The False Father

It had always been just me and my mother ever since I could remember. I had just assumed my father had left my mother because my mother always got silent every time I asked. I stopped asking eventually, of course, but today I needed to know.

Everyone in my class was doing a family tree project, and in order to get an A, I had to put my mother, father, and at least one of their parents. I tried asking my teacher if it was okay not to put my father, but my teacher was unsympathetic. She said “Just ask your mom” and “It’s important to know where you come from”.

When I biked home from school that day, I gathered all the courage I could muster, and I asked my mother one last time about my father.

My mother went silent for a while, but then she started to speak, “I should have told you earlier. I’m sorry I kept this away from you. I kept saying to myself I wasn’t ready, but that was selfish of me. His name is John. John Murphy.”

I stepped back a bit.

“Are you okay Mai? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just wasn’t expecting John Murphy to be my father’s name. What a crazy coincidence that one of my classmates is named John Murphy too! Although, he goes by JJ.”

I went into my room to finish my project. I technically didn’t need to put both of my grandparents on the poster, but I had decided to at least search my father’s grandparents up.

I opened my school provided computer, and I typed in “John Murphy’s parents”. A couple of celebrities popped up, but there was one article that caught my eyes, the obituary of Selena and Jack Murphy. Apparently their son, John Murphy, was declared missing a few days before their death. The police declared it a cold case after a year of investigation.

A photo was posted of John Murphy on the case profile. He looked eerily familiar. I took my yearbook from the previous year and flipped to JJ Murphy’s photo. This was more than a coincidence. They looked like the exact same person. I was so excited, I forgot to tell my mother, a rare occurrence since I told my mother everything.

I confronted JJ the next morning before school. “Hi JJ. I wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind.” I uncomfortably fidgeted with her hands.

“Shoot away.”

I brought out my computer, and I pulled up the tab with my father’s picture on it. “Do you know this man?”

JJ suddenly talked in a whisper “I can’t discuss this here. I’ll meet you at your house afterschool.” JJ walked away before I could ask anymore questions. I was so excited that I didn’t think to ask if JJ knew my address.

I could barely keep her excitement contained. I would finally get some answers, and maybe JJ was the secret to seeing my father again.

After school I practically ran out of the classroom and out of the school. I felt the cool wind on my face. It would usually calm me down, but today I was too pumped full of adrenaline to slow down. It hadn’t occurred to me how my mother might respond to JJ. When I got to my front door, I didn’t see JJ. “Maybe he didn’t know my address after all,” I thought. I took out my house key from my wallet. I forgot it still had the picture of my first birthday in it. My mother and father looked so happy to be there with little me. I grinned, and I opened the door, half ready for what was about to come.

My mother was crying while hugging JJ. She looked more happy than I had seen in years. Before I had time to process this information, JJ started talking.

“Mai, before you say anything, I’m your father.”

I stepped back and hesitantly spoke. “But…how?”

He pulled out a strange device. I reached out for a red button on the top of it. JJ/John yanked it away before I could get near it.

“This is a time machine. It’s very sensitive, so don’t touch it! You see, my future self gave it to me and told me to go to 2025. Apparently I was supposed to guide you on the right path, but I have no idea what that is.”

“So you’re really my dad?” I hugged him with the might of twelve years without a father.

He patted me on the back. “I’m sorry, but I’m not the version of me that you think I am.” I released my hug. He continued, “I don’t know anything about you or your mother. I only know about your father’s life from 1981 to 1993.”

My mother interjected “Mai, we don’t need to have a father figure or a husband in our lives to be happy. This was not the man I fell in love with, nor was it the man who loved you so much that he would travel across time and space to be with you.”

I thought about all the happy memories I had with my mom. The swingset they would always go to after school when I was little. The ice cream place my mother would bring me to to talk about my feelings. The books my mother read to me at night to fall asleep. None of them involved my father, but I wished he could have been a part of them. I was happy with my mother, yet some part of me yearned for the family that other kids had. A dad, a mom, and me, maybe a few siblings.

My mother, seemingly reading my mind, replied “Those other families with a ‘complete family’ aren’t happy. Double the parents, double the problems”

Before my mother could say another word, Mai hugged her tight. “I love you. Even if I don’t have a dad, I’m so happy, and I’m so thankful you still take care of me.”

“I love you too.” Mai’s mother grinned, and the bags under her eyes wrinkled.