Chapter 2: The Man Who Suddenly Remembered
Maya read Andre's messages so many times that the words began to blur.
Hey, princess.
He hadn't called her princess in years.
When she was little, he used to say it during the occasional weekend visit, usually while handing her a gift bag or promising to take her for ice cream. As she grew older, the visits became less frequent. The promises remained, but the follow-through disappeared.
Eventually, she stopped waiting by the window for his car.
Now, with graduation less than two months away and prom only three weeks out, he had suddenly remembered she existed.
And he wanted to talk about Chris.
Maya typed a reply.
What about him?
She deleted it.
She tried again.
What did Mom tell you?
Deleted.
Finally, she sent the only question that felt honest.
Why are you texting me now?
The message showed as delivered.
No immediate response came.
Maya tossed the phone onto her bed and stood up. She wiped her face, looked at herself in the mirror, and tried to recognize the girl staring back.
Her eyes were swollen. Her hair had slipped out of its loose ponytail. She looked younger than seventeen, and somehow much older.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Maya?””
It was Chris.
She didn't answer.
“I know you're upset. I'm not going to force you to talk, but can I come in?””
Maya hesitated before opening the door a few inches.
Chris stood in the hallway with two mugs of hot chocolate. He had made hers with extra marshmallows ever since she was ten, when she'd insisted that ordinary hot chocolate was just chocolate-flavored sadness.
He held out one mug.
“I thought you might need this.””
She took it without looking at him.
“Are you and Mom getting divorced?””
The question came out so suddenly that Chris went still.
“No,” he said after a moment.
“At least, that's not a decision I've made.””
“Are you leaving?””
“No.””
“You said to call my real father.””
Chris closed his eyes briefly.
“I shouldn't have said it that way.””
“Why did you?””
He looked down at the mug in his hands.
“Because I was hurt, Maya. And when people get hurt, sometimes they say things that come out sharper than they should.””
“But you meant it.””
He didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Maya stepped back from the doorway.
“Did you ever think of me as your daughter?””
Chris looked at her then, and something in his expression broke her heart.
“Every single day.””
“Then why did you let Mom keep saying you weren't my father?””
“Because I knew you already had one. I never wanted you to feel like you had to choose between us.””
“But Andre wasn't there!””
Her voice cracked.
“He didn't teach me to ride a bike. He didn't come when I broke my wrist. He didn't help me with algebra.
You did all of that. You were there when I needed somebody, and now you're acting like I don't belong to you.””
Chris set his mug on the small table beside her door.
“That's not what I'm doing.””
“Then what are you doing?””
He took a slow breath.
“I'm trying to understand when loving you became something I had to prove with money.””
Maya stared at him.
He continued, his voice low but steady.
“I don't care if your prom dress costs fifty dollars or five hundred. I care that you get to enjoy your night without believing your worth depends on how much somebody spends on you. And I care that your mother thinks I can be excluded from the family whenever I disagree, then welcomed back whenever there's a bill to pay.””
Maya's anger softened, but the hurt remained.
“Did you stop loving me because she said that?””
“No.”” Chris answered immediately.
“Not for one second.””
“Then don't make me feel like you did.””
He swallowed hard.
“You're right. I'm sorry.””
For a few moments, neither spoke.
Then Maya's phone vibrated again.
She glanced at the screen.
Andre had replied.
Your mom says Chris has been keeping something from you. I think you deserve to know the truth before graduation.
Maya felt the warmth leave her hands.
Chris noticed her expression.
“What is it?””
She turned the screen toward him.
He read the message.
For the first time since the kitchen argument, Maya saw genuine alarm cross his face.
“What does he mean?”” she asked.
Chris handed the phone back.
“I don't know exactly what Andre has been told.””
“But you know something.””
He looked toward the staircase.
“Maya, there are things your mother and I should have discussed with you a long time ago. But I don't want you caught in the middle of something before we understand what you're being told.””
“That sounds like you know.””
“I know your mother has been upset about some things lately. That's all I'm prepared to say right now.””
Maya pulled her phone against her chest.
“Everybody keeps telling me what I should or shouldn't know. I'm tired of it.””
“I understand.””
“No, you don't. You get to walk away when things get hard. I'm the one who has to live in this house.””
Chris flinched.
She regretted the words almost immediately, but she was too angry to take them back.
He nodded slowly.
“That's fair. I'll give you some space.””
He started to leave, then paused.
“For what it's worth, Maya, nothing Andre says can erase the years we've shared. And nothing your mother says can change how much you matter to me.””
He walked away before she could respond.
Maya closed the door and leaned against it.
Downstairs, she heard the muffled sounds of her mother moving around the kitchen. A cabinet slammed. Water ran. Then came silence.
Her phone buzzed again.
Can you meet me tomorrow? Just you and me. There's a lot you don't know.
Maya's first instinct was to ignore him.
But a small, stubborn part of her wanted answers. She wanted to know why Andre had stayed away for so long, why he was suddenly concerned about Chris, and what her mother could possibly have said to make both men behave as if something terrible had happened.
She replied, Where?
Andre sent the name of a coffee shop near downtown Atlanta and suggested noon.
Maya agreed.
Then she put her phone facedown and tried to sleep.
She failed.
At eleven the next morning, Natasha entered Maya's bedroom without knocking.
Maya sat at her desk, pretending to work on a scholarship application.
“Are you still upset with me?”” Natasha asked.
Maya kept her eyes on the screen.
“I'm thinking.””
“About what?””
“About how you told Chris he wasn't my father, then got mad when he acted like he wasn't.””
Natasha exhaled sharply.
“That's not what happened.””
“Then what happened?””
“Your stepfather and I had a disagreement about money. Adults sometimes say things they don't mean.””
“Did you mean it when you said Andre was my real father?””
Natasha's expression changed.
“Maya, don't do this.””
“Do what? Ask questions about my own life?””
Her mother sat on the edge of the bed.
“Chris loves you. Nobody is questioning that.””
“He said he was hurt.””
“And I'm sure he was. But I was upset, too. I have spent seventeen years making sure you have everything you need.
I want you to have one beautiful night before you graduate. Is that so terrible?””
Maya turned in her chair.
“You could have bought me a cheaper dress.””
“I didn't want you to feel like you were missing out.””
“I wasn't asking for a two-thousand-dollar prom.””
Natasha pressed her lips together.
“I know.””
“Then why did you tell Chris I wasn't his daughter?””
For several seconds, Natasha looked as though she might answer.
Instead, she stood.
“Because there are things you don't understand yet.””
Maya let out a humorless laugh.
“That's what everybody keeps saying.””
Natasha walked to the door.
“Please don't meet your father today.””
Maya's heart jumped.
“How do you know I'm meeting him?””
Natasha froze.
The answer came too late.
“You read my messages?””
“No. Andre called me this morning.””
“And he told you I was meeting him?””
“He said he wanted to discuss some family matters.””
Maya stood up.
“What family matters?””
Natasha turned back, her eyes suddenly shining.
“Please, Maya. I am asking you to trust me.””
“Trust you about what?””
Her mother had no answer.
Maya grabbed her jacket and phone.
“I'm going.””
Natasha stepped into the doorway.
“If you walk out of this house, you may hear things you can't take back.””
Maya stared at her.
“Maybe I should have heard them a long time ago.””
She moved past her mother and headed downstairs.
Chris stood in the living room, holding a set of car keys. He looked from Maya to Natasha and understood immediately that something had happened.
“Where are you going?”” he asked.
“To meet Andre.””
Chris's grip tightened around the keys.
Natasha descended the stairs behind her.
“This is ridiculous. She doesn't need to be dragged into our problems.””
Maya turned toward her mother.
“Then stop making our problems about me.””
The words landed hard.
Chris stepped forward.
“Maya, I'll drive you.””
Natasha's head snapped toward him.
“Absolutely not.””
“She's seventeen,” Chris replied.
“If she's going to meet her biological father, I'm not letting her travel across town alone while everyone's upset.””
“You're not her father!””
The sentence exploded through the room.
Nobody moved.
Maya looked at Chris.
He stared at Natasha, his jaw tight, but this time he didn't retreat.
“No,” he said quietly.
“According to you, I'm not.””
Then he turned to Maya.
“But I'm still the person making sure you get there safely.””
Natasha looked away.
Maya followed Chris to the garage, her chest aching with a feeling she couldn't name.
As he opened the passenger door, she reached for his arm.
“Are you afraid of what Andre is going to tell me?””
Chris looked at her for a long moment.
“Yes,” he admitted.
Maya's stomach dropped.
“Why?””
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
“Because I don't know what version of the truth you're going to hear.””
He started the car.
May you like
And as they pulled away from the house, Maya realized the secret waiting at the coffee shop might not be about who her father was.
It might be about everything her family had built their lives around.
