Silence grew thick after the older man’s roar. Sabrina’s ears rang, and once again she found herself processing newinformation. “I never learned about you until my dad, Ernie, passed away. Did… um… did you know about me?”
Scrap seemed to shrink and age. In a matter of seconds, his face morphed from a raging beet red to a remorseful pale white. “Raquel sent me pictures every time she called to ask for money. I gave her some ’cause I thought there was a chance. Then I found out she did the same thing to three other men. Claimed you were theirs and wanted child support. She was playing a fucking game with all of us, including Ernie. So I stopped playing and told her to fuck off.”
Sabrina swallowed. “She fucked with both of us, then. She left not too long after I was born. Ernie got full custody of me before I turned one. To my knowledge, she never paid him a dime. If she collected child support from anyone, it was a money thing for herself.” She held up both hands and spread her fingers. “I can count on my hands the times I’ve seen her during my life. She’s a shit parent ’cause she chose to be one. I’m thinking now that same choice was madeforyou, notbyyou. Am I close?”
Scrap breathed hard and deep, the air sawing out of his nose in long wheezes. His lips were twitching, as if he was trying to hold himself back. Mary openly cried and pulled a tissue from her pocket.
Sabrina fought her throat closing up. She didn’t want to cry. Not yet, and not in front of this man. “I don’t blame you for not believing Raquel. I’m not surprised at all by what she did to you and others. I’m still gonna say I… no,weneed to find out the truth. I think I deserve it. I think you do too.”
There ya go, Scrap. I lobbed the ball in your court. It’s up to you if you want to be a shit father or not.
He swallowed and coughed several times, sniffing and clearing. Sabrina noticed when he raised a hand to brush awaysome moisture that had gathered under his eyes. He muttered something in his rumbling voice.
Mary leaned forward. “What did you say?”
“I said I’d take the fucking test.”
Sabrina left Scrap’s house,but instead of going back to Cam’s place, she decided to walk for a bit. Thoughts and scenarios filled her head with possibilities, and it was giving her a major headache. A dull pain pulsed behind her eyes as she meandered through the narrow streets.
He’s gonna take the test.
What if I’m not his daughter after all?
What if I am?
Is he dying?
Her phone rang. The area code was from Florida, and she answered the unknown number, thinking it might be important.
Instead, she got an earful of Spanish cussing.
“Qué te pasa? Estupida!” (“What’s wrong with you? Stupid!”)
“Well, hello to you, too, Rosa.” Anger flashed through Sabrina’s body with enough force that she started to sweat. The last person she wanted to deal with on this fucked-up day was her estranged aunt.
“Rodrigo has papers for you to sign.”
“Congratulations.”
“This is no joke. They must be signed soon.”
Sabrina stood on the sidewalk and looked around, seeing how far she’d gone in the unfamiliar neighborhood. “Y’all need me to sign something? I’ll tell you the same thing I told Rodrigo: Bring them to me or mail them.”
“No, you must come here and sign them. Immediately!”
With the stress from keeping her job, her current living arrangement, an unfamiliar state, a big question mark on her personal life with Cam, and the discovery of Scrap’s failing health, Sabrina had reached her emotional limit. She opened her mouth and let loose. “You know what,Tia? I have no fucks left to give about you or Rodrigo or the whole fucking family. I’m in fucking Pennsylvania, trying to find a new life and get the truth from a man who’s got kidney disease and might be dying. I don’t have money or time to come to Florida. Y’all wanted me out, remember? I’m fucking out. If you want my signature on anything at all, you or Rodrigo needs to bring your happy asses up here. Otherwise, I’m. Fucking. Done!”
She hung up and blocked the number. Only then did she start to shake.
She brought her arms up to hug herself as she observed her surroundings. Old run-down row houses that hadn’t seen any updates or even a coat of paint stood on either side of the rough, broken street. This was the type of place where cops seldom came. There were very few people out and about this late afternoon, but those who were eyed her with either suspicion or speculation. She turned to go back the way she came and find Scrap’s house again but got twisted up even further.
Shit, I donotneed to be here.Angry tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
There’s a map on your phone, dummy. Use it to figure out where you are and how to get back to where you need to be.
Of course, her phone showed the red line of death. Three percent power left on 5G meant shutdown was imminent. Thinking quickly, she dialed Cam.
“What’s up?”
