ECHOES OF SILENCE

Unmasking the Past?

"And what are you still doing here, Miss Frances" challenged Mag, for this was the maid's name.

"I am sorry for interrupting. I would like to take my leave now."

"All these maids, they never seem to mind their business," thought Mag in her head. She was really avoiding eye contact with Daniel as she tried not to bring up the conversation.

"No," she responded firmly after gathering all the confidence to speak. She had gone this far. She couldn't destroy her legacy.

Daniel's eyes reflected deep hurt. "I know this is too much for you to take in, but it's the truth. It's important for both of us to accept this and move on."

Margaret got annoyed and asked him to leave sternly.

Daniel turned back to say this before he left, "The truth is, I am not your son, and obviously you don't have a family. I am an aspiring writer, and I applied to your mentorship program. When I didn't hear back, I thought if I came here in person, I might have a better chance."

"And why would you come up with this fable of yours that I am your mother? You could have just come clean. Of course, you can join my mentorship program. The first class is tomorrow. Make sure to come early. It is in Yvonne Hall, two blocks from here. See you tomorrow, boy," Margaret responded quickly as she breathed a sigh of relief in her mind.

The boy went out and straight to the door, happy with his accomplishment that day. But during his stay, she took notice of him. She had looked out for different things that she knew only her son had. A red mark near his eye, a cut on his leg, and many more recognizable things. Could this be my long lost boy?

Meanwhile, when the maid left the room, she thought in her mind so deeply about what she had just heard that other maids had to call her more than five times before she could hear.

"Frances, what has got you so lost in thoughts like this?" questioned Maria, a fellow maidservant.

"Had anything happened in Miss Margaret's room?" asked Ruth, another maid.

"She has a son," Frances blurted out.

"A son?" Maria replied, looking bewildered.

"Who has a son?" Ruth followed suit.

"The Madam has a SON," answered Frances furiously, already agitated by the many questions of her fellow maidservants.

Could that be him? thought Mag, sitting quietly in her room, trying to maintain her focus on the book she was writing.

The past is in the past, right? But he said he was lying. Could it actually be my child? I left him at such a tender age, but I still see the signs. The birthmark, the scratch. Everything seems so accurate. Could this be a setup? Mag sat helplessly, soliloquizing about the drama that had just played out some minutes ago. She was so carried away by it that she didn't hear when the editor rang her phone. Then something clicked. It was like she had just left the world of her deeply buried secrets and had come back to life.

"Frances, she was here" she exclaimed. "What am I going to do? No one must know about my hidden past."

Then the editor rang again. She picked up the call absentmindedly. She had to do something.