Chapter 2: The Calls Nobody Answered
Darius found the truth at 8:17 on a Monday morning.
He was standing in the kitchen, pouring cereal into Malik’s favorite dinosaur bowl, when he noticed Nia’s child-safe phone lying beside her backpack.
The screen lit up with a low-battery warning.
“Nia, baby, you forgot to charge your phone again,” he called.
She appeared in the doorway wearing her school uniform, one hand gripping the strap of her backpack.
“I charged it last night, Daddy.””
“Then why is it dead?””
Nia hesitated.
“Tanya said I don't need it so much anymore.””
Darius frowned.
“Why would she say that?””
Nia shrugged and looked at the floor.
From the hallway, Tanya called, “Because she spends too much time worrying about things she can't control.””
She entered the kitchen wearing a cream blouse and tailored trousers, her hair arranged neatly away from her face.
“Children need boundaries, Darius,” she continued.
“Not endless access to everybody who makes them emotional.””
Darius glanced at the phone.
“I was just asking.””
“And I answered.””
Tanya took Malik's lunchbox from the counter and placed a packet of cookies inside.
“Eat your breakfast, sweetheart. Your bus will be here soon.””
Nia sat silently.
Darius noticed that she had barely touched her cereal.
He picked up the phone.
“Let me see if this thing is working.””
Nia's fingers tightened around her backpack strap.
“Daddy, please don't be mad.””
He looked at her.
“Mad about what?””
She didn't answer.
The phone unlocked with the family passcode. Darius opened the settings, intending to check the battery restrictions.
Instead, he found a folder labeled Recently Deleted.
He tapped it.
A list of call records appeared.
Missed calls.
Repeated missed calls.
Calls from Renee, Nia's mother, stretching across several weeks.
Darius stopped breathing for a moment.
He scrolled.
Monday. Wednesday. Friday.
Then another Monday.
Some calls had come late in the afternoon. Others had arrived around bedtime.
All had been marked unanswered.
“What is this?”” he whispered.
Tanya set Malik's lunchbox down.
“What is what?””
Darius held up the phone.
“Why are there so many missed calls from Renee?””
Tanya's expression barely changed.
“She calls at inconvenient times.””
“Every other day?””
“She knows Nia has a routine.””
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I handled it.””
Darius looked toward his daughter.
Nia was staring at the floor so intensely that her shoulders had begun to tremble.
He crouched beside her chair.
“Nia, baby, did you know your mother was calling?””
Her lower lip quivered.
“Tanya said Mom forgot me.””
The words were quiet.
They landed harder than a scream.
Darius felt the kitchen tilt around him.
“What did you say?””
Nia wiped her cheek with the sleeve of her uniform.
“She said Mom had a new life. She said if Mom wanted to talk to me, she would try harder.””
Tanya folded her arms.
“She was upset. I was trying to protect her from disappointment.””
“By telling her that her mother forgot her?””
“Don't twist my words.””
Darius stood.
“Then explain the calls.””
Tanya reached for the phone.
“Give that to me. You're making this into something it isn't.””
He pulled it away.
“No.””
For the first time that morning, Tanya's polished expression cracked.
“Darius, you are letting a child manipulate you.””
Nia flinched.
Darius saw it.
He saw the way his daughter drew her elbows against her body, as though she needed to make herself smaller to survive an ordinary conversation in her own kitchen.
He remembered all the times she had asked to call Renee.
All the times he had been told Nia was being difficult.
All the evenings Tanya had assured him that the girl was adjusting well.
He had believed her because believing her had been easier than asking uncomfortable questions.
“Go get your shoes, sweetheart,” he told Nia gently.
“I'll take you to school.””
Nia looked up.
“Are you mad at me?””
His heart broke at the question.
“No, baby. Not at you. Never at you.””
She rushed into his arms.
He held her while she cried into his shirt, one hand resting against the back of her braided head.
Across the kitchen, Tanya picked up her purse.
“You're making a terrible mistake,” she said.
Darius didn't look at her.
“Then let me make it.””
After dropping Nia at school, Darius returned home and sat at the kitchen table with the phone in front of him.
He opened the call history again.
There were too many calls to dismiss as a misunderstanding.
He checked the family tablet, where shared photos and school reminders were stored.
That was when he found a photograph from the previous Christmas.
Darius remembered taking it.
Everyone had been dressed in matching red sweaters. Tanya had insisted on coordinating the decorations, the table settings, and the family outfits.
But the photograph on the tablet showed something he had never noticed.
Tanya sat beside him.
Malik stood in front of them.
Nia was nowhere in the picture.
He opened another image.
A school dance envelope.
Unpaid.
Then a field-trip permission form, tucked beneath receipts for Malik's birthday decorations and an expensive toy.
Darius stared at the screen.
The missing calls had not been an isolated incident.
Neither had the birthday photograph.
He reached for his phone and dialed Renee.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Darius?”” Her voice sounded cautious.
“Is Nia okay?””
He closed his eyes.
“Renee, why have you been calling her so much?””
Silence.
Then she said, “What do you mean?””
“I found the calls.””
Her breathing changed.
“I've been trying to reach my daughter for weeks.””
Darius gripped the edge of the table.
“Tanya told Nia you had forgotten her.””
Renee made a small, wounded sound.
“Darius, I have never stopped calling my baby.””
He looked toward the hallway, where the framed photograph of Renee still hung crooked on the wall.
“Did you ever receive any messages from Nia?””
“No,” Renee said.
“And every time I called your house, Tanya answered and told me Nia was busy.””
Darius stood so abruptly that his chair scraped across the tile.
“Renee, I need you to tell me something.””
“What?””
“Has Tanya ever told you that Nia doesn't want to speak to you?””
The silence on the other end of the line became unbearable.
Then Renee whispered, “Yes.””
Darius stared at the phone.
“What?””
“She told me Nia was adjusting to your new family. She said my calls were upsetting her.””
His stomach tightened.
“Did you believe her?””
“I wanted to believe she was telling the truth,” Renee replied.
“But last week, I sent Nia a birthday card. Tanya told me it had been delivered.””
Darius looked at the empty kitchen counter.
There was no birthday card there.
Not one.
“Renee,” he said slowly, “I think Tanya has been keeping more than phone calls from our daughter.””
Before Renee could answer, Darius heard footsteps behind him.
Tanya stood in the doorway.
May you like
In her hand was a small stack of envelopes.
And on top of them was a birthday card addressed to Nia.
