Chapter 53

“Her daughter,” I repeated. “Who is her daughter? How am I related to them?”

I had never heard of anybody named Antoinette before, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if they were in hiding. Something inside told me the people who I had known to be my family were not my blood. Not that that mattered. They had been a family to me in every way possible. Even though our relationship had been strained recently, it wasn’t because of lack of love.

She didn’t respond, but instead flipped a couple of pages until she landed to a section that had a bend to it revealing an old Polaroid photo. There was a pretty dark-skinned woman sitting in a chair, but the little girl on her lap is what caught my eye. She was like a darker-skinned version of me, almost my twin. I held the picture in my hand and looking at it intently tracing my hand over the faces. These women, whoever they were, were my family.

Emotions consumed me, and I wasn’t sure if they were my own or Iyana’s, maybe a little bit of both.