Chapter 4: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
For several seconds, Malcolm couldn't speak.
His phone pressed against his ear. Across the living room, Margaret stood frozen beside the coffee table, the third page of Rebecca's letter trembling between her fingers.
Tasha was still crying.
“Say that again,” Malcolm demanded.
“Malcolm, please. You have to understand that I was trying to protect you.””
“Protect me from what? You just told me my father was alive when Rebecca died.””
“I didn't say he was alive now.””
“You said he was alive when she died!””
“Because he was.””
Malcolm gripped the edge of the table.
“My father died twenty-one years ago. I attended his funeral. I watched them lower his casket into the ground.””
“I know what you remember.””
“Then explain how both things can be true!””
Tasha let out a shaky breath.
“I can't explain everything over the phone. You need to come home.””
“No. You're going to explain it now.””
“Malcolm, your mother is listening, isn't she?””
He glanced at Margaret.
“Yes.””
“Then you need to ask her why Rebecca kept that photograph. Ask her what happened at the hospital the night you were born.””
Margaret's face went white.
Malcolm noticed.
“Mom?””
She didn't answer.
On the phone, Tasha continued, “I have tried to live with this family without dragging the past into everything. But your mother has always hated me because I know things she doesn't want anyone to know.””
Malcolm's jaw tightened.
“You took five hundred dollars meant for my son. You let him go without food and school supplies. And now you're trying to blame my mother?””
“I never left Isaiah without food!””
“Then why did he come to Grandma's house hungry?””
“Because he's manipulative! He knows exactly how to make people feel sorry for him.””
Margaret stepped forward.
“Don't you dare call that child manipulative.””
Tasha heard her.
“See? That's exactly what I mean. Neither of you will ever listen to me.””
Malcolm closed his eyes.
“I'm coming home. Don't touch any documents, and don't move anything from the house.””
“Malcolm—”
He ended the call.
For a moment, the room remained silent except for the ticking of the old wall clock.
Then Margaret whispered, “There's something I need to tell you.””
Malcolm turned toward her.
“What happened at the hospital?””
She looked at the photograph again.
“I was there when you were born. Your father, Daniel, arrived late that night. He had been traveling for work. He went into the maternity ward, held you for a few minutes, and left.””
“That's not what I asked.””
“I know.””
Margaret lowered herself onto the sofa.
“The next morning, your father told me there had been a complication with the paperwork. He said the hospital had made a mistake on one of the forms. I never understood what he meant.””
“What kind of mistake?””
“He wouldn't explain. He said it was something between him and Rebecca's family.””
Malcolm stared at her.
“You knew there was a problem, and you never asked?””
“I asked! Daniel told me that if I wanted to keep our family together, I should stop questioning things I couldn't understand.””
She pressed a hand to her chest.
“I was young, Malcolm. I was frightened of losing my husband. I convinced myself there was nothing serious.””
Malcolm looked away.
It was easier to be angry at his mother than to admit that the foundation of his entire life might be cracking.
“Did you ever see Rebecca's brother again?”” he asked.
“No. Not until your father's funeral. He stood near the back of the church. Daniel's relatives called him David, but your father never introduced him to me.””
“And nobody questioned why Rebecca supposedly had no siblings?””
“Your father said her family had disowned her. He said she had been raised by relatives after her parents died.””
Malcolm sank into a chair.
“Everything is a lie.””
Margaret reached for his hand.
“Not everything. I know that you are my son. I know that I love you. And I know Rebecca loved Isaiah.””
He pulled his hand away, not because he didn't want her comfort, but because he couldn't bear the thought that even the most certain things in his life might have been built around secrets.
“I'm going home,” he said.
“Malcolm, be careful.””
He picked up the photograph and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
“If Tasha knows something about my father, I'm going to find out what it is.””
Tasha was waiting in the kitchen when Malcolm arrived.
She had changed clothes and washed her face. A pot of soup simmered on the stove, and two of her children's drawings had been arranged neatly on the refrigerator.
It looked like an ordinary evening.
That made Malcolm angrier.
“Where are the bank documents?”” he asked.
Tasha continued stirring the soup.
“Hello to you, too.””
“Where are they?””
“In the home office.””
“Don't touch them.””
She set down the spoon.
“You're acting like I'm some kind of criminal.””
“Then stop giving me reasons to investigate you.””
Her expression hardened.
“You've spent the entire day with your mother, haven't you? She finally showed you Rebecca's little envelope.””
Malcolm stared at her.
“How do you know about the envelope?””
“Because Rebecca told me she had written a letter.””
“You said you barely knew her.””
“I lied.””
The admission was so casual that Malcolm almost failed to understand it.
“You lied about knowing my first wife?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because she was obsessed with your family history, and I didn't want to get dragged into it.””
“What family history?””
Tasha folded her arms.
“Daniel had another life before he married your mother.””
“Everyone has a life before marriage.””
“Not like his.””
She walked to the kitchen window and pulled the curtain aside.
“Your father was involved with Rebecca's mother long before Daniel met Margaret. Rebecca was born from that relationship.””
Malcolm stared at her.
“That's impossible. Rebecca was younger than me by three years.””
“Your father wasn't just involved with her mother. He had another child, too. A son.””
Malcolm felt the room tilt.
“The man in the photograph?””
Tasha turned sharply.
“You saw the photograph?””
“Answer me.””
She looked at him for a long moment.
“Yes. His name was David. Rebecca's half brother.””
“And why was he at the hospital when I was born?””
“Because he was trying to stop Daniel from doing something terrible.””
“What?””
Tasha opened her mouth.
Then she closed it again.
Malcolm stepped closer.
“What did my father do?””
“I don't know everything.””
“Stop lying!””
She flinched.
For the first time since he'd known her, Tasha looked genuinely afraid of him.
“Daniel made arrangements with someone at the hospital,” she whispered.
“There were documents that were never supposed to be found. Rebecca discovered them years later.””
“What documents?””
“Birth records. Financial records. Things that proved Daniel had been paying someone to keep a secret.””
“Whose secret?””
Tasha looked toward the hallway, where her children were watching television.
Then she lowered her voice.
“Yours.””
Malcolm's heart hammered.
“My birth records are normal.””
“Are they?””
He remembered the photograph. The hospital bracelet. Rebecca's warning.
He remembered his mother saying Daniel had left the maternity ward and refused to explain a paperwork mistake.
“Where is David now?”” he asked.
Tasha shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“That's convenient.””
“I haven't seen him in years. The last time I heard from him, he told me to stay away from Rebecca's family.””
“Why?””
“Because he believed someone was watching her.””
Malcolm stared at his wife.
“Someone who?””
Tasha's eyes filled again.
“I thought if I married you, I could finally put all of this behind me.””
The words struck him harder than anything else she'd said.
“You married me because of my family?””
“No!””
“Then why did you hide your connection to Rebecca?””
“Because I was afraid!””
“Of whom?””
She opened her mouth, but before she could answer, a small voice came from the doorway.
“Mom?””
Tasha spun around.
Tyler stood there in his pajamas, holding a glass of water.
“Who is David?””
Tasha's face changed instantly.
“Go back to your room.””
“But I heard you talking about Uncle David.””
Malcolm went completely still.
Tasha crossed the kitchen and took her son by the shoulders.
“You heard nothing. Do you understand?””
Tyler looked frightened.
“Mom, he called me last week.””
The glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
Tasha released him.
Malcolm stared at the boy.
“Tyler, what did he say?””
Tyler's eyes moved between his mother and stepfather.
“He said he was coming to get something that belonged to Isaiah.””
Tasha whispered, “No.””
Tyler began to cry.
“He said Grandma Margaret would know where it was.””
Malcolm turned toward his wife.
But Tasha was no longer looking at him.
She was staring at the broken glass, her lips moving silently.
May you like
Then she whispered four words.
“He found the other file.””
