20. Emma

Past

May 2009

My life had changed within a week.

It went from a mess to a mess of epic proportions. My father, if I could still call him that after the push, he had given me, had decided that his home would serve as a transit point for gamblers to stay.

He wasn't familiar with the shady movements, but he knew that something ugly was going on deep inside the state for even county sheriffs to look away.

That's why I didn't want to be home.

The fact that my mother had found an excuse to get me out of there, send me to my cousins' house and give me money to go to the fair in Syracuse, was a great sigh that I was grateful for.

We arrived at the fair, David parked in a safe area, then we got out, walked and walked into the crowd. We detailed the decorations, listened to the music and saw that there were many games which gave me all the joy in the world, they would be a spectacular distraction for everything. I thought about what couples would do and decided not to be a bad third, so I decid