FABLE

A Fragmented Memory

Secrets Hidden in the Drywall Reveal a Father's Lost Past

Ryan: You told me my parents died and left me their estate with no other heirs!

Jessica: They did leave you the estate! But your father's will had a strict custody clause!

Ryan: What clause?! What are you talking about, Jessica?!

Jessica: If you had a child with your ex-wife, the family trust fund bypassed you entirely!

Ryan: So you erased my daughter so you could keep my family inheritance money?!

Jessica: It was millions of dollars, Ryan! We would have been left with absolute nothing!

Ryan: YOU MONSTER! SHE IS A HUMAN BEING! SHE IS MY DAUGHTER!

Ryan reached his long arms into the dusty wall cavity, gently placing his hands under the young girl's arms. He pulled her carefully out of the dark space, lifting her dirty, fragile frame into the bright light of the suburban hallway. She buried her face into his shoulder, trembling uncontrollably.

Girl: You came back for me... like you promised before the ambulance took you away...

Ryan: I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry, baby girl... I didn't remember you...

Jessica: Ryan, listen to me carefully. Her biological mother passed away three years ago.

Ryan: And instead of bringing her into our home as my child, you hid her away?!

Jessica: If the custody lawyer found out she was alive and living with us, the court trust would freeze all our bank accounts!

Ryan: You kept a little girl hidden in a wall utility space for money?!

Jessica: I fed her! I gave her toys! I was just waiting until the estate probate closed next month!

Ryan: You are sick! You belong in a mental facility or a prison cell!

As Ryan held the little girl tightly, his boot kicked against a piece of loose plaster debris near the broken wall studs. Among the splintered wood and torn insulation, a dusty, old black-and-white frame lay face down on the carpet. Ryan bent down with one hand, picking up the small picture frame.

Ryan: What is this photo doing inside that wall cavity?

Jessica: Don't look at that! Put that down right now, Ryan!

Ryan: Shut up! Just shut your mouth!

He wiped the gray plaster dust off the glass surface with his thumb. The photograph showed a younger version of Ryan standing outside a hospital building, holding two identical infant baby girls wrapped in matching pink blankets.

Ryan: Twin girls...? There were two babies in this picture...

Jessica: Ryan, please don't dig any deeper into this... you don't know what you're doing...

Ryan: YOU HID MY DAUGHTER RIGHT HERE IN THIS HOUSE?!

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