Page 22 of Complicated Past

“He was adopted.”

“I guessed that much. But it’s still unusual.”

“My grandfather was a doctor and went on several medical mission trips. When he went to Korea, my grandmother decided to join him, and they brought their son, my Uncle Matt. They worked at orphanages where kids don’t get the medical care they need. There were a lot of kids fathered by American service members during and after the Korean War. Korean culture is big on family lineage and, unfortunately, rarely adopt, especially mixed-race children. At that time, a Korean national was defined as any person born to a Koreanfather. So, if the father was of a foreign nationality, the child wasn’t even considered a citizen. Most of those kids were sent to orphanages and institutions.”

“I never heard that about the citizenship,” Linc said.

“Not many people have. It changed in the late nineties. Anyway, while my grandparents were at the orphanage, Uncle Matt played with the kids, and at the end of the second day, he said one toddler was going to be his brother.”

That sounded like something Jalen would say. “How old was your uncle?”

“I think five. My grandparents thought it was cute but tried to explain they couldn’t just take a baby home with them. As the week passed, he became even more adamant that this little boy was supposed to be his brother. My grandmother had miscarried twice, and she started to get on board with the idea, but my grandfather was not.”

Linc wondered if that had to do with race.

“They hadn’t even talked about adoption before this trip,” Kendra continued as if reading his mind. “But my grandmother said she felt called to come with him this time, and maybe thatlittle boy was why. Their story is that after a particularly long day working at the orphanage, my grandfather sat in one of the rocking chairs to take a quick nap and woke up with Dad sleeping on his chest.”

“And that did it?”

“Pretty much. They talked to the staff about what they needed to do to adopt him that night. It took several months to make it happen, but any doubts that they were meant to make him part of the family were gone.”

“Did his adoption play into you becoming a social worker?” he asked.

“A little. I think it was more that we took in Lamont and Derrick after what happened with my aunt. My background gave me a heart to advocate for kids and see things from a parent’s perspective. We all mess up sometimes and need a second chance to prove our past doesn’t define us.”

“Like Bri. Having Jalen may have saved her life. She was scared, but he gave her a reason to do better. Though I had to convince her she could do it—if she got clean. She sure didn’t have a good role model.”

“Sometimes learning what behaviors wedon’twant to emulate is as beneficial as ones we do. And she truly participated in the parenting classes rather than just show up or expect somebody else to do all the work.”

“Learning what resources were available to help with Jalen gave her confidence that she could do it and that she wasn’t totally on her own. Then something like this happens.” It was eating him from the inside out.

“Your sister’s not their first target. I’m sure they’ve got the story down pat to reel people in.”

“If she’d told me about the trip, I would have been suspicious. Then she wouldn’t be in this jam.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Maybe if he hadn’t been overbearing out of fear that she’d backslide, she would have told him what was going on in her life. More than once, she’d told him to be her brother and to stop trying to be a father figure. Not that he knew how to be a father. Clifton had never been a real father, even after he and Mom had Bri. Mostly, he came around when he needed a place to stay or hoped to get laid. They could have used those parenting classes. Bri invited Linc to go with her to the class, but with his schedule and the fact he was never having kids, he hadn’t made the effort. Why want something he couldn’t have?

They drove down several streets in silence before they both spotted a white van simultaneously.

Kendra sat up straighter. “That looks like the one I remember.”

The van backed into the drive and the shrubs’ overgrown state were both indicators that this could be the one.

“I’ll call Clara to send a patrol car to check it out,” Kendra said as they cruised slowly past the house.

“No.” He studied not only the house but the neighboring ones and continued down the block, ignoring Kendra, though fully aware of her staring and her phone in her hand. Even though a female would be less suspicious, he wouldn’t askherto approach the house with the potential kidnapper inside. “I’m going to go around the corner and get out. Wait until I get to the house to drive past and wait for me.”

“You heard what Clara said.”

“I’m only going to peek at the bumper and get the plate. It’ll save the police time and resources if it’s not the van. And, if it is and he sees a cop car, that could end badly for Regina.”

“What if he seesyou?”

“I’ll roll with it.”

Kendra shook her head. “I know you’re armed, but this is not a plan.”

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