Men who’d been around so long they might as well have been family. I’d spent my entire life hearing the same story.
My mother was an addict…
She couldn’t get clean…
She died…
End of discussion…
Except… That wasn’t the whole truth.
“Why didn’t you tell anybody?”
“I tried.”
“Who?”
“Your aunt.” I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “She came to the hospital once while your mother was admitted. I told her I believed someone was supplying her with drugs and interfering every time she tried to get clean.”
“What’d she say?”
“‘I’ll handle it.’”
“Looks like she didn’t,” I hissed.
“I don’t know what happened after that.”
“I believe you know more than you’re saying,” I told him.
Greene looked away, and before I could say another word, Mace leaned forward.
He said, “Whatever the fuck you scared of already got Sam killed. So, if you know something… now ain’t the time to protect nobody.”
Pain moved across his face when he said Sam’s name. If I hadn’t known the truth about them, I might’ve missed how personal every word was. Now that I knew, I could see it in everything Mace did. The anger. The lack of sleep. The way he was holding himself together with whatever little bit he had left.
Greene pushed his chair back and walked toward a cabinet beside the refrigerator. After moving a few things around, he pulled out a thick manila envelope.
“I kept copies.”
“Copies of what?” I asked.
“The records Sam came for.” He laid the envelope on the table between us. “I never got the chance to give them to him.”
I stared at the envelope. “So you’ve had these the whole time?”
Greene nodded. “I couldn’t bring myself to destroy them.”
“Then why didn’t you show up?”
His shoulders dropped and he said, “Because someone made sure I didn’t.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. The call came from a blocked number.”
“What’d they say?”
“They knew my granddaughter’s name. They knew what school she attended… what time she got out… where she’d be.” His voice got lower. “They told me if I met with Sam, she wouldn’t make it home.”
