I’VE GOT EVERYTHING I NEED
38
Prudence : You okay? You’re shaking.
Jack : Just the nerves.
Jack : I feel okay, though.
Prudence : I should have slapped him.
Prudence : Or mom, for that matter.
Jack : It’s okay, really.
Prudence : Ikram was holding your chair and shaking from rage and Nate’s knuckles were fucking white from holding his fist so tight.
Prudence : We’re not alone.
Jack : Oh my god, can we talk about Evie and how she scolded them like they were just two spoiled children?
Prudence : I wish I could have that moment on video.
Jack : I’m so happy to have them all in our life.
JACK
Tham, Amy, and Naveen finally arrive and Prue and I drop our phones back on the table. They all sit on the three chairs left, and we’re all facing each other on the fancy round table of the hotel’s restaurant.
I spent the whole drive back in the car, once again sandwiched between Ikram and Prue, both of them holding my hands like they were scared I’d run away.
And now that we’re here, the atmosphere is definitely getting awkward and tense again.
I risk a glance towards Prue and notice that Nate’s arm is reaching for her under the table. Probably just holding her hand, but the sight makes me smile slightly and I look away, focusing instead on the reassuring touch of Ikram’s hand on my knee, completely at odds with the wary looks he gives Prue and I’s siblings.
“I’d like to start with an apology,” Tham says, his voice low but assured. Amy leans back in her chair, her arms crossed in front of her and her gaze wandering to the side. Naveen is fumbling with his hands on the table. “I’m sure I’m not only talking about me when I say that I’ve wanted to reach out a few times, but didn’t.”
I catch Prue’s eye roll and annoyed sigh, but no one says anything about it.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t. Now that I know the truth, I understand why both of you cut ties.”
“Yeah, right,” Prue mumbles, her eyes focused on the table in front of her.
“Look Prue,” Tham says a little sharply. “I know you’re upset, but it’s time to move on. We fucked up but we’re trying to make things right, here.”
“I’m only here because Jack wanted to come,” she says, leaning forward and pointing a finger in my direction. “And, I did reach out. To Amy. Twice .”
We all turn our faces towards Amy, who’s usually pale freckled face is turning a bright red, only rivaled by the bright orange of her hair. She frowns as she looks directly at Prue.
“I thought you left because you hated us! I thought you were sending me pity texts! And you think I wanted pity at those moments?”
Prue shrugs, seemingly unaffected by the conversation. “I’m just saying. I reached out .”
“And what the hell do you think I felt when—”
“We’re not here to place more blame or argue,” Naveen says calmly, cutting Amy off.
“How have you all been?” I ask, trying for a casual tone.
They all exchange a look, before Amy talks first.
“Fine,” she says tightly. “This pregnancy is hell, and I can’t wait for it to be over.”
“Oh, you’re pregnant?” I ask, trying to force a smile.
“Baby number 7,” Prue says flatly.
“Wow. Are you a full time mother?”
“I am,” Amy says. “5 of them are already going to school, so the days are not too bad. Evenings are a mess, though,” she admits.
“Wouldn’t be if your husband didn’t do overtime every day.”
Amy glares at Tham who just shrugs.
“Tham’s right,” Naveen says softly. “Derek is not taking his role as a father seriously. Oh, come on, don’t give me this look. He keeps getting you pregnant, then when the baby comes, he stays late, goes on work trips, and just avoids staying home at all costs.”
“Not that you would know, but kids cost money,” Amy snaps.
“I know. It’s one of the reasons Kate and I don’t want any,” Naveen says matter-of-factly. “Also, we enjoy being just the two of us, and taking holidays, and having sex whenever we want. But yes, having money and spending it however we please is a huge bonus.”
“You guys are selfish,” Amy mumbles.
“How so?” Naveen asks her.
All of our heads are going from one to the other. Except Tham, who’s sitting between them, his head buried in his hands. It’s obviously not the first time they have this argument.
“Having kids is a blessing. You need to think about the future of the population and—”
“Oh, I don’t need to worry about it. Derek and you are having enough kids to compensate for the whole family’s lack of descendants,” Naveen chuckles.
“Hey, I have kids,” Tham says with a frown, turning his face towards our other brother.
“Two. And, unless Jack and Prue have kids we don’t know about, that makes a total of 8 kids—sorry, almost 9,” Naveen corrects himself at Amy’s narrowed eyes. “With an average of 2 kids per couple, you guys are almost reaching the quota for all five of us.”
“Just one more to go,” I chuckle, and all their eyes snap back at me. Oh god. “Oh, don’t count on me. Gay and dying, remember?”
Prue throws a napkin at my face. “No dying talk,” she scolds.
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You might appreciate a change of subject before they decide you’ll be the one to pop that last child.”
She rears back, a horrified look on her face, and I’m sure I see Nate stifle a laugh.
“Let’s just skip the kids talk altogether,” she says, gritting her teeth. “Every kid okay? Good. Let’s move on.”
Naveen and Tham smile, while Amy just holds her arms tighter against her, the frown not leaving her face.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you guys something,” Naveen says, leaning forward over the table. “I—”
“You’re sure it’s an appropriate time for this conversation?”
“Yes Tham. I’m sure. As far as I know, they might never come back here again, and we agreed that we should tell them face to face.”
Prue and I exchange a look as Ikram and Nate look more and more confused.
“You might want your… friends to leave.”
“We don’t,” I answer instantly. “Anything you have to say can be said in front of them. Also, Ikram is not my friend .”
I grab his hand and hold it over the table to make my point. He turns his face to smile at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He leans forward to kiss my cheek, right on the corner of my lips.
“Alright then,” Naveen says, not at all affected while Amy does her best to look somewhere else. “As we all know, we’ve been adopted through the Church’s Orphanage. All of us. And as we all realized, our parents were clearly not fit to be parents…
“You two might not know it, but I’m a P.I now. About two years ago, I was hired by two siblings who wanted to find their biological families. They’ve been adopted from the same church as us. And, like all of us, they came from different countries.”
I see Prue frown. Her birth certificate says she was born here, in Aspen.
“I looked into the Church first, so I could have something to go from. I hope you’re ready, because the story is… It’s really dark.”
He waits but we both nod, our faces tense. Ikram’s hand squeezes mine.
“That church was kind of a front… It was a real church, but the Orphanage was run by a group of people who already ran other religious places in other parts of the world. The babies they got? They weren’t all abandoned. Most of them were stolen or bought, then sold back to people like our parents, who made the adoption process faster by… Giving generous donations.
“I’ve followed every lead for all five of us, and I can tell you what led you to be adopted here, if you want to know.”
Do I want to know? I always thought I’d been given away because of my disease. Since it’s genetic, one of my parents must have had it, and was too sick to take care of me. But what if it’s not? What if I’ve been sold for some reason and my parents are still alive somewhere?
“Do you mind sharing yours before telling us ours?” Prue asks, barely over a whisper, but Naveen nods, followed by Tham and Amy.
“I’m a child born from an… unconsented relationship,” Tham says, his voice raw. “My mother escaped her abuser through the church. They offered to send her somewhere else and give her paper, but she didn’t have that kind of money. So they asked for her unborn baby. She stayed in the Christian Church in Bangkok until she gave birth to me. Then, we both took the boat until we reached the US. She got her paper the second we reached the port and she left me in the care of the people who brought me to Aspen. She died seven years ago, and she was working as a nurse in Ohio.”
They… Oh my god. They bought him in exchange for his mother’s freedom and safety?
“My mother was a teen when she got pregnant with me,” Amy starts. “She wanted to keep me, and she managed to hide her pregnancy until she was 6 months along. Her parents found out and since it was too late to get an abortion, they made her give me up to the church, back in Canada. I was sent here to Aspen because they were afraid my mother would try to get me back.”
I see her struggle to swallow, her eyes lost in front of her. She was wanted by her parents—her mother, at least. She could have had a different life. Maybe she would have received the love we all craved but never really got.
“I’ve found her, not too long ago,” she croaks. “She and my dad are still together. Both ginger,” she forces a smile. “They live near Toronto. They had two sons, and they have a lot of grandchildren. She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore. They’re supposed to visit in a couple of months to meet my children and see me.”
I nod, my throat tight, while Prue just stares ahead, looking at nothing.
“I was abandoned at birth because of poverty in a catholic church back in Sri Lanka,” Naveen says, his voice even. “Their orphanage was full, so they shipped a lot of us to other countries, hoping we would get adopted quicker because we were ‘exotic’.”
“How do you know all those details?” Prue asks.
“They were thorough in the documentation of it all,” Naveen answers, his face somber. “They rated us on different scales, based on physical traits. Jack had the highest,” he adds, tilting his head towards me and I scoff.
“Yeah right. They should have waited just a little more, and I would have been worth nothing.”
“The fact is that we were rated. And our parents made their donations according to those… Grades.”
My eyes widen and I’m struggling to hold back the hysterical laugh climbing up my throat.
“So you’re telling me that… They paid more. For me.”
He nods. All three of them do.
I burst out laughing. I probably look like a lunatic for everyone in this damned restaurant, but I don’t even care.
They paid the most money. For me. Their “Golden angel”, as they used to call me before I disappointed them by being sick. Before I disappointed them even more by being gay instead of dead.
“Wow. That’s awesome,” I say through fits of laughter, wiping at my eyes. “Who would have thought that I’d be the most expensive dog in our litter.”
“How long have you known?” Prue asks.
Naveen sighs. “I’ve worked on the two siblings case for a year, where I’ve uncovered most of how it worked, before I took some time off to focus on all of us, so I’d say about six months, give or take.”
“I want to know my story,” Prue says. “My birth certificate says that I was born in Aspen.”
“You weren’t. Your parents were part of a group that were helped by the Church to escape Guatemala during a civil war. You were born on the road, in the back of the truck. You ,” he says, his face softening, “were stolen from them. The men and women taking care of the illegal business of the church abandoned your parents at the US border after they crossed Mexico, saying they were trying to enter the country illegally. Your birth certificate says Aspen because you were born on the road, and weren’t checked until you reached the church. They did put your real date of birth, though…”
My heart cracks a little when I look at her, at the sorrow on her face. She wasn’t abandoned. She wasn’t sold. She’s been stolen . From people who were fleeing a conflict in their home country, probably to offer her a better life, the promise of a happy future. Only for them to end up probably deported back in Guatemala or dead, and her miserable in a fucked up family.
I see the tears pooling in her eyes. I’m not sure she realizes it, but she leans on her side until her head meets Nate’s chest. He glances at me quickly before circling her shoulders with his arms.
“As for you, Jack—”
“I don’t want to know,” I say quickly, shaking my head and closing my eyes.
The only sound at our table are Prue’s muffled sobs. Except for hers and Nate’s, all eyes are on me.
“Are you sure?” Naveen asks slowly.
“Yes. I’ve made my peace today with our parents. I don’t want to know if I’ve been abandoned, sold, or stolen. I know that I should never have been with them, and it’s enough.” I pause, glancing back towards Prue, crying against Nate, probably forgetting that she doesn’t want me to know about them or too overwhelmed to even care. “I’ve got everything I need right here with Prue and our friends.”
Naveen nods before they all look at each other with concerned faces.
“I’m a little tired,” I say with a sigh. “I’m going to head back to my room. But, maybe we can catch up tomorrow?”
“Of course,” Tham says. “We’d love to.”
Ikram stands, politely waves them goodbye, and turns my chair around so we can leave. Prue doesn’t follow.