Chapter 5: What Marcus Knew
Darnell's mother-in-law — his own mother, Sandra — opened the door before he even knocked.
She looked at his face and stepped back without a word to let him in.
Marcus was at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a library book propped open against the sugar dish.
He was eight years old and had his father's forehead and his mother's eyes and absolutely no awareness that anything was wrong.
"Dad!" He scrambled out of the chair.
Darnell caught him and held on a beat longer than usual.
"Hey, buddy." He set him down and looked at him.
New sneakers.
Clean shirt.
Backpack hanging on the chair behind him — the same one from last year, zipper fixed with a safety pin.
"You ready for school Monday?"
"Yeah." Marcus climbed back into his chair.
"Grandma Sandra got me the folders.
The ones with the planets."
Darnell looked at his mother over Marcus's head.
Sandra gave a small nod toward the hallway.
"Marcus, finish your cereal," Darnell said.
"I'll be right back."
He followed his mother into the hallway.
She pulled the kitchen door almost closed and kept her voice low.
"How bad is it?" she said.
"I don't know the full number yet.
But it's been going on for at least two years."
Sandra pressed her lips together.
"I had a feeling."
"You had a feeling and you didn't say anything?"
"I didn't have proof, Darnell.
I had a feeling." She crossed her arms.
"Last spring, Marcus told me his backpack broke and you'd sent money for a new one but his mama said the store was out of the good ones.
I took him myself.
The store had plenty."
Darnell put his hand on the wall.
"And in January," Sandra continued, "he told me you sent Christmas money.
But he only got one gift.
He said his mama told him the other ones were coming late." She paused.
"They never came."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Because he loves his mother.
And I didn't want to be the one to make him feel like he was caught in the middle." Her voice was steady but her hands weren't.
"But I kept notes, Darnell.
Dates.
What he said.
What he didn't get.
I wrote it all down because I didn't know what else to do with it."
"I need those notes."
"I'll get them." She turned toward the bedroom, then stopped.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find out exactly how much is missing.
And then I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"And Marcus?"
Darnell looked back toward the kitchen door.
Through the gap he could see his son turning a page in his book, spoon halfway to his mouth, completely absorbed.
"Marcus is going to be fine," he said.
"That's the whole point."
Sandra went to get her notes.
Darnell walked back into the kitchen and sat down across from his son.
"Hey," he said.
"You like your teacher this year?"
Marcus looked up.
"She lets us pick our own reading spots.
I sit by the window."
"Yeah?" Darnell smiled.
"That's a good spot."
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
May you like
He didn't take it out.
Marcus turned another page.
