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Malcolm watched Derrick as he approached the grave. He stood over it then put the letter down.
Paula played on the tree-lined path. The frost was already disappearing and Paula poked at it with a stick. "Uncle Malcolm, are there kids sleeping here?"
"What?" Malcolm was startled, worried about how he would explain to her about cemeteries and death.
"This is like the place where kids go to sleep forever," she said.
Malcolm wasn't sure what to tell her, but then Derrick came back. He looked solemn and gave Malcolm a sad smile. "It's done," he said. As they walked away from the cemetery, Malcolm took Derrick's hand and held it tight.
After the cemetery, they went on a leisurely walk around a small, pretty lake. Its surface was calm, reflecting the woods and the sky. As they strolled along the path encircling the lake, Paulapicked up pebbles and threw them in the water. Each time she watched closely as ripples spread out then the surface became still again.
When they stopped near a big log, Malcolm asked Paula, "Honey, who told you that a cemetery is where kids sleep forever?" He thought it might have been Kimberley.
"A man told me. He put me in a car and took me to a place like that, and then Mommy came there too. The man wanted Mommy to give him a bag. He was playing with a knife, and he said, 'This is where they put kids to sleep forever.' He asked me if I wanted to sleep there forever, and I said no."
Malcolm held his breath, but Paula seemed oblivious to the gravity of what she was saying. She didn't seem to realize that the man had been threatening her. "What happened next," he asked her making sure to keep his voice even.
"Mommy gave the man a bag and he pushed me and he went away," Paula said.
He glanced over at Derrick, who looked grim. Clearly Kimberley got involved in something that put Paula in danger.
Kneeling down in front of Paula, Malcolm took her in his arms and told her, "Everything is OK now. I'll always be here for you, no matter what. You mean everything to me and I love you so much."
"I love you too, Uncle Malcolm," Paula said sweetly. "When Mommy said I had to go live with my uncle, I was scared. But you're my uncle and you're nice."
She went back to throwing pebbles into the lake, but Malcolm was still very disturbed thinking about Paula being kidnapped and her life threatened to make her mother give up something, which was probably drugs. Malcolm now knew what had made his sister give up custody of Paula.
He was grateful that Paula was safe now, but he wondered what other dangers she might have faced in the past. Derrick put hisarms around his shoulders and told him, "She's with you now. She is happy and protected."
Malcolm smiled at him and rested his head on Derrick's shoulder as they both watched Paula playing next to a tranquil lake.
Chapter 21
Malcolm was at work, but actually doing his job was a struggle. He was still thinking about Kimberley and how Paula had been in danger.
He noticed Derrick watching him. Finally, he asked, "What's wrong, Malcolm? You've been scattered all day."
"Did I mess up something?" Malcolm asked and started checking over all the stuff he had done so far.
Derrick covered Malcolm's hands with his and took them away from the keyboard. "Your work is fine, but you aren't. Talk to me," Derrick told him and led him to his office. He handed him a bottle of water from his fridge and had him sit on the leather sofa.
As Derrick sat next to him, Malcolm leaned against him and sighed. "I can't stop thinking about what Paula told us. How many things like that are hidden in her little mind? All the nightmarish things she must have dealt with in the handful of years that she's been alive," Malcolm lamented and Derrick rubbed his back. His eyes were intently focused on Malcolm but the look in them was kind of angry.
"Do you blame your sister?" he asked.
Malcolm did, but he didn't want to. He started telling Derrick how the two of them grew up. "My parents were so harsh and judgmental, I felt like I was suffocating in that house. Everything I did was wrong in their eyes and things only got worse when they found out I was gay. After that I was the lightning rod for their wrath. My sister was able to fly under the radar even when she started using drugs. She was quiet about it, good at sneaking around. She stayed in the background, playing the good girl, not drawing too much of my parents' attention until it got really bad, and then she ran away, never looked back."
"Knowing you, you must have tried to find her," Derrick said.
"I did, but I never got anywhere. She didn't want to be found," he said. "I didn't know what happened to her, if she was even alive. And I didn't know about Paula until I was contacted by family services."
Malcolm thought back to finding out about Paula, the conflicting emotions he felt. He had a niece, and that was wonderful. But the rest... "Paula had been found alone, living in squalor in a filthy apartment without any clean water to drink and no food. That's when Paula was taken away from Kimberley. They wanted to place her with family, and my mom and dad refused to take her. I was glad to take her, but I never got the chance. Kimberley had a visit with Paula, and she took her away. I didn't even get to meet her."
"Poor kid," Derrick said.
"I was even more determined to find Kimberley after that, but she was hiding with Paula. I was scared for both my sister and Paula, worried about what could happen to them, how they were living. It was almost a year later when I heard from Kimberley. She wanted to know if I would take Paula, permanently."
"And you said yes," Derrick guessed.
