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“No My mother isn’t here”

“Come this way, for just a minute Please” I nod, and he leads me off back into the corridor and then into a small alcove We sit down on a bench out of the way of the arriving guests “Right after my stint in the hospital, I learned that not only had I been poisoned, but that you didn’t have the right blood to donate to me They check family first, and you were my only known blood relation It came back, and they said you were not my child At first, I was devastated, but a part ofAfter all, you look exactly like your real father I confronted Anna about it, and she told me that I was just a patsy, her way out of her shitty life, but that she hated et the fuck out and never co and that you were my son”

“Are you serious?” I’ As much as I don’t want to take it at face value, I have a sinking feeling in ut

“Very I planned to take you on that trip and consult a lawyer, but the next day, you fell off your bike and broke your arm I knew she taet back at me, but I had no proof since your bike rode into traffic and had been run over after you fell”

“I reo out for a ride I didn’t feel like it because I was psyched about the trip”

“Yes, I know I didn’t want to go without you, but you insisted I not bail on my friends and that it was only for the weekend I had no idea it would be the biggest mistake I’d make”

“You wanted me?”

“I fought the courts for you She clai and that since I wasn’t your biological dad, I had no rights to you I even said that I signed your birth certificate, which ht, but they pulled the birth certificate, and it no longer had ot out of the hospital Then, when I went to court, she had photos of bruises on her, and diary notes clai I abused her I was lucky not to end up in jail There was a restraining order put out on me to stay away from you”

“If you knew all this, why didn’t you contact me sooner?”

“The restraining order ran out two days ago I decided noas ain You may not believe me, but here’s the proof” He hands ainst him If he’d really abandoned me like my mother had claimed, then ould he need one of these? It’s too much to puzzle out