Mary walked briskly, a couple doors down and then she found the house the lady pointed at. It definitely stuck out in this neighborhood, but it was nothing bad. The mailbox differed from everyone else's. Maybe the garage could use a fresh coat of paint. And the yard wasn't as perfect as the others. Mary didn't waste time on it. The outward appearance of your house doesn't determine what kind of person you are. Take that jogger lady for example. Her house was in perfect condition, but she wasn't very pleasant. She acted as if Mary was wasting her time.
Mary walked up the mini porch and knocked on the door, hoping someone was home. Anyone. The kid in college. His parents. His siblings. She could always come back later when people usually get home from work, but she didn't feel like waiting. She was close, she could feel it. She rang the doorbell as well just in case they couldn't hear her knock.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She heard a male holler from inside, followed by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. The door swung open, revealing a young man in his 20s with fair skin. Her heart thumped, only relaxing after getting a better look at his face. He couldn't be Jake's brother. Jake had a pale complexion, and was just barely getting a tan in these early spring months. This man on the other hand must have had some mixed heritage with his dark tan, almost like he went to a tanning salon. "Who are you?" His blunt words snapped Mary out of it.
Mary turned a little red, caught staring at this man and examining him head to toe. "Sorry, I-I was just...Are your parents home?"
He crossed his arms across his chest. "No, they're at work. Are you from the homeowners association? Is Cheryl filing complaints again? You can just toss them and tell her to get a life." He rolled his eyes and started to close the door.
"No!" Mary yelled out, making him flinch, but at least it got him to stop closing the door. "Sorry, no, I'm not from the homeowners association. I'm actually from a small town up north. I'm here, looking for some answers. My foster son used to live in the area. He spent most of his childhood a couple blocks away."
"Okay. What does that have to do with me and my parents?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm trying to find some clues about his missing father."
"You got a name?"
"Oh, no. That's why I'm trying to find someone who can help. At the childhood home, a neighbor remembered him moving in the house ten years ago with just his mom. Then he asked around and found out where he originally came from." She pointed at the house.
"Oh. Cheryl's. You're in luck. I remember exactly when she moved in. We haven't had any peace since." He squinted at the house. "I vaguely remember the family before them. I'm not sure if you have the right one though."
"I'm not 100% sure either, but I'd like to hear about them just in case. Do you remember their names at all? Or why they moved? Was it a complete family of three?"
The young man patted the back of his head, messing up his hair. "Names..? Uhh, it's been too long. But I don't think you have the right family. They were a family of four. Parents and two boys."
Mary felt like the world stopped and time stood still. Parents and two boys. If Camila's grandfather wasn't wrong, and that's really where Jake used to live, then there was a brother. There really was a brother.
She looked at the young man, taking an earnest step forward. "Do you remember the boys ages? Two of them right?"
The guy hesitated. "I can't be completely sure with the younger brother because he was little. In diapers at least." That coordinated with Jake's age of when he moved. "But the older brother was the same age as my older brother, 9 then they turned 10 the same year that the family moved. They shared a class or something maybe? Or a sports team? I can't be completely sure. I was only 8 when they moved away, but from 6-8, I remember watching them play in the front yard." He made a face, looking slightly upset. "My brother wouldn't let me play with him, saying it was his friend."
"Can I talk to your brother? Your parents? Maybe they would know more?"
His facial expression went from slightly upset to completely sad. "My brother passed away shortly after. He was...sick. Growing up. Cancer. That's why he was very protective of his friends. He didn't want them to become my friends while he was in the hospital for long periods of time."
Mary's heart fell. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"It's fine." The young man looked at the grass in the front yard. "He and his friend would play close to our house so my mom could keep an eye on him. They never roughhoused or got physical with one another. They would just calmly play catch with a baseball."
Baseball. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, but is there any chance you remember that kids name? His full name?"
He thought for a bit, tapping his finger on his arm. Suddenly he brightened up. "Hold on for a minute! I might have a picture! Let me go check an old photo album!" He turned on his heel and bolted up the stairs, leaving the front door wide open for Mary.
Mary was dumbfounded. A picture? Isn't this even better than a name? She could see if the boy looks similar to Jake. She could pass the info on to Doug and ask him if the state is allowed to look into who used to live at the house since she would have evidence of relation.
"Stay levelheaded, Mary. This could just be a picture of some random boy with no relationship to Jake." Wayne's voice came from her purse, reminding her that he was still on hold.
She shifted foot to foot. "I don't know, Wayne. This is too much of a coincidence. Dr. Moore says Jake has some kind of brother complex. And now I'm being told there was an older brother at a house where he may have lived before." She lowered her voice as she heard footsteps approaching the staircase. "Shh. He's coming back!"
The young man ran down the stairs with the same energy her own boys had. He beamed at her, filled with pride as he held out a small picture. It was four inches by five inches, just enough to fit two little boys standing side by side.
Mary felt weak. "That's him!" One of the boys looked skinny and was obviously related to the young man in front of her. But the other boy? The other boy looked like Jake! The Jake right now, looked like this ten year old boy! They shared the same light brown hair and light colored eyes that popped out. With Jake being short and underweight for his age, he could easily pass off as the ten year old boy in this picture. Stunning. Mary couldn't find the words to say. She felt overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions from relief to anger to sadness.
"Are you okay?" The young man looked worried. "Is this not who you're looking for?"
"This-this is good." Mary forced herself to say. "My foster son should be the baby in diapers you remember. This must be his older brother for sure. They look nearly identical." She looked the young man in the eyes. "Do you remember his name at all?"
He reached out and turned the picture around in her hands. A messy scrawl of 'EJ and JJ' were written on the back. "EJ was my older brother. Originally Edward, but he hated it. JJ was the one to teach him to put initials together to make a new name. Beyond this, I don't know. I could ask my parents when they get home, but I don't think they would remember old neighbors full names that had moved away so long ago."
"I understand." Mary nodded sadly. "Can I keep this though?" She held up the photo.
He nodded. "We have plenty of my brother. My parents knew...that he wasn't going to live long so they took a lot of pictures." He glanced down at the photo. "I'll look for more like that for you, if you want?"
She held it tight. "If it's not too much trouble." She dug out her business card and handed it over. "Just call or email if you find any more. Or if your parents remember the name of that family."
He nodded and took the card. "Sure. It's no problem. It's nice to look back every now and then. To make sure that I don't forget him." He gave a sad smile. "If you ever do find the boy, can you tell him about my brother? Just so one more person will think of him?"
Mary nodded. "I will! I'm sure he would want to know too."
They exchanged a few more niceties before parting ways. Mary went back to her car, and pulled her phone out of the pocket. "Wayne?"
"I'm here."
A pause settled between them. Neither knew where to start or what to do. They had a picture. A picture of a boy that looked like Jake.
"What-What should we do first?" She stuttered, still holding onto the photograph.
"Take a picture and send it to me. I'll go see Dr. Moore. You call Doug and see what we should do about finding his dad. I don't know if we should personally dig into this anymore. The whole goal was to find out if Jake had an older brother or someone he looked up to. And I think this should be it. An older brother."
"He was only a toddler when he started to live with just his mom. Do you really think he remembers this brother?"
"I don't know. Maybe. We should let Dr. Moore tell us how to approach this first." He sighed. "Don't get too upset. We still don't know about his dad. He could be dead for all we know."
"I know...it's just...now, Jake has been abandoned by two people."
"It's not like his brother had a choice either. He was only a kid too."
"But he's not a kid now. He's got to be at least 21. That's old enough to vote and drink and to search for a little brother that you knew you had."
Wayne just sighed again. There wasn't much he can argue against. It's hard to keep an open mind when you have a young 14-year-old relying on you after nearly coming back from the grave.