Chapter 7
The next Monday, Daddy and I returned to our house.
Not to live there yet.
Only to collect my belongings while the legal arrangements were being handled.
Aunt Denise came with us.
So did a professional moving company.
Vanessa had been notified through the attorneys.
She wasn't supposed to be there.
Still, my stomach hurt when Daddy opened the front door.
The balloons were gone.
The birthday cake had disappeared.
Only a few colorful ribbons remained near the fireplace.
I stood in the entrance, remembering Vanessa dragging me across the floor.
Daddy knelt beside me.
"Do you want to go inside?"
I looked at the staircase.
Then at his face.
"Will you stay with me?"
"Every second."
I took his hand.
We went upstairs together.
My bedroom door was closed.
I hesitated before opening it.
Inside, everything looked different.
My bedspread had been removed.
The bookshelf was almost empty.
A large cardboard box sat in the middle of the floor.
Written across it were two words.
MAYA'S JUNK.
I stopped breathing.
Daddy saw the box.
His face tightened.
Aunt Denise opened it.
Inside were my books.
My stuffed animals.
School drawings.
And the birthday cards Mommy had written to me.
Several were bent.
One had a torn corner.
I rushed forward.
"No!"
I pulled out the little pink rabbit Mommy had bought me when I was four.
Its ear was ripped.
I hugged it tightly.
Daddy looked devastated.
"I'm so sorry."
I shook my head.
"She said nobody wanted my things."
Aunt Denise crouched beside me.
"Well, she was wrong."
She carefully took the broken rabbit.
"I know someone who can fix this ear."
I looked at her.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
For the first time that morning, I smiled.
The movers packed my belongings carefully.
Daddy checked every drawer.
When he opened the bottom drawer of my dresser, he found a small notebook.
He handed it to me.
"Is this yours?"
I nodded.
It was my diary.
I hadn't seen it in months.
Vanessa had taken it after catching me writing about Mommy.
I opened the first page.
Then froze.
Several pages had been torn out.
Daddy noticed.
"What happened?"
"Vanessa said I wrote too many lies about her."
His jaw tightened.
"Do you remember what you wrote?"
I nodded.
I remembered everything.
The night she locked me outside for spilling juice.
The time she refused to let me call Daddy.
The afternoon she threw away my lunch because Chloe wanted my sandwich.
Daddy sat beside me.
"Would you like to tell someone about those things?"
I looked at him.
"Will you believe me?"
His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
I swallowed.
"Even if Vanessa says I'm lying?"
"Yes, Maya."
I began telling him.
And this time, he listened to every word.
Later, Daddy arranged for me to share the relevant memories with Dr. Price and the investigators in a setting that wouldn't make me repeat them unnecessarily.
My father also showed the diary to our attorney.
The lawyer explained that the information could matter in the family court proceedings.
I didn't care about the legal words.
I cared that someone finally believed me.
When we finished packing, I walked into Mommy's old room.
Vanessa had turned it into a dressing room.
The walls had been repainted.
Her makeup covered the vanity.
Her clothes filled the closet.
But one thing remained.
A small framed picture hidden behind a storage basket.
Mommy and me.
We were sitting in a park.
My face was covered in ice cream.
Mommy was laughing.
I held the photograph against my chest.
"Can I take this?"
Daddy's voice cracked.
"Of course, sweetheart."
He looked around the room.
Then whispered, "I should never have let her erase your mother."
I held his hand.
"Mommy isn't erased."
He looked down at me.
I touched my locket.
"She's right here."
Daddy began crying.
I hugged him.
For a few moments, we stood together in that room, holding on to the person we both missed.
Then Daddy's phone rang.
Mr. Carter had important news.
Raymond had been detained following the discovery of additional financial evidence, and investigators were pursuing charges related to the fraudulent property transaction.
Vanessa had also been questioned.
The money from the buyer's deposit was being traced.
Daddy listened quietly.
Then asked, "Has anyone recovered the wooden box?"
Mr. Carter paused.
"Not yet."
My heart sank.
That box had been important to Mommy.
I wanted it back.
But something else was bothering me.
When we had visited the white house, I remembered the wooden box clearly.
And I remembered Mommy opening it once.
Not in front of me.
I had seen her through the doorway.
Inside had been a small recording device.
I hadn't known what it was then.
But now I wondered.
"Daddy?"
He looked at me.
"What is it?"
"I think Mommy put her voice inside the box."
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
I described the device.
It had silver buttons and a tiny speaker.
Mommy sometimes used it while resting in bed.
She would press a button and speak softly.
Daddy looked at Aunt Denise.
"Olivia used to record messages for Maya."
Aunt Denise nodded.
"She wanted Maya to hear her voice when she was older."
My heart began pounding.
"Did Vanessa take them?"
Daddy knelt beside me.
"We don't know."
I started crying.
"What if she threw them away?"
He hugged me.
"We'll do everything we can to find them."
That evening, something unexpected happened.
Chloe came to Aunt Denise's house.
Anthony brought her.
She stood on the porch wearing a plain yellow sweater.
She didn't have her tablet.
She wasn't smiling.
When she saw me, she looked down.
"Hi, Maya."
I stayed beside Daddy.
"Hi."
Anthony explained that Chloe wanted to speak with me.
Daddy asked if I was comfortable.
I wasn't sure.
But I nodded.
We sat in the living room with the adults nearby.
Chloe twisted her fingers.
"My dad told me what Mom did."
I didn't answer.
She looked at me.
"She told me you were trying to steal my birthday."
I stared at her.
"I only wanted one gift."
Chloe began crying.
"I know."
She wiped her face.
"She told me you were jealous because your mom was dead."
My chest tightened.
Chloe looked ashamed.
"I shouldn't have laughed."
I said nothing.
She took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Maya."
For the first time, she sounded sincere.
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then I whispered, "You hurt me too."
She nodded.
"I know."
I wasn't ready to forgive her.
But I was glad she had finally admitted the truth.
Before leaving, Chloe reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small wrapped package.
"I bought this with my allowance."
She placed it on the table.
"It's not from Mom."
After she left, I opened it.
Inside was a new blue ribbon for my hair.
And a card.
"I'm sorry I made you feel unwanted."
I cried quietly.
Not because everything was fixed.
But because, for once, someone had apologized without blaming me.
That night, Daddy sat beside my bed.
He looked tired.
But hopeful.
"We're getting closer to the truth."
I touched my locket.
"Will we find Mommy's recordings?"
He kissed my forehead.
"I won't stop looking."
The next morning, Detective Morris called.
The investigators had searched a storage unit rented by Raymond.
Inside, they found several boxes of documents.
And one small wooden chest.
Daddy gripped the phone.
"Was there anything inside?"
Detective Morris paused.
"Yes."
My breath caught.
May you like
"Several recordings."
Then she added, "And one of them is addressed specifically to Maya."
