Chapter Five.
Back in Arizona. Colt is walking down the hall with his mother to the main office. "Who is that?" A red haired girl asked, shoving a chunk behind her ear with a smile. The girl beside her turned and looked to where her friend had pointed, then she frowned. "That's my brother Jefferson." Anna remarked kind of bitterly.
Her friends smile got bigger. "Riiight, your long lost twin." The girl laughed slightly saying. "And here I always thought you were lying about that, this is way trippy he looks just like you." Anna whacked her friend in the back of the head and sighed. "Whatever."
The two girls started walking in that general direction and Anna's best friend started to blush and giggle the closer they got to the two. "Anna you gotta introduce me to him at lunch." The red head pleaded. "Tasha I don't think he'll be interested he's got enough of his mind and doesn't need a little tramp like you bothering him." Tasha looked beyond offended and raised her hands up taken aback. "Well excuse me, you never had a problem with me before, but now that your brother's back I'm some kind of tramp?"
Anna sighed and shook her head. "No, Tash' all I meant was that he....he's having adjusting problems and doesn't need distractions right now." Anna placed a hand on her friends shoulder. "I'm sorry okay, you're not a tramp I didn't mean it." Tasha seemed to be thinking it over then she smiled. "Okay, thanks for taking it back." Annalise smiled and gave her friend a quick hug.
Colt turned his head and saw his sister in the crowd then he smiled slightly and waved to her. She waved back and her friend nearly died with giggles and squeals.
In the office, already in the process of conversation. "We'll be needing his past school records, where he went, his markings that sort of thing." Jamie nodded hearing this and flipped her bangs from her eyes saying. "We don't have his records yet, but I'll make a phonecall for them as soon as possible, until then will he be able to attend classes here?" The Dean raised a brow thinking about it then nodded.
"I don't see why not, but you understand he won't be getting any credits until those papers are brought to us." Jamie nodded again. "Yes, I understand." The Dean fished inside his desk drawer and produced a medium sized booklet handing it over to them. "Jefferson, I want you to look this over and choose the courses you want to take while you're here and we'll see about fitting you into a class."
Colt nodded. "Yes sir." He took the booklet and flipped it opened. "We hope you enjoy the university, son." The Dean reached across the desk and Colt stood up taking the mans hand shaking it. "I will. Thank you." He murmured dryly. "We're glad to have you back son." Colt found that strange of the man to say but he had no time to worry about it because of Jamie's rushing him out of the office with her.
"Goodbye sir." Colt said. "Goodbye Jefferson, Mrs. McRea." The Dean
.........................
"Jefferson I have to go to work, do you.....do you wanna come with me?" Jamie asked when they were in the car. "What?" Colt asked coming back to earth. He had been staring into space since they left the university and couldn't seem to wanna register that all of this was going on. "Work, I have to go in today. You wanna wait for me, you wouldn't be all that bored."
Colt scratched his cheek and shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm just gonna hang out at home and wait for everyone to get back if that's okay." Jamie seemed nervous about that but she sighed. "I'll just take a sick day." Jamie ran her tongue over her teeth and sighed again. Colt could sense she wanted to go to work but he didn't wanna argue the issue if she didn't wanna talk about. The two of them pulled in for a stop at a gas station in town. "You wanna get out, maybe look around for a snack or something? They have really good pastries here and since you didn't have breakfast I think you should eat."
'A gas station, isn't this what started it all?' Colt mused. Either way Colt nodded. He was a little hungry and he never usually missed breakfast- well- unless Tum Tum got there first and ate it all then Jessica had to make more and he passed. 'Jessica.' The name sounded foreign to him when all he ever really wanted to call her is Mother. "Jefferson?" Jamie said again as though she had been calling him for a while.
"Oh, sorry, yeah I'll go in with you." Colt climbed out of the car closing the door after him. He waited a moment while Jamie re-filled the gas tank in the car. When he didn't wanna wait around he took a step in the direction of the gas station but was pulled abruptly back. "Ow!" He said rubbing his arm from the not so light assult.
"Sorry honey, just....don't wander off." She said and Colt looked at her as though she had said something he couldn't understand but then her reasons became clear to him and he relaxed his guard. "I'm sorry, I'll wait." He said quietly. For a moment the two just stared at each other but she then turned back to what she was doing. Colt looked around the area with his eyes. It was nothing like L.A.
No loud cars, no bathing suits even though it's out of season, no people period. 'Where is everyone?' He wondered for a second. "Come on hon'." Jamie said and he followed her into the store. "You go ahead and look around, I'm gonna pay for the gas and get some coffee." The two parted, her to left and Colt to the right. He walked to the back of the store where he could be alone and he sighed.
"I can't believe this is happening?" He mumbled to himself. 'I just had to care, my life was good so what if I wasn't really Mom's kid, I didn't have to be lots of people are adopted.' He placed his hand on one of the refridgerators and slid it across as he walked along side of them. There was a case of snapple in the back and one of them read, Green Tea. "I'll bet that taste funny."
A woman walked into the store and to the back where Colt was, Jamie was chatting with the girl behind the counter and they were laughing about something. "I'm so glad he's back, my little boy." Jamie was saying. "He's adorible, all your kids are, he's the spitting image of Annalise right?" The girl asked.
"Sure is, they're twins." Jamie went on boasting proudly. Colt rolled his eyes thinking. 'Where's this love when we're not around other people?' When he reached the end of the trail he figured her had to get something so he opened the freezer and grabbed a 7up and a box of mallomars from the shelf. When he turned away from the freezers something caught his eyes and he read over it. "Lost boy found, town couldn't be happier for the McRea family, welcome home Jefferson." Colt rolled his eyes. "Give me a break."
"Excuse me?" The woman that had came in was saying. "Oh sorry." He stepped out of her way and she opened the freezer taking a snapple. "You're Jamie's son right? The one that was kidnapped." She asked. "If that's what I go by now, then yeah I'm the kidnapped kid." Colt answered sarcastically. The woman laughed quaintly and patted his shoulder.
"You're adorible, I'd of never let you out of my sight." Colt shrugged but smiled liking the contact with another human being he didn't have to pretend to know. "You like any sports, I can tell you've got an athletes build under those clothes." Just as the physical contact was made from the woman touching Colt's forearm Jamie rushed to the back of the store calling. "Well I used to play-..." Colt was saying but got cut off from his mother.
"Hey! Hey you get your hands off my son." She stopped right behind Colt and grabbed his shoulders pulling him back against her into a hug. "Jamie I wasn't...gonna hurt him, we were just talking." Mrs. McRea turned her nose up and spun on her heals taking Colt with her. "Mrs. McRea wait, you didn't pay for that stuff!" The girl behind the counter shouted as the two left. "Oh well, I'll just take it out of my own pocket, I just love that." Said the girl sarcastically.
"What's with her, we were just talking." The woman said walking up to the counter. The girl shrugged looking after their retreat. "I don't know, she's probably still a little paraniod something's gonna happen to her son, I don't blame her though, I just hope she takes it easy on herself."
* * *
"You didn't have to do that!" Colt was shouting when they got into the house. "Jefferson..." She said following him. "We were just talking, it's not like she was gonna molest me or anything." He stomped upstairs and slammed the door to his bed room with Jamie swinging it open a second later.
"Don't you take that tone with your mother, I was just worried about you that's all.....and besides she practically had you hidden in her jacket by the time I got their." She sat on the bed beside him and tried placing her arms around him but he moved away saying. "Only if I were invisable, she wasn't wearing a jacket."
Jamie was quiet, feeling a little hurt from what he did then she placed a hand on his shoulder saying. "She might have....Jefferson....I can't lose you twice, can you blame me for being a little scared?" Colt scoffed at that. "I'm 21 years old, I don't need a babysitter." He should have been more sympathetic to her words but he couldn't help it. Colt was never one to live under glass that's why he rebeled so much.
But Mrs. McRea was one to stronge to be fought herself and she stood up without a word and walked out of the room. Colt's shoulders dropped in guilt. 'I shouldn't have said that, but what am I supposed to do, they're not exactly making this easy on me either.' Laying himself back onto the bed he closed his eyes.
"Colt!" His eye lids twitched hearing the stronge voice in his mind that was his Grandfathers. "What is a ninja?" He asked him and Colt's lips began to move with the response hearing his childish young voice when he was eleven. "A ninja is one who can use everything around him to trick his enemies, he is fast and he is friendly to his environment."
A smile crept on the boys lips as he heard his former brothers words playing in his mind. "A ninja is honest and good, his mind body and spirit are one. He has self control and he has discipline."
"A ninja loves nature...uhh..cause he is part of nature...uhhhm a ninja never fights a battle if he cannot win." Colt's eyes opened and he looked around the room. "A ninja, mind, body, spirit and heart are one. Alone he is strong but together he's a force no enemy can break." This made Colt frown. He was alone and strong or not he didn't wanna do this alone.
But he has to. He can't just go around being a jerk because this isn't what he thought it would be, he wasn't even sure what he thought it would be....He just knew that, this attitude of his wasn't going to make living in this house any easier so he had to make amends. With a nod, Colt picked himself up off the bed and walked out of the room. He heard sounds coming from the kitchen and decided that must be where Jamie has gone.
Walking cautiusly into the room he saw Mrs. McRea washing dishes that were sitting in the sink and Colt went to stand beside her grabbing a dish towel from the hook on his way. "You wash I'll dry." He said with a smile. Jamie seemed guarded at first but handed him a dish with a smile. "Thanks, I've never been found of doing the dishes, but when I'm tensed it really calms me down you know."
He knew. Colt was a cleaning machine sometimes when he got ticked other times he locked hisself in the bedroom and played his guitar to pass time, but now he knows where his cleaning urges come from. The two of them worked quietly until Colt spoke up saying. "About what I said back there, I'm sorry." Jamie glanced at him to see if he was being sincere and his face seemed honest enough and she smiled faintly. "Thank you, I'm sorry too."
Colt laughed soundlessly but you could tell he had. "I've been such a jerk and it hasn't even been a week, you guys must hate me." His mother turned to him shaking her head. "You've been in drama classes haven't you? Anna used to act that same way whenever she had done something wrong and had to apologize for it." Colt laughed to himself taking the next dish handed to him.
"She would come around with all her, 'oh my poor heart you're killing me' hahaha. It's terrifying to know I have two of them now."
"Nah you'll get used to me." Colt replied. "And you'll get used to us, I know it's not easy always apologizing to us and it isn't easy for us to keep making you we're all glad you're here but it's hard to break old habits you see. We want you comfortable even though my smuthering may get a little overwhelming you've gotta work with me honey I'm trying."
Colt nodded and even though her hands were soapy she dropped the dish into the sink and wrapped her arms around him for a hug which he gave back. "We'll all try to be better for each other." She assured. "Right." Colt said pulling away. "We'd better finish up here, before we change our none habitual minds." Both of them started laughing quietly finishing the dishes.
Back in Arizona. Colt is walking down the hall with his mother to the main office. "Who is that?" A red haired girl asked, shoving a chunk behind her ear with a smile. The girl beside her turned and looked to where her friend had pointed, then she frowned. "That's my brother Jefferson." Anna remarked kind of bitterly.
Her friends smile got bigger. "Riiight, your long lost twin." The girl laughed slightly saying. "And here I always thought you were lying about that, this is way trippy he looks just like you." Anna whacked her friend in the back of the head and sighed. "Whatever."
The two girls started walking in that general direction and Anna's best friend started to blush and giggle the closer they got to the two. "Anna you gotta introduce me to him at lunch." The red head pleaded. "Tasha I don't think he'll be interested he's got enough of his mind and doesn't need a little tramp like you bothering him." Tasha looked beyond offended and raised her hands up taken aback. "Well excuse me, you never had a problem with me before, but now that your brother's back I'm some kind of tramp?"
Anna sighed and shook her head. "No, Tash' all I meant was that he....he's having adjusting problems and doesn't need distractions right now." Anna placed a hand on her friends shoulder. "I'm sorry okay, you're not a tramp I didn't mean it." Tasha seemed to be thinking it over then she smiled. "Okay, thanks for taking it back." Annalise smiled and gave her friend a quick hug.
Colt turned his head and saw his sister in the crowd then he smiled slightly and waved to her. She waved back and her friend nearly died with giggles and squeals.
In the office, already in the process of conversation. "We'll be needing his past school records, where he went, his markings that sort of thing." Jamie nodded hearing this and flipped her bangs from her eyes saying. "We don't have his records yet, but I'll make a phonecall for them as soon as possible, until then will he be able to attend classes here?" The Dean raised a brow thinking about it then nodded.
"I don't see why not, but you understand he won't be getting any credits until those papers are brought to us." Jamie nodded again. "Yes, I understand." The Dean fished inside his desk drawer and produced a medium sized booklet handing it over to them. "Jefferson, I want you to look this over and choose the courses you want to take while you're here and we'll see about fitting you into a class."
Colt nodded. "Yes sir." He took the booklet and flipped it opened. "We hope you enjoy the university, son." The Dean reached across the desk and Colt stood up taking the mans hand shaking it. "I will. Thank you." He murmured dryly. "We're glad to have you back son." Colt found that strange of the man to say but he had no time to worry about it because of Jamie's rushing him out of the office with her.
"Goodbye sir." Colt said. "Goodbye Jefferson, Mrs. McRea." The Dean
.........................
"Jefferson I have to go to work, do you.....do you wanna come with me?" Jamie asked when they were in the car. "What?" Colt asked coming back to earth. He had been staring into space since they left the university and couldn't seem to wanna register that all of this was going on. "Work, I have to go in today. You wanna wait for me, you wouldn't be all that bored."
Colt scratched his cheek and shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm just gonna hang out at home and wait for everyone to get back if that's okay." Jamie seemed nervous about that but she sighed. "I'll just take a sick day." Jamie ran her tongue over her teeth and sighed again. Colt could sense she wanted to go to work but he didn't wanna argue the issue if she didn't wanna talk about. The two of them pulled in for a stop at a gas station in town. "You wanna get out, maybe look around for a snack or something? They have really good pastries here and since you didn't have breakfast I think you should eat."
'A gas station, isn't this what started it all?' Colt mused. Either way Colt nodded. He was a little hungry and he never usually missed breakfast- well- unless Tum Tum got there first and ate it all then Jessica had to make more and he passed. 'Jessica.' The name sounded foreign to him when all he ever really wanted to call her is Mother. "Jefferson?" Jamie said again as though she had been calling him for a while.
"Oh, sorry, yeah I'll go in with you." Colt climbed out of the car closing the door after him. He waited a moment while Jamie re-filled the gas tank in the car. When he didn't wanna wait around he took a step in the direction of the gas station but was pulled abruptly back. "Ow!" He said rubbing his arm from the not so light assult.
"Sorry honey, just....don't wander off." She said and Colt looked at her as though she had said something he couldn't understand but then her reasons became clear to him and he relaxed his guard. "I'm sorry, I'll wait." He said quietly. For a moment the two just stared at each other but she then turned back to what she was doing. Colt looked around the area with his eyes. It was nothing like L.A.
No loud cars, no bathing suits even though it's out of season, no people period. 'Where is everyone?' He wondered for a second. "Come on hon'." Jamie said and he followed her into the store. "You go ahead and look around, I'm gonna pay for the gas and get some coffee." The two parted, her to left and Colt to the right. He walked to the back of the store where he could be alone and he sighed.
"I can't believe this is happening?" He mumbled to himself. 'I just had to care, my life was good so what if I wasn't really Mom's kid, I didn't have to be lots of people are adopted.' He placed his hand on one of the refridgerators and slid it across as he walked along side of them. There was a case of snapple in the back and one of them read, Green Tea. "I'll bet that taste funny."
A woman walked into the store and to the back where Colt was, Jamie was chatting with the girl behind the counter and they were laughing about something. "I'm so glad he's back, my little boy." Jamie was saying. "He's adorible, all your kids are, he's the spitting image of Annalise right?" The girl asked.
"Sure is, they're twins." Jamie went on boasting proudly. Colt rolled his eyes thinking. 'Where's this love when we're not around other people?' When he reached the end of the trail he figured her had to get something so he opened the freezer and grabbed a 7up and a box of mallomars from the shelf. When he turned away from the freezers something caught his eyes and he read over it. "Lost boy found, town couldn't be happier for the McRea family, welcome home Jefferson." Colt rolled his eyes. "Give me a break."
"Excuse me?" The woman that had came in was saying. "Oh sorry." He stepped out of her way and she opened the freezer taking a snapple. "You're Jamie's son right? The one that was kidnapped." She asked. "If that's what I go by now, then yeah I'm the kidnapped kid." Colt answered sarcastically. The woman laughed quaintly and patted his shoulder.
"You're adorible, I'd of never let you out of my sight." Colt shrugged but smiled liking the contact with another human being he didn't have to pretend to know. "You like any sports, I can tell you've got an athletes build under those clothes." Just as the physical contact was made from the woman touching Colt's forearm Jamie rushed to the back of the store calling. "Well I used to play-..." Colt was saying but got cut off from his mother.
"Hey! Hey you get your hands off my son." She stopped right behind Colt and grabbed his shoulders pulling him back against her into a hug. "Jamie I wasn't...gonna hurt him, we were just talking." Mrs. McRea turned her nose up and spun on her heals taking Colt with her. "Mrs. McRea wait, you didn't pay for that stuff!" The girl behind the counter shouted as the two left. "Oh well, I'll just take it out of my own pocket, I just love that." Said the girl sarcastically.
"What's with her, we were just talking." The woman said walking up to the counter. The girl shrugged looking after their retreat. "I don't know, she's probably still a little paraniod something's gonna happen to her son, I don't blame her though, I just hope she takes it easy on herself."
* * *
"You didn't have to do that!" Colt was shouting when they got into the house. "Jefferson..." She said following him. "We were just talking, it's not like she was gonna molest me or anything." He stomped upstairs and slammed the door to his bed room with Jamie swinging it open a second later.
"Don't you take that tone with your mother, I was just worried about you that's all.....and besides she practically had you hidden in her jacket by the time I got their." She sat on the bed beside him and tried placing her arms around him but he moved away saying. "Only if I were invisable, she wasn't wearing a jacket."
Jamie was quiet, feeling a little hurt from what he did then she placed a hand on his shoulder saying. "She might have....Jefferson....I can't lose you twice, can you blame me for being a little scared?" Colt scoffed at that. "I'm 21 years old, I don't need a babysitter." He should have been more sympathetic to her words but he couldn't help it. Colt was never one to live under glass that's why he rebeled so much.
But Mrs. McRea was one to stronge to be fought herself and she stood up without a word and walked out of the room. Colt's shoulders dropped in guilt. 'I shouldn't have said that, but what am I supposed to do, they're not exactly making this easy on me either.' Laying himself back onto the bed he closed his eyes.
"Colt!" His eye lids twitched hearing the stronge voice in his mind that was his Grandfathers. "What is a ninja?" He asked him and Colt's lips began to move with the response hearing his childish young voice when he was eleven. "A ninja is one who can use everything around him to trick his enemies, he is fast and he is friendly to his environment."
A smile crept on the boys lips as he heard his former brothers words playing in his mind. "A ninja is honest and good, his mind body and spirit are one. He has self control and he has discipline."
"A ninja loves nature...uhh..cause he is part of nature...uhhhm a ninja never fights a battle if he cannot win." Colt's eyes opened and he looked around the room. "A ninja, mind, body, spirit and heart are one. Alone he is strong but together he's a force no enemy can break." This made Colt frown. He was alone and strong or not he didn't wanna do this alone.
But he has to. He can't just go around being a jerk because this isn't what he thought it would be, he wasn't even sure what he thought it would be....He just knew that, this attitude of his wasn't going to make living in this house any easier so he had to make amends. With a nod, Colt picked himself up off the bed and walked out of the room. He heard sounds coming from the kitchen and decided that must be where Jamie has gone.
Walking cautiusly into the room he saw Mrs. McRea washing dishes that were sitting in the sink and Colt went to stand beside her grabbing a dish towel from the hook on his way. "You wash I'll dry." He said with a smile. Jamie seemed guarded at first but handed him a dish with a smile. "Thanks, I've never been found of doing the dishes, but when I'm tensed it really calms me down you know."
He knew. Colt was a cleaning machine sometimes when he got ticked other times he locked hisself in the bedroom and played his guitar to pass time, but now he knows where his cleaning urges come from. The two of them worked quietly until Colt spoke up saying. "About what I said back there, I'm sorry." Jamie glanced at him to see if he was being sincere and his face seemed honest enough and she smiled faintly. "Thank you, I'm sorry too."
Colt laughed soundlessly but you could tell he had. "I've been such a jerk and it hasn't even been a week, you guys must hate me." His mother turned to him shaking her head. "You've been in drama classes haven't you? Anna used to act that same way whenever she had done something wrong and had to apologize for it." Colt laughed to himself taking the next dish handed to him.
"She would come around with all her, 'oh my poor heart you're killing me' hahaha. It's terrifying to know I have two of them now."
"Nah you'll get used to me." Colt replied. "And you'll get used to us, I know it's not easy always apologizing to us and it isn't easy for us to keep making you we're all glad you're here but it's hard to break old habits you see. We want you comfortable even though my smuthering may get a little overwhelming you've gotta work with me honey I'm trying."
Colt nodded and even though her hands were soapy she dropped the dish into the sink and wrapped her arms around him for a hug which he gave back. "We'll all try to be better for each other." She assured. "Right." Colt said pulling away. "We'd better finish up here, before we change our none habitual minds." Both of them started laughing quietly finishing the dishes.