1
DAVIE OVERLAND
“His name was Mac,” my sister says from the other side of the glass in Gumbrush County Women’s Penitentiary.
“That’s it? No last name?” I drop my phone on my lap. Forget about taking notes of details from the night she got pregnant with my nephew, Jesse. All she remembers is a freaking name.
“Sorry.” She shrugs. Her orange jumpsuit wrinkles at the shoulders, another reminder of where we are, and I hate that our lives have come to this.
My little sister was charged for driving under the influence and will be stuck behind bars for the next two years, thanks to her prior arrests.
Then, there’s me.
The responsible older sister who tried to keep her on the straight and narrow, failed, and is now responsible for raising her eight-month-old baby.
IfI can find this mysterious man in High Ridge that Jessica claims is the biological father.
Not her on-again/off-again ex-boyfriend, Cody, who makes me uncomfortable every time I see him.
Which, unfortunately, has been a lot lately, since Jessica got locked up.
She and Jesse had been living with me, making me the natural choice as my nephew’s guardian, but Cody and his mom have been causing trouble.
Protesting my custody.
For the welfare checks, according to Jessica.
That’s why she finally admitted that Cody may not be Jesse’s real dad, because she slept with one other guy around the time she got pregnant. Some stranger at a High Ridge bar after she stopped there on the drive home from visiting a friend out of town.
Now I have to find Mac, convince him that taking a court-mandated paternity test won’t ruin his life because I’m willing to care for Jesse, and then pray this man isn’t worse than Cody.
The judge granted me temporary custody of my nephew to allow for the paternity tests to be taken. Otherwise, Jesse would probably already be in Cody’s possession.
We drew the short straw when it came to judges because ours has a bias against single women raising kids and almost always sides with the bio parents, especially dads.
But I can’t let Jesse go to Cody and his mom. They’ve barely been in his life, and Cody is just as mixed up in drugs as my sister.
Based on what I’ve heard from Jessica and seen for myself on the court steps, his mom isn’t much better.
“Okay, Mac from High Ridge. You met at a bar some time last in October. Great…” This feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack. “Wish me luck!”
A wary smile trembles to the forefront before I wave goodbye and start the awkward process of backtracking through prison security. My best friend is babysitting Jesse for me, so that's where I head, mentally preparing myself for our trip tomorrow.
Seven hours of driving.
Seven hours of agonizing over what awaits us in High Ridge, Washington.
Will we find Jesse's bio dad?
I don't have much of a plan outside of asking around town if anyone knows a Mac, and that's flimsy as fuck.
He could have been passing through, just like my sister, but I've got to try.
For Jesse.
He deserves a chance with a loving and stable father. Barring that, I'll settle for a man who will happily agree to give me custody.
A billboard for the pediatric hospital passes overhead.
