Hello people! Here's Chapter Four! It's a long one! BTW, the address for the Parkers' is COMPLETELY made up. I don't know if there's a real street like that in Chicago…. I've never been there, so if you guys have, and I get anything badly wrong, I'm really sorry!


Once I got out of Starbucks, I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand, squinting to read it in the dimming light.

114 B Street Apt. 60

"Hey, that's funny," I said out loud. "Brady and Boomer live on B Street." Then I let out a huge sigh. "But where is B Street?"
I started walking, looking around for a B Street.

The sky was getting darker and darker. I didn't know how much longer I could keep looking. Slowly, I was losing hope.

I sank down onto a nearby bench and put my head in my hands. What was I going to do now? I knew where Brady was, but I had no idea how to get there.

All around me, the city of Chicago was alive with sounds and smells. I could hear street musicians playing jazz, rap, hip-hop, and every single kind of music there was. I smelled street food in the air, along with an unfamiliar smell that must be car exhaust.

I lifted my head and looked around me, marveling. I'd never been anywhere like this before. I knew it must feel completely normal to some people, but to me, it felt almost… magical. The streetlights, the chill night air…. just everything.

Suddenly, a street sign caught my eye. It read L Street. If that was L Street….. then couldn't I just follow the letters until I got to B Street?

I got up from my bench and started down the street. After a few blocks, L Street led me to K Street.

I grinned. My plan just might work.

It took me about an hour to get from L Street to B Street, but I finally did it! After that, it didn't take too long to find 114, which was a pretty big brownish-red brick was a huge cement block sign out front which had all the apartment numbers and their floors. Number 60 was on the sixth and top floor, so I headed over to the outside staircase and started climbing.

It wasn't very long before I was standing at the front door, ringing the doorbell, my heart pounding faster than I could ever remember it doing before.

The door swung open and the kings' Aunt Nancy opened the door. Her eyes took me in and I could see recognition in her eyes, and… worry. "Oh, hello Mikayla."

I suddenly felt really nervous. "Hi Mrs. Parker. Can I talk to Brady?"
She frowned. "Brady?" Then she looked scared. Really, really scared. "You better come inside."

Suddenly I was filled with the most horrible sense of foreboding. "O- Okay."

She opened the door a little bit widener and beckoned me inside.

Still confused… and a little bit scared…. I followed her inside.

The apartment's interior was tiny, not much bigger than the kings' room back home, but it was cozy-looking. There was a nice black coffee table, a TV set MUCH smaller than the kings' TV, and two incredibly cushy green couches. It was actually two rooms, so the living was adjoining to the kitchen, where the boys' Uncle Bill sat at the table, reading a paper.

He looked up when I entered and smiled. "Oh, hello there. I remember you. What's your name again?"

"Mi- Mikayla," I said, still feeling really nervous.

"Oh, that's right." He beamed at me. "Well, what are you doing so far for Kinkow?"

"Bill," Nancy said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "She wants to talk to Brady."

"Brady? But he's-"

"Let's all sit down and have a nice talk," Nancy interrupted him. "I'll go make us some tea." She went into the kitchen.

"O-kay," I said, getting even more confused by the second. "Uh, can I use your bathroom? I've come a long way and-"

"Of course, of course! It's right down the hall!" Nancy told me.

This was all getting stranger by the second.

I walked down the hall, looking for the bathroom, when I saw an open door. Curious, I went over to it and walked in, closing the door quietly.

It was definitely a teenage boy's, or teenage boys', I guess, room. There were two twin beds, unmade (I smiled to myself when I saw that. That had Brady and Boomer written ALL over it), and a dresser. The floor was strewn with dirty clothes (mainly underwear), pizza boxes, crumpled up pieces of paper I assumed was homework, and Harry Potter books.

"This must be their room," I said softly to myself. I crouched down, picked up one of the pieces of paper, and uncrumpled it. It was a piece of lined paper, covered in Brady's handwriting.

Open up your eyes, take a look at me

Get the picture fixed in your memory

I'm driven by the rhythm like the beat of a heart

And I won't stop until I start

To stand out (stand out)

Some people settle for the typical thing

Livin' all their lives waiting in the wings

It ain't a question of "if", just a matter of time

Before I move to the front of the line

Once you're watching every move that I make

You gotta believe that I got what it takes

To stand out, above the crowd

Even if I gotta shout out loud

'Til mine is the only face you'll see

Gonna stand out ...

'Til ya notice me

It was dated 2010, before my dad had brought the kings to Kinkow. So why…

I looked around me again. Brady's guitar wasn't here. This place looked like it hadn't been lived in in forever. But if Brady was here….

I heard the sound of the door creaking open. I whipped my head around.

It was Bill and Nancy.

"Where's Brady?" I asked, getting to my feet.

The couple exchanged looks. "He's not here," Nancy said. "We haven't heard from him in weeks. We thought he was still on the island. Where is he?"
My heart sank further than it ever had, right down to my toes. "He's… He's not… not here?"
They shook their heads.

I sank onto one of the beds and put my head in my hands again.

"Mikayla, what's wrong? What happened to my nephew?" Nancy demanded, her voice shrill with anxiety.

I lifted my head and looked at them with red eyes. "Brady left. We woke up one morning, and he had disappeared. He left a note saying he was going back to Chicago….."

They exchanged looks again.

"Oh my gosh, Bill," Nancy said. She looked a bit faint. "What… what could have happened to him? What happened to our boy…." She started to cry.

Her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Come on, Nancy. Don't cry. Brady can hold his own. He'll be fine." But he didn't look sure. At all.

I knew how he felt. I didn't feel any surer than he looked.

"I don't know where he is…." I said, trying not to cry. "I'm so sorry. I thought he was here… that's why I came to find him… convince him to come back…"
"He just left?" Nancy asked through her tears "Without even saying goodbye?"

I nodded. The tears were in my throat now, choking me so I couldn't speak, or even swallow.

"And he didn't take Boomer with him? That's not… They would never…" She sobbed.

"Nancy, calm down. Don't worry about him," Bill said again.

I stood up. I couldn't stay here, in Brady and Boomer's room with their aunt, who was sobbing her heart out for her lost nephew. I felt too sad, too heartsore, too guilty.

"Bill, Nancy, don't worry about Brady," I said. My heart was beating much faster than normal, but I knew what I had to do. "I'm going to find him."

They looked at me, surprised.

"But, Mikayla, how do you expect to find him? He could be anywhere….." Bill said.

I sighed heavily. "I know. But I can do it. I know I can."

Nancy was watching me, studying me very closely. "Bill," she said quietly, her voice still thick with tears. "She'e right, she can. I can feel it. I can tell."

"Thank you, Nancy," I said, looking at her. Then I looked at Bill. "I have to go. I'll contact you as soon as I know anything."

Bill nodded.

"But…" I felt nervous asking this, but I couldn't help it. "Before I go, can I take something from here? Like, something of Brady's, just for-"

Nancy nodded. I could see in her eyes that she understood. "Of course."

They left me alone, and I tucked Brady's song in my pocket. I looked around for something else to take.

I saw a Harry Potter scarf lying on one of the beds. I walked over to it, picked it up, and pressed it to my nose. It still smelled like Brady… To be honest, it was a pretty bad smell, but still….

I wrapped it around my neck and headed out.

Bill and Nancy didn't even glance at me as I left.

When I got down to the street, I realized I had a problem. A big one. Where the heck was I going to stay? I couldn't leave tonight, I didn't know where to go first.

Then I remembered Helen. I pulled out the card she'd given me and started down the street, looking for a pay phone.

I found one, put in some money I'd brought, and dialed the number.

She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Helen! Hi, it's me, Mikayla. I met you at Starbucks earlier today…"

"Oh hey, baby girl, what's up?"

"I found his family, but he wasn't there… and I don't know what to do… and I have nowhere to stay…"

"Oh, don't you fret your pretty little head about it! Listen, darling, I can't take you in tonight, I gotta stay with my own little girl at the hospital, but my niece lives on C Street, I'm sure you can stay with her. I'll give her a ring."

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed. I could hardly believe how incredibly nice Helen was being to me.

"Don't think twice about it, my sweet. Okay, I'll call her and have her go get you. Where are you exactly?"

I gave her the Parkers' address.

"Okay. If she's not there in half an hour, call me again, k? Oh, and her name's Delilah."

"Okay," I said. "And your daughter… I hope she's okay."

"So do I." Helen sounded tired now. "So do I."

I hung up, then sat down and waited. And waited. And waited.

I watched cars drive by, watching people walking down the street, watching, watching, watching….

Finally, I saw girl, about twenty, heading over to me. She had long dark hair, sparkling brown eyes, and she was wearing a green hoodie pulled up over her head.

"Hey, are you Mikayla? My aunt said you needed a place to stay?" Her voice was low and hoarse.

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

She beckoned for me to follow her.

I stood up and we started walking.


Okay, there you go. Y'all better review! Till tomorrow (I hope)…..