Chapter 16

“To one’s eyes,” she said softly, “which child is mine and which was born of Gamila might be obvious. In our hearts, it is not.”

I was ashamed of myself. Rightfully so. “Hi.” When I turned to the boy, his blue eyes darted away. “What’s your name?”

“He’s Odomzack.”

I imagined what I’d heard from Autumn. “That’s a great name. Certainly new to me.” I wondered if it had come from The Elon Musk Book of Baby Names, but asked, “Does it have roots in the past?”

“In a way, yes,” Gamila answered for the boy. Then, she spelled it for me. “O-d-o-m I-s-a-u-q. ‘Odom Zach.’ We’d thought Odom Isaac, but then decided to make the I silent. Like the eye,” she pointed to hers, so I knew what she meant, “should sometimes be.”

I got it then. “Backwards thinking.”

“It is ever important to turn such thoughts, such prejudices around,” Delphine advised. “It can be a process, even here, because of there.”