Chapter 6

Sarah

A week after Sydney’s visit, Sarah finally sent her dad an email. She’d taken both Angel’s and Sydney’s advice and kept it simple without giving him any info about herself just yet. Basically, she told him she’d gotten the message that he’d been looking for her and wanted to meet with her but she wasn’t comfortable with that until she knew more about him.

She asked him a few generic questions such as where he lived and what he did now for a living, which was her masked way of finding out if he was still doing illegal things to get by. She also asked about her brother: his age and why he suddenly wanted to meet her. She asked if it were possible for him to send a photo of himself and maybe one of her brother as well.

His response came that night. Sarah stared at the unopened email in her inbox from Omar Ortiz. Even when she’d first gotten the info from Sydney, she’d thought about how, if her mom and dad been together when she was born, she might’ve been an Ortiz instead of a Fierro like her mom.

She’d told both Sydney and Angel that she’d gotten a response but had yet to read it earlier when she saw the email indicator on her phone. Feeling almost silly, she actually considered waiting until Angel got to her place after his practice so he could be there when she opened it. For some reason, she didn’t want to do so in front of her mom. She hadn’t told her yet about receiving the response. Just before she could click on it, her phone dinged with a text. It was from her cousin Valerie.

I’m right around the corner. Let’s go get coffee. I haven’t seen you in too long.

Smiling, Sarah texted back that coffee sounded good to her then exhaled a bit dramatically as she clicked on the email and began to read. There was no way she was waiting until she got back from getting coffee with Valerie.

Hello Sarah,

I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to finally hear from you. I guess my trip out to Flagstaff paid off. I completely understand your not wanting to meet until you get to know a little more about me.

First of all, your mom may’ve already told you that I did some time in prison. I’ve been out for over five years now and work at Hanson Beach Memorial Hospital doing maintenance and repair. I’ve been living out here in Hanson Beach ever since my release. My sister and her husband live out here, and I’ve stayed with them until I was able to get a place of my own.

Your brother’s name is Leonardo (Leo) and is just shy of twenty. I think I had it wrong when I spoke to the young man in Flagstaff, which is weird because I’m always a year behind not ahead with his age. He still lives in Arizona and attends the University of Phoenix. I recently reconnected with him since, unfortunately, I missed out on most of his life as well. He actually tracked me down a few years ago, and we’ve met several times since then and stay in touch via text, phone calls, and email. Ever since I told him he had a sister, he’s wanted to meet you. He is an only child, and as far as I know, so are you. I think it would be nice for both of you get to know each other and might not be too inconvenient if you, too, are still in Arizona.

I’ve uploaded a couple of photos of myself and a photo Leo sent me of himself. Feel free to ask whatever else you need to know. I told him you contacted me and that you want to take this slowly. He understands and wants to give you all the time you need, but he did say to tell you he’s very much looking forward to meeting you eventually. He asked me to pass on his contact info in case you want to call and speak with him first or like with me just email.

Warm regards,

Omar (Dad)

Sarah reread the email a second time, taking in her brother’s name and age. If he was just shy of twenty, then those times her dad had been seeing other women, when he was living with her mom, he must’ve gotten someone else pregnant.

Pinching her lips to the side, she thought about that. So far there was little positive she could say about the man who fathered her. She was glad now she’d decided to take it slowly, but she wouldn’t hold her father’s past against her brother. Like her, he had no choice in the matter of who his father was. She wouldn’t be calling him, but she might email him since he did seem anxious to meet her. Sarah had to admit she too was weirdly excited about the prospect of having a sibling. But like Angel had warned, she wouldn’t get her hopes up. She still didn’t know any of this to be fact.

Valerie arrived just as Sarah was opening the photo attachments he’d sent. Sarah had already filled her in earlier that week on the phone when they’d spoken briefly about the new information she now had about her father. So Valerie stood next to Sarah and her laptop, waiting just as curiously when Sarah told her about her father’s response to her email and that he’d sent photos.

The first one was of himself. In it, he was leaning against a doorway with a faint smile. She could now see what Sydney and Angel had been talking about when they said that her eyes were haunting. For years, Sydney had told her and then later Angel tried to explain it, yet she’d never seen what they were talking about in her own eyes. But she saw it now in her father’s. There was something profound about them. Angel said it was the very first thing he noticed about her the first time he’d laid eyes on her. Just like what Sydney had described feeling when he’d met the man, she couldn’t stop looking in his eyes. It almost choked her up.

“Wow,” Valerie said. “Sydney wasn’t lying, Sarah. You look just like him. There’s no way he isn’t your dad. Look at those eyes.”