No one alive could contest her story. She simply told friends and neighbors she needed to go on a hiatus for a bit. The people in Falls gated community made her sick with their judgmental attitude, however, Mariam had inherited the house from her parents so she stayed.
When Danvers was several months old, Mariam brought him back to Falls where she presented him as her nephew. So far, her secret was safe.
Danvers was a bright and inquisitive child who blossomed under Mariam’s attention and love. If he said he could do something, she never doubted him, instead cheering him on. There was no doubt as to how far Danvers would go in life. Mariam could not have been happier with her son.
“So I have no mom and no dad? How is that even fair?”
“It isn’t, sweetheart, however, you have me and I love you very much.”
He would get a letter of recommendation from Old Man Chellers. He was a creep and eyed her like candy. She knew what he wanted. She was to of married him at one time and turned him down. He never got over it but Chellers was a mover and shaker in the community and surrounding area. He would ensure Danvers got into a good college.
Danvers was such a delight to be around. When he was home for the holidays, they would spend endless hours baking and shopping with one another. Once, she even took him swimming at Lake Menos, to show him where his “father” had once been.
On his last day as a senior at Johnson Prep Academy, he had bounded out of the front doors where she had been waiting with the car. Danvers had thrown his belongings into the truck of the car, and he looked over at his aunt with an impish grin.
“Guess what, Aunt Mariam?”
“I got a full scholarship to Yale!”
“Oh my goodness! That is fantastic! I am so proud of you.”
“Yes, yes!
One day during Danvers junior year at Yale, she received a call that there was an emergency from the Dean and to come straight to Yale.
“I am so terribly sorry to inform you that Danvers passed away on a camping trip a few of his fellow friends and he had taken earlier this week,” the Dean stated softly. “They were camping in a remote area and were canoeing when his canoe overturned and was caught in the rapids. He was pulled under, and unfortunately, his friends could not get to him in time. His foot had caught on some braches submerged in the water and he drowned.”
She would never hear his voice again. She stood up and raged.
“How can this be?”
“It was a planned trip, my dear. I am so sorry.”
“How could the students go off on their own without school supervision,” she asked.
“Ms. Pike, they were adults and it was their free time. We couldn’t have stopped them if we had wanted to. Trips like these usually cemented friendships for many years to come. No one knew this would happen,” he replied softly, trying to ease her pain.
“I don’t believe it!”
“Again, my dear, I am sorry. He was such a bright young man.”
They went through the double doors at the end of the hall where a sign posted had said morgue. There was a gentleman there waiting on them. He was tall in stature and looked quite somber.
“Ms. Pike?”
“I am. Where is my boy?”
“Mam, I thought he was your nephew,” said the Dean in a questioning voice.
Mariam ignored him completely. She had no words for him as the examiner pulled the sheet back to show her Danvers’ face, pale and ghostly. His hair was brushed back off his forehead and his eyes were closed. His lips were blue and chapped. She shook as she gently laid a hand on his head and leaned forward and whispered in his ear that she was there, his mother was there and she was so sorry that she had never told him the truth. She told him how much she loved him and had only wanted the best for him. Tears fell on his face as she slowly stood up.
After the funeral, the procession drove into Falls and the gravesite was packed. There were at least a hundred people, all weeping and clinging to one another. Among them were his friends from Yale. She walked up to them and looked at them with such loathing and contempt that they backed up a step.
“This is all your fault. All of you! Horrible wretched people! May you burn in Hell! You are the reason he is dead. You people took him on that trip. You!”
She was alone. Once the body had been lowered in to the ground, she slowly walked away, all the way back to her house, where there was nothing and no one waiting on her.
