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“DNA doesn’t lie.”Doesn’t explain everything, but it doesn’t lie.
“No, it doesn't. Let’s see, what I can tell you that you’d want to know? Mother was a hard-working woman who sometimes worked two jobs just to pay for rent and food. She didn’t have any family she could turn to. And she was far from trusting. If strangers came by the apartment, she would lock the door and tell me not to answer. I never understood what she was so afraid of, but her sole purpose in life seemed to be to keep me safe. And after what I’ve learned over the years, I’d say the same was true for you.”
By giving me away? Not likely.
“Sounds like you had a tough childhood,” I said. I couldn’t say the same. My parents gave me what I needed – I never went without a meal and never worried about a roof over my head. They hadn’t raised me to be afraid of strangers. They were social people who made sure I was involved in sports and school. Hell, they attended every baseball game. I never doubted my parents’ love. I only wish they had told me I was adopted. Maybe someday I’d ask them why they didn’t. Perhaps they thought I would love them less. That was far from the truth. They are and will always be my parents.
“We all have parts of our lives we wish were different. I’m sure the same goes for you,” she said.
I nodded, but didn’t offer any examples.
“Richard never told me where you are from,” she went on.
I chuckled. “That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping to find that out. To answer your question, I’m from South Dakota.”
“Seriously?” I nodded and she added, “I grew up in North Dakota.”
So close and yet so far.
“You don’t have an accent like anyone I’ve spoken to from North Dakota,” I said.
“No, I don’t. I met Phil when I was seventeen. He joined the military and I couldn’t go with him unless we were married, so we got married at eighteen. I guess traveling the world has a lot to do with how I speak now.”
“Did you always live with our mother in North Dakota before you met Phil?” I wanted to hear about her life with her husband, but not yet.
“I did. It’s funny that I never knew how poor we had been until I left home and saw how others lived.”
“You seem to have landed well.” I looked around her massive living room. I wasn’t hard up for money, but this was a different level of money. Rhonda and Phil were rich. It was evident the moment I pulled into the driveway. Their house looked like a mansion.
“Times are much different for me and my family now. But knowing what I know now, I understand why mother was the way she was. And I also understand why she felt as though she had no choice but to give you up.”
Before I could speak, she raised a hand up in the air and added, “I know that it sounds like an excuse, but she really did what was best for you.”
“That is questionable. I mean, you know nothing about my life,” I stated. “Wait, that’s wrong. You know what Phil has researched.”
“For the record, he didn’t share what he learned with me. He’s not that type of person. Phil just wanted to ensure you wouldn’t be a negative influence in our lives. You can’t blame him for that. I don’t. Mother never--”
“I don’t, and I’m sorry if I came off…harsh,” I said.
“And I’m sorry if I was…defensive. But let’s get back to Mother. She rarely spoke about her past. As I got older, I tried asking, but she refused to tell me anything. The only thing I knew back then was that she had been here illegally. That didn’t explain the utter sadness I could see in her eyes.” She sighed and added, “No matter what you and I have faced, it’s nothing compared to the trauma she went through. The truth of what she did for us only came to light when I came to Boston.”
I waited a moment, but she didn’t fill in the blank. “What did you learn?” I pressed.
“That her pain must have been unbearable, but also that our mother was a strong woman who loved us with all her heart, even if she wasn’t able to verbalize it.”
I could see that even talking about it now was difficult for Rhonda. I still wanted to know what the hell she’d been through, but I was willing to take baby steps, to avoid hurting Rhonda in the process. “What about our father?” I asked.
I saw her flinch, and she avoided my eyes as she replied. “I never met him. He died a few years after our mother did.”
There seemed to be a bitterness or maybe anger as she spoke about him. That puzzled me.
“I don’t even know who he is,” I said. “Richard only said that we shared the same parents.”
“Colton, some things are best not known. He…he wasn’t a very nice person,” she said.
“But you said you never met him,” I said.
“I don’t need to. What I know about him is more than I wish I did. There isnothinggood about the man and I refuse to even say his name. But he’s the reason Mother was forced to give you up. It was for your own good.”
