“I know she’s lying,” he told Hattie.

“We were still together when she got pregnant.

I can count.

I’ve been counting for four years.” He looked out at the empty yard where the boy usually played.

“I don’t want anything from these people.

I don’t want their money, their house, their name — none of it.

I make an honest living and I’d raise him on it.

I just want a real test.