420 April’s Showers (1/2)

I started to tear up. I wanted to wipe my eyes, but then Dave would know that I was crying.

"What are you doing to Jake?" Mrs. Atkins asked.

Dave loosened his grip and answered. "Jeremy Patterson isn't a good person, Mom. Noah found a not so good video of him. He's showing Dad right now."

Mrs. Atkins didn't need to question what was said. Just one look at me and she could tell that I was hurting. "Oh, honey. It's...well, let me go see what has happened." She nodded towards the dining room. "Why don't you go eat breakfast with the others?" She jogged up the stairs.

Dave steered me to the kitchen and guided me to my seat before going to his own. Zeke and Kyle were talking about plans for the day, but quieted down after one look at me.

"Don't ask." Dave told them. "If you really want to know, go upstairs and Noah will show you. Jake doesn't want to keep hearing about it." He started to load his plate.

Zeke got up first, not hesitating like Kyle. He immediately left the kitchen, and Kyle quickly followed after a glance my way.

"They have to know." Dave told me.

"I know." I slowly reached for a bagel and started to pick at it. It's not like it's a big secret. It's all over the news. Jeremy Patterson doesn't claim having a brother.

As I slowly ate my bagel, the Atkins started to come down in the order they went up. Mr. Atkins. Mrs. Atkins. The three boys.

"What should we do now?" Kyle asked their dad, looking unsure of what to do.

Mr. Atkins sighed. "There's nothing for us to do. Everything else is between Jeremy and the state." He looked at me. "Let me know if you want to visit Dr. Moore at any time, okay?"

I nodded. "I'm okay. He can live his life and I'll live mine."

Mr. Atkins shared a frown with Mrs. Atkins, but they didn't say anything else about the topic. My wave of sadness passed as I thought it through. Jeremy and I don't have any real connection. I was three the last time I saw him...a ten-year-old him. That's it.

Mr. and Mrs. Atkins took a longer time to go to work, but after making sure that I would be just fine with their sons, they left.

"Let's go to the cages?" Kyle offered, looking at me.

I shrugged, stabbing the cut up fruit on my plate. "I don't really feel like it."

"Don't be lying." Noah nudged me. "You know it'll make you feel better. Get your mind off things."

Get my mind off the fact that my brother didn't even ask about me after finding out that our mom almost killed me? I doubt it. I sighed. "Okay, sure."

Noah smiled with relief.

So after breakfast, we packed up and left the house together. We were just at The Arcade last night so the employees were a little surprised that we would come two days in a row.

Zeke bought the tokens for all of us without Noah's nagging so he must be pitying me too. Just a boy that only strangers want. I sighed to myself for the millionth time this morning.

We seemed to stick together as we moved to the cage with a good speed. Or more like, they stuck with me. They were probably still worried about me exploding or running or just-just being sad. It made me feel worse that these acquaintances could care more than my blood relatives. Just stop. Stop thinking about it.

I shook my head trying to clear these thoughts.

The boys let me go first, but that was a mistake. I was still muddle-headed and made a few mistakes in the cages. I even swung and missed on such an easy pitch. With another sigh, I left the cage.