MY STEPFATHER SOLD HIS BLOOD SO I COULD GO TO SCHOOL. YEARS LATER, WHEN I WAS MAKING $10,000 A MONTH, HE CAME TO ME FOR HELP… AND I TOLD HIM, “I’M NOT GIVING YOU A SINGLE DOLLAR.”

After all the silence.

After all the hunger Mr. Walter had endured because this man abandoned us.

Marcus Carter looked at Mr. Walter sleeping in the hospital bed, then back at me.

“You bought him a house,” he said. “Paid for his surgery. Trying to make him your real daddy now?”

“Get out,” I said through clenched teeth.

He smiled wider.

“Careful, son. Because Walter Hayes never told you the truth about the night your mother died.”

The heart monitor beside Mr. Walter began to beep faster.

My hands went ice cold.

Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rusted key.

A key I recognized.

It belonged to the old metal lockbox Mr. Walter used to keep hidden under the floorboards in our room near the river.

Marcus lowered his voice.

“Ask your precious father why he really took you in, Elijah.”

Mr. Walter’s eyes suddenly opened.

The moment he saw Marcus, terror crossed his face.

He tried to speak, but only a broken gasp came out.

Marcus backed toward the door, smiling.

“Enjoy your new family name, son,” he whispered. “Because by tomorrow morning, you may not want it anymore.”