Chapter 1 of My Life: Grace

My parents convinced me I had a twin sister named Grace that they sold to the gypsies. 

I was 2 or 3 when they both told me this; my brothers played along. So there I was a little kid with her whole family telling her that she had a twin sister that they robbed her of. Well technically, sold.

They also told me I had another older brother, John the Firstborn, who they also sold to the gypsies. Once again, my brothers backed this up. 

Now I was a smart little kid. I was troublesome, but I was cunning too. I knew how to get what I wanted; I knew how to get out of things I didn't. (I was sick a lot as a kid) And yet with all my brains, I couldn't figure out that they were pulling my leg. I didn't realize that the only time they brought up Grace or John was when they told me I could be with them. It was a way to get me to behave. It never worked. 

I wanted my sister back. I wanted to be able to grow up with her, and so we could share our lives with each other. But she was over in France with Esmeralda and Djali. I wanted another brother, older than the two I already had, that would be able to take me to the park and buy me ice cream. 

I never took the bait of me being sold to the gypsies. Come on, I knew they would never do that to their children. I just never put 2 and 2 together. 

Whoops.