The Imposter

Life is always something that we value. Sometimes we get the perfect life that we always dreamt of, but sometimes we get stuck with a life that no one wants. But what happens when someone takes that perfect life that you always dream of? That’s what happened to me, well sort of. I didn’t have the perfect life, but I took someone else’s life. I became an imposter and not only did I ruin my life, but also the life of those who I loved. Before I tell you more about how I became an imposter I need to tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Erick Torres-Chong. Yes, I’m Mexican and Korean. My dad was born in Yucatan in México and my mom in Seoul, South Korea. You might be wondering how my parents met. I’ll tell you. My mom was on vacation in México, there she met Oscar Torres. It was love at first sight. They spent days talking on the beach, but when it was time for my mom to go back she couldn’t not without her beloved Oscar. The two fell in love even more as the days past and one day Oscar had the nerve to ask Lucy to marry him. It was a very intimate wedding. So intimate that only they attended it. That day they went to Playa Las Tortugas or Turtle Beach on their honeymoon. About a month later they found out that I would soon be in their life.

My parents were so excited that they would be parents. It was too bad that they didn’t have anyone to give them any advice as to what they should have expected. Eight months later I came home with them. My parents loved taking care of me and wished that there were many more of me to come. Five years later my baby sister, Valeria, came along. She was our world and still is to this day. Valeria became the princess of the house, anything she wanted she would get. I never cared that she took so much attention from me. I always wanted a younger sibling and I got one. I would always watch over her and love her until I couldn’t anymore.

Everything was going so well. I had a family that I loved and we lived in a house that we all loved. But one day, my father and mother were both relocated from México to the US. You see my mom was a nurse and my dad worked as a social media consultant for a very famous company. We packed our bags and left to Seattle, Washington. At first, it was difficult, we knew some English since my mom was a traveling nurse, but we missed being home. It wasn’t the same and it never would be.

Okay, so now you may be wondering, Erick if you had such a great life how did you become an imposter? Well, that’s a long story so I guess I should start from the beginning.

One Monday morning in September, my parents informed my sister and I that they had to go on a trip. My mom would be traveling to the Philippines to help children with vaccines. My father was going on a trip to New York to help the new social media consultant in that branch. It was devastating, once again they were leaving us alone. Okay well not completely alone. When my parents left our next door neighbors Abel and Lailah were in charge. I hated it. They were nice, but they weren’t our parents.

Saturday morning, we took mom to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye to her. I gave her a tight hug and she said to me “Remember, when we are gone, you must look after your sister. She looks up to you and you have to protect her from anything that is out there. Do you understand?” I nodded my head. “ I understand mom, but promise me that you will come back soon.” She looked at me with the sweetness that she always had in her eyes. By the way that she was looking at me I could tell that it meant that she promised she would come home soon.

In the afternoon, we took dad to catch his fight. We gave him a tight hug and said our goodbyes. For my sister it was difficult to understand why my parents were leaving. That night after coming home from the airport, Lailah took us to her home and prepared us a nice dinner. We loved her spaghetti and meatballs. Afterwards they took us home. There they made sure that my sister went to sleep. Before they left, Abel came to check in on me. I like always was on my phone. “You know, you should probably get some sleep. It’s getting late and your parents would want you in bed” he said as he took my phone. “I know, but I have a bad feeling as if something was going to happen” I told him and he looked at me as if I were going to tell him a grand story. “It might be that your mom calls you and tells you to go to sleep!” Abel said laughing. I laughed, but it wasn’t my usual laugh. It was a laugh to hide what I was really feeling. I took Abel’s advice, I went to sleep. I knew something would happen, but I never imagined it would be what happened next.

The following morning I woke up to check if my mom or dad had called to check in on us, but nothing. I heard a knock coming from downstairs. It must be Abel and Lailah I thought. So did my sister. She ran and opened the door for them. As I walked down, I heard a man’s voice that I couldn’t recognize. “Excuse me,” he began. “Is there an adult here that we may speak to?” As I got further down the stairs I saw a woman and another man next to him. I walked faster down the stairs. “Who are you and what do you want?” I asked them. They turned around and saw me at the bottom of the stairs. The men and the woman looked at me, then the man who was talking to my sister cleared his throat.

“Good morning, my name is sheriff Thompson, this is Ms. Richardson from Child Protective Services, and Mr. Gonzalez from Koala Playground (my father’s company, I know weird name). We are looking for an adult.” I glanced at him and then at my father’s boss, didn’t he remember that my dad was on a trip? And what was Child Protective Services doing here? “Well my father and mother are not home, my neighbors are taking care of us, I can call them if you’d like?” I said with a shaky voice. “That would be wonderful, may we sit down?” I nodded my head to them. They headed towards the sofa. I pulled my sister aside. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you have to go to your room and stay there until I come and get you okay?” My sister did as I told her. I quickly walked to the phone and called Lailah and Abel. I told them what was going on and they said they were on their way.

I walked to the strangers on the sofa. I sat there with them. They looked at me as if I were some strange bug that they had just discovered. Soon after Lailah and Abel came. They shook hand with the guests. Sheriff Thompson looked at me and then back at Lailah and Abel. “Do you think that we could have this conversation in private?” he asked them as he looked back at me. In private, why was this conversation such a mystery? “ I want to be present also. I need to know what’s going on” I pleaded with them. Lailah looked at me “please Erick go upstairs, we will go get you as soon as we can.” I had no choice, I went upstairs.

The conversation lasted for hours. It was almost lunch time when they left. Abel came to my room, where was Lailah? Was she with my sisters? What did they say? I had so many questions for him, but I couldn’t find the words. Abel sat down next to me on my bed. He grabbed the iPod from my hand and signaled me to take off the headphones. I did. I put them down and looked at him. I could see it in his eyes that he had something to say, but didn’t know how to. I striked up the conversation. “Did they leave?” He nodded yes. “What did they want?” He hesitated before clearing his throat. “Erick… how can I say this?” He began to twirl his fingers. “What’s wrong, just tell me are my mom and dad okay?” That’s it I thought, they must have been here because of my mom and dad. A tear began to fall from Abel’s eye.

“They came to tell us that your father had an accident as he was getting on to the subway in New York.” I looked at him. “An accident? That’s all? But he’s okay right?” There was no answer. A few minutes later, he finally found it in him to tell me. “Your dad had an accident and he didn’t make it I’m sorry.” I felt my heart sink. I understood why my dad’s boss was here, but Child Protective Services? “What about the lady from Child Protective Services, why was she here?” I asked, he could see my confusion. “Well, the thing is that last night your mom also had an accident. She didn’t make it either.” I couldn’t believe what he had just said. It was too much for me I fainted.

When I came back to my sense I could see Lailah and Abel whispering about something. I slowly got up. They came to help me. I could see that they had both been crying. It was true then? It wasn’t just some sort of sick joke that they wanted to play on us, my parents were really gone. Lailah hugged me and began to cry. I could hear her muttering that she was sorry. Sorry for what, it wasn’t her fault that my parents had left my sister… My sister did she already know? “Lailah what about the Valeria does she know?” Lailah shook her head “we couldn’t tell her, we thought that you should be the one to tell her.” I agreed I wanted to let her know what had happened. As I walked out the door, I had one last question for them. “Why was the lady from child services here?” Abel and Lailah glanced at each other.

Lailah got up from her my bed and grabbed my hand. “She told us that since your legal guardians are too far away, you will have to go to foster care homes.” What foster care? I couldn’t believe that. What if they seperated us? “Will we go together?” I asked. Abel got up from the chair he was sitting in “no, the couple that will take in your sister doesn’t want any boys. You will go to one home and your sister to another. Don’t worry we are going to do anything to get you guys back.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not only did my parents pass away, but my sister and I were going to be seperated. How could this have happened? Why to us?