Chapter 1I'm the daughter of a trafficker.
When I was six, I "helped" Mom grab this pretty little girl.
On the way back, I heard Mom on the phone, all excited:
"Fresh goods, nice and young. Easy money right here."
Then Mom actually gave me a piece of candy.
"Huh. So you CAN do something right. Shocker."
Soon after that, Mom got busted.
Right when the little girl was crying in some lady's arms.
This guy next to them pointed at me:
"Hon... doesn't that kid look like our Brynn?"
...
Police cars came out of nowhere and surrounded Mom and the buyer.
They twisted her arms back and put handcuffs on her.
The buyer got thrown to the ground too.
The lady held the little girl tight, crying so hard.
"Harper! My Harper! I'm so sorry, baby!"
"Mommy already lost your sister, I can't lose you too!"
The little girl cried and pointed at me:
"Sis..."
The lady looked at me with tears all over her face, then her eyes turned angry.
She pushed the little girl's head against her chest and said:
"She's NOT your sister. She's with the traffickers! She's bad!"
I looked down right away, didn't know where to go.
When the cops showed up, my brother ran inside and locked the door.
So I just stood there outside with everyone looking at me.
Then this man said: "Cordelia, doesn't that kid look like our Brynn?"
Then he added: "But she looks like four, maybe. Our Brynn should be six now."
Mom was getting pushed into the cop car.
The man ran over and stopped her: "Tell me! Is that girl yours?"
Mom spit at him.
"Hell no! I don't keep useless bitches around!"
"I got a boy, thank God!"
"Nobody wanted that piece of shit. I was nice enough to keep her fed!"
"First damn time I bring her out, and she ruins everything! Six years of feeding her for nothing!"
"Should've thrown her in the river the day I got her. Would've saved me six years of bullshit."
My head was spinning.
So... she wasn't my mom.
That's why all the food went to my brother and I had to eat from the trash.
The man came over and looked at me shaking.
After a bit he said: "Kid, come with us."
This was my second time in a car.
It was really clean inside with a nice smell, nothing like the van Mom took me in.
I squeezed into the corner, scared I'd make the seat dirty.
The lady held her daughter and asked quietly:
"Sweetie, tell Mommy how you got lost?"
Harper pointed at me again: "Sister say candy."
The lady looked at me with pure hate:
"So YOU tricked my daughter! Kids raised by traffickers are all bad!"
The man looked at me in the mirror but didn't say anything.
But I saw that little bit of feeling sorry for me in his eyes go away.
When the man took the lady and little girl home, he brought me to the hospital for a blood test.
When the doctor handed him that paper, he just froze.
Then he looked at me with this complicated expression.
"Brynn, I'm your dad, Garrett Dalton."
"Cordelia Ashford is your mom."
"And Harper Dalton is your real sister."
I looked up at him and said quietly:
"Mister, I'm not Brynn. My name is Trash."
Chapter 2
Garrett's face froze, then he said really slowly:
"You're not Trash."
"Your real name is Brynn Dalton."
"Someone stole you when you were five months old."
"Brynn Dalton?" I said it quiet.
My name was actually pretty.
Garrett was watching me, so I tried saying: "Dad..."
When he nodded a little, I felt something weird inside, all tight and hurting.
I kept thinking about the lady hugging Harper and kissing her.
I was her daughter too.
Would she hug me like that?
I couldn't stop thinking about it. My fingers were shaking.
Then Dad brought me to this big bright house.
My clothes looked so bad here. I didn't know what to do with my hands.
When I saw Mom, I started to say: "Mo—"
"GARRETT!"
Mom jumped up and yelled:
"Why did you bring a trafficker here?!"
"Honey, calm down—"
Dad pulled out some paper from his pocket.
"She's our daughter. She's our Brynn."
Mom grabbed the paper, looked at it fast, and threw it on the floor.
"She's NOT! My Brynn died!"
"She's one of the traffickers! That's what she is!"
"She tried to kill Harper! Get out! Get away from us!"
I never finished saying "Mom."
It felt like someone hit me in the face.
Everything I wanted from a mom just broke.
I tricked her daughter. She hates me.
Just then someone came running down the stairs.
A boy, way taller than me.
He ran up and kicked my leg. Hard.
"Bad person! Get out! You took my sister!"
He kept kicking and hitting me and yelling.
This happened before.
My brother in that house did this too—hit me whenever he wanted.
One time he thought I was in his way and kicked my stomach.
I threw up blood but he didn't stop.
Without thinking, I got down and curled up in a ball, saying over and over:
"I'm Trash! I'm useless! I'm sorry! I'll work harder! Please..."
Dad finally grabbed the boy.
"Sawyer Dalton! What are you doing! That's Brynn Dalton! Your twin sister!"
Sawyer froze when Dad yelled. His eyes got big.
"My... sister?"
"NO! You're lying, Dad!"
"Mom showed me pictures. My sister is cute! Like Harper!"
"She can't be this dirty trafficker!"
I held myself tight. Tears got my pants all wet.
"Sawyer, stop it. She IS your sister."
Dad held Sawyer back.
Then he looked at Mom and his voice got softer:
"Honey, I know this is hard. But... the test is right. She IS our daughter."
Mom turned away. She wouldn't look at me.
Dad sighed and pulled me up. Took me to a room.
"You'll sleep here for now."
Dad gave me some boy clothes and pointed down the hall.
"Go take a shower. You'll wear Sawyer's old clothes for now."
Sawyer looked really mad.
He made a sound but didn't say anything.
The bathroom was so bright. I just stood there.
Dad was about to leave. I made myself say: "Dad... Daddy."
Chapter 3
Dad stopped and looked back.
I kept looking down, holding my shirt: "How do I... turn the water on?"
Dad looked annoyed for a second.
"Left is hot, right is cold."
"This one's for hair, this one's for body. Rinse it off when you're done."
"That's a towel. Dry off."
"That thing's a hair dryer. Plug it in, press here, it dries your hair..."
I nodded really fast, trying to remember everything, scared I'd forget and make him mad.
The warm water washed over my body with all the marks.
All bumpy and gross looking.
First time I ever used hot water like this and nice soap.
After I was clean, I really did look like Sawyer.
Just shorter and skinnier and more sick looking.
Dad stared for a second then looked away: "Come down for dinner."
Wow—I never saw this much food. I didn't know what to do!
In that other house, I waited till they finished eating, then licked the plates when I washed dishes.
When I was really hungry, I went through trash cans for food people threw away.
Never sat at a table like this before.
"Get some food."
Dad said.
I picked up fork and tried to get a vegetable.
But I was too nervous. I kept dropping it.
Sawyer slammed his fork down, made a loud sound:
"Why you mess up the food like that?! Now I can't eat that! Disgusting!"
I got so scared I dropped my fork.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to... I... I won't eat..."
I started to get up. Then Harper grabbed a chicken leg and held it out to me.
"Big sister eat."
Oh, it smelled so good.
I'd only ever smelled this before outside shops on the street.
Back then, the trafficker said if I helped her snatch kid, she'd give me a chicken leg as a reward.
Now it was right in front of me.
I reached for it.
But Mom grabbed Harper's hand fast and put the chicken back.
"Harper eats it."
Then she picked up the vegetable plate and put it in front of me hard.
"You messed it up, you finish it. Don't waste food."
I pulled my hand back and ate the vegetables.
They tasted really good too.
Better than anything I ever had.
I ate everything on the plate. Including the sauce.
At the end, I even picked up a little piece that fell on the table and ate it.
Sawyer looked at me like I was gross.
"Disgusting. You eat like a dog."
Dad said quiet: "Just eat."
After dinner, I carried all the dishes to the kitchen.
Dad stopped me: "You don't have to. There's a dishwasher."
I didn't know what that was.
I thought he meant I couldn't even wash dishes right, so I said fast:
"I'll wash them really good!"
"I can sweep and wash clothes and take out trash—I can do everything!"
"You don't have to waste food on me. I'll work for it."
"And I don't eat much. Half a roll a day is enough."
