In one of the most improbable reunions, Carla Rhodes, who was kidnapped almost seven years ago is finally reunited with her family a day before her 21st birthday.
{Cut to pre-recorded footage}
It was almost 7 years ago, when Carla Rhodes, this beautiful young 14 year old girl was kidnapped from this quiet neighborhood while on her way to school that morning. She was the subject of a manhunt that spanned 4 states and drew national attention. The two suspects, Greg and Marvin Centers were apprehended just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, but there was no trace of Carla. They were later found dead in their jail cells after apparently hanging themselves with their shoelaces. No foul play is suspected in their deaths, leaving many to wonder what happened to this 14 year old angel.
{Cut back to the live shot}
At this time, we have no information on where Carla was held this past 7 years or how she was discovered. The police and the FBI are going to hold a press conference tomorrow morning. We have footage of Carla being reunited with her Father, Aaron Rhodes, early this morning. The mother and teenage son were not home at the time of Carla’s return.
Live from just outside the home the Rhodes family, I’m Laurel Street. For KALF news. Back to you in the studio, Barbara.

Earlier that afternoon…

“Xander?!?!?”

“Honey, this is your sister, Angela, Angie for short.” Dad tries to introduce me, their youngest daughter, to their prodigal daughter, Carla.

I couldn’t move. The strength in my legs left after I saw my sister turn from a hug from my mom to face me. I’m on the ground and my dad realizing my distress rushes over to my side.

Carla is frozen as well. “What?” she’s shaking now. “Why? How? I mean, My sister? Xander? Mom what the hell is going on?” She turns to my mom, our mom, with a questioning look.

“It’s true honey. She’s your sister now.” Mom begins to move towards Carla who now retreats. Mom’s face shutters a bit at Carla recoiling.

“She looks like me.” Carla’s disdain is now apparent. “Is this freak supposed to be ‘my replacement’?” She spits out angrily. “You didn’t have me around so you turned your only son into... what... a substitute for me?” The venom was directed at my parents, though I was the first to resume my tears. “What sick game is this? I didn’t expect to come home to two parent that would do that to their only son!” pointing at me. “This is not happening… This is not happening…” Carla repeats she makes her way to the couch. “I’ve been through hell for the last 7 years and my sick, twisted parents turn my brother into another daughter? There’s got to be a law against this, child endangerment or something.” She’s muttering to herself.

Dad is hugging me trying to console me as I’m crying at being spurned by my own sister.

“That’s enough Carla. Look at what you are doing to your sister.” Mom says sternly.

“What I’m doing to my ‘Sister’? Are you people insane? Look at what you’ve done to my BROTHER! This crying, little, 'nothing' is supposed to be your daughter? I that what I would have grown up to be- living here?”

“Enough Carla! Aaron, why don’t you take Angie to her room while we talk this over calmly.”

“She… hates… me, Mmmmy… sister… hates… me…”, I stammer as I resume crying. Dad picks me up and carries me upstairs to my room.

He sets me down on my bed and pulls a couple of tissues from the box on my vanity next to the door. He hands the tissues to me as I’m sobbing. “Carla hates me.” All those years, I had wished for the day my sister would return. All the nights, I spent praying that God would someday return my sister to me. I thought of how excited I would be to finally have my big sister back. We’d do all the things that I saw my friends do with their older sisters as they got older. I thought how we would share our deepest thoughts with each other. “She hates me…” My heart erupted in pain.

“It’s okay princess, she doesn’t really hate you.”

“Yes, she does Daddy.”

“She’s just angry and confused. She’ll come around and she’ll hate you for other reasons…” he says with a smile.

Just for a moment I let out a giggle in-between my sobbing. How does he do that? Daddy seems to always be the one to pull me out of my malaise. I love him for that. A few more minutes I've calmed down.

“Are you going to be okay pumpkin?”

I look up at him, “Yes daddy.” I say smiling with tears still streaming down.

He stands and kisses me on the crown of my head. “That’s my girl. I’ll be back up here to check on you later okay sweetheart?”

“Daddy?”

“Yes, princess?”

“I love you.”

“love you too baby girl.” He closes the door behind him as he leaves.

After sitting for a few minutes, not hearing anything from downstairs, I lethargically strip off my blazer, skirt and blouse and pull on my sweatpants and hoodie. I hang my clothes back into the closet and place my earrings and bracelet in the jewelry box on my vanity. I leave my locket on as I stare at my sister’s photo inside it next to my own.

I’m on my bed reading a magazine on my tablet when there’s a knock on the door.

Before I can answer the door opens and Carla peeks her head in. “Mind if I come in?” she says sheepishly.

“Fine, it was your room before anyway.” I’m sad and angry right now. Her words which had deadened a few minutes ago, reassert themselves into my mind.

Carla walks in and sits on the far corner of my bed. “I love what you’ve done with the place.”

“What do you want…” I sneer back at her, prepared for another verbal assault.

“I’m sorry, I… I just wasn’t expecting to find that I have a younger sister.”

The thoughts in my head of what she might have been through in the last seven years have begun to tamp down my anger.

I begin staring out the window at the moon. “I used to pray every night that you would come home safe so we could be a family again.” The tears in my eyes begin to well up again.

“I know, I wished for a long time for the same thing.”

“It’s been so hard not having you around. When you were gone… I… I had nobody… Mom and Dad were there, but they weren’t at the same time.”

“I know, it was rough for me too. You did grow up to be every bit as pretty as me though.” She says with a smile.

“Where were you? What happened?”

“It’s a painful story to tell. Can I take a raincheck? I’m not ready to tell it.”

“I understand. Someday perhaps?”

“Someday.”

“So, Angela is it?”

“Everyone calls me Angie.” I smile.

“Oh yeah? Who’s everyone?”

“My friends, almost all the family knows by now. I’ve had all summer to bring them up to speed.”

“So, you’re a Junior now?”

“In high school, yes. Sophomore year was tough though.”

“So, does my sister have a boyfriend?”

“No, mom won’t let me date… She probably won’t let me date until I’m in college now that I’m a ‘young lady’. It used to be I couldn’t date until I’m a junior. Her tune changed when she finally saw me as Angela for the first time.”

“Bet she must have gone ballistic.”

“What?”

“Sorry, she must have been out of her mind.”

“Oh! she freaked out actually. You should have seen her face when the first of a series of boys came over to ask me out on a date. I think it started last year.” I say with a giggle.

“What about dad. I can’t imagine that went over well with his 'pride and joy' suddenly becoming his little girl.”

“Pride and Joy? Are you kidding me? He didn’t warm up to me until I was Angela. I think he loved you more. You were Daddy’s little girl.”

“Sounds like you’ve inherited the title.”

“Nope… I’m his ‘baby girl’.” I beam with pride.

“So, what’s the story? How did you go from my skeevy little brother to my beautiful little sister?”

“I don’t know, I guess I was always your little sister. As far back as I can remember. I just hated being a boy.”

“Don’t tell me you were one of those that 'snuck into their sister's closet' to pilfer items of clothing.”

I sigh. “Most of your clothes went to the attic 5 years ago. Vanessa, Rhonda and Sherry were the ones that got me my first outfits until I got my job.”

“Did Mom and Dad buy girl clothes for you?”

“Not a chance. I got a work permit at 15 ½ by then I was already buying my own clothes and have been a retail princess for the last year and a half. I get a discount if you’re interested.” I say with a grin.

“And the store is okay with you really being a boy…”

“Well, the store managers know because they have to but, they’re great about it. I pull in the most sales.”
“My sister, the queen of retail, huh…”

She stands up and begins looking around my room. There are tons of photos of me and my friends.

“So, tell me about your friends.”

“What’s there to tell.”

“Well for one thing you are or were a boy. Nearly all of these pictures show you as a girl. How long have you been dressing as a girl?

“Since I was 12. Well, in secret that is. I was caught by mom and dad when I was 13. They got me into therapy, thinking it was a reaction to you going missing. It took months to convince them it had nothing to do with you. They actually had me on hormone blockers since I was 14. I just started taking estrogen a few months ago. I began seeing a second therapist about a month ago for a second opinion.”

“What about the kids at school. Didn’t they bully you?”

“That’s where Mom and Dad drew the line. I was not allowed to go to school as a girl. Which really sucked for me. I would run to Vanessa’s after school to go change there. But thankfully, that’s all over. I get to go to school as Angela now.”

“What? How?”

“Well one of the school board members has a transgendered son who goes to a local elementary. Dad knows her and asked her if she could help with my situation.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope! Come August 28th there will be no more ‘Alexander Rhodes’ and it will be officially Angela Lynn Rhodes.

“Lynn?”

“Mom’s idea. She said if she ‘was going to have a daughter instead of a son that she at least wanted a hand in naming her.’ ”

“Are those mom’s diamond earring?” Spying the earrings I had just placed into my jewelry box.

“No, they’re mine. She did get them for my sweet sixteen birthday party. She still has the set, her set, she was going to give to you. She didn’t want me to have them. As much as it hurt, I think she held on to them because she knew you would come back some day.”

“Is this the sweet sixteen?” She pulls a photo from my vanity mirror.

“Oh god!” I get flushed. Holding up my hand to shield myself from the photo. “I didn’t pick the dress. Mom did! I looked horrible in it.”

“It looks lovely, and you look lovely wearing it.”

“I wish I had you there to help pick out a better dress for me. Or at least run interference with Mom.” She giggles and sets the photo back on the vanity mirror.

“And who’s this?” I wince as she uses the photo to fan herself. “He’s cute.”

“Ugh. Robbie Barnes. I can’t believe I kissed that ‘frog’.”

“So, he didn’t turn into a prince?”

“No, but he bragged about kissing a 'princess' to his friends for the next month. Well, until they let him know it was me.”

She looks over and sees a set of pompoms on the chair. “Oh! tell me you’re not a cheerleader.”

“I’m NOT a cheerleader.”

“What a relief.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know it’s just I’m glad you’re not. Why do you have these anyway?” She asks holding up my pompoms and shaking them mockingly.

“They were a present.”

“A present?”

“From Cindy McAllister, she was the head cheerleader. I became an honorary cheerleader when I saved Nikki Price from drowning a few years back.”

“Wait! Cindy McAllister, as in my old best friend, Cindy McAllister?”

“That’s the one!”

“She made head cheerleader?”

“Oh! she’s pretty now. Nothing like the awkward teenager you remember. She’s married and goes to UC San Diego. She’s an Econ major, I think.”

Carla looks down at the pompoms give them a shake with a sad look on her face. She sets them down on the floor and sits on the chair where they sat. She pulls Mr. Nibbles, my teddy bear out of the chair and takes his place. She looks around the room focusing on nothing in particular. “God, I missed so much of your life. So much of my life.” She’s hugging Mr. Nibbles now. I get off my bed and walk towards her as she beings to sob. I pull her up from the chair and into the hug I’ve been waiting almost long 7 years to give.

“Carla?”

“Ya, sis?” she says sadly.

“Are you okay? I mean, with me as your sister? and not as your brother?”

“I think so Angie.”

“I love you, sis.”

“Love you too! Ang?”

“Yeah?”

“I can I have my room back?” She looks at me with a hopeful smile.

I smile back a her. “Not a chance, Sis! Not a chance!”