The Moonlight Child

by Karen McQuestion

  “What, pray tell, is this, Jacob?” She held the cupcake up in a smug way that indicated he was busted.

  Jacob tilted his head to one side. Having his dad next to him gave him a shot of courage. “Looks like a Hostess CupCake to me, Mom, but I have a feeling you already knew that.”

  “Disrespectful,” she seethed, throwing the cupcake at him. The cupcake hit his knee and skidded across the coffee table, landing on the floor. “How dare you give this to Mia? How dare you! You know the rules in the house. There is absolutely no eating in the bedrooms. Ever. And another rule? We eat only during mealtimes. No snacking. Do you understand?”

  Jacob nodded. “I know those are the rules.”

  “And yet you chose to ignore them.”

  “I wasn’t ignoring them. I just thought I’d make an exception this one time and let Mia have a cupcake.”

  “An exception? There are no exceptions.” Her voice was harsh and loud. “What you’ve done is unforgiveable. It’s bad enough that you’ve blatantly disregarded my rules, but to involve Mia, who will now think she doesn’t have to listen to me? Inexcusable!”

  His father swung his legs off the coffee table and sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. “Suzette, I think you’re making too big a deal out of this. Jacob was just trying to do something nice.”

  Out of the corner of Jacob’s eye he saw Mia, trembling where she stood. Jacob said, “You’re acting like I killed someone, Mom. It’s just a cupcake. I’m overweight, but Mia isn’t. Why shouldn’t she have a treat now and then?”

  His mother was clearly enraged, but instead of exploding, she drew it in and spoke slowly and deliberately. “I will not listen to this any longer. All of you are being put on notice. Jacob, I don’t want to find any trace of cupcake here or in Mia’s room. If I find even a crumb, I’m putting your phone down the garbage disposal. I’m going up to my room, and I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the night.” She stormed out of the room. A few minutes later, they heard her rummaging in the refrigerator. They all knew what that meant. Another bottle of wine for her exile in the bedroom.

  Once they heard her go upstairs, his father turned to Jacob and said, “Is it me, or is she getting worse?”

  “Hard to say,” Jacob answered. “Maybe worse?” It was difficult to gauge. She was so inconsistent mood-wise, and yet her rages did seem to be happening more frequently.

  “Do you know where she’s getting her pills these days?”

  “Not a clue.”

  His dad said, “Mia, I need to talk to Jacob for a little bit, so why don’t you go on downstairs to your room? And make sure you brush your teeth, okay?”

  She nodded and was gone.

  His dad pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Jacob, we need to talk.”

  “Okay,” Jacob said. They so seldom had time to talk one-on-one that it occurred to Jacob that this might be a good time to tell his dad about Mia’s DNA results. He’d let his father go first, and then they could discuss Mia’s relatives.

  “First of all, I want to apologize that you had to grow up in such a dysfunctional family. You’re almost eighteen now, and I know there haven’t been too many good years. I could say I tried my best, but looking back, I’m not sure it was my best. I fell short in so many ways, and I’m really sorry for that.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You’re really a great dad.”

  His father held his hand up. “I appreciate it, but I’m not looking for compliments. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. You might already know that I had to quit the medical practice because one of the administrators discovered I had committed a crime. Well, multiple crimes, actually. Billing fraud involving Medicare. I did it because I wasn’t bringing in enough revenue, and I was afraid of losing my job. A woman who worked for me helped. You may have heard your mother mention her.” He raised his eyebrows. “This other woman, her name was Jayne. We were involved—something I’m not proud of, seeing as we were each married to other people at the time. Both of us were fired, and in exchange for not getting the police involved, I agreed to give up my license to practice medicine. I haven’t seen or talked to Jayne in years. It was a shameful, terrible thing, and I regret every minute of it.”

  This was pretty close to what Jacob had heard his mother talking about over the years, but it was different hearing his father admit it. Sadder. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

  His dad shook his head. “This was a really big mistake, and it was compounded by your mother, who frequently reminds me of what I’ve done, and uses that knowledge to do whatever she wants to do. I should have never let her blackmail me into keeping Mia here. If you want to know the truth, I’m disgusted with myself. I’ve decided that after you graduate from high school, I’m coming clean.”

  “Coming clean?”

  “I can’t live like this anymore. I’m going to the police and admitting everything. I talked to an attorney friend and threw our scenario at him—hypothetically speaking, of course—and he thinks that there’s a good chance that the statute of limitations on the billing fraud might be in my favor. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be prosecuted. But there’s still the issue of Mia. You were a minor when she was brought into the house, but your mother still might try to pull you into this, and you might get charged as well. I think, though, that if both of us have the same story, we might be able to distance ourselves from the kidnapping charge. My hope is that even if I get dragged into this mess, you’ll be spared.”

  “But we didn’t mean to kidnap Mia.”

  “I know.” His dad sighed. “I’m thinking that our story will be that your mother just came home with her one day and said she was her cousin’s daughter, adopted from Central America. The story we heard was that Mia was staying with us while the cousin was undergoing treatment for cancer. A family favor that wound up lasting far longer than we originally anticipated. Do you think that’s a story you’d feel comfortable repeating?”

  Jacob nodded. “If it would help.”

  “It would help a lot. There would still be a criminal charge, but if it went well, your mother would be the only one charged. It’s a long shot, and likely I’ll be implicated, but at least you’d be spared. I’ve talked to your grandmother and your uncle Cal and said we might be having some family issues in the future that would leave you on your own. They agreed that they would be there for you.”

  “Okay.” Jacob frowned.

  His dad clapped a hand on his shoulder. “This won’t happen for a while, so we’ll have time to get our stories straight. It’s important that we’re consistent on the details. But we’ll work on it, okay?”

  “Sure, Dad.” Jacob realized this wasn’t the right time to tell his dad about Mia’s DNA test results. If the authorities found out that someone in the household had put in for a test like that, it would contradict the story his dad had concocted explaining Mia’s presence. He was starting to regret having done it at all.

  “I love you, Jacob. We’ll get through this.”

  “I love you too.” His mind spun. Right now no one else knew about the DNA test. “But what will happen to Mia if we follow your plan?”

  “I’m not sure.” His dad sighed again, and now Jacob noticed how worn down he looked, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a very long time. “She’d become a ward of the state initially, I would think, and if they can’t find her family, she’ll probably go into foster care.”

  “So she might go to strangers?” Jacob imagined Mia’s fear at being sent away, and his heart sank. Her life now wasn’t a great one, but at least it was familiar.

  “I know, it would be difficult for her, but think of it this way—she’ll be able to go to school and interact with kids her own age. Have a somewhat normal life.”

  “And she won’t have to do chores every day.”

  His dad nodded. “I’ll clean up the cupcake mess in here. Why don’t you go down and check on Mia and make sure there are no crumbs in her room. When your mother sobers up, we don’t
want her getting started again.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Jacob took the handheld vacuum down to Mia’s room and found her sitting on her bed, eyes wide. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I’m so, so sorry.”

  “You don’t need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “But the cupcake . . .”

  “Mia, it’s not a big deal. Mom just made it a big deal. A lot of kids I know have snacks all the time, even in their rooms, and their parents don’t even know or care.”

  “Really?” She sat up straighter.

  “Yes, really.”

  “So other families are different?”

  She knew so little of the world. Jacob found it both sad and amusing. If she could remember where she came from, she’d see how different things could be. The day they’d picked her up, filthy and smelling terrible, they’d taken her in their car and his mother had driven down the road, going in the direction from which Mia had come. They didn’t see any houses until they reached a rundown wreck of a shack right where the road came to a complete stop. “I guess this is it,” his mom had said, pulling the car over to the side and putting it into park. She’d turned off the engine and got out of the car, but Jacob, sitting in the back seat with the little girl on his lap, hadn’t moved a muscle. His mother couldn’t be serious. This couldn’t be someone’s house. “Jacob!” she’d barked. “Get a move on. I don’t have all day.”

  They crossed the trash-strewn front yard and went up to the door, his mother taking the lead and Jacob carrying the child, who was now sucking her thumb. “Hello! Is anyone home?” his mother called out cheerily, as if they were making a social visit, dropping off soup for a sick neighbor or bringing flowers to someone with a death in the family. When she knocked on the door, the long groan it made when it swung open reminded Jacob of a haunted house.

  “I don’t think anyone lives here,” Jacob said.

  But his mother was already entering the place and gesturing for Jacob to follow. Once they were inside, their eyes took a minute to adjust to the light. “Hello? Is anyone home?” his mom called out, her voice echoing. Inside, it was one big boxlike room, the inside walls made of plywood. There were windows on each side, but all of them were grimy. The place was stinky, like someone had taken a crap in the corner and left it there. A plastic garbage can in the corner was overflowing, with litter on the floor surrounding it. Big black bugs scuttled around the trash. A sagging couch along the wall held a mound of what looked like dirty laundry. “Look,” his mother said, toeing something on the floor. She picked it up, holding it with pinched fingertips. Miniature dirty pink pants decorated with cartoon cats. “This matches the little girl’s top.” A sign they were in the right place. She dropped the pants back onto the floor.

  Jacob set the little girl down, and she toddled over to the couch, patting the pile of clothing. With a start, Jacob realized there was a person underneath that pile of clothing. He could only see what looked like the back of a head, but it appeared to be a woman. He pointed, and his mother saw it too.

  “Hello!” she called out loudly. “We’ve returned your child.” She gave Jacob’s arm a shove. “Go wake her up.”

  Reluctantly, Jacob went over to the couch, standing over the little girl. Close up he could see that the woman was covered with multiple tattered blankets. The little girl laid her head against the woman’s back in a show of affection. “Excuse me,” he said, and when the woman didn’t budge, he gently moved the blankets away from her face. What he saw horrified him. The woman’s face was mottled in color, like something in a horror movie. The part of her arm that was exposed was discolored as well, and when he went to give it a push, it was firm. Too firm. The temperature of her skin was all wrong too. Not cold, exactly, but cooler than that of a human being who was alive. His voice came out as a loud whisper. “She’s dead.”

  “Oh, for God’s sakes,” his mom said, like this was a major inconvenience. She came over to see for herself, and he could tell by the way her brow furrowed that she was coming to the same conclusion.

  “Do you think it’s her mother?”

  “Looks like it.” She sighed. “I guess we can’t just leave her here with a dead woman. Pick her up, Jacob, and we’ll drop her off at a neighbor’s house.”

  Jacob lifted the toddler up, propping her against his hip, still reeling from what he’d seen. They’d just come from his grandfather’s funeral, but seeing Grandpa in an open casket was less awful than seeing the woman on the couch. The sight was burned into his brain, along with the smell of the place, and the feeling that bugs were crawling over his skin. Holding the little girl against his body with her smell of pee added to the sensation of being dirty. What a place. How horrifying to think that the dead woman was probably this little girl’s mother and that they lived here.

  They were on the porch heading down the steps when a man suddenly rounded the corner from the back of the house. He was a massive guy, wearing a sweat-stained tank top and mud-splattered jeans, a gun in one hand swinging at his side. He lurched as he walked, as if struggling to keep his body upright. He didn’t see them until Jacob’s mother said, “Hello? Does this little girl belong to you?”

  Jacob knew the exact moment the dark-haired man registered their presence because his eyes locked onto them and he reared back, the arm holding the gun swinging upward and aiming right at them. “What you doing?” he asked angrily.

  His mom froze in place, raised her arms in surrender, and said, “Hold on a minute. We found this child walking down the road and are just bringing her home.”

  The man muttered a string of the very worst profanity, all of it directed at Jacob’s mother. Some of them were words Jacob had thought of in regard to his mother, but he never would have said them aloud.

  Finally, the man blurted out, “Did Hartley send you? You can just tell him . . .” This was followed by another barrage of profanities, all curse words aimed at Hartley, whoever that was.

  “We’ll just leave now,” his mother said, and she nodded at Jacob, an indication to put the little girl down, but Jacob’s arms were locked around the child, who now rested her dirty head against his shoulder.

  “Damn right you’ll leave now,” he said with a growl, and that’s when he began shooting at them. Bang, bang, bang! The noise echoed in Jacob’s head, accompanied by the man’s growling laughter.

  His mother screamed for him to get in the car, and she didn’t have to say it twice. Jacob’s heart had never pounded so hard. He felt like he was having a heart attack. Clutching the little girl even closer to him, he got into the back seat of the car as fast as he could. His mother ran around to the other side of the car, got into the front seat, and started the engine. To Jacob it felt like it all went in slow motion.

  There was no room to turn around, so she drove the car in reverse, and all the while the man followed slowly, walking down the middle of the road, the gun still aimed at them. “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Jacob yelled.

  “What do you think I’m doing?” she responded, her voice frantic. When they got a fair distance away, she did a Y-turn, then gunned it, the tires squealing. It was only when they could no longer see him in their rearview mirror that she said, “Did you get hit, Jacob?”

  “No, I’m okay. What about you?” His mother was fine too, and so was the little girl.

  They were an hour away from that squalid place before they remembered they’d planned on leaving her at a neighbor’s. By that time, she was asleep. Before he knew it, his mother had shopped for clothing, checked into a hotel, and given the little girl a bath. When she finally tucked Mia into bed, she went right to sleep, her thumb in her mouth. Jacob remembered his mom standing over her and saying, “Olivia used to sleep sucking her thumb like that.” Her comment stood out because his mother had never mentioned Olivia to him before. “It’s like I’m getting a second chance.” Some switch had been flipped, but Jacob couldn’t make sense of it.

  His father was the one who’d pointed out th
at a trip to the police station would have been the obvious course of action, given that they’d discovered a body, been shot at, and acquired a child who didn’t belong to them. His mother had scoffed and said it was easy for him to come up with solutions. Who knew what he’d actually have done if he had been in that situation?

  It was hard to believe that Mia, the girl with the big brown eyes sitting on the cot in front of him, was the toddler girl from that day. It seemed like she’d always belonged to them.

  Coming out of his thoughts, he realized she was still waiting for a response to her question about families being different.

  He told her, “Every family is different, but mine is pretty messed up compared to most of them. Now move.” He gestured for her to get off the bed, and she got up and stood in the doorway. He got to work, pulling the plastic bag he’d given her out from under the cot, and then he turned on the vacuum cleaner and ran it over the bed. Afterward, he turned his attention to the floor. He didn’t see any crumbs, but he vacuumed anyway just to be sure.

  “I didn’t make a mess,” she said after he’d finished. “I was careful.”

  “I see that. Good job.” He opened the plastic bag and saw that the cupcake wrapper was inside. “Where’s the soda can?”

  She went over to the dresser and opened a drawer, then brought out the can and handed it to him. “I didn’t drink all of it.”

  “Do you want to finish it off?”

  “No, I had enough.”

  “Suit yourself,” he said, downing the rest and topping it off with a large burp just to make her laugh. He put the can in the plastic bag. “You know I’ll have to lock the door tonight, so if you have to wash up or go to the bathroom, do it now.”

  “I’m okay,” she said. “I did all that already.”

  “All right then. Good night, Mia.”

  “Good night, Jacob. Can I ask just one more thing?”