Mr. Atkins didn't let us watch the replay. He simply told us, "I'm sure it'll be funny soon, but not right now."
"That means that Zeke jumped!" Kyle laughed.
"Totally worth it!" Dave laughed too.
Mr. and Mrs. Atkins frowned at the pair, but there wasn't much that could be done about the past. We finished dessert, went home to do homework, and then get ready for bed.
"I can't believe you did that." Noah laughed as we got into our respective beds.
"Dave told me that your dad would be recording. I thought that meant he was also in on it." I sighed.
"Next time, check with me." Noah chuckled. "Mom's face though...she flinched so hard too."
I pulled the blanket higher to my chin. "I hope your parents aren't too mad."
"If you're really worried, I can talk to them for you tomorrow?" Noah offered. "They know how the twins can be."
I shook my head, but then realized that Noah couldn't see me in the dark. "No, it's okay. They already let me off with a light punishment compared to the twins."
Noah hummed in agreement.
After waiting a few minutes, I got up the courage to ask Noah a question that had been bothering me since dinner. "Noah? Are you still awake?"
"Yep." He mumbled. He was definitely falling asleep. "What is it?"
"Do you think...that your parents left me off easy because I'm not their kid? I mean, if you did this with the twins, wouldn't you get a more severe punishment?"
Noah was so quiet, I thought that he had fallen asleep. But I heard a thump as if he got out of bed and then the lights were flipped on. Soon, he was staring at me, face to face. "Jake. Why would you say that? Let alone think that?"
I shrugged. It was kind of self explanatory. If Noah had joined the twins in surprising Zeke, his punishment would definitely be the same as the twins. "I just feel like they went easy on me, because I'm not theirs."
Noah shook his head. "No, you dummy. They went easy on you because they know that it wasn't your idea. They know it's the twins that like to pull pranks. You should be happy that they know you well enough to know that this isn't something you would do without some coercion."
I guess. My eyes drifted away from Noah.
"Come on, you know Mom and Dad like you." Noah said, poking me.
"Yea, but they like everybody." I mumbled.
Noah backed up, turned and sat at the desk. He opened up his laptop and turned it on.
I peeked to see what he was doing.
He glanced back and caught me looking. "Come on. Get up. We have to find your dad."
I froze. "Why?"
"To free you up. We get him to sign away his parental rights, then you'll be up for grabs. Mom and Dad probably want to, but can't. They might be afraid of hurting your feelings. Like you still have some attachment to your dad." He gave me a sad smile. "But I know you. 'Why want somebody who didn't want you.' Right?"
For some reason, I felt guilty. That's a common thought I have. Not just for my dad, but for my mom, my brother, and just in general.
"Come on already, get up. Let's try this out with everyone sleeping." Noah waved at me.
I slowly got out of bed and stood by Noah as he pulled up 'Google search.' He started with typing my full name and surprisingly we came across some baseball articles that reported high school sports. I turned red as Noah clicked through each one.
"Mr. Cameron has a lot of good things to say about you." Noah said. "But this isn't helping. What's your mom's name?"
I tapped the desk with a finger. "That won't help. The state has been looking for my father since the night I ended up in the hospital. If they can't find him, I doubt a simple google search will."
"We have to do something." Noah said adamantly. "You don't want to end up in some sticky situation later on. Like, what if you become a baseball star and he suddenly wants to take you away?"
I thought about Jeremy Patterson. "I-"
"What?" Noah asked. "You have an idea?"
I gulped. "I guess you can say that." I brought my hands together and started to tap my thumbs together. "I have-" Oh god, this is so hard to say out loud.
Noah waited patiently, but that just made me feel more self-conscious. What if he gets mad that I haven't said anything before? I'm pretty sure all the adults will get mad when they find out I've been keeping something from them. This means I've got to get Noah to be on my side first.
"Noah. You can't get mad okay..?" I said in a small voice, kind of scared of his reaction. Never mind the fact that I don't want him to make a scene when we're supposed to be sleeping. What if his parents wake up? "You also have to be quiet."
Noah nodded eagerly.
I took a deep breath. "I have a brother."
Noah blinked. And blinked again. "What?"
"I have a brother." I said more confidently, then I faltered. "He left the same time my dad did. When I was three."
"Do you know his name?" Noah caught me by surprise by asking such a normal question.
I shook my head.
Noah slumped in his chair.
"But...I saw someone who looks like my dad. Except younger. So I thought-I mean I think, he could be, possibly, my brother." I stuttered.
"Good! We have a lead!" Noah looked excited.
"Good?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You're not mad that I didn't tell you sooner?"
Noah shrugged with a smile. "You told me now, didn't ya? That's good enough for me. It's not like you were keeping some deep, dark secret. You just weren't ready to talk about it." He continued. "You know how Zeke asked me to go to the bathroom at dinner?" I nodded. "He felt like I was being too pushy in getting you to use an aluminum bat. He's the one that told me that I have to be more patient with you and just to be ready to lend an ear."
I smiled. Zeke was an older brother. A true older brother. My eyes started to sting so I blinked a few times to avoid crying in front of Noah.
"Now let's get back to work. Where did you see the man that looks like your dad? Or brother? Are you sure it's more likely to be your brother and not your dad?" Noah asked.
"He's definitely too young to be my dad. He's the right age for my brother, I think."
"Okay, but where did you see him? On tv? In person?"
"Tv." My heart started to pound. "Jeremy Patterson."
Noah paused. "You think...that...Jeremy Patterson is your brother?!" He jumped out of his seat and put his hands on my shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me sooner??"
I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Now Noah is upset? Well, I guess anything that's related to baseball will excite him.
"What are you boys doing?" Mrs. Atkins opened our bedroom door to find Noah shaking me. "Noah James! Get your hands off Jake!"
The two of us froze. I was scared that Mrs. Atkins had heard Noah.
"It's way past your bedtime! You two have school tomorrow. Don't think I'll let you off the hook and sleep in." She said in a stern tone. "Get back in bed and go to sleep. Now!"
We scrambled into bed and tucked ourselves in.
She flipped off the lights. "Goodnight!" She turned and left, yet she didn't close the door behind her. Noah must have been as scared as me, because neither of us tried to talk about the topic of Jeremy Patterson being my brother.
