I keep my eyes trained on the ceiling. I’m not strong enough to look at them as I tell the story, but I can hear them gasp in harmony.

“Your dad?” Lena asks. “How?”

“It was stupidly simple, actually,” I say. “You remember Alicia McClain?”

“She was in my clairvoyancy classes at Haxahaven. From Cobble Hill, right?” Lena replies.

“Yes.” I breathe. “When my magic started going wrong, I cried in Florence’s office and begged her to help me find a solution. She requested that all clairvoyancy students report any visions involving me directly to her. Honestly, it was really embarrassing. Not that many people had visions involving me, and those who did mostly saw me burning frittatas and cursing at the deer for eating my tomato bushes. I didn’t think anything would come of it. In my spare time, I searched the Haxahaven library and the Bizarre Bazaar for any texts that might offer clues. In desperation, I even asked my mother about my father. She didn’t have much to offer; she said last she heard he was in Morocco, then broke down crying. I felt so guilty I went downtown to search genealogical records for any clues, rather than pressing her for more. But then, a few months ago, Alicia came into my classroom as I was cleaning up. She passed me a small slip of paper. I could tell she’d agonized over it. Poor thing looked so wan. When I opened it, all that was written was an address. She told me she’d had a vision of me meeting with an older man. In her head, she could see the street name and house number. She said it didn’t look like New York. I took enough elementary school French to know ‘rue’ meant ‘street,’ so I combed through maps of Paris in the library until I found it. She described the man and I was hopeful he might be my father. It was more a hunch than anything, but I was correct.”

“So, you found him? You spoke to him?” Maxine prods.

I’ve never spoken much about my family to either of them. They know William once existed and now he does not. They know about my mother, Lena through letters and Maxine because she lives at Haxahaven with us both. Maxine is gentle and kind with my mother, always bringing her cups of tea in the library and asking her quiet questions about her day at dinner. They also know I never knew my father. I’ve never felt the need to put any finer details on it.