Normal siblings fought.
The family portrait from Marcus’s birthday was never taken.
Instead, Eli sent something else.
A candid photograph from earlier that afternoon.
Marcus stood near the kitchen laughing at something Jordan said.
Maya leaned against the counter.
Tiana was mid-eye-roll.
Vanessa stood slightly behind them watching.
Everyone was unposed.
Imperfect.
For a long time Marcus could not decide whether to keep it.
Tiana did.
She printed one copy and placed it on her desk.
Vanessa was still in the picture.
That surprised Marcus.
“Why?”
Tiana shrugged.
“She was part of the family.”
“Was?”
“She still kind of is.”
“Complicated.”
“Yeah.”
She looked at the photograph.
“Pretending she never existed would be weird.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“That’s mature.”
“Don’t tell anybody.”
Six months after the birthday, Vanessa asked whether Tiana would meet her for coffee.
Tiana said no.
A month later Vanessa asked again.
Tiana said maybe later.
Three months after that, Tiana initiated the meeting.
Not because she missed Vanessa.
Because she wanted to know whether the woman in the letter existed outside paper.
They met at a quiet café.
Marcus waited in the parking lot.
Tiana insisted.
Vanessa arrived without makeup for perhaps the first time Tiana had ever seen.
She looked older.
Human.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They sat.
Vanessa did not reach for her.
Good.
Tiana asked:
“Do you still think Mom is in the way?”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“No.”
“Because Dad left?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vanessa thought.
“Because I finally understood I was asking him to prove love by erasing grief.”
Tiana listened.
Vanessa continued.
“I thought if he loved me enough, Aisha would matter less.”
“That was childish.”
“But I built adult behavior around it.”
Tiana asked:
“Did you hate me?”
Vanessa looked directly at her.
“No.”
Tiana almost rolled her eyes.
Vanessa stopped.
“Actually…”
She swallowed.
“There were moments I hated what you represented.”
Tiana’s expression changed.
Vanessa continued before fear could make her retreat.
“That is not the same as saying you deserved it.”
“But you asked me for honesty.”
“I was jealous.”
“I resented that Marcus could look at you and immediately soften.”
“I resented the stories.”
“The photographs.”
“Your grandparents.”
“All of it.”
“I knew intellectually none of that was your fault.”
“But emotionally I treated you as if it was.”
Tiana appreciated the ugliness of the truth.
It sounded more believable than “I never hated you.”
She asked:
“Why were you so nice at first?”
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“Because I thought being nice would make us a family quickly.”
“And when it didn’t?”
“I got impatient.”