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“Not too busy to talk to his brother.”
“Dean, come on. When you were his age, you wanted to be with your friends. Or with me. You didn’t even want Jake around.”
“I wanted him around. I just didn’t like his attitude. He thought he knew better than me. He still does. That’s why I’m worried.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. Go to sleep. You can try calling him again tomorrow.”
“It’s not like him to blow me off like this. He’d at least send me a text.”
Brook sits up and turns to me. “What is this about? What are you so worried about?”
“That girl. Tara. I think Jake’s still seeing her. I think that’s why he’s avoiding me.”
“You’ve met her, right?”
“When she was a kid. She was really poor and her mom was a mess. So I get why Jake likes hanging out with her. Her childhood wasn’t that different than his. He can connect with her in ways he can’t with kids at his college.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not when she’s dating someone else. That Troy guy is trouble. He always has been, and I’m sure he’s gotten worse now that he’s older. He’s probably into drugs. Stealing shit. I told Jake to stay away from him, and instead of listening to me, he goes and dates Troy’s girlfriend.” I blow out a breath. “What the hell is he thinking?”
“Maybe this girl broke up with her boyfriend now that she has Jake.”
“If she had, he would’ve told me. Avoiding my calls tells me Jake is still going out with her even though she’s still with Troy.”
“What do you think’s going on there? Do you think she’s just using Jake?”
“I don’t know her well enough to say. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s using him. But if I told him that, he wouldn’t believe me. When he falls for a girl, he can’t see what’s really going on. Like with Haley. She used him and he didn’t even know it.”
“Yeah, she did take advantage of him. But to be fair, Jake let her. He did everything for her and went along with whatever she wanted to do.” Brook smiles a little. “He’s the total opposite of his big brother. I can’t believe you two are related.”
“Hey!” I pull her into my arms. “I’ve done a lot for you.”
“Yes, but it took a lot to get you there. When we met, you wouldn’t go along with anything. You kept telling me to go away, even when I was just trying to help.”
“Because I didn’t want to hurt you. I was protecting you. I had serious anger issues back then. I knew what could happen if I let you get close to me.”
“But look at you now. You’re like a different person.”
“I still get angry. I’m just better able to control it. I wish you knew how I felt back then. The rage would come on so fast I couldn’t stop it. It was like someone lit a match and no amount of water could put out the fire.”
“Why didn’t that happen to Jake? He’s always so calm. He hardly ever gets angry, at least not in a violent way.”
“He’s more like Mom. I’m like my dad. I inherited all his fucking problems.”
“Dean, don’t say that. You look like him, but you’re not anything like him. Your dad is evil, and violent. You’re kind. Gentle. Caring. Look how much you care about Jake. You’re so worried about him you probably won’t even sleep tonight.”
“Because I know he’s doing something he shouldn’t. I’m not just talking about whatever he’s doing with Tara, but hanging out with those guys from the neighborhood, especially Troy.”
“You think Jake went over there again?”
“I know he did. That’s another reason why he won’t talk to me.” I look at Brook. “He’s going back to that life and it’s scaring the shit out of me.”
“He’s not going back to it. He’s in college. He’s moving forward with his life.”
“Yeah, and all it takes is one stupid mistake to put him right back where we came from.”
“What do you mean? What do you think he would do?”
