Tyler had dated Kayla for almost two years.
She ended the relationship last spring, when she was four months pregnant.
She told us he didn’t want to be a father and that she wasn’t going to beg him to stay.
“He doesn’t want Lily,” I said. “Kayla told us he signed everything away.”
Ray shook his head.
“Son, your sister told you a lot of things to keep you out of trouble.”
He reached inside his vest and removed a folded sheet of paper.
He didn’t hand it to me. He simply held it where I could read the heading.
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT — MARCH 14.
PATIENT: KAYLA MERCER.
FRACTURED LEFT WRIST. BRUISING TO THE RIBS AND POSTERIOR NECK.
I stopped breathing for a second.
I remembered that night.
Kayla had called me from the emergency department and asked me to pick her up. She said she’d slipped on her wet porch steps while carrying groceries.
