Chapter 5: The Woman We Buried Twice
I read the message so many times that the words stopped looking real.
My mother was alive.
For twenty years, I had carried her photograph in my wallet. I had visited her grave every Mother's Day. I had spent countless nights wondering whether she had known how much I loved her before she died.
Now somebody was telling me that the grave we had visited belonged to a lie.
Renee sat in the passenger seat while Trey slept in the back.
Curtis had gone to another location after the shooting, promising to contact me when he was safe.
I called the number.
It rang once.
Then a woman's voice answered.
"Andre.""
I stopped breathing.
"Mom?""
A long silence followed.
Then she said, "You shouldn't have opened that locker.""
I gripped the steering wheel.
"Where are you?""
"Somewhere Victor can't find me.""
"Victor knows you're alive?""
"He's known for years.""
My voice rose.
"Why did you leave us?""
"Because your father made me promise.""
"My father is dead!""
"I know, baby.""
Her voice broke.
For a moment, I was seventeen again, standing in a hospital corridor while a doctor explained that my mother had suffered complications following a serious illness.
I remembered the funeral.
The flowers.
The closed casket.
The woman who held my hand while I cried.
But now I was wondering whether any of it had been real.
"Mom, I buried you.""
"I know.""
"You let me bury you!""
"I was trying to keep you alive.""
I laughed bitterly.
"By making me believe my own mother was dead?""
She began crying.
"Andre, there are things you don't understand.""
"Then explain them.""
She took a shaky breath.
"Your father discovered that Samuel was alive. He also discovered that Samuel had been working with Victor. The two of them were planning to take control of everything Raymond had built.""
"Why would Samuel do that?""
"Because he believed Raymond had stolen his position.""
I looked toward Renee.
She was listening carefully.
My mother continued.
"Your father confronted them. He wanted to settle everything before you and Malik got involved. But Victor had already made his decision.""
"And Samuel?""
"Samuel pulled the trigger.""
My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
I had spent twenty years believing Victor had killed my father.
But according to my mother, the man who fired the gun was my father's own brother.
"Why did Malik blame Darius?""
"He didn't. He was afraid Darius had been compromised.""
"Compromised how?""
My mother hesitated.
"Victor offered Darius something.""
"What?""
"Control of Black Crown.""
I looked toward the road.
"So Darius helped them kill Malik?""
"I don't know.""
"Mom, you can't keep saying you don't know!""
"Your brother was investigating Samuel. He believed Samuel had returned to Atlanta.""
A chill ran through me.
"Why?""
"Because someone had started withdrawing money from an account Raymond created before he died.""
"Whose account?""
"Yours.""
I nearly swerved.
"What?""
"Your father left money for you and Malik. Someone has been accessing it using your identity.""
The photograph from locker 317 flashed through my mind.
The man who looked like me.
The fake identity.
The storage facility.
Everything was beginning to connect.
"Where can I find you?""
My mother gave me an address in southwest Atlanta.
Then she said something that made me stop.
"Bring Malik's son.""
I looked into the rearview mirror.
Trey was awake.
"Why Trey?""
"Because Malik left him something I need.""
"What?""
"A letter.""
Renee suddenly leaned toward my phone.
"Don't take him there.""
My mother went silent.
"Renee?""
Renee's eyes filled with tears.
"You know who I am.""
My mother whispered something I couldn't understand.
Then Renee said, "You promised Malik you would never come near his son.""
The call disconnected.
I slowly lowered the phone.
"Renee, what was that?""
She stared through the windshield.
"I knew your mother before I married Malik.""
"How?""
She wiped her cheek.
"Because she helped raise me.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
Renee nodded.
"Your mother was my biological mother too.""
The car became completely silent.
Trey sat upright.
"Wait. Grandma is Mom's mother?""
Renee nodded.
I shook my head.
"No. That's impossible.""
"Your father knew," she whispered.
"He found out shortly before he died. He promised not to tell you until he could explain everything.""
I felt sick.
My brother had married our half-sister.
Had he known?
"Did Malik know?""
Renee closed her eyes.
"Yes.""
I stared at her.
"How long?""
"Since before our wedding.""
I pulled the car into an empty parking lot.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I turned toward her.
"You married my brother knowing you were related?""
"I didn't know when we met. By the time I found out, I was pregnant with Trey. Malik wanted to end the marriage, but he couldn't abandon his son.""
Trey began crying.
"Mom, am I related to Uncle Andre?""
I reached toward him.
"You're my nephew. That's not changing.""
Renee covered her face.
"Malik wanted to tell you. He was waiting until he had proof that our mother had been hiding the truth.""
I looked at the address on my phone.
My mother.
My father's murder.
My brother's death.
And a family secret that had apparently been protected for decades.
I started the engine.
"We're going to see her.""
Renee grabbed my arm.
"Andre, wait.""
I looked at her.
"There's something else.""
"What now?""
She swallowed.
"The night Malik died, he didn't go to meet Darius.""
I frowned.
"Then who did he meet?""
Renee looked at Trey.
"He went to meet your mother.""
May you like
My blood ran cold.
"And he never came home.""
