Chapter 4: Denise Comes to the Door
Jama arrived twenty minutes later wearing the same sweater she had worn during her last visit.
She stopped inside the doorway when she saw Maya.
“My son—”
“He’s right here,” Maya said.
Jama hurried to the baby and took him from her brother’s arms.
She kissed his forehead, then looked at Maya.
“I’m sorry I left him.”
“You knew my children would protect him.”
“I hoped they would.”
Maya pointed to the sofa.
“Sit down and tell me about Mill Road.”
Jama held the baby close.
“Grandma left that cottage to you and Denise together.
Mom said you signed your share over to her.”
“I signed nothing.”
“She showed me a recorded deed.”
Charles reached for his phone.
“I’ll call the county office.”
A heavy knock sounded at the front door.
Jama’s face drained of color.
“Don’t open it.”
“Is that your mother?” Maya asked.
Denise called from outside.
“Jama, I know you’re in there.
Bring me my grandson.”
Maya opened the door but blocked the entrance.
Denise’s silver hair was pulled into a severe knot.
She looked past Maya at Charles and smiled.
“Well,” Denise said.
“I suppose the family reunion finally happened.”
“You don’t get to joke in my house,” Maya replied.
“Our mother’s house was half mine.
Perhaps you should remember that before you start claiming ownership of everything.”
“You mean the cottage?”
Denise’s smile widened.
“Charles told you.”
“Jama did.”
Denise looked at her daughter.
“After everything I sacrificed for you?”
“You used me to frighten him into paying you,” Jama said.
“I raised you alone.”
“You refused to let him put his name on my school forms.
You told me he was ashamed of me.”
“He was.”
Charles stepped beside Maya.
“That’s a lie.”
Denise’s finger shot toward him.
“You sent checks instead of showing up.”
“Because you said you would disappear with her if I came near your house.”
Maya turned on Charles.
“And you believed silence was easier than telling me.”
“I believed Denise would punish Jama.”
Denise gave a dry laugh.
“Listen to him pretending he was noble.”
Maya stepped onto the porch and pulled the door partly closed behind her.
“Did you forge Charles’s signature?”
“I didn’t have to.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your husband signs whatever I put in front of him when I mention Jama.”
Charles shook his head.
“I signed a loan guarantee two years ago.
Nothing else.”
“You should have read every page.”
Jama moved into the doorway.
“Mom, what did you do?”
“I secured what I was owed.”
“You were owed honesty,” Maya said.
“Not my property.”
Denise reached into her handbag and removed a folded document.
“The deed was recorded eight months ago.
Mill Road belongs entirely to me.”
Charles snatched the paper and studied the signature.
“That page wasn’t attached to the document I signed.”
“Prove it.”
“I kept a copy.”
“No, you didn’t,” Denise said.
“You left it in my kitchen.”
Charles looked at Jama.
“Did you ever see the original papers?”
Jama tightened her arms around the baby.
“There was a blue folder in Mom’s desk.”
Denise’s face changed.
“Stay out of this,” she warned.
“You brought my child into it,” Jama replied.
“You said you would call social services and tell them I abandoned him if I spoke to Maya.”
Maya’s hand closed around the edge of the door.
“You threatened your own daughter?”
“I reminded her that unstable mothers lose custody.”
Jama recoiled as if Denise had shoved her.
Maya stepped between them.
“Leave.”
Denise held up the deed.
“Keep pretending you’re in control.
The cottage is under contract, and the sale closes Friday.”
“That’s three days from now,” Charles said.
Denise backed down the steps.
“Then you have three days to find proof that no longer exists.”
Jama waited until Denise reached her car.
May you like
Then she whispered, “She’s wrong.
I know where the blue folder is.”
