15
KAI
I pullup in front of the residence minutes before twelve o’clock.
A faint light lines the windows of the small house when I climb out of my car and drape my coat over my shoulders.
I shut the door and check my phone briefly before heading to the entrance.
I brace myself for anything.
If my suspicions are correct, having my father’s last name might work to my disadvantage, but hiding that fact is not an option.
I’m sick of lies. And how can I expect the truth if I ask for it under a false pretense?
A woman opens the door a few moments later.
Somewhere in her seventies, she wears a red sweater and gray pants. Her hand trembles on the lapels of her top when she casts a curious glance at me.
“Who are you?” she asks, shivering from cold. “Are you selling something? I just got off the phone with a salesperson who couldn’t take no for an answer.”
I give her a charming smile.
“That’s not me.”
I introduce myself and watch her smile fade at the sound of my name.
“Are you related to Robert Walker?”
“I’m his son.”
Suspicion grows in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think this is a good time,” she says and starts closing the door when I stop her with my gloved hand.
“I want to know the truth about Andrew.”
The woman freezes in the doorway.
She searches my eyes while I wait.
“What do you want to know about Andrew?”
“I want to know what happened.”
“Why?”
“I can’t get the straight story from my father.”
Now, that’s a lie.
He’s never mentioned Andrew’s name. Not to me anyway. And I didn’t hear him talk to my mother about him either.
That part of his life has always been a mystery to me.
An ounce of trust flickers in the woman’s eyes.
She ponders for a second before inviting me in.