Chapter 4 - Reopening Old Wounds
Finding my Aunt Claire wasn't difficult, but it was painful. She was my mother’s older sister, the woman who had taken me in when I was fifteen, fed me, clothed me, and helped me piece my shattered self-worth back together. But Claire had suffered a stroke two years ago and was now living in a quiet assisted-living facility in Maine.
The next weekend, David took Noah to a museum, and I drove three hours north to see her.
The facility was beautiful, smelling of fresh pine and lavender, but seeing Claire in a wheelchair, her left side partially paralyzed, brought tears to my eyes.
"Maya," she whispered, her voice slurred but her eyes sharp and bright. "My beautiful girl. What brings you all this way?"
I sat beside her, holding her frail hand. "Claire, Richard is back. He’s trying to sue me for money."
Claire’s expression hardened instantly. The softness of her aged face vanished, replaced by a fierce, maternal anger. "That wretched man. He didn't give you a single penny after your mother died. He took her life insurance and ran."
"I need proof, Claire," I explained. "I need to prove to a judge that he abandoned me at fifteen. Do you still have the letters? Or the diary from those years?"
Claire closed her eyes, thinking back. "In my old house, in the attic... there is a blue plastic bin. When we sold the house, I moved all my personal papers to a storage unit in Portland. The key is in my jewelry box at my apartment, but my neighbor, Evelyn, has a spare key to the unit. I will call her. Inside that bin, Maya, are the school records from when I enrolled you. And... the letter."
"What letter?" I asked.
May you like
"The letter he wrote to me when he dropped you off," Claire said, her voice trembling with ancient anger. "He wrote: 'She is your problem now. I am starting over. Do not contact me for money, because I have none for her.' I kept it because I wanted to sue him for child support, but I was too afraid he would try to take you back just out of spite. So I kept quiet. I saved you, Maya. And that letter will save you now."
I kissed Claire’s forehead, tears spilling down my cheeks. "Thank you, Aunt Claire. You saved me then, and you're saving me now."
