Curly hair half pinned back.
Black-and-gray striped dress.
“Tiana?”
“I’m fine.”
Maya entered anyway.
“You’re crying.”
“I’m allergic to birthdays.”
Maya did not laugh.
She sat beside her.
“Mom was mean.”
Tiana looked toward her.
Maya stared at her own hands.
“She told me you weren’t supposed to be in the first picture.”
Tiana’s stomach tightened.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Why?”
“She said it was for our side.”
“What does that mean?”
“I asked.”
Maya looked up.
“She said sometimes families have layers.”
Tiana almost smiled bitterly.
“Sounds like her.”
“I told her you live here.”
“What did she say?”
“That wasn’t the point.”
Silence.
Then Maya asked:
“Are you mad at me?”
Tiana’s face changed.
“No.”
“You looked at me downstairs.”
“I wasn’t mad.”
“I stood next to your dad.”
“He told you to.”
“Mom told me.”
“Same difference.”
Maya shook her head.
“It’s not.”
Tiana stared at her stepsister.
For months, she had assumed Maya never noticed.
Children noticed more than adults believed.
Maya whispered:
“Sometimes she tells Jordan and me not to call you our sister around her friends.”
Tiana stopped breathing.
“What?”
Maya’s eyes filled.
“She says ‘stepsister.’”
“When?”
“Like when people ask how many children she has.”
Tiana’s throat closed.
“What does she say?”
“Two.”
The word felt familiar.
Not because Tiana had heard it directly.
Because she had always suspected it.
Maya continued.
“She says your dad has three, but she has two.”
Tiana looked toward the door.
“Does Dad know?”
“No.”
“Don’t tell him.”
Maya stared.
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Tiana almost laughed.
“You sound like him.”
Maya remained serious.
“She shouldn’t do that.”
“No.”
“Then why don’t you tell?”
Tiana looked at the photograph of Aisha.
“Because your mom loves Dad.”
Maya frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does when you’re older.”
“I’m almost twelve.”
“That’s not older.”
Maya crossed her arms.
Tiana sighed.
“If I tell him every bad thing she says, he’ll have to choose what to believe.”
“He believes you.”
“That’s not what I said.”
Maya thought about it.
Tiana continued.
“Your mom can be nice.”