Chapter 2
I sat on the empty bus with the pink envelope in one hand and the silver blister pack beside me.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
PLEASE DON'T LET MARCUS FIND THIS.
Those words kept running through my head.
I'd spent eleven years reminding children not to leave their lunch bags behind.
Now a twelve-year-old girl had left what looked like a plea for help.
And she'd trusted me to find it.
"Arthur?"
Mrs. Coleman was standing in the aisle.
I hadn't heard her approach.
"What did you find?"
I showed her the envelope.
Her expression changed.
"Oh, Lord."
I nodded.
"We need to get this to the school."
She looked toward Maya's house.
"Should we knock?"
"No."
I said it more sharply than I intended.
Then I took a breath.
"Not until we understand what's happening."
Mrs. Coleman nodded.
We returned to Riverside Middle School.
I kept the blister pack in a clean paper envelope, careful not to disturb the tablets.
I also photographed where the items had been found.
The school had procedures for handling suspicious medication and possible student safety concerns.
I intended to follow them.
But I was worried about Maya.
Every minute felt important.
When we reached the school, Nurse Angela Johnson was waiting with Principal Denise Carter.
Both women were Black, experienced educators who knew how to stay calm in difficult situations.
I had never been so grateful to see them.
Angela looked at my hands.
"Is that the medication?"
"Yes."
I placed the protected packet on her desk.
Then I handed Principal Carter the pink envelope.
"I found this underneath Maya's seat too."
She read the writing.
Her expression tightened.
"Has it been opened?"
"No."
She looked at Angela.
Then at me.
"We need to document this."
I nodded.
Principal Carter photographed the envelope and noted where I'd found it.
Then she carefully opened it with another administrator present.
Inside was a folded sheet of notebook paper.
The handwriting was small and shaky.
Principal Carter read silently.
I watched the color leave her face.
"Denise?"
She looked up.
"Arthur, I need you to sit down."
My stomach dropped.
"Just tell me."
She passed me the letter.
I began reading.
Dear Mr. Arthur,
I know you're not supposed to take things from kids, but please keep the silver medicine.
Marcus says I have to give it to Grandma every night.
Sometimes she gets sleepy after she drinks her tea.
He says it's normal.
But Grandma didn't used to sleep like that.
And when she wakes up, she forgets things.
Yesterday, she said she wanted to call somebody.
Marcus got really mad.
I don't know what the medicine is.
Please help me.
Don't tell Marcus I wrote this.
Maya.
I read the letter twice.
Then I noticed the final sentence.
I think he's trying to make Grandma forget where she hid the papers.
I looked at Principal Carter.
"What papers?"
She shook her head.
"We don't know."
Angela was studying the blister pack.
"I can't identify these tablets from appearance alone," she said. "We need a pharmacist or medical professional with the proper information."
I nodded.
Then I pointed to the name.
"Evelyn Parker."
Angela looked troubled.
"That was my aunt."
I stared at her.
"Your aunt?"
She nodded.
"Evelyn raised me after my mother died."
I felt my chest tighten.
"Then why is her name on this medicine?"
Angela swallowed.
"She had prescriptions during her final illness. But that doesn't explain why Maya has a packet."
Principal Carter leaned forward.
"Angela, are you certain your aunt is deceased?"
"Of course."
Angela looked offended for a moment.
Then she understood the question.
"The medication might be old. Or the name might be misleading."
I nodded.
We couldn't assume anything.
But the letter suggested an elderly woman was being given unknown tablets without understanding why.
And Maya believed the medicine was making her confused.
That was enough to take seriously.
Principal Carter immediately contacted the appropriate child protective and adult protective services agencies.
She also called the police non-emergency line to report the suspicious circumstances.
I listened as she explained what we knew.
Only what we knew.
No exaggeration.
No guesses.
When she finished, she turned to me.
"Arthur, have you noticed any other changes in Maya?"
I thought about the past three weeks.
"She's been quieter."
"What else?"
"She stopped sitting with her friends."
Angela wrote notes.
I continued.
"She sometimes looks exhausted. And she keeps checking the time whenever we get near her house."
Principal Carter nodded.
"Anything about Marcus?"
I hesitated.
"He waits outside every afternoon."
"That's not unusual."
"I know."
I looked at the letter.
"But Maya seems frightened when she sees him."
The room went quiet.
Then Angela asked, "Has she ever mentioned a grandmother?"
I frowned.
"Once."
They both looked at me.
"About two weeks ago," I said. "She asked whether old people can suddenly forget someone's name."
Angela's eyes widened.
"What did you tell her?"
"I said memory changes can happen for many reasons and that a doctor should evaluate sudden confusion."
I closed my eyes.
"She asked whether medicine could cause it."
Principal Carter leaned forward.
"And?"
"I told her some medications can affect alertness or memory, but only a qualified clinician could tell her what was happening."
I swallowed.
"She never asked another question."
I felt terrible.
Maybe I should have noticed.
Maybe I should have asked more.
Principal Carter touched my arm.
"Arthur, you listened when she needed you."
I looked away.
But I knew listening wasn't enough anymore.
We had to act.
The responding officer arrived shortly afterward.
His name was Detective Samuel Brooks.
He reviewed the letter and photographed the medication.
He asked where Maya lived.
I gave him the route information through the school's official records.
Then he asked whether Marcus was Maya's legal guardian.
Principal Carter checked the enrollment file.
Her expression changed.
"That's strange."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
She turned the screen toward the detective.
"Marcus isn't listed as Maya's father."
I stared at her.
"Then who is he?"
She looked at the record.
"He's listed as her uncle."
My heart began pounding.
I remembered the first day Maya joined our bus route.
Marcus had introduced himself as her father.
He'd told me he would be collecting her every afternoon.
Now the official records said something different.
Detective Brooks leaned forward.
"Who is her legal guardian?"
Principal Carter read the name.
"Evelyn Parker."
Angela gasped.
I turned toward her.
"What?"
Principal Carter looked at the enrollment date.
"These records were submitted nine months ago."
Angela covered her mouth.
"But my aunt died six months ago."
I stared at the screen.
A dead woman was still listed as Maya's legal guardian.
An unfamiliar man was calling himself her father.
And Maya had written that someone was making her grandmother forget.
Then the detective asked a question that made the room go silent.
"Are we absolutely certain Evelyn Parker is the same person?"
Angela looked up slowly.
"There are two Evelyn Parkers in our family."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
Angela swallowed.
"My aunt Evelyn died."
May you like
Then she looked toward the school records.
"But my grandmother Evelyn is still alive."
