I sat against the red and brown brick wall outside the police station, knees tucked into

my chest. My heavy breaths clouded in front of me as the cold winter air bit my skin,

making my fingers numb. But I didn't care. The cold air provided me with the only sense

of peace that I could find right now. Just yesterday I was a normal teenage kid living

a normal teenage life with normal parents who loved me. Today, everything I thought I

knew about my life was shattered.

My family, the antennas, always boasted proud Russian heritage. My grandparents on both

sides of the family migrated from the USSR when they were just children. My father always

told me dramatic versions of the stories of his grandfather, Maxim Antonov. Maxim migrated

to the United States with his family, only 6 dollars 55 in his pocket. However, we knew

very little about our family genealogy past Maxim, thanks to their town being completely

destroyed in the war.

With all these new DNA genealogy tests now readily available, I thought it would be fun

to surprise my parents by getting a more detailed picture of our true ancestry. I researched

these test kits for hours and I was amazed. I just knew my parents would love this, so

I secretly purchased the test kit with the money I made, raking leaves and shoveling snow.

I went to the store with my cash and change. I handed the cash here my wrinkly disorganized

bills, mostly with 5's, 10's and 1 to them. The boy cashier gave me a noticeable

sigh, but counted the money out anyway, before handing me a receipt and a small firm box.

Out of the box, I pulled a small tube and sterile packaging. I filled the tube to the line

with clear, bubbly spit. Then I sealed the enclosed, pre-label box and dropped it off

of the nearest blue postal drop box. The results took a long time. I checked my email regularly,

...