It took only a minute for Dad and Zeke to be ready. They left in Dad's car, heading towards the prison my birth mother was held in, chasing down my blood-brother.
I hugged Mom on my own initiative. "Thanks." I could tell she was hesitant about sending her husband to go find Jeremy. She gave in for me.
Mom squeezed me closer. "It's not just for you. Wayne, your father, has a tendency to want to help young men like Jeremy."
"I know." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Dad likes to save people."
She let out a small laugh. "Yea. He does. He likes to claim that he's not any good at it, but he tries his best anyway. Don't worry about Jeremy. I know your dad will reach him and talk some sense into him." She released me to wipe her eyes.
"Are you crying..?" Dave asked.
Mom glared at him. "Why can't I? Jake just hugged me."
Dave held up his hands in mocked defense. "I see who the favorite is."
She chuckled. "You'll see when I finish baking the cookies."
"We just had a cookie after lunch. Can't we start planning dinner?" Kyle held his stomach. "I'm not Noah. I can't live off of sweets."
Noah gave him a small push. "You couldn't complain until after we had the cookies in our hands?"
Mom laughed. "Okay, how about I order Chinese for dinner?"
"As long as you don't forget to ask for fortune cookies." Noah said.
"Fried rice this time!" Dave added.
"Don't get anything spicy." Kyle patted his stomach again. "I don't think I could handle it."
"You boys are so picky." Mom patted me on the head. "Jake, you have any special requests?"
I shook my head. "Anything is fine."
"This is why Jake is my favorite!" Mom told Dave, laughing. "I'm just kidding. As parents, we love you all equally. I'll go put our order in." She left us to find her phone.
"Do we just go back to watching the movie?" Dave asked.
"I'm going to call Marie and give her another update?" Kyle said, glancing my way.
I shrugged. "Okay?"
Kyle grinned. "I'm just checking with you."
I shrugged again. "I'm okay. Confused, hurt, but...I'm not whatever Jeremy is." There's nothing in the world that would make me want to go see my birth mother. Not even if that was to save my life.
"I knew your Uncle wasn't any good." Noah snorted. "What kind of grown man leaves a baby with a psycho?? He can claim that taking Jeremy was hard enough, but at the very least he should have reported your mother."
"Exactly!" Mom exclaimed, coming back with her phone in hand. "That man rubbed me the wrong way since day one. The more we got to know Jeremy, the more confused I was in why his uncle was such a tool."
"I wonder if he's going to jail at all for stealing money?" Dave asked. "Or did Jeremy's money already buy him freedom?"
"Who knows?" Noah shrugged.
***
(Jeremy POV)
"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are 9am to 3pm. No exceptions." The security guard said a little more forcefully now that I've made him repeat himself more than three times.
I sighed. It was already 8pm. My game had already started and now I was in the middle of nowhere. I looked at the security guard. "Know any decent hotels nearby?"
He nodded. "The highway you took in? Go back. Near the small airport and across from the golf course, you can find a Holiday Inn."
"Thanks." I sighed again, heading for the exit.
"Sir." He made me pause in my steps. "Tomorrow, you won't be able to wear a hat when visiting an inmate."
I glanced at him.
His lips twitched. "You'll be recognizable."
I let out a small laugh. "You can already recognize me with a hat on. Guess I'll be another headliner." I turned to go, but stopped again "Did you want an autograph?"
He shook his head. "I'm on duty."
That wasn't a no. "I'll be back at 9am. Will you be off by then?"
"I will." He nodded.
"I'll sign then." I waved and left for real this time. Leaving through a wide hallway, it was hard to believe that I was so close to that woman right now. It's been over a decade since I last saw her. Would she even recognize me?
I exited the facility and froze. My car wasn't the only one there when I showed up, but it was alone in the corner. Now, another familiar car had parked beside me. Two men, one in his 40's and one in his teens were leaning against my car, like they were guarding it.
I hurried over after snapping out of it.
Seeing Wayne and Zeke Atkins, my heart started to really pound. "Is Jake here?"
Wayne pushed himself off my car, shaking his head. "Jake is at home. Waiting for you to call him back. He's worried about you, Jeremy. We all are."
I put my hands in my jacket pockets. "How'd you know I'd still be here?"
"We live a little bit closer." Wayne told me. "Considering the time you called Rose, and left Jake a voicemail, I figured I could catch you. Only took me a minute to ask Jake's caseworker where his birth mom is. I didn't realize she would be this close."
"There's only three major women prisons in California." I told him. "I had someone keeping an eye on where she would be, but I didn't want to know. Not until today." My hands clenched into fists.
Wayne reached out, holding his palm up. "Keys."
"What?" I asked, not understanding.
"Give me your keys. You look tired. Let's go get some dinner. I bet you're hungry." Wayne kept his hand out.
I was too exhausted to argue, and handed my keys over.
Wayne looked at Zeke. "Follow me back to the main highway. We'll pull off at the next main exit."
Zeke nodded and got into their car.
Wayne walked me back to my car, opening the passenger door for me. I got in and closed the door. He rounded the car and got into the driver's seat. Since he was a giant and taller than me, it took him a couple of seconds to adjust the seat.
"I wasn't able to see her." I blurted out.
He started the engine. "I know."
"You know?"
He smiled as he started to drive. "Jake's caseworker knows the hours. He told me it would be close. Heck, it was closed before I even left the house."
"Then...why did you come?" I asked, frowning.
"We're worried about you." Wayne glanced at me. "Jake is especially worried about you. He wanted to come, but..." He glanced out the window at the prison. "It's just not possible."
Yea, that's right. Jake wouldn't be able to come. He couldn't face this woman again. She almost killed him. A minute away from death.
Resting my elbows on my knees, I put my head into my hands. "How's Jake doing?"
"Jake's okay." Wayne told me. "A little surprised and confused, but he was happy to know that you didn't have any part with your uncle paying your birth mother." I could feel his eyes on me. "What did he say, Jeremy?"
I had trouble swallowing.