753 V2 ch225 (1/2)
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 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.”