“A penny for your thoughts.”
He heard Rachel say this as they drove from the facility. So many things were running through his mind. He had no idea where to start.
“I know Star did not kill herself. I know there is something familiar about Sergeant Leigh, and no, before you ask, I have never met him. But I will know his entire life before this day is through.”
“He was hiding … no, purposely evasive, as if he knew something we did not.”
“Which he does,” Wade replied. “The question is, what?”
“He knows how your mother died. That’s for sure,” Rachel summarized, then added, “And why would the warden leave only minutes after Monty spoke with him?”
“He was there,” Wade stated.
“Then why didn’t he meet us as he said he would?”
Wade exhaled as thoughts ran through his mind. “Another question I believe Sargent Leigh may have the answer to.”
“The report indicates that he was the one who found your mother. Isn’t that interesting?”
Wade glanced over to see she was reading the report. There will be no answers, only more questions in there, he thought as he continued driving.
His thoughts turned to the last time he saw his mother. He was six years old when his parents were arrested. With no relatives that he knew of, he stayed with a neighbor who was a friend of the family until the trial date. The night before, he remembered the one thing that kept him from crying was that the nightmare would be over the next day. He thought the next day, his parents and he would return to their little two-bedroom home, and everything would go back to normal. They would be arguing over who had been treated worse, indigenous Indians or enslaved African Americans. As soon as the lights went out in their bedroom, he would hear them say, It does not matter, because we have each other now. Those were the words that kept his spirits hopeful.
Wade was wrong. The next day in court, he realized his nightmare was just beginning. His parents were found guilty of murder. They would be spending the rest of their lives in prison. Wade remembered thinking, Where does that leave me? That question was answered when they took him to a small room to see his mother. Her words brought his worst nightmare into reality.
“Your father and I will be gone for a long time. The state is going to find you a good home, away from Bristol. I want you to always remember your heritage on both sides. You do not have to forsake one for the other. Do you understand, Wade?”
“Yes,” he replied. What he did not say was that he also understood she and Dad would be there for each other, but neither would be there for him.
“Wow, your mother was deep.”
Rachel’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“She had a degree in aeronautics.”
Wade nodded, “She did. For a while she worked as a geneticist. My father was a mathematician who also worked as a scientist. It’s how they met.”
“Really,” Rachel smiled. “That explains a lot.”
“Meaning?” Wade glanced at her.
“It explains why you are such a brainiac,” she replied, then frowned. “What were two people with the IQs of god-knows-what doing living in a place liked Bristol, Virginia? Don’t misunderstand my meaning, but it seems like they should have been working at top labs, bringing in the dough, you know what I mean?”
Wade shrugged, as his mind went to his father. After speaking with his mother that day, he was taken to see Godwin. His father’s words of wisdom were a little different from his mother’s.
“You’re a smart kid, Wade. You will be okay. Keep this in mind: don’t ever let anyone know what you are thinking. The system can take your freedom, but no one can ever take what’s in your mind. When you leave here, don’t ever come back to Bristol, and whatever you do, son, always protect the ones you love.”
That was it. That was all his father armed him with that day. It didn’t seem like much, but Wade took the words to heart.
The next day, he was turned over to the state. The first facility he was taken to did a series of tests on him to determine his mental and physical state. While he was physically well, the staff were concerned with his mental stability. He often wondered, in those first few days, if people thought children could not hear or understand basic logic. The staff would talk around them is if they were objects in the room, like a chair or table. They would ask if he was deaf, dumb, or just plain stupid because he would not talk. They knew none of the statements were true, because in the same breath they talked about his exceptional IQ scores. Yes, scores. They did multiple testings because they could not believe he scored that high. Yet, each time a different person administered the test, the results were the same. Then there were those who openly discussed the fact that he was the child of two murderers, then watch him as if he would try to kill them. Who knew what kind of murderous thoughts the kid may have? It was the reason why it took a long time for him to get placed in a home. He heard the staff saying that most of the parents in the system did not want a child with a dangerous background in their home. Who knows, they may wake up one morning to find everyone in the house dead. Wade thought, How stupid could they be? If he had killed them, they would not wake up the next morning. To Wade, the staff was incompetent. All they had to do was ask him a sensible question, like, “Why aren’t you talking?” He would tell them he did not think any one of them could converse on his level. He also realized that not knowing what he was thinking made the staff afraid of him.
“It says here that your mother and father were in contact with each other. And look,” she pointed, “they even documented when she first met with Winston Nadler.”
Wade stopped sorting through his memories and asked, “Who?”