Chapter 2: The Message on His Phone
“Show me the proof.””
My voice sounded unfamiliar, even to me.
Charles stood beside the fireplace, one hand resting on the mantel. His dark shirt was buttoned to the throat, and the silver watch on his wrist caught a stripe of afternoon sunlight.
He looked composed again.
That was what frightened me.
He could say something that shattered my life and still look like a man waiting for his dinner reservation.
“What proof?”” I demanded.
“You told Jaylen my baby couldn't be yours. Show me what you showed him.””
Charles shook his head.
“This isn't the way to do this.””
“Then tell me the right way.””
“Not in front of everybody.””
I stared at him.
“You had no problem discussing my child with my cousin behind my back. You had no problem sending him to take my baby away from me. But now you want privacy?””
Letreya folded her arms.
“Charles, you said you had proof.””
He turned toward her.
“I said there were things that didn't add up.””
“No,” Jaylen interrupted.
“You said you had a message that proved she was lying.””
Charles's eyes narrowed.
“You need to be careful about what you claim I said.””
Jaylen looked down at his phone.
“Then maybe we should all read it.””
“Put that away,” Charles ordered.
Jaylen's thumb stopped moving.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Tiana stepped closer to him.
“Jaylen, what did he send you?””
He looked at her, and something softened in his expression.
“Tiana, I was trying to keep this from turning into something ugly.””
“It's already ugly,” she replied.
“My sister is standing here shaking with a baby in her arms because you thought kidnapping him was a reasonable solution.””
“I didn't kidnap him.””
“You took a baby from his mother without her permission. Call it whatever you want.””
Jaylen flinched.
I wanted to feel satisfied that someone else was finally saying what I had been screaming all morning.
Instead, I felt exhausted.
My son stirred against my chest, his tiny fingers opening and closing against the fabric of my blouse. I adjusted his blanket and kissed his cheek.
“It's okay, baby,” I whispered.
But it wasn't okay.
Nothing had been okay for months.
When I first met Charles, I was twenty-six and working as an administrative coordinator at a medical office outside Atlanta. He was a contractor who came in to discuss renovations for one of the clinic's buildings.
He had gray beginning to show at his temples, a calm voice, and the kind of confidence that made people turn toward him when he entered a room.
He told me he was married on our third conversation.
I remembered because he said it without hesitation.
“I'm not going to lie to you, Jamiya,” he had told me in the parking lot.
“My marriage has been over for a long time. We're still under the same roof, but we're not living as husband and wife.””
I should have walked away.
Instead, I listened when he told me about the loneliness, the arguments, the years of trying to save something that had already died.
He made himself sound trapped.
He made himself sound honest.
And when he told me he wanted a future with me, I believed him.
When I discovered I was pregnant, I was terrified.
Charles held my hands across my kitchen table and promised he would tell Letreya.
“I won't let you face this alone,” he said.
“You can't keep asking me to wait,” I told him.
“This is a baby, Charles. Not a secret you can put in a drawer.””
He squeezed my fingers.
“I know. Give me a little time.””
That little time became weeks.
Weeks became months.
Then my son arrived, and Charles held him for the first time in the back room of my apartment while I watched tears slip down his face.
“He has your eyes,” Charles whispered.
I laughed through my own tears.
“Everybody says newborns don't look like anybody yet.””
Charles touched the baby's tiny hand.
“Then I'll wait until he does.””
He kissed my forehead and promised he would make everything right.
I had believed him.
Now I stood in his wife's living room, wondering whether any part of those promises had ever been real.
“Jamiya.””
Tiana's voice brought me back.
She was looking at me with tears in her eyes.
“Sit down, okay? You're shaking.””
“I don't want to sit down. I want answers.””
“I know.””
She touched my shoulder gently, then turned to Charles.
“Show us the message.””
Charles let out a frustrated breath.
“You people are making assumptions about something you don't understand.””
“Then explain it,” Letreya said.
He looked at his wife.
“Letreya, I can explain this to you later.””
“No,” she said.
“You don't get to decide when I deserve answers. You told me Jamiya was making everything up. You told me there was no reason to believe that child was yours.””
“I said I had doubts.””
“You told me you had proof.””
Charles's jaw flexed.
For the first time, Letreya looked less angry with me than with him.
“Show me the message, Charles.””
He reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and unlocked it.
I stepped closer.
My heart hammered as he scrolled through his messages. He hesitated before opening a conversation with Jaylen.
There it was.
A message sent at 11:47 p.m. the previous night.
Charles had written:
If she comes tomorrow, don't let her bring the baby into this house. She knows what she's doing. The dates don't match, and I have something that proves it. Keep the child away until I can deal with this.
Below it, Jaylen had replied:
Are you sure? That's your son if the dates she told us are right.
Charles's answer was short.
The dates aren't right.
I read the exchange twice.
Then a third time.
“The dates,” I whispered.
Charles locked his phone.
“That's all you need to know.””
“No,” I said.
“It's not.””
He shook his head.
“You told me you were pregnant in March.””
“I told you in March that I had taken a test. I told you the doctor estimated my due date after the ultrasound. You were there when I went to the appointment.””
“I wasn't at every appointment.””
“You were at the first one.””
“And the dates changed.””
“By four days!””
My voice echoed through the room.
Tiana's eyes widened.
“Four days?””
“Yes,” I said.
“The doctor explained that estimates can change. Charles knew that. He was standing right beside me.””
Letreya slowly turned toward her husband.
“Then why did you tell Jaylen the dates proved the baby wasn't yours?””
Charles put his phone away.
“Because the dates aren't the only issue.””
“What other issue?”” I demanded.
He didn't answer.
I took a step toward him.
“Tell me.””
He glanced at the baby.
For one brief second, something like tenderness crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
“I don't know whether that child is mine.””
The words landed harder than a slap.
I looked down at my son, at the soft curls against his scalp and the little mouth that had fallen open in sleep.
“He's your child,” I said.
Charles's expression remained guarded.
“You keep saying that as if repeating it makes it true.””
I felt the room tilt.
Tiana grabbed my elbow.
“Charles, that's enough.””
“No,” I whispered.
“Let him finish.””
Charles looked at me.
“You want the truth? Fine. I have reason to believe you were seeing someone else when you got pregnant.””
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Someone else?””
He nodded once.
“Someone who could be the father.””
I searched his face for the man who had held my son and promised to protect us.
I couldn't find him.
“Who?”” I asked.
Charles looked toward Jaylen.
And my cousin, who had been silent for most of the conversation, suddenly went pale.
“Charles,” Jaylen said, barely above a whisper, “don't.””
My stomach tightened.
“Don't what?””
Jaylen took a step backward.
Charles's face hardened.
“Tell her what you told me last night.””
Jaylen shook his head.
“I can't.””
“Tell her!””
My baby startled at the raised voice and began to cry.
I rocked him instinctively, murmuring softly until his cries weakened into little hiccups.
Then I looked at Jaylen.
“Why would Charles think you know who my baby's father is?””
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Jaylen's eyes filled with tears.
“Because,” he whispered, “I was there the night everything happened.””
