Chapter 3: The Signature
Derrick stared at his own hand.
The gold ring suddenly seemed enormous.
Renee stepped closer.
“Derrick, don't listen to her.””
He didn't respond.
He was staring at the photograph.
At the younger version of himself.
At the same ring.
At the hospital entrance behind him.
“I don't remember this,” he said.
Monique's voice softened.
“You were scared.””
“I don't remember.””
“You wanted to protect Aaliyah.””
Derrick looked up sharply.
“Protect her from what?””
Monique hesitated.
Renee answered for her.
“From you.””
Derrick turned.
“What?””
Renee's eyes were glassy now, but her voice remained controlled.
“You don't remember because you weren't yourself.””
Monique shook her head.
“Don't do this.””
“You were drinking,” Renee said.
Derrick's jaw tightened.
“Renee.””
“You were angry.””
“Stop.””
“You said you wanted to take Aaliyah and leave.””
Monique stepped forward.
“That isn't what happened.””
Renee pointed at her.
“You disappeared!””
“I was forced to disappear.””
“You left your daughter!””
“I was told she'd be killed if I came back!””
A collective gasp moved through the auditorium.
Aaliyah stared at her mother.
“Who told you that?””
Monique's eyes moved toward Renee.
Renee whispered, “Don't.””
Aaliyah heard it.
That one word changed everything.
She turned to Renee.
“Why are you afraid of her?””
Renee's expression broke.
“I am not afraid.””
“You are.””
“I am trying to protect this family.””
“From my mother?””
“From the truth.””
Silence.
Derrick looked at Renee.
“What truth?””
Renee's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, she looked less like the polished woman everyone knew and more like someone cornered.
“I didn't mean for any of this to happen.””
Monique's face hardened.
“You always say that.””
Aaliyah looked between them.
“What did you do?””
Renee shook her head.
“You wouldn't understand.””
“Try me.””
“You were a baby.””
“I’m not a baby now.””
Renee looked at her.
“I know.””
Derrick stepped closer.
“Renee, tell me what happened that night.””
She looked at him.
“You really don't remember?””
“No.””
“You signed the statement.””
“I don't remember.””
“You told the police she was driving.””
Monique whispered, “There it is.””
Aaliyah frowned.
“Driving where?””
Nobody answered.
Monique opened the evidence folder again.
This time, she pulled out a document.
Derrick reached for it.
Monique stopped him.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because she needs to see it first.””
Aaliyah's hands trembled.
Monique held the paper out.
Aaliyah took it.
At the top was an official seal.
Below it was a date from twenty-two years earlier.
Then she saw the name.
*DERRICK CARTER.*
Aaliyah looked at her father.
“You signed this?””
Derrick's face went blank.
“I don't know.””
“You said you don't remember.””
“I don't.””
Aaliyah looked at the signature.
Then at Renee.
Something about it bothered her.
The handwriting was familiar.
Too familiar.
She had seen that handwriting every day growing up.
On birthday cards.
On school forms.
On permission slips.
She looked closer.
The signature wasn't Derrick's.
Aaliyah slowly lifted her eyes.
“Dad…”
Derrick leaned toward the page.
His face changed.
“What?””
“This isn't your signature.””
Renee stopped breathing.
Derrick took the paper.
He stared at it for several seconds.
Then he looked at Renee.
“Who signed my name?””
Renee didn't answer.
Monique's eyes filled with tears.
“I told you.””
Derrick's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Told me what?””
Monique reached into the folder.
“There was another person in that room.””
Aaliyah whispered, “Who?””
Monique looked directly at Renee.
Renee stepped backward.
Monique said one name.
And Derrick's entire face went white.
The auditorium doors suddenly slammed open behind them.
Aaliyah turned.
A uniformed officer stood in the doorway.
He was holding a second sealed evidence bag.
Inside it was a driver's license.
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The photograph was twenty-two years old.
And the name printed beneath it was *Renee Carter*.
