When Rich Meets Poor

39|Interviews

September 30, 2018
New York City, New York

Yesterday's crazy interaction with my twin brother after all these years still has me extremely shaken up. I've seen so many news articles from industries all across America reporting over the situation.

We have an interview at 1:00 P.M with a New York Times reporter.

   "Connor are you almost ready to go?" I ask while straightening my dress.

  "Yes, do you have Olivia with you?" He yells from upstairs.

   "She's downstairs with me!" I shout back.

   He comes down the stairs quickly. I hand him the car keys before heading out the door.

   "I'm kind of nervous for this, New York Times is a huge deal! I loved reading their magazines growing up," I admit as we drive down the busy streets.

   "I'm sure everything will be fine," he reassures me.

   We arrive at the New York Times headquarters at 12:50. We check in and are immediately brought into an office room. Jaelynn and Levi are already in the office room, along with an older lady who has big glasses.

   "Hi, I'm Cici, I'll be reporting over your guy's extraordinary story!" She shakes ours hands.

   "Nice to meet you, I'm Harper," I introduce myself.

   "Nice to meet you too. Now let's get started. What is your birthday?" She asks.

   "September 28, 1999," I answer.

   "When did he go missing?"

   "May 3, 2001,"

   We continue answering questions about our lives until eventually the last one comes up.

   "What happened to the Wilkinson's after this story was reported to police?" She leans in close to us.

   "They were taken in for questioning. I think they're  both scheduled to take a polygraph within in the next few days," Levi responds.

   "Thank you all so much for your time, I'll make this the most spectacular magazine article you've ever read," she shakes all of our hands.

    After exiting the New York Times headquarters we all stand on the sidewalk, clueless as to what our next step in life should be.

   "I've lived my whole entire life as someone I'm not," Levi sits down on a nearby bench while Jaelynn tries to comfort him.

   "I don't even know what I'm going to do. How do I get my identity back? Will I have to change my name to Ryder Aspen? I've never even celebrated my birthday on the right day!" He places his face in his hands.

   "Ryder come on, think of it this way, you were always wondering why you didn't have cousins or aunts or uncles. Now you have Harper, your own blood," she tries to explain the bigger picture to him.

   "But what about Mom and Dad? They were always so good to me. Are they going to spend the rest of their life in jail?" Levi is extremely worried about the people he always believed were his parents.

   "Why do you care?" I scoff.

   "Harper they raised me, you can't just expect me to hate them because I found out they kidnapped me when I was a baby," he throws his hands up.

   "Actually, I can expect you to hate them for that," I shrug.

  "Look, I know they messed up, but they gave me the best childhood I could have ever asked for," he stands up from the bench.

   "Okay, okay, there is no need for fighting," Connor grabs me and pulls me behind him.

   "It was great meeting you guys, hopefully we'll have more opportunities to catch up and talk. But, until then we have somewhere else to be this afternoon," he adds before picking up Olivia and leading us to the car.

   "Can you believe him? He is so worked up over what is going to happen to his kidnappers!" I shout while we walk through the parking lot.

   "Harper, just give him time, he's right in a way. Those people did raise him, it's not his fault he didn't know they weren't truly his parents," Connor sides with Levi.

   I shake my head before sitting in the car and slamming the door shut.

   "I want ice cream!" Olivia nags.

   "We have ice cream at home," Connor rejects her request.

   "I don't like that ice cream!" She cries.

   "Alright, fine," he stops the car at an ice cream parlor right beside Central Park.

   "What kind of ice cream do you want?" He asks as we approach the classical building.

   "A vanilla ice cream cone," she responds.

   "Of course you'd want something that we could have easily made you at home," he playfully pushes her.

   After ordering and receiving all of our ice cream, we take it upon ourself to walk around Central Park for a while.

   "Thank you Connor," I randomly blurt out.

   "For what?" He questions while turning his head towards me.

   "I don't know, everything. Thank you for even existing," I say, causing a smile to appear on his face.