“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Marcus says.
“We’ll stop somewhere on the way home to pick up some new clothes for you,” Valencia adds. She goes over to my plastic bag of clothes, which the nurse finally dropped off. “What size are you now?”
“Those pants are a little big,” I say.
Valencia looks at the tag, then at me, and for a second looks like she’s going to cry again, but she nods quickly.
She comes back and kisses me on the cheek before pulling me intoanother warm embrace. I still have to fight not to flinch. When she’s done, Marcus even comes over to the bed and gives me a hug, albeit a slightly more reserved one.
Then they go out into the hallway, where they talk with Detective Hall and Agent Grant.
I get up, grab my IV bag off the hook by my bed, and walk over to the door.
Agent Grant is speaking. “—advise you to order a DNA test to confirm that he is really Nate.”
“You took his blood,” Valencia says. “You matched his blood type to us.”
What?
“Mrs. Beaumont,” Detective Hall says, “blood type doesn’t—”
“You said that boy in there is B-positive. Nate was B-positive because I’m O and Marcus is B-positive. Go in there and ask him whatever questions you might have. Orlookat him, for chrissake! He is our son. I don’t need you taking his DNA and ours to file in some database.”
“Val.” Marcus’s voice sounds calm and steady. “If it will put all this to rest—”
“No,” she says. “Itisput to rest. That’s our son and we’re taking him home tomorrow. What are you going to do if we don’t submit to a DNA test? Claim he isn’t ours? Put him in foster care? You have two parents here who have missed out on almostten yearswith their child!”
Marcus says her name again in a hushed tone, but she keeps going. “Ten years he’s been missing, and you all couldn’t find him. And now one ofyourofficers arrested him because he was starving and hadnowhere to turn. If you do try to take him away, wewillsue you once thatcourt-orderedDNA test comes back a match.”
I feel like this is all a huge bluff, but Valencia is certainly selling it. Agent Grant says “Very well” and wishes them both a good evening before his dress shoes echo away down the hall.
Detective Hall sighs and says, “This is Officer Rhodes. He’ll be here until six p.m., then Officer Daniels will take over until six a.m. You have my card if you need anything in the meantime. And I’ll see you both in the morning.”
“Thank you, Detective,” Marcus says. She doesn’t respond, but her footsteps head the same way Agent Grant went.
Officer Rhodes says good night to Marcus and Valencia, and their footsteps are the last to go, the two of them whispering to each other in a low argument I can’t make out.
I go back and lie down in the hospital bed, raising the back a bit more so I’m sitting upright. Based on what I overheard, the police didn’t test my blood to make sure I was Nate. And considering what was said between the police and Nate’s parents, it sounds like it’s up to Marcus and Valencia.
At least for now.
Valencia said they were going to buy me new clothes. If I do go home with them, I could pack better than when I ran away from my parents. I could get a bigger duffel bag and fill it with my new clothes. And food—I can take canned food that they won’t miss. Marcus made that joke about feeding two teens. They probably wouldn’t notice if food was disappearing quickly.
The idea brings my guilt right back again. Valencia was so happyto see me, to see herson. The one she probably thought was dead and gone years ago.
The phone they gave me vibrates on the bed next to me and I see the text notification from “Mom” on the front screen.
I unlock it—no passcode yet—and open the messages.
We’re so excited to bring you home tomorrow! Sleep well, pumpkin! We love you!?
My chest feels a little tight reading her message.
My mom—myrealmom—never texted me things like that. Neither of my parents even said “I love you” or “Sleep well” before going to bed. Only “Night” or “Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”
Good night, I send back. Then I type outlove you, too. But I don’t hit send. Would it be a lie for Nate to say that so soon? Would he trust these people this quickly?
Or is it meaner to say it and then run off again?
