Chapter 4
Dad came to Simone’s house the next morning carrying a folder.
He looked as if he had not slept.
I sat at the kitchen table while Simone poured coffee.
Dad did not begin with Vanessa.
He asked whether I had eaten.
I nodded.
Then he asked permission to discuss the school papers.
That small question made something inside me loosen.
“Yes.”
He spread copies across the table.
The application had been submitted through an account created with an email address I did not recognize. The school had received a deposit and a scanned form bearing Dad’s name.
“I told them I didn’t authorize it,” he said. “They’ve suspended the application while they verify the records.”
“Do they think I’m difficult?”
He looked at me.
“They don’t know you.”
“They read it.”
“I asked them to record that the information is disputed. We’ll make sure the file is corrected.”
I looked at the words again.
Persistent conflict.
Resistance.
I wondered how easily adults could turn a child into a problem simply by writing one down.
Simone placed her hand over the page.
“Enough of that for now.”
Dad nodded.
He had arranged to speak with an attorney named Adrienne Cole.
She had worked with him on business contracts, but he was asking for advice about the household money and documents now.
“She may recommend someone else for parts of it,” he explained. “I want this handled properly.”
“Are you calling the police?”
“Not before I understand the records. If there was fraud, I’ll report it.”
I nodded.
I did not know how I felt.
I wanted Vanessa stopped.
I did not want the family to become something people whispered about.
Simone seemed to understand.
“You don’t have to choose the consequences,” she told me. “You only have to tell the truth about what happened to you.”
At school, I could not focus.
My friend Bree asked why I had not sent her a picture of the suitcase like I promised.
I said the trip was delayed.
Then I began crying over my lunch.
She took me to the counselor.
Mr. Ellis listened while I described the tickets and the school application.
He asked whether I felt safe returning home.
“I feel safe with Dad,” I said. “I don’t feel safe saying anything when Vanessa is there.”
He wrote that down.
He also asked whether I had ever been physically hurt.
I told him no.
“What happens when you disagree?”
“She says I’m ungrateful. Then she tells Dad a different story.”
“How long?”
I looked at the wall.
“I don’t know. A long time.”
He said I could meet with him again. He also asked whether I wanted him to speak with Dad.
“Yes.”
That evening, Dad joined us at Simone’s house.
He had spoken with Mr. Ellis.
“I didn’t know about the dinners,” he said.
I pushed my fork through the food.
“I thought you did.”
“What did Vanessa say?”
“That you wanted me to stop making family meals awkward.”
Dad stared at me.
“I never said that.”
I closed my eyes.
How many times had I obeyed a father who never gave the instruction?
He leaned forward.
“From now on, if someone says I want something, you can ask me.”
“What if you’re working?”
“You can still ask.”
“What if you’re tired?”
“You can still ask.”
I looked at him.
He held my gaze.
“I’m your father when I’m tired too.”
That was when I cried again.
The next day, Kendra called.
She wanted to give Dad something but was afraid Vanessa would see.
I told her to speak with him directly.
She did.
Dad later told me she had saved an email showing the school’s payment confirmation. She also had a message from Vanessa saying Maya would “be out of the house before summer ended.”
Kendra had thought it meant I was staying with Simone.
She had not asked.
That hurt.
It also mattered that she was speaking now.
Dad asked Vanessa to stay elsewhere while they addressed what happened.
Her children stayed with her for two nights, then Isaiah returned to get clothes and asked whether he could speak to Dad alone.
I did not hear the conversation.
Dad told me afterward that Isaiah wanted me to know he was sorry.
“He can tell me himself,” I said.
“He will if you’re ready.”
I was not ready yet.
Adrienne requested bank records and the original travel invoices. Darren’s name appeared on the payment records for more than my canceled ticket.
Vanessa had paid him for the entire booking.
May you like
The amount Dad reimbursed her was higher than the airline’s actual total.
I had been left out of a trip she had already used to make money.
