A/N: The next chapter will have our favorite mutants. Just needed Jess to reach her breaking point to get to the school. R&R please!
"A school in upstate New York." a thin, balding man said as he slid over a piece of paper to Jessica. "It's a school just for mutants." he explained, keeping his voice low.
"Thanks." Jess said, staring down at the paper. "How did you hear about this place?"
"A friend." the man shrugged.
"I wonder how Jimmy will react when I mention this to him." Jess nervously bit her lip. "I don't suppose you wanna tell him, Mark?" she smiled.
"Not a chance." the man named Mark laughed. "If he gets angry about, it's not gonna be me who ends up looking like a piece of burnt bacon."
"So, better that it's me that happens to?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Pretty much, yeah." he nodded with a smile.
"Hold on." Jess said as her cellphone began to ring.
"Who is it?" Mark asked as he took a sip of his iced tea.
"Not a clue." she replied. "I don't recognize the number." She flipped open the phone and answered.
Mark watched Jessica's expression change from one of worry, to one of anger and could not help but wonder who was on the other end.
"He stole a car!" Jess said as she stuffed her phone into her purse and got to her feet.
"What?" Mark said, getting to his feet as well.
"Jimmy." Jess said as she tossed some money on the table and headed for the door. "He stole a car. He stole a freaking car!"
"Just calm down, Jess." Mark pleaded as he steered the angry woman to his car.
"Calm down?" she yelled as she buckled her seatbelt. "My brother just stole a car and is at the police station!"
"Yeah, it's bad, but you know it's not gonna do you any good to go into the police station to talk to Jimmy when you're this upset."
"I'm gonna kill him." Jess said, taking a deep breath. "Not at the police station...too many witnesses..."
"Jess...." Mark sighed as he navigated his car along the street, stopping suddenly as a car back out without warning.
"He's never done anything like this." Jess said, more to herself than to her companion. "What if they take him away from me?"
"Hey, come on now, Jess, they wouldn't do that." Mark replied. "You're doing a good job with him."
"Am I?" she asked as she slid down in the passenger seat. "He's been getting into fights, he's skipped school a lot lately, and now he's stolen a car!"
"The fights have been more self-defense then anything, every kid skips school now and then, I did, you did, and we don't know about this car thing yet."
"Please don't let them take him away." Jess sighed as she stared out the window, seeing the police station just up ahead.
"Positive thinking." Mark said as he put the car in park and opened his door.
"Yeah, sure." Jess said as they walked in. "I got a call about my brother." she told an officer at the front desk. "James Ronson."
"This way." the gray-haired officer nodded as he led them through a door and down a hall.
"Oh God." Jimmy groaned when he saw his sister.
"You stole a car?" she asked as she walked up to him.
"It was a small one." he replied in a way that made it seem that should excuse everything.
"What?" Jess asked. "It was a small car? What does the size of the car have to do with anything?"
"I guess when they say "grand theft auto" the grand part refers to the size of the car." Mark remarked as he looked around the small room they had been led to, two small windows high up the wall. "Oddly enough, though, I've never heard of "economy-sized theft auto", but I don't read the police blotter much."
"Shut up." Jimmy groaned.
"Watch it." Jess warned.
"It's no big deal." Jimmy argued. "It's a small car, and no charges are gonna be filed."
"The size of the car does not matter!" Jess hissed. "And how do you know no charges...."
"It was Dave's car." Jimmy explained.
Dave was a guy who lived in the building where Jess had lived with her husband. He had a crush on Jess and hung around, despite knowing full well she was married. The little creep even seemed happy when he heard that Jess and Nick were divorcing.
"Dave's car?" Jess asked as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yeah. I'm not stupid." Jimmy said, ignoring the look his sister's friend gave him. "If I'm gonna steal a car, of course it's gonna be from someone I know won't do anything about it."
"You were arrested." Jess pointed out. "And I would really appreciate you using these smarts for something good!"
"Yeah, he didn't know it was me who'd taken it." her brother smiled. "He's here. When he heard who it was who was picked up in his car, he decided not to press charges." he added, ignoring her last comment.
"You still think I'm doing a good job, Mark?" Jess asked.
"No comment." he said as he went to stand in a corner.
"Do you hate living with me that much?" Jess asked, feeling tears as she spoke. "If you keep this up, they'll take you from me. You'll end up living with some relative we haven't seen in years, or worse yet, you'll end up in some home!"
"You're making too big a deal outta this." Jimmy said as he sat back in one of the chairs in the room and crossed his arms.
"We're going to go visit a school in upstate New York." Jess said, deciding that she would not discuss the issue with her brother. "That is if they don't take you because I'm so incompetent I can't keep you out of trouble for five freaking minutes."
"What kind of school?" Jimmy asked, already knowing in his mind that no matter what school he went to, things wouldn't change. "And why in New York?"
"Because that's where it is." Jess said as she took a seat in a chair next to her brother. "It's a school for mutants. No one is going to bother you for being one there."
"No matter what school you go to, people will always hassle other people." Jimmy said dismissively. "I don't want to go."
"I didn't ask you, I'm telling you." Jess shrugged, hating the idea of being so bossy and controlling. "I promised that I would do something, and I guess this is gonna be it."
"Whatever." Jimmy said, turning away from his sister. She didn't want him, he thought. That was it. She was still young, only twenty-six. She didn't want to be stuck taking care of a sixteen year old. Easier to send him away and claim it was for his own good. He knew that she just wanted to get rid of him. And in another state at that. She must really be eager to get rid of you!