CHAPTER 5

Chip's words had haunted Katherine throughout the night after she had bid him goodbye. She had stewed over them in her bedroom, kicking at the stuffed dog laying on the floor while she thought.

She eventually decided that she should ask some question.

So, at dinner, she thought it was time. Mom and Jonah seemed to have reached an agreement not to discuss their argument, as everyone was being perfectly civil to one another.

Jonah was in the middle of rambling about some stupid story about the sixth grade class, while Katherine was trying to figure out how to breach her questions without sounding weird.

"….and then Cory told Britney to keep it to herself!" Jonah laughed, as did Dad, and Mom managed a small smile. Katherine had no idea what the story was about, but it must've been a good one.

Jonah took a big bite of his spaghetti, and Katherine realized that this was her chance. "Have you ever-" she began.

But Jonah decided that he wasn't done talking yet. "Oh! I almost forgot, did I tell you-"

"Jonah, I was asking something!" snapped Katherine, irritation rising by the minute.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry!" Jonah actually had the decency to look sorry, and Katherine just sighed.

"Anyway… I was wondering… well…" All of Katherine's well planned sentences suddenly blinked out of her mind as Mom and Dad stared her down.

"Well?" Jonah said impatiently. He clearly had a story he wanted to tell, so Katherine took a deep breath and decided to just blurt it out.

"What was the name of the adoption center you got me at?" she asked. There was silence. Dad had been about to take a sip of his milk, but he froze just then. Mom slowly put down her fork.

"Why do you ask?" She said it in the careful sort of voice that Katherine hated. The one that adults used when they were trying not to upset you or something.

"Just… wondering," Katherine said. Technically, it was true.

"It was called 'Hope for Children,'" said Dad, after taking his sip of milk. "Kinda stupid name, I know… but it definitely worked. You know, with all the hope we had-"

"Okay," Jonah interrupted, clearly not wanting to hear the story of Katherine's adoption any more that Katherine herself did. Katherine was glad, in a way, that she and Chip hadn't been adopted form the same place… it made the whole letter situation seem more like a stupid prank than some sort of conspiracy.

"Was there anything else?" asked Mom, still using that stupid careful voice.

"Erm… well, I kind of wanted to, well, you know… try and track my ancestry," said Katherine, trying to spit it out. "Like… I want to, you know, find out… if my parents actually look like me." That wasn't the greatest lie in the world, but it at least was convincing enough for her parents. Dad titled his head.

Jonah raised an eyebrow, and Katherine shot him a furious glare. This was hard enough without her brother inching his way in and being his snotty self.

Mom leaned forward on the table, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I can try to call the agency if you really want me to, Katherine. But don't get too hopeful. They weren't willing to give us even a medical history when we got you, so…"

Katherine had never heard this. That seemed incredibly suspicious to her, but she stayed quiet.

"We didn't mind, of course!" Dad interrupted brightly, "We were just happy we could even get you!"

They were both smiling at her softly now, and Katherine couldn't help but wonder if they really didn't know anything… Her parents had never lied to her, but… what if…? She snapped out of it. Of course her parents didn't know anything. They would tell her if they did; they weren't secretive like Chip's parents were.

Jonah broke her out of her musings by giving a loud and obviously fake cough, which made Mom wrinkle her nose. She considered coughing to be bad manners, especially at the dinner table. Katherine knew what her stupid brother wanted, and since she wanted the attention off her anyways, she decided to give it to him. But first, she had to give Mom an answer.

"I'd… like that, Mom," she said, "Thanks." Mom nodded at her, smiling brightly. Then, Katherine punched Jonah's shoulder very lightly. "Tell your story," she told him, and he went right into it.

After dinner ended, Katherine put her dishes in the dishwasher, wondering what she should do. She finished her homework earlier during homeroom, so it wasn't like she had anything she had to do.

Maybe she could play the Wii in the living room? Actually, scratch that. Katherine saw Jonah go that direction after hastily shoving his dishes into the dishwasher in a way that made it very likely they weren't going to get clean. She didn't want to deal with him right now, especially not while playing on the Wii. He got so intense about his video games.

So she turned to go upstairs. She had just closed her door and flopped down on the bed, tapping through her iPod to find some depressing music to chill to, when the door slammed open. She craned her neck, slightly alarmed, only to find her brother standing there, looking miffed.

"You better not be doing this," Jonah said ominously, closing the door behind him and settling down on the floor.

"Doing what?" Katherine retorted, "Listening to Fall Out Boy music?" She knew he hated her music, but why did he badger her so much about it? She didn't make him listen to it.

Jonah wrinkled his nose at the perceived lack of taste she had, but shook his head. "You know what I mean. The whole adopted-kid-looks-for-their-birth-family-and-past shtick."

Katherine might have tapped the iPod a bit too hard, because she ended up seeing her fingerprint appear on the screen. She forced herself to calm down. Jonah's nosiness was the least of her problems. "Why do you care?" she asked.

"I'm part of the family too, Kathie!" Jonah responded, looking offended. "I have a right to this conversation just as much as you and Mom and Dad do!"

"Of course you're part of the family, Jo-No brain," Katherine said, scowling. "More than I am, at any rate." She hadn't quite meant to let that last part slip out, but it was true, wasn't it? Jonah was actually related to Mom and Dad by blood, and she wasn't. No matter how much her family loved her, there would always be a natural divide between them. And there was nothing that could be done about it.

Jonah frowned. "You're a part of this family just as much as I am," he said, still offended, but seemingly on her behalf now. "You know that, right?" This was the thing that Katherine both loved and hated about her brother: how he could be completely earnest and sweet about things that he didn't need to be earnest and sweet about.

Katherine sighed. "Of course I do. I was just upset. But I still don't get why you're butting into this when it isn't about you."

Jonah rolled his eyes, all traces of sweet and caring younger brother gone. "Look, all I'm saying is that Mom and Dad go all crazy when you start asking questions or even talking about your adoption or whatever. They go all careful and be like…" Jonah raised his voice an octave, attempting to sound like Mom and doing a horrible job at it. "'I call certainly call the agency if you want me to, Katherine… But don't get your hopes up… We can tell this is important to you-'"

"Alright, knock it off," said Katherine, snorting. Now he was just adding more sappy sounding sentences to make it sound more ridiculous. "That's not any of my fault, though. They're the ones always bringing up the story of how they got me out of the blue… the phone call right before Christmas… etc."

Jonah grimaced. "Don't remind me. I think they've told that story twenty times in the past two weeks." He shook his head. "But that doesn't count, anyhow. It's like when they'll talk about me throwing up milk all over the fridge. Or talking about me eating a whole apple pie at a cookout once, then threw up. It doesn't mean anything when they put it like that."

"Why do you throw up so much?" Katherine wondered. A lot of the embarrassing stories she had about her brother involved him throwing up. It was quite odd, and also quite funny.

Jonah was suddenly staring at her intensely. "You haven't told anyone at school about those stories, right?" He asked suspiciously.

"Uh, no. I have much better things to talk about than my brother's weak stomach."

Jonah seemed assuaged by this. But his expression slid into something more serious as he tilted his head towards the door, indicating the outside world. "It's different when you ask about it, though. They're down there reading those books again." At that, Katherine winced. Jonah meant the adoption books that were always sitting proudly on the shelf by the TV. They were left there when Katherine was younger as a way to show her that anytime she had a question, she could open up a book. Her parents had read through them all, practically memorizing them, so that she wouldn't end up doing drugs or something.

"If they're worried about me acting out, they don't have to," said Katherine, "That stuff's all stupid. And crazy."

"So is caring about your birth parents," Jonah shot back, "Your parents are downstairs, Kathie, rereading those adoption guidebooks just to make sure they don't screw this up for you. Doesn't that count more than whose blood you share?"

He had a good point. But she hated admitting that her brother was right. "Easy for you to say," she said teasingly, "We can all tell who you look like, with your tiny nose."

Jonah flushed. "I can't help that I have a tiny nose," he complained, "It's- Oh, never mind." He rubbed his nose, looking miffed, but sighed and went on. Katherine giggled to herself. He was so fun to tease.

"If this is all because you're going through some adolescent 'Who am I?' phase, well, guess what, genius, that isn't because you're adopted. Everyone goes through that. Including me."

Katherine squinted at him. "What could you, a tiny little sixth grader, possibly be so worried about?"

Jonah, surprisingly, just sighed. "A lot of things, Kathie. A lot of things. How do I act in middle school? Be myself? Try to be as manly as possible or whatever? Will they stick me in the toilets if I suck at basketball? Who knows." He crossed his legs and leaned forward. "So, again, listen. We've all been there. Maybe not the exact same situation, but certainly a similar one."

Katherine was torn between teasing him about her being better at basketball, or by trying to be a good big sister and offer some advice to help his self esteem. She had no doubts that he would be fine in middle school. He was a likable kid, despite what Katherine would jokingly say.

But she was interrupted before she could by Dad opening the door just then. "Oh, sorry!" he said, "Is this a teen only event?" He was talking in that careful voice still, which caused Jonah to shoot Katherine a smug look that said See? I was right! They're acting crazy! Not something to be smug about, but oh well.

"Come on in," she said, ignoring him.

"Mom told me to bring this to you," Dad said, "She forgot to give it to you earlier because dinner took so long." He had only his head poked into the door before, but now he was walking in, holding something behind his back.

What he pulled out from behind his back was another plain, unmarked envelope. Katherine felt a flicker of fear. She could sense Jonah staring at it in apprehension as well.

"Thanks, Dad," she managed, taking the envelope from him and placing it on her bedside table. She didn't want to look right now, not with Jonah and Dad still there. Maybe not ever. "I'll open it later."

Dad just smiled and nodded. "Let me know if it's anything I need to mark on the calendar, okay?"

Katherine gave him a thumbs up, and then faked a long, stage yawn. "Sorry, Jo-No, I think I have to cut this meeting short. I'm really tired."

Dad laughed. "Oh! Well, Jonah, looks like we're being kicked out."

Jonah grumbled good-naturedly, but got up and followed Dad to the door. Katherine saw him spare one last glance toward the envelope, but he didn't demand to stay or that she open it. Thankfully.

The door shut. Katherine was alone. And she still didn't want to open the envelope.

What would it even say this time? The same thing? Something different, perhaps? Oh well, she thought, picking it up. No way to know for sure unless she looked.

So, before she could second guess it, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper. This one was different. Unlike the last letter, this one contained seven words.

BEWARE! THEY ARE COMING BACK TO GET YOU!