Building Relationships
ordered a rental car to drive to Kale’s Infinity Art tattoo parlor in Seattle. Waiting for it to be delivered, Jean sat on a bench in front of the hotel, swinging her legs back and forth while Jamal stood nearby, watching for the car. She focused her eyes on the pavement as she thought about the prior day. How did he happen to show up when someone was trying to kidnap me? That was a strange coincidence. Maybe I should get a ride back to campus. I can borrow money to get home and pay it back through a funds transfer app or mail it to him. Wait, why did he have a Georgia license?
Jean glanced up and tugged on Jamal’s jacket. “Hey, Jamal, can I ask you something?”
“Of course. What’s up?” Jamal sat on the bench next to Jean.
“Don’t you think it would be better for me to go home? I’m sure you have plenty of things to do with your job, and I’m sure you can’t wait to get back home to Georgia.”
“Georgia?”
“Well, yeah. Your license said your home was in Georgia.”
“Right. These days I’m more of a nomad. It’s been two years since I’ve been there. I travel around the country for work.”
Jean raised a brow. “And that work is what?”
Jamal gestured toward the road and smiled. “Our ride’s here. Ready to meet your brother?”
“Um, I suppose,” Jean sighed as her mind wandered. I’m not sure if I should go. What if he rejects me? Will he think I’m weird for showing up at his shop? I wonder if he knows about me. What if he’s been looking for me his entire life? He might be happy to see me. Anyway, I guess there’s no turning back now. I need to focus on the positives. He might have information about my birth family. Maybe he can introduce me to them. Yeah, I need to go.
When they arrived at the destination several hours later, Jean peeked out the window and hesitated before exiting the car. A vague unease needled the back of her mind. She gazed at the people passing by, suddenly struck by how different she felt from them. Since learning about her Xeno DNA, it was as if an invisible barrier separated her from the rest of humanity. They went about their lives oblivious to aliens in their midst while she now questioned her own identity and place in the world.
Jamal grinned. “You ready? We can always turn around.”
“I didn’t come this far for nothing.” Jean pushed the door open and climbed out of the cab. Her heart raced as she walked toward the tattoo parlor. When she reached the door, she inhaled deeply. She frowned as a man with geometric facial tattoos strode past. The markings seemed almost … alien. Could they be some kind of Xeno code or symbols? An indicator of secret alliances unknown to ordinary society? The thought sent a shiver down Jean’s spine. How deep did this hidden world extend?
Jamal reached around Jean and pushed open the heavy glass door. Upon entering the tattoo parlor, Jean looked around the shop. Fumes resembling bleach mixed with burned rubber assaulted her nostrils. There was a large abstract mural on a side wall and a small reception desk near the entrance. Hard rock music played over speakers barely covering the humming engines of tattoo guns.
Jean walked up to the reception desk and began flipping through a tattoo catalog on the counter. A large partition separated the reception desk from the back of the shop. A few minutes later, a young woman covered in tattoos came from the back.
“Can I help you?”
Jean folded her arms as her breath stalled. “Um, yeah. Uh, Kale Daniels. Is he here?”
“Oh, you wanna see Kale?” The young woman turned and disappeared to the back of the shop. “Hey, Kale,” she shouted. “Someone’s here to see you.”
Several minutes later, a slender man in his late twenties appeared from behind the partition. His dark brown hair was styled in a mid-fade and colorful tattoos peeked above the collar of his T-shirt and decorated his arms. “Hi, I’m Kale. How can I help you?”
Jean stared at him as every muscle in her body froze. It’s him. I think I can see a slight family resemblance. We have the same nose and face shape. What should I say?
“Can we go somewhere private?” Jamal asked.
Kale hesitated and looked at Jean. “Uh, sure.” He led them to a small, cluttered office at the back of the shop. “Have a seat. What’s this about?”
Jean almost tripped over a box on the floor as she sat down in the chair in front of Kale’s desk. She inhaled deeply. “Do you remember taking a DNA test?”
Kale scrunched his thick eyebrows. “Yeah.”
Jean turned toward Jamal. “Well. Um…”
Jamal stood up. “I’m gonna leave you two alone. Jean, I’ll wait for you outside.” Jamal left the office.
Jean rubbed her hands on her pants, smoothing them. “Well, um, I think you’re my brother.”
Kale leaned back in his chair. “How’s that?”
“Well, I took the DNA test yesterday, and you showed up as my half-brother. Did you see that?”
Kale clenched his fists, knuckles cracking under the pressure. “No, I didn’t see it.”
“Oh.” Jean’s heart sank, her face growing hot with embarrassment. She lowered her eyes toward the floor, wiping her clammy palms on her jeans. Crap, I should have listened to my roommates. He must think I’m some type of obsessive stalker.
“I’m sorry. I thought my settings didn’t allow others to see my information.”
Jean stood. “I’m sorry. I can leave. I didn’t mean to…”
“No, that’s okay. Stay.” Kale leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “So, tell me about yourself, Sis.”
Jean raised her eyes and relaxed. Good. He’s okay with me being here. “Well, I just started college a few months ago. My last foster parents adopted me after I spent years in the system. And now I’m just trying to learn more about my family history. I don’t know anything about my bio parents because I was found abandoned at a park. What about you?”
“Hmm, I’m a tattoo artist. I’ve owned this shop for seven years. I have a couple of guys working for me.”
“What about your childhood? Um, do you know Azon? He’s listed as my father.”
Kale glared at Jean without blinking. “Well, I spent my entire childhood in foster care. I was never adopted. My mom passed away soon after childbirth and I ended up in the system.”
“So, we were both foster kids. Do you know Azon?”
“When I turned eighteen, I applied to join the army. They required me to take a DNA test. That was nine years ago. The army was my dream—the only place I ever imagined belonging,” Kale muttered, scowling. “It was ripped away because of DNA from Azon.”
Jean bristled. “You don’t know Azon’s the reason. Our DNA came from both parents.”
Kale slammed his palm on his desk. “The undetermined part came from him! If his freak genes hadn’t mixed in with my mother’s, I would’ve been cleared.”
Heat flooded Jean’s cheeks at the venom in Kale’s words. “Don’t call it freak DNA! He’s our father. He’s a part of us.”
“Some father,” Kale bellowed. “He abandoned us! But his rotten DNA stuck around just long enough to ruin everything.”
Jean’s eyebrows shot to her hairline as she fought to steady her frustration. “It’s unfair to blame Azon for choices outside his control. We don’t know his full story.”
With every word, Kale’s face grew more red. “His story? I know all I need to know.”
Jean let out a deep sigh. “Did they say specifically why they rejected you? Did they say it was from your DNA test results?”
Kale shrugged. “No. I never got an answer, but half of my ethnicity came back as undetermined.”
“Mine was undetermined too. Well, 62% was undetermined.”
Kale sat silent for a moment. “62%? That’s strange. We only inherit 50% from each parent. How do you have 62% of undetermined DNA?”
“I don’t know. This is all new to me. The test confirmed we share the same father.” Jean leaned forward and rested her head on her palm. “Hmm. I’m not that much closer to getting information about my parents than I was before the test. Do you know anything about our father?”
Kale sighed. “Uh, not really,” he mumbled. “The only thing I know is that my mother went to a fertility clinic owned by a well-known doctor—a Dr. Gravin. I saw his name in my birth records. I’m sorry I can’t be of any help.”
“Do you think that doctor might have information about our father?”
“I doubt it.” Kale shifted forward in his seat and started fiddling with a pen between his fingers. “I never thought about that. I’m not sure why he would have information about him. I’m sure he had information about my mother since she was his patient.” He leaned back in his chair, almost tipping it over.
“I wonder if my mother might be connected to him also.”
“How?”
Jean shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it might be worth investigating. I mean, maybe our father was a sperm donor at the clinic or something like that.”
Kale remained silent with a blank expression. He focused his gaze on the door as if he was trying to figure out a reason to leave.
“Kale, can I ask you something?”
“What?” Kale asked, directing his glance toward Jean.
“Okay, this may be a strange question, but…” Jean straightened her posture. “Does your body have any unique anomalies? For example, sometimes other people say they’re cold, but I never feel that way.”
Kale stared blankly at Jean. “Everyone has a different reaction to temperature.”
“Let me back up for a second. After I got my results, I did some research. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It’s a molecule that contains genetic information encoding all traits passed from parents to offspring.” She drew a spiral DNA symbol in the air with her finger. “DNA is made up of pairing nucleotide bases—adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The order of these base pairs makes up genes that determine eye color, height, disease risk, and so on. It’s like nature’s blueprint. When your DNA was flagged, it likely means those base chemicals had sections that didn’t match normal, expected human genes.” Curling her lips downward, Jean sighed. “I know everyone reacts to temperature differently, but I also seem different in hot weather. Even when it’s 100 degrees, I don’t feel hot. There has to be something in my DNA causing that reaction.”
Kale’s piercing eyes narrowed in thought. “Well, I don’t know about hot or cold temperatures, but I have great eyesight that’s above average. It really helps with my tattoo business, and it’s the main reason I thought I’d make a good army sniper.”
Jean raised a brow and gave Kale a curious stare. “Hmm. I think I would like to pay that Dr. Gravin a visit.”
Kale scrunched his brows. “Really? Why?”
“He might have information about my mother and our father. Maybe we can find out what’s wrong with our DNA.”
“I want nothing to do with Azon,” Kale huffed. “It was his fault that my DNA was not good enough for the army. And if he really cared about me, why didn’t he come get me so I didn’t have to stay in foster care?”
“How do you know it was his fault? You inherited DNA from both parents.”
Stretching his arms forward, Kale cracked his knuckles. “I know which DNA came from him.”
“Oh,” Jean looked at the floor and sighed. “I don’t know. I just feel so lost. It’s hard to explain.” Leaning forward, Jean rested her head in her palm as she glanced at Kale and struggled to hold back tears fighting to be released from her eyes. Although she longed to learn more about her Xeno heritage, doubts plagued her. Was embracing these newfound roots a betrayal of the loving parents who raised her? Did she even belong in the human world anymore? But when she imagined never discovering that missing piece of her identity, her heart ached. She struggled to find her place, torn between two worlds.
Kale was silent for a moment, shifting in his seat. He made eye contact with Jean, and his expression softened. “Okay, maybe I can help,” he said as he stood. “Let me see if I can clear my schedule and make a couple of phone calls. I can’t make any promises, but I might be able to take you to see Dr. Gravin.”
Jean’s eyes perked up. “Really?”
Kale strolled toward the door. Yeah. I guess I hate seeing my sister in so much despair. But are you absolutely sure?”
“About what?”
“Are you sure you want to do this? You never know what can of worms you’ll open. Some things are better left alone.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I just want answers. If my bio parents end up being terrible people, I’ll just go back to my life. But at least I’ll have answers and know where my DNA came from.”
“Hmm, I get it,” Kale said as he reached for the doorknob. “I remember being like you once. Young, naïve, without a care in the world.” Kale slid his phone out of his pocket and left the room.
Jean frowned. Kale’s words stung. Sure, she was young. But she never thought of herself as being naïve. Okay, maybe it was naïve to hop up and drive to see an unknown brother in an unfamiliar location. And maybe it was naïve to trust someone you just met and share a hotel room with him. But you can accomplish nothing without taking risks, right?
After a half hour, Kale returned. “Okay, I couldn’t reach my next client to cancel. I’ll do his tattoo and then I have to clean up the shop before I leave. It will be kinda late when I’m done, so it might be best to head out to the doctor’s office tomorrow morning.”