SECRETS SPILLED #3
“Apparently, he'd met a woman who was here on a student visa for her graduate program at Franklin and they had been sleeping together for months before she became pregnant.
After she graduated, she took her degree and the baby back to wherever she was from so that her family could help her raise him.
Every year she would send Arturo to spend the summer with us—well, me and Daddy.
You have to remember that I was fifteen years younger than Mable and them, so by this time everyone else was full-grown and had moved out.
Hell, Frank and Gerald were married, and them and Marshall had already started having kids.
I even had nieces and nephews older than me.
When Arturo rolled around, they were years passed being over Momma and Daddy's petty bullshit, so this just gave them another reason to stay away. "
Twyla frowned and sat forward.
"What do you mean? What petty stuff was Gran and Poppy doing?"
Linda blinked a few times before shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter. Daddy died in April of '94.
Arturo was ten and since it was so close to the time he usually flew in, his mother still sent him on the same flight.
It was right after I turned twenty-five—you were seven or eight so you probably don't remember.
That summer was the last one he spent with us.
Momma didn't send for him and none of the others even thought to reach out to him—at least they didn't say anything to me about it.
I was so young and dealing with you, plus trying to keep Momma from falling into depression, that I guess I just let him fade into the back of my mind. "
Frowning, Twyla shook her head. The details didn’t make things clearer for her. Quite the opposite, actually.
"Was today the first time you've seen him since he was ten?!"
Shaking her head, Linda shifted on the couch. "Uh, no. I actually saw him a couple times since then; when he was eighteen."
Twyla's mouth dropped open. "You haven't seen him in twenty years? Your own brother! Are you kidding me?!"
When Linda didn't respond Twyla scooted to the edge of her seat, her eyes focused on her mother's face. "Did you even know that he was in the States? That he lived here in Houston?"
At that question, the other woman nodded her head. "The last time I saw him he told me that he was moving here."
"And you still chose to pretend he didn't exist?"
Baffled, Twyla's chest ached with the thought of a young Arturo being shunned by his family because of the actions of the adults in his life. How devastating must it have been to reach out to your siblings and have them turn their back on you.
Suddenly, it dawned on her that her experience with her family wasn’t unique and she began to see them all in a different light.
Not only had her beloved grandparents made selfish decisions on that child's behalf, but her mama, aunts, and uncles all followed suit. It was wild to her that not even one person would reach out to him and try to build a relationship. If anything, it should have been her mama. Linda knew firsthand how it felt to be an outsider. Her siblings were fifteen to twenty years older than her and that age gap had a direct impact on the bond she shared with them. Twyla was sure they loved her mother, but if you’re hanging out others your age, why would you have your baby sister there who is younger than your own children?
Although she had nearly a dozen first cousins—all of which lived in the city—Twyla didn't spend much time with them. Nelson was the only one she saw semi-regularly and was close to. They essentially grew up together under their grandmother’s watchful eye.
Nelson was her aunt Mable’s youngest and only two years older than Twyla.
He was the only one she could talk to about her frustrations with the family.
He allowed her to vent then invited her to dinner because he knew food always made her feel better.
Not only was Twyla hurt for Arturo being denied an opportunity to have a relationship with his father's family, she was disappointed in her family.
Then there was the matter of the budding feelings she had for the man.
Although it had only been six hours since Linda had dropped the bomb on her, Twyla felt like years had passed since she had been mentally cataloging her wardrobe in anticipation of going on a date with Arturo.
Her mind was a mess of thoughts, her heart a melting pot of emotions, and she had no idea how to parse through either.
Despite all of the answers she'd demanded from her mama, she had no intention of telling Linda what Arturo meant to her or how far things had gone between them.
Her stomach churned with the thought. How had something that had seemed so refreshing and easy turned into something so complicated and horrifying within mere minutes?
Grabbing her keys, Twyla stood from her seat and stared down at the woman who thought she was innocent of all wrongdoing.
"Mama, I love you, but clinging to secrets like these are how families become ruined.” Bending at the waist, she pressed a kiss to her mama's temple and left the woman sitting there as she exited through the front door, locking it behind her with her key.