The fourth brother
By: MysticFantasy
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(Disclaimer: I own no part of this movie or the characters in it.)
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"Come on guys. Ma wants the house clean before she comes home with the new kid." Jerry declared.
"Don't you mean our possible new brother?" Bobby corrected with a smirk.
"She never said she was going to adopt him." Angel declared.
"I have a feeling she will." Bobby replied. "She only brings home the ones that are going to stay and become Mercer's."
"Just because it happened with us doesn't mean that it's going to happen with this kid Bobby." Jerry said picking up two empty soda cans. "Besides, she said that this kid is coming here because it was an emergency placing and she volunteered. She's done that before."
Bobby smirked. "Just watch ladies. I say that in a few months there's going to be four Mercer boys in this house."
"You're full of it Bobby." Angel declared.
"You really want to stay the baby don't you Angel?" Bobby chuckled.
Angel made a face at Bobby before joining Jerry in cleaning the house before their mother arrived.
Bobby, the oldest at 17, laughed at his brothers before getting up to help them. Bobby was known around the neighborhood for being rough and tough. Getting a job done with his fists and not being afraid of anyone who tried to step up to him.
Jerry, second oldest at 15, was the brains and level headed one of the three. He was known to be a fighter when needed but mostly tried to stay out of trouble since he was the one who had cleaned his act up the most.
Angel, the youngest at 13 nearly 14, was a self proclaimed pretty boy who enjoyed working out, trying to get as many girls as he could and it was obvious that he enjoyed being the youngest of three brother's claiming that there was something about being the baby brother that girls liked.
The three of them had been adopted at young ages by Evelyn Mercer and were being raised under her watchful guidance.
So far they had been raised well enough. The trouble they got into could be easily avoided but the three had a known rep for keeping their titles as the toughest brothers around.
Half an hour went by before they heard a car door shut in front of the house.
"That's Ma." Bobby said walking into the foyer and leaned up against the stair rail while Jerry and Angel sat down on the stairs.
The front door opened and in walked an older woman with soft blond curls and an angelic appearance.
"Hello boys." she greeted with a smile.
"Hey Ma." Jerry greeted.
"How was work?" Angel asked.
"Busy. As usual." she answered removing her coat. "But nothing too stressful."
"Where's the new kid?" Bobby asked.
Evelyn turned around confused and noticed that the space behind her was empty. She walked over to the still open doorway and spoke into the cold darkness of the night.
"Come on Jack. It's alright."
The woman stood back a few feet and the three Mercer brother's watched as a small and thin young boy walked in slowly.
The three right away noticed obvious reasons why the young boy was in an emergency placement situation.
He was very thin, obviously starved, his clothes seemed almost two sizes too big for him, his blue eyes were filled with fear and panic, a large bruise on his right cheek stuck out clearly on his pale skin, a small gauze patch was taped over his left eyebrow, a healing cut was on the left side of his lower lip, obvious hand marks from an adult were sticking out on his neck, his right arm was in a newly made cast placed in a sling, his left hand showed signs of bruising that had yet to fully appear and any other injuries were hidden by his clothing that was obviously just given to him without consideration.
"Jack, I'd like you to meet my sons." Evelyn said softly. "This is Bobby, my oldest."
"Hey there." Bobby said with a small wave and gentle smile. He frowned when Jack didn't reply.
"This is Jerry." Evelyn continued.
"Hi Jack. Nice to meet you." Jerry said kindly and, like Bobby, got no reply.
"And this is Angel, my youngest." Evelyn finished.
"Hey Jack." Angel greeted and once again there was no reply.
"Jack, I want you to feel comfortable here. You don't have to be scared. You're safe here. Come on. I'll show you to your room." Evelyn said.
Angel and Jeremiah got up and cleared the stairs for the two. The three older boys didn't fail to notice Jack tense up when he walked by them. Like he was scared. Of them.
When they were sure the two were out of hearing range they all looked at each other with shock.
"D**n, no wonder it was an emergency." Angel declared.
"The poor kid." Jerry muttered. "Did you see his neck?"
Bobby nodded in a small state of shock. He had never seen anything like that on a kid before and wondered why no one had saved the kid before receiving all of those injuries.
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"This is your new room Jackie." Evelyn said opening a door and walking inside.
Ten year old Jack walked in slowly. The room was clean and not heavily decorated. Very basic if anything. He watched as the woman before him placed his half filled bag on the bed.
"You don't have to unpack right away Jack. We can take care of that near bedtime or tomorrow morning." she said and kneeled down. "Are you hungry?"
Jack didn't say anything and averted his eyes. He was hungry but he didn't want to say anything because when he was usually asked that question he thought it was better to have not been asked it at all.
He had been in three homes where he was denied food most of the time and he was sure that this place would be the same.
"Let's go get something to eat downstairs." Evelyn offered.
Jack shook his head. He didn't want to go through the process of having food in front of him only for it not to be given to him to eat and he certainly didn't want to be around those three huge guys again.
"Are you tired? Do you want to lay down for a while?"
He lowered his head and she must have taken it as a nod.
"Alright. Lie down for a while and rest. You've had a hard day and I can imagine that you must be tired. I'll start making dinner and I'll come get you when it's ready." Evelyn said quietly leaving the room and shutting the door softly.
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Bobby, Angel and Jerry had remained by the stairs and they all looked at their mother when she came back down alone.
"Mom, what happened to him?" Bobby asked softly.
"Things a ten year old shouldn't have had to go through Bobby." she answered sadly standing on the last step. "He's very traumatized by everything he went through. He was with me the whole day because he had been taken out of the last home just in time. But not soon enough."
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
Evelyn looked up the stairs and motioned for the three to go into the dining room where they sat down at the table.
"Jack is lucky to be alive right now." Evelyn started. "And I'm not exaggerating. It's a miracle that he's made it through the last three homes. He got that broken arm from the house before the one he was just taken out of because the foster father wanted to teach him that denying heroine was a bad thing, there's stitching over his eye from a glass bottle and that bruise was from being punched after the foster father thought Jack had gotten a drink of water without asking. The man was drunk and Jack hadn't gone near the kitchen."
Bobby felt sick to his stomach but felt rage building up inside him at the same time. How could anyone do something like that to a kid?
"What about his neck?" he asked.
"That's the part when I meant he's lucky to be alive." Evelyn said. "Those marks are still there because they happened only this morning before I knew about Jack."
"What?" Bobby nearly growled.
"Apparently, this last foster home was nearly the end of Jack. The foster parent's were careful to not leave any evidence of what they were doing but they messed up this morning. Both the parent's had been drinking all night and Jack became the target of their drunkenness. He knew they had been drinking and doing a few drugs and had tried to hide since he knew they would be going after him. He managed to hide for a while but they found him and when he tried to get away the foster father decided that he didn't want Jack to get away and tell anyone what had been going on in the house. He tried to strangle Jack and he nearly succeeded until a neighbor had heard all of the commotion and saved Jack in the nick of time. Jack's probably not talking right now because he may still be a little traumatized by how close he came to death. When I found out how bad it was I right away decided that he should come here for a while."
"You're gonna adopt him aren't ya?" Bobby asked knowingly.
Evelyn lightly smiled. "Maybe." she said.
"Hear that Angel? Get use to the idea of not being the baby anymore." Bobby chuckled.
"Shut up." Angel muttered.
"Do you know how long he's going to be here until you figure it out Ma?" Jerry asked.
"He's going to be here for quite a while." Evelyn answered. "During that time I want to try to help him come out of his shell. Because of everything that's happened to him since he's been in foster care he's become very defensive, quiet and he's easily frightened."
"Probably why he looked scared when he saw us earlier." Jerry stated remembering how Jack had looked having to walk by them to get to the stairs.
"Possibly. It's been mostly older men that have caused his pain. I want the three of you to show him that not everyone can be like that. Treat him like he's your little brother and maybe he will be one day."
Bobby gave Angel a knowing look but it looked like Angel was trying to ignore it.
"Let's give him a little time to get use to being in a new home. Let's get dinner started." Evelyn advised.
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Jack sat quietly on the bed. He could hear small sounds downstairs and could smell food being prepared.
His stomach twisted in pain but he didn't show it on his face and he didn't want to show it in front of these people. They were new, strangers. He hadn't figured out the woman yet and he knew the three men were going to be harder to figure out.
All he knew about them so far was that they were bigger and stronger. His arm was a result of someone bigger and stronger than him.
He didn't want to go through something like that again. Not ever again.
But this morning had proved that his prayers hadn't been answered or even heard. His throat was sore and if he talked he would sound like he was sick. That was why he hadn't bothered answering the woman's sons when they had greeted him.
He didn't want to come off any weaker than he already looked. Those men would surely think of him as easy prey when that woman wouldn't be around.
A light knocking on the door caught his attention but he hadn't responded quick enough and someone was looking in.
It was the oldest son, Bobby.
Jack felt incredibly nervous seeing him. He had right away felt nervous first seeing Bobby since he looked to be the toughest of the three. He quickly averted his eyes to the floor.
"Hey buddy." Bobby greeted softly.
Jack stayed still hoping to be left alone.
"You alright? You look kinda tired."
Jack shook his head hoping the answer would be enough to make the man leave. But luck was once again against him as the older man sat on the floor opposite side of the room where he was.
"Jack? Right?"
The child nodded indicating his identity.
"I'm Bobby, incase you got us mixed up." he said.
But Jack hadn't gotten them mixed up. He knew exactly who was who. It was something that he had to learn a while back. He either remembered who people were or he was punished for it later.
"Your arm ok?" Bobby asked.
Jack nodded not sure what to do. This was the longest that he had been in a foster home in the presence of another person without being yelled at for whatever reason.
"I remember my first broken arm. Hockey game. I was a little older than you are. How old are you Jack?" Bobby asked even though he already knew how old the kid was.
He easily saw the kid look more scared by the second. Most likely because there was someone a lot bigger and stronger than him in the same room.
The oldest Mercer brother quickly put together that Jack was scared of him. It made Bobby feel bad deep down that Jack would be scared of him without knowing anything about him other than he was older and a new person in his life.
But Bobby just had to see the marks on Jack and remember what his mother told him in order to realize that Jack was scared this place would be the same as the other homes he had been in. He was scared that these three older guys would be just like the men in the other homes who had caused him so much pain and misery.
With a small sigh, Bobby stood up. "Dinner's ready. You coming?"
Jack shook his head.
"Ma probably won't like that you won't come to eat but I'll tell her you didn't feel up to it. Welcome to the Mercer home Jack."
Jack looked up in time to see the door close.
Why would anyone welcome him?
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"Where's Jack?" Evelyn asked when Bobby came down alone.
"He didn't feel up to dinner." Bobby answered.
"I know that he's hungry. He hasn't eaten in a while." Evelyn said carefully removing her apron.
"How long?" Jerry asked placing a bowl of corn on the table.
"Well, we tried to get him to eat lunch but he didn't take a single bite and from what I've been told before he was taken out of this last foster house he hadn't been given anything to eat in two days."
"Two days?" Angel repeated in shock.
"No wonder he looks so scrawny." Jerry said. "Poor kid must be half his weight."
Evelyn nodded. "You boys go ahead and start eating. I'm going to try to get Jack to come down."
When their mother was gone, the three sat but didn't start filling their plates.
"He talk to you?" Angel asked.
Bobby shook his head. "Didn't say a word. I think he's really freaked out."
"I would be too if I were him." Jerry said. "Can't be easy to be in his shoes at a young age and go through what he's gone through."
The other two nodded and soon they heard their mother's voice encouraging Jack to go into the dinning room. They heard a soft whimper and then footsteps. In walked their mother with a terrified looking Jack.
"I thought you would be eating." Evelyn said seeing her boys still had empty plates.
"We wanted to wait for you and Jack." Bobby answered trying to ease the boy's fright.
"Come on Jack. Let's not let the food get cold. I bet you're hungry." Evelyn said motioning for Jack to sit in the chair next to hers.
Once they were seated, everyone began to gather food onto their plate except for Jack who sat motionless with his eyes lowered.
"Come on Cracker Jack. Eat up." Bobby urged. "Food is good for you."
Once again, he got no reply and Jack just sat there.
"Here Jackie." Evelyn said taking Jack's plate and starting to fill it with food. "I know that you're very hungry and I have an idea of when you last had something to eat. I don't want you to think that while you're here you'll go hungry. Here."
Jack looked at the plate before him. Juicy pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and a biscuit with melted butter. He admitted that he wanted to eat the delicious looking meal before him but what if it was a trick?
There were many times when someone put food in front of him only for it to be snatched away and eaten by someone else, leaving him hungry and wasting away.
Then there had been a few times when he did get to eat but his food had been poisoned to slowly make him grow ill. He later found out that it was the foster parent's he was with that were poisoning him because they got more money if he was sick to cover medical bills. But the money had been used on other things.
But he saw these people eating the same food, having second helpings, and none of them were growing ill.
"Go on Jack. Eat." Evelyn encouraged.
Hoping he wouldn't regret this, Jack reached over with his left hand and grabbed the fork.
The others noticed how he struggled to hold the fork and quickly realized that he wasn't a leftie. But with his right arm in a cast Jack didn't have much of a choice right now.
They tried to play it cool and not watch as Jack took a small bite of the chicken. He chewed slowly before swallowing.
He seemed scared but they weren't sure why.
Evelyn had an idea of why Jack wasn't eating the way she hoped he would. She had read his files and had known that some of the food he had been given in the others homes had been laced with rodent poison or bleach. It caused him to be in the hospital quite a few times, making him more untrusting of others.
By the time Bobby, Angel and Jerry had finished eating their second or third plate Jack had barely finished his first. When he did finish he refused a second helping.
Natrually none of the others believed he was done after one plate but they didn't want to pressure him into anything after what he had just gone through. It was better to just take things slowly and let him see that he could trust them.
Evelyn took Jack back upstairs when they were done with dinner and the other three cleaned up the table.
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Jack felt nervous as he stood in the bathroom with Evelyn helping him cover his cast so he could take a shower.
He didn't like the idea of being in the shower with other people still in the house. Most times he would have to wait until he was certain everyone was out of the house and he would make sure the door was locked somehow.
This bathroom had a lock so he would make sure that it was sercurily shut when the woman left.
"Do you need anything else Jack?" she asked.
He shook his head and she took her leave. Once she was gone, Jack locked the door and made sure it stayed that way. He knew he needed a shower but he didn't feel comfortable getting undressed.
But he had to. He felt like he hadn't showered in weeks and knew he would feel a little better afterwards. Deciding he couldn't put it off any longer, Jack carefully undressed himself. He slightly moaned in pain when his clothes scrapped against healing wounds and bruises.
He tried not to look at his injuries but as he washed his skin he couldn't help but notice that they seemed to stick out more than they had earlier. His skin was pale because he was never let out of the house and from the times he had been so sick. He doubted he would ever get his natural skin color back.
He didn't dare take too long in the shower. With three other men in the house he knew that time was of the essence. Already feeling a little better, Jack dried himself off and quickly dressed in some of the clothes that had been given to him by the agency. These clothes were also too big on him but he didn't have any other clothes.
After cleaning the bathroom and removing the plastic covering from his cast, he nervously unlocked the door and walked into the hallway.
There wasn't anyone around so he quickly made his way to the room Evelyn had assigned for him. He went in and shut the door. There wasn't a lock on the door so he knew he couldn't lock it. He sat on his bed and pulled socks onto his feet.
Knock, knock.
Once again, Bobby opened the door and entered before Jack could do anything.
The oldest brother smiled before looking back out into the hallway. "Shower's open ladies."
Jack heard the other two rush up the stairs and hurry by trying to get the shower first. He right away felt like he had taken too long even though he had hurried himself as best as he could.
"If only they could be more like you. You were only in there for ten minutes. Angel stays in there for at least forty minutes and uses up most of the hot water." Bobby said with a small chuckle.
Jack stayed quiet feeling that any second something horrible was going to happen to him.
"Hey, kid, relax." Bobby said walking over and kneeling in front of Jack. He right away saw the look of fear on Jack's face. "Hey, it's alright. We're not going to do anything to you. Why are you so scared of us? Is it because of what happened to you in those other houses?"
Jack nodded shakily as tears formed in his eyes but didn't fall.
"That's not going to happen here." Bobby said hoping Jack would believe him. "This is a good place. A safe place. You're safe here."
Jack still didn't seem to believe him so Bobby decided to try something else.
"You know that we might be brother's one day?"
Jack looked up at Bobby, his confused blue eyes questioning what Bobby just said.
"I know it sounds like a surprise right now but I think my ma might adopt you like she did with me, Jerry and Angel. Then we'll have a new baby brother and you'll have three big brothers. Doesn't that sound cool?"
Jack shrugged.
He was an only child so he wouldn't know what having siblings was like. Sure there had been a few other kids in the foster homes he had been in but they never saw him as anything but an extra person in their house or someone to blame when they did something wrong so they could escape punishment.
Now this guy was telling him that there was a chance this new woman might adopt him and make him part of their family.
What was he suppose to think and feel?
"You're an only child aren't you?" Bobby figured.
Jack nodded.
"I was too." Bobby said gaining the attention of Jack's eyes. "I was an only child until I was about fourteen. Jerry came around at that time and not too long after him it was Angel. The three of us kinda went through the same things you did but...I can tell that we didn't have it as bad as you. Listen Jack, I know that you're scared out of your wits right now and you're not sure what to make of all this but I want you to know that if you ever want to you can come talk to me. I'm probably the one whose got the past closest to yours so I can more or less relate to how you feel. You feel alright about that Jackie?"
Bobby saw a small gleam in Jack's eye when he used the nickname and saw the child nod.
"Alright then. Ma will be in to say goodnight. Sleep tight pipsqueak." Bobby said and quietly left the room.