Chapter 2: The Second Page
I didn't tell Aaliyah anything that afternoon.
I smiled for photographs.
I hugged her.
I held the flowers while she posed in her graduation gown.
I even laughed when she complained that her cap kept slipping sideways.
All the while, the folded DNA report burned against the inside pocket of my jacket.
My mother's name was on the second page.
Evelyn Hale.
My mother had been dead for seven years.
There was no way she could explain what I was looking at.
At least, that was what I told myself.
The graduation ceremony ended around five.
By six, the parking lot was almost empty.
Aaliyah climbed into my car beside me.
Renee and Derek followed in a separate vehicle.
Aaliyah looked at me.
“You've been weird all afternoon.””
I started the engine.
“Long day.””
“Dad.””
I glanced at her.
She gave me the look.
The one she'd used since she was a teenager.
The look that meant she wasn't buying anything.
“What?””
“Something happened.””
“No.””
“You're lying.””
“I’m not.””
“You are terrible at it.””
Despite everything, I smiled.
“You've known that for twenty-two years?””
“Ten years,” she corrected.
“Right.””
She leaned back.
“Are you mad at Derek?””
I tightened my hands around the steering wheel.
“No.””
“Do you not like him?””
“That's complicated.””
“Everything is complicated with you.””
“Maybe because you ask complicated questions.””
She smiled.
Then she became serious.
“Did Renee say something?””
I said nothing.
Aaliyah turned toward me.
“Dad?””
I hated that one word could still make me feel twelve different emotions at once.
“Renee and I have something to discuss.””
“About me?””
“Partly.””
She stared through the windshield.
“Is it bad?””
I wanted to say no.
Instead I said, “I don't know yet.””
She nodded slowly.
Then she reached over and touched my hand.
“Whatever it is, you're still my dad.””
I nearly pulled the car over.
Instead I swallowed.
“Yeah.””
She smiled.
“Good.””
At home, Aaliyah went upstairs to change.
I sat alone at the kitchen table.
The house looked exactly the same as it had that morning.
Her graduation announcements were stacked beside the fruit bowl.
A framed picture of her at seventeen sat on the counter.
On the refrigerator was a magnet from the college she had just graduated from.
Everything looked normal.
That made it worse.
Renee arrived twenty minutes later.
Derek came with her.
I opened the door.
“You brought him?””
Renee shook her head.
“He insisted.””
Derek walked inside.
“Because this involves me.””
I shut the door.
“Then start talking.””
Derek looked toward the staircase.
“Aaliyah upstairs?””
“Yes.””
“Good.””
“Why?””
He hesitated.
“Because she shouldn't hear this yet.””
My jaw tightened.
“You're not deciding what she hears.””
“No,” Derek said.
“But you need to know what you're dealing with before you tell her.””
I stepped closer.
“What I'm dealing with?””
Renee put a hand on Derek's arm.
“Please.””
He looked at her.
“You promised.””
Her face tightened.
“I remember.””
“What promise?”” I demanded.
Neither answered.
I pulled the DNA report from my jacket and slapped it onto the table.
“You want to explain this?””
Derek looked down.
His expression changed.
“You got the second page.””
“Someone sent it to me.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
Renee sat down.
“Marcus, there are things about Aaliyah's birth that I never told you.””
“That's obvious.””
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
She looked at Derek.
“Of him.””
Derek's eyes hardened.
“You're blaming me?””
“You threatened me.””
“I was twenty-four.””
“You threatened me with a gun.””
I stepped between them.
“Enough.””
Renee looked at me.
“I met Derek when I was twenty-three. He was charming. He was reckless. And I thought I could handle him.””
Derek looked away.
“We were together for less than a year.””
“And Aaliyah?””
Renee nodded.
“I found out I was pregnant.””
I felt my pulse in my ears.
“Did Derek know?””
“He knew.””
Derek spoke quietly.
“I didn't believe the baby was mine.””
Renee looked at him.
“You didn't want her.””
“That isn't true.””
“You disappeared.””
“I was afraid.””
“You disappeared.””
Derek's voice cracked.
“I was afraid I was going to ruin her life.””
I stared at him.
“You don't get to call abandoning a child protection.””
He didn't answer.
Renee folded her hands.
“When Aaliyah was born, Derek came back.””
“Why?””
“He wanted a paternity test.””
I looked at the report.
“So you tested him.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
Renee shook her head.
“He wasn't the father.””
Derek stared at the floor.
“I left again.””
I felt something inside me loosen.
That part at least made sense.
Derek wasn't Aaliyah's biological father.
But then why was my name on the test?
And why was my mother's name there?
I pointed at the report.
“Where did my name come from?””
Renee closed her eyes.
“That is what I don't understand.””
“You said you found this.””
“I found it in an old file.””
“Where?””
“My mother's house.””
“Your mother?””
“Yes.””
“What would my DNA report be doing in your mother's house?””
Renee didn't answer.
I felt the first real wave of fear.
“Renee.””
She looked up.
“My mother knew your mother.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“They worked together.””
“Where?””
“At St. Catherine's.””
The room seemed to shrink.
St. Catherine's.
I hadn't heard that name in years.
My mother had worked there before I was born.
She rarely talked about it.
Whenever I asked, she would say, “That was a long time ago.””
I sat down.
“What did they do?””
“Records.””
I frowned.
“Medical records?””
Renee nodded.
“Birth records too.””
I looked at the report again.
The date.
The names.
My mother's name.
“Why would my mother be involved in Aaliyah's DNA test?””
Renee whispered, “Because she was there when Aaliyah was born.””
My head snapped up.
“That’s impossible.””
“She told me she was.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your mother asked me not to.””
My heart began pounding.
“My mother knew about Aaliyah?””
“Yes.””
“Before I met her?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Renee's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.””
I stood.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“You've had ten years to tell me this.””
“I was afraid.””
“Everyone is afraid!””
My voice echoed through the kitchen.
Upstairs, a floorboard creaked.
Aaliyah.
I lowered my voice.
“Keep your voice down.””
Derek looked at me.
“This is bigger than you think.””
I turned on him.
“You don't get to say that after disappearing for sixteen years.””
“I know.””
“Do you?””
“Yes.””
His eyes were wet.
“I know exactly what I did.””
For the first time, I saw something in his face other than arrogance.
Regret.
Real regret.
But I wasn't ready to forgive him.
Not yet.
I looked at Renee.
“Who was the man on the original test?””
She hesitated.
“What man?””
“You said my name was on the report. But you also said Derek had a paternity test.””
“Yes.””
“Then there should be two names.””
“There were.””
“Who?””
She looked at the staircase.
“Marcus…”
“Who?””
Her voice dropped.
“Your father.””
I couldn't move.
“My father?””
Samuel Hale.
Dead twenty-six years.
Before Aaliyah was born.
Before I met Renee.
Before any of this.
I shook my head.
“No.””
Renee began crying.
“I found the original report.””
“Where?””
“In a locked box.””
“Whose?””
“Your mother's.””
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
This time from the same unknown number.
*Ask Renee why Evelyn Hale was present the night Aaliyah was born.*
I looked at Renee.
She saw the message over my shoulder.
Her face went white.
“Who is that?””
“I don't know.””
Derek reached for my phone.
I pulled it away.
“Don't.””
“I need to see it.””
“No.””
He stared at me.
“Marcus, listen to me. Whoever sent that knows more than we do.””
“How would you know?””
“Because I got the same messages.””
I froze.
“What?””
Derek slowly pulled out his phone.
There were three unread messages.
The first contained a photograph of Aaliyah as a newborn.
The second contained a photograph of my mother.
The third was just one sentence.
Derek handed me the phone.
I read it.
*The girl you abandoned was never the child you thought she was.*
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?””
Derek whispered, “I don't know.””
Renee stood abruptly.
“I need to tell you something else.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She wiped her cheeks.
“The name on that first DNA test…”
She stopped.
A loud crash came from upstairs.
We all turned.
“Aaliyah?””
I ran up the stairs.
Her bedroom door was open.
The window was wide.
Her graduation gown lay on the floor.
Her phone was on the bed.
May you like
And beside it was a small brown envelope.
My name was written across the front in my mother's handwriting.
