“Zach, there’s more.So much more.Things I’ve been wanting to tell you but couldn’t.”She pauses.“Everything you need to know is on that recording.”
This will explain everything?I fix the earbud back in place, and she plays the recording again.It’s not easy, listening to this, but Maya was there.She had to face my father, alone, in her apartment.I know how scared she must have been.I’ve seen his cold fury up close, and I’ve been frightened on occasion.I can’t imagine how she must have felt.
I hear the fear in Maya’s voice, the malevolence in my father’s.Then she talks about my mom.I feel the blood drain from my face.Beads of sweat pop up inside my collar, and I feel nauseous.
Blood always wins?
He sounds so sure.So confident that she would give in.That she’d take the bribe and walk away.This is also what he did to Cari.My legs feel shaky, and walk over to the bench nearby, almost falling onto it as my legs give way.
“Your mom arrived?”I turn to Maya, incredulous.She giggles, her face lighter now.It can’t be easy for her to listen to this again.
Jesus.Her mom let rip.My eyes pop wide open.What a woman.She gave my father what he deserved, and now I wish I’d been a fly on the wall to witness it.I’m not prepared for what comes next.The words that spill out in ugly fragments.My stomach drops like I’ve missed a step on the stairs.My hands go numb.
My father made a move on Maya’s mom.
“Pause it please.”I sit staring out at the park, needing a moment to collect myself.To remember to breathe.
He did that?It was about seven years after mom passed.And he did this, to a woman who was probably frightened for her life.
If he did that to Maya’s mom, who else has he done this to?
Who else has disappeared, without getting a chance to tell her story?
“Zach, we don’t have all day.Please listen.”
I hear it all.How he made a second move on her, how she slapped him, and then he planted evidence, gave a false accusation, enough to force her to leave.How he ruined her career, forced her out of state.
And then he goes on to taunt them by asking them who would believe them over him?It’s the foolish confidence of a man who thinks he can get away with anything.
When it’s over, the silence is deafening.My mind a riot of hate and anger.
“Jesus.”My hand grips the wooden armrest on the bench, and I sit there, breathing hard.“He did this.He actually… he did this.”
I feel Maya’s hand in mine.
She pulls out my earbud because I’m frozen.There’s so much to process, in this one conversation that answers all the questions I ever had.It all makes sense now, why Maya would never tell me the reason why she and her mom left in such a hurry.Why she never answered any questions whenever I asked about her mom.
More than that, it perfectly explains her reaction to seeing my father, that most despicable of men.
“I understand it now,” I say, my voice barely audible, “I understand all of it.”
She looks as broken as I feel.Her fingers intertwine with mine, and I’m scared that she’s about to say goodbye, and leave me forever.
“I didn’t want to tell you.I can see how much it’s hurt you.I didn’t want to break your heart, Zee.”
“You weren’t pushing me away,” I say, my voice gravelly.“You were protecting yourself, and your mom, because no one would believe you.Why didn’t you tell me sooner?Did you think I’d never believe you?”
She lets out a sigh.“I didn’t want to ruin the way you thought of your father.”
“He’s a monster.”
“He’s the only parent you have left,” she reminds me softly.
“That’s no reason to protect him.”
“I wasn’t protecting him.I was protecting you.And when you told me he was ill, I didn’t see the point of you needing to know.After what happened to your mom, you know who he is and yet you still adored him.Sometime love is blind, Zee.That’s what I felt your love for your father was like”
“But I never knewthis.”
