“I’m nervous.”
“Good. Then I’m not the only one who gets nervous before sharing work.”
I laughed.
Within minutes, messages began coming in. I turned off the alerts and went to help Dana prepare dinner.
As I set the table, Marcus came in carrying Samuel’s letter.
“I’ve read this three times,” he said.
“Are you all right?”
“I think I need to tell Zoe about the last conversation Dad and I had. I’ve let her believe we never argued.”
I placed another plate on the table.
“Tell her what you can,” I said. “She’ll understand that you loved each other through it.”
He looked at the letter, then at me.
“Will you stay while I do?”
“Of course.”
Zoe listened without interrupting.
Marcus told her that he and Samuel had argued about the move for his new flying job. He told her he had been angry when her grandfather died, and that he’d spent years wishing he could take back his last words.
Then he read part of Samuel’s letter aloud.
I watched Zoe reach for his hand.
“Grandpa knew you loved him,” she said.
Marcus’s voice caught. “I hope so.”
“He wrote to you. He wanted you to know how he felt.”
I had kept the letter for years because I was afraid it would hurt Marcus. Watching him with Zoe, I realized the silence around it had hurt him, too.
“I’m sorry I waited,” I said.
Marcus shook his head. “You gave it to me.”
We sat together after Dana cleared the dishes. Nobody rushed to make the evening cheerful. Zoe asked about the paper airplanes Marcus used to build, and I told her how Samuel taught him to fold the wings straight.
The next day, Lila asked if I would meet with two investigators from the airline. The meeting could be by video, but I chose to go in person. I wanted them to see me as more than the woman in the short clip.
Marcus offered to come. I asked Dana instead.
“You can drive me,” I told Marcus. “I’d like to speak for myself in the room.”
He smiled. “I figured you would.”
At the office, Dana waited nearby while I sat with Lila and the investigators. They asked me to describe the exchange from the beginning. I did. When they asked how Rachel’s words affected me, I had to pause.
“I was sure of my seat,” I said. “She made me doubt whether proof would be enough.”
One investigator looked up.
“Can you explain that?”
“I showed the pass. She didn’t check it. She told me someone like me must be in the wrong place without using those exact words. I wondered how many times I would have to ask before anybody looked.”
They asked about Marcus. I told them I was glad to see him, but that my ticket was valid before he stepped out of the cockpit.
“That is what I need you to understand,” I said.
They took notes. They asked whether Imani had spoken to me and whether I had encouraged her to make a report. I said she had called to explain why she contacted me, and that her decision to give an account had been her own.
At the end, they told me they would review the records, witness statements, and earlier reports. They could share findings that concerned my complaint, though personnel details would be limited.
I understood. I wanted a careful decision, even if it took longer than the internet wanted.
Outside, Dana handed me a bottle of water.
“How did it go?”
“I told them.”
“That was the hard part.”
We drove home in silence for a while. Then I asked her whether Marcus talked about Samuel when they first met.
“All the time,” she said. “Usually the funny stories. Sometimes he’d start to tell one about the last year and stop.”
“I thought giving him that letter would make him feel the loss all over again.”