Chapter 4: The Photograph
Kiara stared at the words written across the back of the photograph.
*DO NOT TRUST DARNELL.*
Her fingers tightened around the edges.
She flipped it over.
A man stood beside a younger Rochelle in the photograph, one arm resting casually across her shoulder. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and smiling at the camera.
Kiara didn't recognize him.
But Darnell did.
He took one step backward.
“No.””
Kiara looked at him.
“You know him.””
Darnell's face had gone completely pale.
“I haven't seen that picture in twenty-two years.””
Rochelle covered her mouth.
Miss Evelyn shook her head.
“That isn't what I asked you, Darnell.””
Darnell stared at the photograph.
“Where did you get it?””
“It was in the box.””
“What box?””
“The one Rochelle gave me.””
Kiara turned sharply toward her mother.
“You gave her a box?””
Rochelle wiped beneath her eyes.
“Years ago.””
“What was inside?””
“Things I couldn't throw away.””
Kiara looked at the photograph again.
“What's his name?””
Nobody answered.
“Mom.””
Rochelle looked at the ground.
“Calvin.””
“Calvin what?””
Rochelle swallowed.
“Calvin Reed.””
Andre suddenly stepped closer.
“That's not possible.””
Kiara looked at him.
“Why?””
Andre's eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
“Because Calvin Reed died before you were born.””
Silence.
Kiara's face tightened.
“How?””
Andre hesitated.
“Car accident.””
Darnell slowly shook his head.
“That wasn't an accident.””
Everyone turned toward him.
Rochelle whispered, “Darnell.””
He looked at her.
“You told me to forget that night.””
“I was trying to protect Kiara.””
“You were trying to protect yourself.””
Kiara stepped between them.
“Stop talking around me.””
Her voice shook.
“Who was Calvin Reed?””
Darnell closed his eyes.
“He was my best friend.””
Kiara froze.
“What?””
Darnell looked at her.
“We grew up together. Worked together. He was there when your mother and I first met.””
Andre stared at him.
“You never told me that.””
“Because it wasn't your business.””
“Apparently it was.””
Kiara held up the photograph.
“Was he my father?””
Darnell didn't answer.
That was enough.
Kiara's eyes filled.
“Oh my God.””
Rochelle rushed toward her.
“Kiara, listen to me.””
“Was he?””
Rochelle stopped.
“Yes.””
The word barely escaped her mouth.
Kiara's lips parted.
Darnell looked away.
“You knew,” she whispered.
Darnell's eyes closed.
“I suspected.””
“Suspected?””
“I knew Calvin was with your mother around the time you were conceived.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Darnell looked directly at her.
“I didn't know for certain.””
Kiara laughed bitterly.
“You raised me without knowing?””
“I raised you because you needed someone.””
“You knew there was another man.””
“I knew there might have been.””
“And you never told me?””
Darnell's voice broke.
“Because Calvin was dead.””
Kiara stared at him.
“So you decided you could just become my father?””
“No.””
“Then what?””
Darnell took a breath.
“I decided a little girl shouldn't grow up feeling like half of a family.””
Kiara looked down at the photograph.
For the first time, the anger in her face softened.
Only for a second.
Then she noticed something.
There was a date printed in tiny letters beneath the photograph.
She leaned closer.
“Mom.””
Rochelle didn't respond.
“Look at the date.””
Rochelle's eyes dropped.
Her face changed.
Kiara held the picture up.
“This was taken six months after you said Calvin died.””
Darnell stared at Rochelle.
“What?””
Rochelle backed away.
“No.””
Miss Evelyn whispered, “That's why I kept it.””
Kiara turned toward her.
“You said he died before I was born.””
Miss Evelyn nodded.
“That is what everyone was told.””
Kiara's heart hammered.
“Everyone?””
Miss Evelyn looked toward Darnell.
“Everyone except the people who knew he was still alive.””
Darnell stepped forward.
“Evelyn, don't.””
“You've had twenty-two years.””
“And you promised.””
“I promised to keep a child safe.””
Miss Evelyn's voice hardened.
“I never promised to protect a lie forever.””
Kiara looked at Darnell.
“What happened to Calvin?””
Darnell didn't answer.
Her voice rose.
“What happened to my father?””
Darnell finally spoke.
“He disappeared.””
Kiara's breath caught.
“After the accident?””
“There was no body.””
Rochelle began crying.
Andre stared at her.
“You told me he was dead.””
“I thought he was.””
“You knew there was no body?””
Rochelle nodded.
Kiara looked between them.
Then her eyes fell on the photograph again.
There was something behind Calvin.
A white building.
A sign above the entrance.
She squinted.
“That's not a house.””
Darnell stepped closer.
“No.””
“Where was this taken?””
Darnell stared at the building.
Then all the color disappeared from his face.
“That place was closed twenty-two years ago.””
Kiara looked at him.
“What place?””
Darnell whispered the name.
And Rochelle immediately grabbed Kiara's arm.
“Don't go there.””
Kiara pulled away.
“Why?””
May you like
Rochelle's voice trembled.
“Because that's where Calvin was last seen.””
