Chapter 5 - What Maria Hid
The old nursery had not been used since Ella was a toddler.
Vanessa hated the room because Grace had chosen the wallpaper.
I carried Ella on my hip even though she was too big for it. She did not complain.
The brass key opened a cedar box on the top shelf.
Inside were three envelopes, a flash drive, and a spiral notebook.
Maria's handwriting covered the notebook.
June 3 - Mrs. Brooks took Ella's dinner away after she spilled juice.
June 8 - Ella said she had to stand facing pantry wall for one hour.
June 12 - heard Mrs. Brooks tell Ella, "Your father is tired of your drama."
June 16 - kitchen camera unplugged after I asked about punishment.
I stopped reading.
"Daddy?"
I closed the book.
"You never have to protect me from the truth," I said.
Ella's eyes filled. "I thought you'd think I was bad."
I sat on the floor and pulled her into my arms.
"There is nothing you could do that would make me want you gone. Nothing."
She cried quietly into my shirt.
My phone buzzed.
Maria.
I answered immediately.
"Mr. Brooks?"
"Where are you?"
She sounded like she had been holding her breath for days. "My sister's house. Vanessa told me if I came back, she would accuse me of stealing jewelry."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I tried."
"I never got a call."
Silence.
Then she said, "She answered your phone twice while you were away. She told me you agreed I should leave."
I thought of the hours in Chicago when Vanessa had texted that Ella was "doing great" and I had accepted it because accepting it was easy.
"Maria, what is on the flash drive?"
Her voice dropped.
"Copies of papers I found in your study. Papers with your signature."
"What papers?"
"A residential school application for Ella."
May you like
I looked at my daughter.
Maria added, "And a guardianship petition naming Vanessa."
