

That got his attention. "What is it?"

Olivia flipped the paper so it was facing him, and slid it towards him. Elijah took the paper and noted the title at the top.

"The Ten Commandments?"

"Yes. They are as sacred as them."

The Ten Commandments

You can't pick me up from school. Ever.

We can't ever be seen in public together. Ever.

No one can know we're living together. Ever.

If anyone finds out I live with you, you have to tell me.

If anyone ever asks you about me, you have to pretend you thought I died when my mom died.

If I go missing, you can't try to find me. You can't call the police to help look for me. Ever.

You can't go visit where I used to live. That includes Mom's grave. Ever.

I can't go to the hospital. Ever.

We can't love each other. It can't come to the point where you would do something for me. Ever.

If I say I have to leave, I have to leave. You have to put me back in foster care. Forever.

Elijah stared at the piece of paper in front of him, trying to wrap his head around her demands. Was she joking? Was she waiting for him to protest and tell her he would never do any of these things so she could know for certain he would care for her? Who could follow all these demands?

"Olivia, I don't think-"

"If you can't follow them, I can't be adopted," she snapped. There wasn't an ounce of humor in her hard eyes or mouth. She was all business. "And if you tell me you'll follow them, adopt me, and don't follow them, I'm going to leave."

Elijah tried to assert his own position, if not as her brother then at least as a sane, responsible adult. "Olivia, I'm serious. These aren't realistic. This isn't going to work out."

Olivia snatched back the paper and folded her arms over her chest. "Then this adoption isn't going to work out. I will tell Kim if you feel too embarrassed to tell her."

Elijah nearly choked on his own spit. "Why would I-"

Her glare stopped him. He looked down at the paper, away from her ferocious eyes, and tried to weasel his way out of it. "Okay, look. Is there a reason for these commandments?"

"Yes." She didn't elaborate, didn't even look like she wanted him to ask her to elaborate. Her expression dared him to defy her.

"What is that reason?"

"I have my own personal reasons."

"What personal reasons?"

"They're personal for a reason! Don't ask me."

Past her rude, condescending behavior, Elijah could barely see the five-year-old he had loved and cuddled and spun around and around until she was red in the face with laughter. Her pigtails and bow and polka dotted dress were gone. Her good mood and wide smile were gone.

But barely being able to see her and not being able to see her at all were two different things.

With time, surely she would have to change. She couldn't hold on to those rules forever. She was his family.

"Okay," he said.

Olivia frowned. "Okay? What does that mean?" she demanded.

Elijah knew he wasn't making a mistake. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake. He thought for sure he was making a mistake.

"I accept your commandments."

*****

"How did it go?"

Elijah pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes until he saw stars. "I'm not sure."

"That often happens at first meetings."

"No, it's just -" He pulled his hands away from his eyes so he could see her expression. "Did you see her paper?"

Kim shook her head. "She wouldn't show me."

"They were rules. Things like - like she can't ever go to the hospital. Like no one can know she lives with me. Like we can't try to find her if she goes missing!"

Kim didn't look worried or phased in the least. In fact, she nodded her head. "Maybe she's had a traumatic experience with hospitals," she countered. "Maybe she's worried someone will find out she's from a broken family. Maybe she's keeping running away as an escape option and doesn't want you coming after her if she decides to leave."

"She told me I can't love her, Kim!"

"Elijah." Kim leaned forward across her desk and held his gaze. "Many children in the foster care system or otherwise have irrational fears and disturbing ideas considering love. They have the wrong idea about what love is, they're afraid of coming to care for someone that may be ripped away at any moment, or they feel unable to be loved. Olivia may be one of any of these cases."

Elijah sat back and let her words sink in. The way she phrased it, Olivia's commandments just seemed like the demands of a scared, broken girl.

"Can I show you something?" Kim asked him suddenly.

"Of course."

Kim opened the manila folder on her desk labelled Olivia. She flipped through it to the end, where she pulled out a few glossy papers.

"These are pictures from Olivia's house that the police took during their investigation. Since they closed their investigation, they released some of them to us."

Elijah felt horror and shame creep up from his stomach and begin to spread through his chest and throat. The pictures taken of Olivia's house showed that it barely had any furniture. They had mattresses instead of proper beds. There was a small dining table for two in the kitchen. There was a worn out armchair in the living room. There was nothing else.

The next few pictures detailed their kitchen. In their fridge, there was half a gallon of milk. In the cupboards, there were pop tarts, cereal, a jar of peanut butter, and cans of soup. There was nothing else.

And in some of the pictures, he could see a thick white powder spilled across the floor or counters.

"Is that-"

"It's cocaine. What her mother overdosed on."

Elijah pushed the file back towards Kim. He felt sick. While he and his brothers had been living in ease the past five years, this was where his sister had been living. It was ironic, really. Her mother had taken Olivia away from their father to live a better life, to give her daughter a carefree childhood, yet her efforts had turned to this.

He stood up and turned his back to Kim.

"If you need a moment alone-"

"I think I'll just take a walk down the hall."

"I have another meeting in about ten minutes. Don't be too long."

Elijah closed the door behind him and found his way outside, in the warm September sunshine. It was going to be a cold winter - were there any other kind in Chicago? - but for now, the weather was in a good mood. He tilted his face up at the sun.

What was the right answer?

Could he take care of a girl like this? Could he keep his own sanity while trying to assuage her fears? Could he convince her that she didn't need these rules in the safety of her family? Although he was getting better, his brother Logan was still often a handful. Elijah could barely keep him afloat. This girl was beyond anything he had seen in Logan or anyone else.

No. He had to stop thinking like that. She wasn't just any girl. She was his sister. This was his blood.

A few minutes with her had shown him that she wasn't the same sister he had been pulled away from nine years ago. Olivia had turned a complete 180 since then. Whether that had happened after her mother's death, or leading up to the years of the incident, he didn't know. How far deep down was her hurt?

He didn't know if he could handle her.

But he did know he could love her.

When he walked back into Kim's office, she had opened the file of the next child she had scheduled a meeting for. Her eyes met his, half hopeful.

"If you want a few days to think over it, I'm sure we can arrange -"

"No," Elijah said. "I don't need any more time."

"Oh." Kim folded her hands and nodded, her eyes down. "I understand. That's alright. I'm sure we'll find someone-"

"No. I meant I'll sign the adoption papers now."

So there's the second chapter! I'll probably be updating twice a week because I've written some chapters ahead, but I haven't decided the days yet. Anyways, vote and comment!  

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