Page 82 of Choosing You

“There’s not much to say.”

“You wouldn’t show up at that party unless it was an emergency. Last night you said something about your mom and a letter. Where did you get this letter?”

I hesitate, not sure if I want him knowing what’s in the letter. But I already told him part of the story last night so he might as well know the rest. “The letter was in that box Frank sent me for my birthday. My mom wrote it when I was just a baby. I was only supposed to get it if something happened to her.”

“Why would your mom even plan for something like that? Why would she think she’d be dead in her thirties?”

“If I tell you this, you have to swear you won’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

“In that letter my mom said she was raped and then she found out she was pregnant with me.”

He nods. “Yeah, you said that last night. So she never told you that?”

“No. Never. But that’s not all. She said the man who did it got the police, the people at the hospital—basically everyone to cover up what happened. And then someone called my mom and threatened her. When she told her story to a counselor, her parents died in a house explosion a few days later. She was worried she’d be next.”

Garret sits there quietly, so I continue.

“I don’t even know if I should believe any of it, but why would she make up something like that?”

“How did she meet this guy? Did they know each other?”

“She was an intern working on a political campaign. She was a political science major in college. The guy was just a campaign worker from another state. She wouldn’t tell me his name.”

Garret is silent again.

“What’s wrong, Garret? You’re too quiet. Say something.”

“I think you should forget about this letter. I mean, what happened is a crime and the guy shouldn’t have gotten away with it, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“I know there’s nothing I can do, but I have to talk to Frank. He was friends with my mom back then. I have to know if he knew anything about this.”

“Why? How does that help you, Jade?”

“Because maybe she didn’t mean to be that way. Maybe my mom didn’t know how else to deal with what happened to her. I need to know that. My mom hated me, Garret. She looked at me every day with disgust and I never knew what I did wrong.” I feel tears forming but I hold them back. “I couldn’t understand how a mother could hate her own daughter like that.”

Garret finds my hand within the oversized sleeve of his sweatshirt. “It was her addiction. It wasn’t you. She didn’t hate you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I have to know the truth. You told me to face the past so I can move on. And that’s what I’m doing.”

“I know but—” He stops.

“But what?” I sit up and lean against the headboard.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like the fact that this guy was able to quiet the cops. You don’t mess with people like that.”

“I’m not messing with anyone. I’m just asking questions and trying to see if what she said in that letter is true.”

“Asking questions just leads to more questions and then you’ll want to know even more. Trust me, you don’t want to go digging up the past. It’s dangerous.”

“Why would it be dangerous? I’m not going to try to find the guy.”

“Whoever this guy is, I guarantee he’s got people he pays to keep that shit buried. To take care of anyone who starts asking questions. That’s how it works.”

“And how do you know this? Do you run a crime ring on the side? Are you part of the mafia and you forgot to tell me?”

He sighs. “This isn’t funny. I’m being serious. I told you back when we first met that my family does shit that I don’t want any part of, remember?”

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