Chapter 4: The Name on the Letter
Marcus read the name three times before he accepted that it was really there.
*Daniel Brooks.*
He stood beside his car in the cool morning air, the letter trembling slightly between his fingers. A neighbor's lawn mower rumbled somewhere down the street. A delivery truck rolled past the house. Ordinary sounds from an ordinary Atlanta morning, continuing as though his entire life hadn't just shifted beneath his feet.
Daniel Brooks was not a stranger.
He was the man who had stood beside Marcus at Renee's funeral. The man who had brought groceries to the house during the first weeks after her death. The man who had helped Marcus repair the nursery window when Imani was a baby, then disappeared from their lives after an argument Marcus had never fully understood.
Daniel was also Renee's older brother.
Marcus looked back at the letter.
Daniel was there the night Imani was born. He knows what happened. I asked him to keep something from you because I was afraid of losing everything we had.
Marcus stopped breathing for a moment.
He read the next paragraph.
I thought I could fix it before you ever needed to know. I was wrong.
The letter ended abruptly, with no explanation of what needed fixing and no clear indication of what Renee had been afraid of losing.
Marcus lowered the paper.
“What did you do, Renee?”” he whispered.
He had spent years remembering his wife as the woman who made pancakes on Saturday mornings, sang off-key while folding laundry, and kissed their daughter's forehead before leaving for work. He remembered the way she laughed when Imani tried to imitate her dance moves. He remembered holding Renee's hand in the hospital, believing they had survived the worst of her illness together.
Now, the letter made those memories feel incomplete.
Not false.
Incomplete.
He returned to the kitchen, carrying the album and envelope.
Imani was sitting beside Caleb, carefully separating the strawberries on her plate into little piles. Caleb watched the doorway anxiously.
“Daddy?”” Imani asked.
Marcus pulled out a chair.
“I'm here, baby.””
“Did you find something?””
“Yes.””
“Is it bad?””
He studied her face. Her deep-brown eyes were wide, but she wasn't crying. She looked like a child who had learned that asking questions could make adults angry, and who was now trying to decide whether she should have asked at all.
Marcus reached across the table and took her hand.
“I don't know yet. But whatever it is, you didn't cause it.””
Imani nodded slowly.
“Okay.””
He looked at Caleb.
“Son, I need you to tell me everything you remember about the documents and the photograph. Don't worry about getting anybody in trouble. I need the truth.””
Caleb put down his fork.
“Tasha had the envelope in her bedroom. I saw it when she was looking for something in her closet.””
“When was that?””
“Maybe two weeks ago.””
“What happened?””
“She dropped a paper. I picked it up because it was near my foot. She took it from me and said it wasn't for kids.””
Marcus nodded.
“Did she say anything else?””
Caleb rubbed the side of his thumb with his other hand.
“She told me that some families had secrets because the truth could break them apart.””
Marcus felt a chill.
“And then?””
“She asked if I loved Imani.””
“Of course you do.””
“I told her yes. Then she said that sometimes loving somebody meant keeping your mouth shut.””
Marcus looked down at the table.
He wanted to ask a hundred more questions, but he could see the strain on Caleb's face. The boy had already carried too much responsibility for something he hadn't created.
“Thank you for telling me,” Marcus said.
“You did the right thing.””
Caleb's shoulders relaxed a fraction.
“Am I going to get in trouble?””
“No.””
“Even though I looked in her room?””
Marcus hesitated.
“We'll talk about privacy another time. But you will never be punished for telling me that someone is hurting your sister.””
Imani reached across the table and squeezed Caleb's hand.
For the first time that morning, the boy smiled.
Marcus waited until the children had finished breakfast before asking Imani whether she remembered Daniel Brooks.
She frowned thoughtfully.
“Uncle Daniel?””
“Yes.””
“He used to bring me books.””
“Do you remember when you last saw him?””
“When I was little. He came to the house, and Mommy was crying.””
Marcus's fingers tightened around his coffee mug.
“Do you remember what they were talking about?””
Imani shook her head.
“Not really. I remember Mommy told him not to say something in front of Daddy.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Did she say anything else?””
Imani's face crumpled with concentration.
“She said, 'You promised me.'' Then Uncle Daniel said, 'I can't keep doing this.''”
Marcus closed his eyes.
He remembered that afternoon.
He had been upstairs, changing out of his work clothes, when he heard voices downstairs. He'd come into the living room to find Daniel standing near the front door and Renee wiping her eyes.
Daniel had left without saying goodbye.
When Marcus asked what happened, Renee told him they had argued about money.
He'd believed her.
He had never asked again.
“Daddy?”” Imani said.
Marcus opened his eyes.
“I'm sorry.””
“For what?””
“For not asking more questions when I should have.””
She looked at him for a moment.
Then she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his arm.
Marcus wrapped her in a hug, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo. He wanted to promise that nothing would ever hurt her again, but he had learned enough that morning to understand how empty such promises could be.
Instead, he held her until she was ready to sit up.
Then he called Daniel.
The number was still saved in his phone, although they hadn't spoken in almost six years.
Daniel answered after the fifth ring.
“Marcus?””
“It's me.””
A long pause followed.
“What's happened?””
Marcus glanced at Renee's letter.
“I found something that belonged to Renee. A letter. It mentions you.””
Daniel said nothing.
“It says you were there the night Imani was born.””
Another pause.
Then Daniel asked quietly, “Where did you find that?””
“That's what you're worried about? Where I found it?””
“Marcus, listen to me—”
“No. You listen to me. I've spent the last seven years raising my daughter without knowing what my wife was trying to tell me.
My son just told me that my wife has been hiding food from my daughter. I found documents with my signature on them that I don't remember signing. And now I have a letter that says you know something about Imani's birth.””
Daniel exhaled shakily.
“I was hoping this day would never come.””
Marcus stood so abruptly that his chair scraped backward.
“You were hoping I'd never find out?””
“That's not what I meant.””
“Then tell me what you meant.””
Daniel was silent long enough for Marcus to hear traffic passing through the phone.
Finally, Daniel said, “I can't explain this over the phone.””
“Why not?””
“Because you deserve to hear it in person.””
“Fine. Come here.””
“Marcus—”
“Today. And don't bring excuses.””
Daniel swallowed audibly.
“There's something else you need to know.””
Marcus's stomach tightened.
“What?””
“Tasha called me last night.””
The room seemed to grow colder.
“What did she say?””
“She said you'd found the envelope.””
Marcus stared at the open kitchen doorway.
“Why would she call you about that?””
“Because she knows what's in it.””
“And what is in it, Daniel?””
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Proof that the story you've been told about the night Imani was born isn't the whole story.””
Marcus gripped the phone.
“Is Imani my daughter?””
The silence that followed was so long Marcus checked the screen to make sure the call hadn't disconnected.
Then Daniel whispered, “Yes. But that's not the question you should be asking.””
Marcus felt his knees weaken.
“What question should I be asking?””
Daniel took a shaky breath.
“Ask yourself why Renee was afraid you'd discover the truth. And ask yourself why Tasha has spent all these years trying to make sure you never did.””
The call ended.
Marcus stood motionless, staring at his phone.
Behind him, Imani laughed softly at something Caleb said. The sound was so ordinary, so completely innocent, that it hurt.
Marcus turned toward the children.
He had spent seven years believing he knew the history of his family.
Now he wasn't even sure he knew the beginning.
May you like
And before Daniel could arrive, Marcus needed to find out what Tasha had been doing with the missing pages of Renee's life.
Because the one person who might have explained everything was the woman who had spent the night trying to convince him that nothing was wrong.
