Disclaimer: I don't own Four Brothers, but the plot and original characters are mine.
Chapter 12:
"Anna, what do you mean?" I asked worriedly.
"Jack's in a lot of trouble Megan," Anna whispered. "I've tried to help him and so has Ms. Evelyn. Bobby's away and no one can reach him, Angel's in the marines so he can't do anything and Jerry tries to be around but he doesn't always have time, with Camille and everything. We keep trying to help but he keeps shrugging us off. I didn't know what to do.
"I went to your house and rung up. Thankfully, your dad answered. He told me where you were and I came right here. You need to come back with me. He's killing himself," Anna said, her voice low and furious as her eyes watered.
"What do you mean, killing himself?" I asked hurriedly. "What's he up to?" I couldn't imagine what Jack could be doing that was so bad. "You're gonna have to start this one at the beginning."
"Well, a year ago, a cousin of Jack's surfaced. Evelyn tried to keep him away from them but it didn't work. He went there and, at first, they seemed okay but later they abused him and some other awful stuff so Evelyn got him out. He seemed okay enough for Bobby, Jerry and Angel to get on with their lives, but then, about two months ago, it started to get bad. He was going out early and coming back late at night. Even then he still hung out with us but a few weeks ago when he started ditching us more and more until he started to completely ignore us. He's been losing weight and not sleeping. Sometimes he doesn't come home for days. We all try to help him when we see him but he won't listen to us. He won't talk to us or even look at us," Anna exclaimed, tears flowing down her cheeks freely.
"God," I whispered as I put my hand on Daniel's arm to steady myself. Gryff and Daniel had stood with me during Anna's whole spiel. Personally, if I were either one of them, I think I would have walked away at the first sign of a girl crying, but I'm glad they didn't. I really need someone to grab onto. "I don't understand what happened to him. He was okay… I thought he was okay, Anna," I said, shaking my head as I covered my mouth in shock with my free hand.
"So did I," Anna said, her eyes locked on her feet.
"Did you talk to my dad about going to Detroit?" I asked after a moment of thought.
"Yes. He said with your mom gone and your siblings out of the house, you can go. He's already bought us tickets for later today," Anna said nodding her head sharply.
"My mother's out of town?" I asked in confusion. I didn't even have to bother wondering why my dad bought me and Anna tickets. He liked to spend his money in anyway he could to make me happy. I could tell Anna fought my dad, but finally gave in, knowing I would need her right then and there and that she didn't have money for another ticket. I'm sure she did as many odd jobs as physically possible and saving the cash just so she could get to me as fast as she could.
"True story," Anna said, nodding again. "Your dad said she took off to Germany this morning after you left the house," she explained, her earrings jingling as she continued to bob her head up and down agreeably.
"Anna, stop nodding, you're making me dizzy," I said as I shut my eyes tightly for a moment and allowed a slightly false smile spread across my lips. I had to take a break to try and take it all in and keep myself from crying. I'm so worried about Jack that all I wanted to do was break down and cry like Anna had, even though I knew I couldn't.
"Sorry," Anna said, returning the smile.
"Shoot, sorry, Anna, this is Gryff and Daniel, my friends and fellow staffers here. Dan, Gryff, this is Anna, my best friend from Detroit," I said quickly introducing my friends. Anna shook hands quickly with Daniel and Gryff.
"Dan, can you give me a ride to my place?" I asked hopefully. "I know you guys were going to see V for Vendetta, but this would get me home twice as fast as anything else," I rambled.
"I was just about to offer," Daniel said with a smile. "Gryff, you should go to the theater. Get us tickets and I'll meet you there in 20 minutes, alright?"
"Sure. Good luck, Meggy," Gryff said sympathetically. He gave me a tight hug before he walked out of the JCC, waving at Benny before he left to make his way to the nearby theater. Daniel, Anna and I hurried out of the JCC to Daniel's car. It took Daniel a record time of 6 minutes to get to my apartment building. I hugged Daniel as best as I could, seeing as though he was still sitting in the drivers seat and we were getting out the back, and kissed him on the cheek as a thank you for driving us.
"Good luck!" Daniel called after us as we rushed into my building. We just caught the elevator and I wasted no time jabbing my key quickly into the penthouse keyhole. I turned my key roughly and tapped my foot nervously as the elevator ascended to the 40th floor.
"Megan, relax. The plane doesn't leave for 5 hours. You dad even set up for a car to pick us up because he can't take us. That's plenty of time to pack your stuff and Bree, say goodbye to your dad and get to the airport," Anna coaxed.
"Yeah, sure," I said, trying my hardest to stop my foot from tapping just as the elevator doors slid open. I tugged my key out of the keyhole and walked into my foyer. "Daddy!" I yelled as I walked into the house.
"Hello darling," my father said as he walked into the foyer to meet me. He hugged me tightly and led Anna and me into the living room. "You better get packing. I put Bree's things together for you. I think Bree's lurking around in my study somewhere. I'll get her for you," my dad said as he kissed my forehead and then left the room.
"All right Anna, c'mon," I said as I led Anna through the dimly lit hallways until we reached a white door at the end of one of the many hallways we had turned down.
"So there is a dead end to this place," Anna said nodding appreciatively. I elbowed her as I opened my door. "Wow, I think I like this dead end," she said, her eyes widening. I blushed slightly as she looked around my oversized bedroom. It made me feel a little uncomfortable, to be honest. Not only that, but it made me feel small and lonely, which is something that's usually hard-pressed for an apartment to accomplish. I wish I had someone to share it all with, other than Bree. More specifically, I wish Jack could be sharing it all with me. But I've never been too ungrateful of what my father's old money had given me because it's everything I've ever wanted aside from my surrogate family and friends in Detroit.
"It's a little big," I confessed, "It would be so much better if the apartment were smaller and my mother and siblings were never here to ruin it," I added with a frown as I pulled out a bag from under my bed and started to stuff it with clothing and important cosmetics and toiletries that came either from my closet or from the bathroom next door. After a few minutes, I was finished.
"That's all?" Anna asked as she looked around my room.
"No, wait," I said as I went and pulled a small jewelry box out of one of my desk drawers and grabbed my teddy bear off of my bed. I bit my lip thinking hard and then remembered to grab my necklace off of my bed post. "Now I'm finished," I said as I clasped the necklace, a silver locket that Bobby had given me when I was ten years old, around my neck. I had replaced the pictures with ones from about the time I had left Detroit and I just hoped I would be able to put in new ones sometime soon. I usually wore it all the time but I had forgotten this morning because I was late to meet Lexie.
"Good," Anna said as she zippered shut my bag and slung it over her shoulder. I smiled and followed her out of the room.
"Daddy, we're finished," I called before turning to Anna. "You only brought your backpack, right?"
"Yeah, I figured I was only coming to get you and if I needed to, I could steal something from you," Anna said with a shrug as she handed my bag to me and resettled her bag so that the straps weren't cutting oddly into her shoulders.
"As always," I said with a smile. I still had a drawer full of clothing I had stolen from my Detroit friends that I kept whether they were ripped or still in one piece. I tried not to open it, but once in a while I did. It wasn't so good for my mental health, but I couldn't help it sometimes.
"Alright, let's get movin'," Anna said as we entered the living room.
"Daddy!" I called again. "Bree!" Bree sauntered into the room with my dad following her, carrying her things.
"I'm her slave," my dad said with a shrug, motioning at the tabby cat.
"You know you love her," I said as I bent over and picked up Bree.
I buried my face in Bree's fur and whispered, "We're going home baby." Bree mewed happily. If I could mew happily, I would also. I missed Detroit like nothing else. "I'm just gonna call Lexie. She and Daniel can spread the word that I'm not around for a bit," I said as I jogged into the kitchen and picked up the cordless phone, quickly dialing Lexie's number.
"Hey," Lexie said as she answered the phone.
"Hey girl, it's Meg. Listen, I'm taking a trip. I just wanted to tell you I was leaving. I'm not sure when I'm going to be back," I said quickly, not leaving Lexie time to say anything.
"Where you going?" Lexie asked after a moment of trying to take in all that I had blurted out in the last thirty seconds.
"Detroit. Jack's in trouble, Anna came to get me," I said shortly. Lexie knew of all my friends in Detroit and their stories. She knew Anna coming to New York was a big deal, just like I knew.
"Alright hun. Good luck," Lexie said with a sigh.
"Thanks doll, I gotta go catch my flight. Tell the others I'll see them soon," I said. Lexie replied with the affirmative. She was about to say goodbye when I slowly hung up the phone. I really didn't care to hear it. I wanted to get on the plane. I wanted to see Jack, to help him. And mostly, I wanted to go home.
"You ready?" Anna asked as we boarded the plane.
"I'm always ready," I said as I threw my messenger bag over my head and pulled my clothing bag closer. Anna was holding Bree's carrier. For some reason, she was allowed on the plane with us. When we got on the plane and got seated, we found out why. No one else was really on this plane. To be honest, I couldn't blame them. We were going to Detroit over winter break. Who went to Detroit over their winter break? It's ridiculously cold in Detroit this time of year, but I was prepared. And not only was I prepared, I loved it. Winter is the best of all four seasons by far.
"Good," Anna said as we sat down and buckled our seat belts.
"Anna, how bad is it with Jack? Is he cutting again? Is it drugs?" I asked, tugging at my locket.
"I know he's on drugs. I've seen him smoking cigarettes. I also saw a few cuts on his wrist while he was still hanging out with us but he might have stopped considering the drugs he's taking. He took up guitar after you left and he was good. He wrote, sang, played and everything. He was happy-ish after getting back from that group home. But now, after his time with his cousin… it messed him up bad. I mean, I don't even think he even bothers coming to school anymore. Like I said, he doesn't eat anymore. I think he gets what little sustenance he gets from the drugs. It's awful. When I do see him, it takes all my effort not to go up to him and smack some sense into him or start crying. Evelyn's so hard on herself too. She thinks it's all her fault. She blames herself for not being able to help him. Most the times I see her she's crying too. It's terrible," Anna said morosely.
"Anna…" I trailed off, unable to find the words to say. What did a person say in a situation like this one? Had anyone really been in this situation before? Every detail, every last bit made this case different. Bad different. I usually like different, it's a change of pace, but bad different... it scares me more then anything else.
"I know," Anna whispered. And she did know. She wasn't bull shitting me. She was going through the same thing. We were both losing Jack and Ma. I mean, Jack was killing himself and bringing Ma down with him. We both felt the same fear and worry. You know, even though we were going through horrible things, I was grateful that we were going through these horrible things together. I could be going through this alone. Sure, I had the boys from Detroit, but they were somehow more detached from it all. I don't know how they did it but I wish I could have done it too so that I wouldn't be feeling so anxious and scared right now.
"I missed you Anna," I said. I think she understood that I didn't mean your plain-old 'I missed you.' Sure, I missed her, but I also missed having my best friend. Anna and I were always on the same page when we were younger. We didn't even need words to convey how we felt, most of the times facial expressions were enough for anything we could possibly ever want to say.
"I missed you too babe," Anna said with a small smile. "Listen, I'm gonna try and catch some shut eye. I sorta didn't get any sleep last night." I returned the smile and nodded in agreement. I was tired too. The two of us drifted off to dream world, only to be woken up abruptly by the bump that signified that plane had touched down on the ground.
"Well, welcome back," Anna said after gathering our things and quickly beginning the process of exiting the airport. I took a deep breath of Detroit air the minute we left the building. I shivered from the cold air as a broad smile appeared on my face. For a minute I forgot that I was here because of bad things. I forgot I was 18 years old. For a minute, I was still 14, about to drag Jack out to meet up for a pick up game with the Mercers and our other friends. It was only when Anna tugged my coat sleeve to get me to move to the taxi line that I remembered how much things had changed in four short years.
"Yeah, welcome back," I said softly as Anna and I clambered into a taxi after waiting for only a few short moments in the cold.
A/N: Here we go...
Love and Luck,
Gaby
