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Jay turned to Chris. “Both of us have a lot to lose, and we’re not going down without a fight.”
Chris couldn’t help but notice that for the first time in a long time, Jay looked at him without hatred in his eyes.
10
He woke covered in sweat, his heart pulsing in his ears. It was the middle of the night, and Melissa was fast asleep beside him. He wiped his damp brow, taking a weird sense of pride in his ability to silently wake up from nightmares. Even Ethan, back in the day, hadn’t noticed.
For years, Chris had pushed back the echoes of his nightmares once he woke up, but one of his therapists had suggested he’d do the opposite and confront them.You can’t outrun your subconscious, so face it.With his heart almost back to normal speed, Chris shut his eyes and allowed the nightmare to resurface. It felt like summoning a demon from hell.
His latest nightmare had been a vivid memory from his first days with the Mitchells, back when he still hoped those people were saner than they appeared. He hadn’t had enough experience with families to tell how they should act, but he knew that Kim’s eyes lingered longer than appropriate, and that Robert had an unpredictable temper.
Even in his memories, he still viewed himself as Chris; Daniel had been buried so deep that not even his subconscious couldconjurehim back to life.
On that day, Trevor and Andy suggested taking him for a hike in the hills behind the house. Chris was already wary of charming Trevor and his sharp and unpredictable tongue, yet it was the younger brother, Andy, who unsettled him the most. At fifteen, Andy was a year younger than Chris, and something about him felt off. He could pass hours without saying a word, just humming to himself while looking out the window or staring at a wall. When he did speak, his words were short and basic, like one might expect from a child.
The three of them stepped outside into a hot summer day. They left the Mitchells’ massive property and crossed a wide wheat field, although the Mitchells were far from being farmers. Robert worked in investment banking, and Kim worked at being his wife. It felt that she was the one calling the shots around the house, although her ways were subtle.
Trevor chatted as they ventured farther away, pointing at nearby houses where other rich families lived. He seemed to know every family and loved sharing gossip, although Chris showed no interest in listening to other people’s secrets. In the group home, if you gossiped behind someone’s back, you were likely to get caught, which usually ended in a fight.
Trevor led them to one of the highest and rockiest hills. The climb was slow, and Andy, who was rather chubby, struggled and huffed. When Chris suggested they should stop to rest, Trevor said, “He’ll be fine, and he should lose some weight.”
By the time they reached the top, all of them were covered in dust and sweat, but the view was breathtaking. Thesun cast a golden glow over the landscape, its rays creating a magical play of light and shadow.It felt like a different reality compared to the group home, and it was hard to imagine this was the same state. He’d barely seen any parts of Connecticut and nothing as far as other states. But even the great view couldn’t change his longing for the boys he’d grown up with. He’d asked Robert and Kim to call them, but they said it would stand in the way of his acclimation. He felt that he should argue, but he wasn’t good at arguing with grownups.
“Beautiful view, huh?” Trevor pulled off his shirt and tied it around his sweaty forehead like a bandana. He was two years older than Chris and had said he wasn’t planning on going to college anytime soon.
“Yeah, it’s great.” Chris drank from the only water bottle they brought.
“Take your shirt off,” Trevor said, looking into the distance, his jet-black hair dancing in the wind. “It’s fucking hot.”
Chris hesitated, but his shirt was dirty and stuck to his skin. He pulled it off and tied it around his forehead as well.
Trevor winked at him. “Looking good, little brother.”
Little brother.Legally, it was true, but he didn’t yet feel close to any of those people. They were trying to absorb him into their fold too fast, and maybe he should have been grateful, but he was too overwhelmed for that. It still didn’t make sense for them to adopt him at such an age, especially with having two other sons in the picture. Chris remembered every adoption from the group home, mostly because there weren’t that many, and none of them happened under similar circumstances.
Trevor looked down the hill. “We can go back down from where we climbed up, but there’s another track over there that should be way more fun.” He smiled at Chris. “We’re taking the fun one.”
Chris followed Trevor to check the other track, but there was nothing fun about what he saw. “It doesn’t look like a real track with those rocks on the way.”
Trevor chuckled. “Robert and Kim didn’t tell me my new brother was a chicken.”
It was weird how Trevor referred to his biological parents by their names. “I’m not a chicken.”
“Good, so you’ll go first.” He rested his arm around Chris’s shoulders and sighed. “Man, look at all this beauty around us. Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”
“What?”
“You’ve never seen The Lion King?”
“No.”
“What the hell did you watch in that orphanage?”
“It was a group home, and we didn’t watch a lot of TV, but I really like the old Superman movies.”
“What? Those were so lame.”
Chris tried not to be offended, but Trevor’s words stung. He had watched every one of those movies twenty times and could even quote entire scenes. He looked down the hill with a worried frown, but it felt as though the decision had been made, and besides, he wasn’t a chicken.
