Haunted Nights, Chapter 27
by SIPort

" My daughter?”

“ Yes.”

” Where is this coming from, Simone?”

” I was going through the pictures you gave me and there was one there of her.”

” Oh. I didn’t know that. I thought…”

” That you had destroyed all her pictures?”

Warren was quiet. “ To be honest, yes. Though that was another mistake I wound up regretting. The loss of my daughter is the biggest regret I have in life, and to know it was of my own doing compounds the pain exponentially.”

” I’m sorry that I brought it up. You don’t have to tell me.”

” No, Simone. I think I should. My failure with my daughter changed the course of my life. It changed me. Do…do you have the picture?”

Simone pulled it out of her purse and gave it to Warren.  He smiled when he saw it.

“ She was eight, I think. Her pony Shelby…she loved that horse. She rode her for hours and hours. Quite a sight. If you think there are no Black people in horsing now, back then…the stares.. But, she loved this horse. She was an excellent competitor. She had a room full of ribbons.”

” She liked horses…”, Simone said to herself. She remembered when she was young and had a horse crazy phase herself. Her mother seemed so happy, and took her to every lesson personally. Eve had been so sad when Simone quit riding. Now she knew why.

“ Our only child. She was named for my mother – Eve. She was a beautiful baby. A beautiful child. And a beautiful young woman. We were parents of the times. This was before Doctor Spock, and the ‘involved’ parent. We were absentee parents. Our daughter was to be seen and not heard. Trotted out in our parties when it was convenient for us. Her closest companion when she was a girl was my mother – they were inseparable. But, she died when Eve was eight. Looking back, I can see then that her childhood turned very lonely. But, we didn’t see it. All we saw was a child who never gave us any trouble. Got fabulous grades. Did all the right activities. We sent her to the ‘right’ schools, so there wasn’t any doubt that she’d attend Radcliffe – we expected nothing less.

My wife and I went  away on sabbatical my daughter’s second semester. By the time we arrived back from our travels, we had received letters from Radcliffe telling us that our daughter had flunked out. We didn’t know where to look for her, because none of the people we considered her friends knew where she was. Then, randomly, one day, we received an anonymous letter telling us that if we wanted to find our daughter that we should go a jazz club in Boston called The Blue Note.

And, sure enough, she was there. Up on stage. Singing her heart out. And VERY pregnant.”

The baby.

Our daughter had been brought up better than that. Better than to become some drug addicted knocked up singer. Of course, the best part of that was yet to come. When we asked about the father, she told us that the father was in Europe on a business trip and had yet to find out about the baby, but she was sure that he would want it.

And, of course, the baby’s father was White.”

“ White?”

” My daughter got pregnant by a rich White man who dropped his seed and never looked back. We had a standing in the community to protect. We couldn’t let our daughter sully the good name and reputation that we had spent generations building. My wife told my daughter that we would take care of everything – get her back in school, get her record expunged, the entire thing. All she had to do was give up her baby for adoption.”

“ You…you told her to give away her child?”, Simone asked quietly.

“ Yes…and, it was the worst moment of my life. My daughter told us to go to hell, and that she’d never give away her baby. We got up and told her to do the right thing, thinking that, as has been all her life, we could get her to bend to our will. But, not this time. I turned back to look at my daughter before we left the club, and I saw it in her eyes.

Devastation. Sadness. Then resolve. All in the matter of seconds. It was then that I knew I had made a mistake. And, I knew it would be a long time before I’d ever see my daughter again. I just didn’t know it would be this long.

I relive that moment in time almost nightly, in my nightmares. I can describe everything about that moment. The one moment I wish I could take back, but can’t.

After 5 years of not hearing from her, on her birthday, I destroyed what I thought was all her pictures. If I didn’t see her, then maybe the pain wouldn’t be as great. Another mistake.

I’m an old man, Simone. I’ve spent so much money trying to find her. That I can’t…Logic tells me that she’s probably dead, but I have hope. I have to have hope. “

“ Of course you do, Mr. J.” Simone got up and kissed Warren gently on the cheek. “ Thank you for telling me this story. I appreciate you sharing your pain, and I’ll say a prayer for your daughter tonight. And for you to get the reunion you want.”

Soon after Simone saw Warren’s limo leave for the airport, Simone got in her car and drove to Jonah’s. She barely got to knock before the door was opened.

Simone followed Jonah to the dining room where there were papers all over his table. He sat down and Simone did the following.

” So, did you get the info on my Mom?”

” It means that I had my best guy on it, and he got me all he could. Your mother is a contradiction, Simone.”

” Doesn’t exist?”

” This guy is the best, Simone. He doesn’t make mistakes. He can do investigations like this in his sleep. Your mother doesn’t exist before college.”

” And…”

” Simone?”

“ It’s her, Jonah. I know it is. The answer is obvious and staring me in the face. My mother has lied to me everyday of my life. She’s lied to me. My father. My sister. Simply put, she’s a fraud. “

Jonah didn’t know what to say. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. “ Where do we go from here?”

“ I have to get the truth from the ultimate liar. I have to confront my mother.”