Page 20 of Wish I Were Here
When Luca interrupted her about four minutes ago to flash her a smile and ask how it was going, Tonya grunted at him and kept typing. When he tried again two minutes later, she ignored him altogether.
I rub my sweaty palms on my now-wrinkled pencil skirt. Tonya’s eyes narrow, and her mouth twists to the right. She clicks a few more buttons. I shift from one foot to the other. Luca mirrors my movements. Tonya clicks a few more buttons. Her mouth twists to the left. I shift again.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “Am I in there?”
“Nope.” She slides the card back across the counter.
“Nope?” I look to Luca, who raises an eyebrow, and then back to Tonya. “But that’s impossible.” I slide the card back across the counter in her direction. “Can you please check it again?”
Tonya takes my card, types the numbers one by one into her computer, clicks the mouse, and looks back up at me. “Like I said. You’re not in here.”
I clutch the counter in front of me. “But how is that possible? I have a Social Security card right there in your hand. Someone in this agency issued it to me.”
Tonya flips the card over, stares at it for a minute, and then flips it back. “Guess it could be a really good fake.”
“It’s not a fake.” I can hear that hysterical tinge aroundthe edges of my voice, similar to when I was talking to Helen in HR. But Tonya doesn’t look concerned that I might snap. She looks bored.
“Tonya.” Luca draws out her name, saying it in that same tone he used to call medarlingearlier, and that’s how I know he’s about to really turn on the charm. Not that hearing him call medarlingcharmed me. Absolutely not. But hopefully it will work on Tonya. “My friend is clearly struggling here, so if you could share some of your wisdom and experience and let us know how to prove she exists, we would really appreciate it.”
Tonya stares at him for a moment. He smiles. She stares. His grin widens. She finally cracks. “Fine.”Score one for Luca’s charm.She turns to me. “Do you have a government-issued ID?”
I dig through my wallet and slide my driver’s license across the desk.
Tonya types some more information into the computer. “Nope. You’re not in here.”
“That is simply not possible.”
Tonya shrugs. “Sorry. According to official government records, you don’t exist.”
“But—” I stand there in stunned silence, my mouth agape. “How—” I don’t even know what to say.
Luca steps forward. “Okay, look. Catherine obviously exists. She’s standing right here. She has”—he waves a hand at the cards lined up on Tonya’s side of the counter—“these documents.”
“Fakes,” Tonya mutters under her breath.
I gasp. “They are not fakes.”
Luca grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze under the counter.It’s going to be okay, that squeeze seems to say. “What do you recommend Catherine should do to prove that she really is who she says she is?”
“Well.” Tonya considers this, and I hold my breath. “I suppose if you have a birth certificate, you could try to get a new government-issued ID card to prove that you’re really who you say you are. From there, we can start the process of tracking down your Social Security information.”
“I have one! It’s right here.” I lay my birth certificate on the counter and wipe a speck of dust from its clear plastic cover.
Tonya picks it up, flips it over, and then quickly flips it back. “This isn’t your birth certificate.”
“What do you mean it’s not my birth certificate? It says my name, and birth date, and place of birth right there on the page.” I’m breathing hard now, my heart pounding in my chest.
“This is a very goodcopyof a birth certificate. You’ll need the real thing.” Tonya taps her finger on the corner of the page where an official-looking seal is stamped. “Your real birth certificate will have an embossed stamp. It will be textured. This one is just a print. It’s probably a photocopy.”
I stare at that flat, black-and-white seal, and my hands begin to shake. “No. That’s not possible.”
“Okay.” Luca rests a hand on my shoulder. “Can you excuse us for a moment?” Tonya shrugs and goes back to pecking at her keyboard. Luca gently tugs me to the side of the desk. “Do you have your birth certificate at home? The real one?”
“No.”
“Okay…” Luca cocks his head. “Where could it be?”
“I don’t know.”
