Sandra stopped the second she saw me.
Four years since I had seen her. She looked good. Put together the way she had looked when I kidnapped her back then. And she was looking at me with something behind her eyes that I’d say was shock.
Her eyes went from me to Simone.
Then back to me.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey,” I said.
That was the whole conversation.
She reached down, grabbed the little girl’s hand without another word and moved past us toward the other end of the aisle and didn’t look back.
I watched her go.
Simone stepped up beside me and looked in the direction they had gone and then looked at me with a small smile on her face.
“That baby was gorgeous.” She shook her head a little. “Gutta she looked just like you though. Like exactly like you. She could be your twin as a baby. That was actually kind of crazy. Hell, now I’m wondering if our future kid will even look that much like you,”
I looked at her.
“What?” She was already moving toward the next section. “I’m just saying. You and that baby have the same face. Anyway—”
And just like that she moved on and started talking about what else was on her list. I stood in that aisle and nodded along to whatever she was saying and didn’t hear a single word of it. Was that my— Nah, it just couldn’t be. I wouldn’t even allow myself to finish formulating that thought.
—
That night after Simone went to sleep I sat in the dark of my living room and ran the math.
Amara. Three years old. Maybe three and a half.
Four years ago I had Sandra bent over in my bed. What happened between us was some wild shit that I never stopped thinking about. She was the only old bitch I ever had. And even today, she still looked good for herself.
I ran it again.
Same answer.
I didn’t know for certain. Couldn’t know just from looking at a little girl in a store. Even if that little girl was wearing my face on her like she came out of me directly. Sandra had a husband. Hadbeen married to Tavarus for twelve years at the time. The baby could be his. The timeline wasn’t impossible either way.
But those eyes.
I was still sitting with it when my phone rang.
Private number, and I had no idea who the fuck that could be. People knew not to play on my phone. And bill collectors didn’t call this late.
I answered.
“Yeah.”
Silence. Then a voice I had never heard before. Low and calm and deliberate like they meant every word they were saying.
“You think you got away with it,” the voice said. “Four years you been out here moving like what you did would just disappeared. Like everybody forgot and life went on. Like nobody was going to find out that it was you behind that.”
I didn’t say anything.
“We didn’t forget. We been patient. Waiting on the right time.” Another pause. “You got a target on your back Deon. Has been for a while. Just wanted you to know we coming and you won’t see it until it’s already done. I hope that money that you took was well worth it. Hopefully you got a little saved up for your funeral.”
