302 A Lead 2

Thursday morning, Mary packed up and checked out of the hotel, still feeling mentally worn out from thinking about this lead she got from Camila. She picked her son up from the university and they hit the road. They had a 40-45 mile drive in traffic so it would be a long one.

"Are we going to the hotel first? Or are you dropping me off first?" Zeke asked as he replied to some texts on his phone. "I'm only asking so I know what time to tell the coach."

"Oh, I'll drop you off first and make sure you're settled before checking in the hotel. I'll only be a block away too." Mary said, a bit distracted. She tapped the wheel with a fast and steady tempo.

"You've been acting weird all trip. Are you sure nothing is going on?" Zeke watched as she stopped tapping and stared straight ahead at the dead stop traffic. She didn't know what to say or how to explain that they were looking into Jake's past. He watched her struggle to come up with words and decided to interrupt. "Is this about what I said yesterday? About you adopting Jake?"

"No, not at all." She replied. "Well, a little. It's about Jake. And for the record, it's we as a family, that is adopting him." She glanced at him. "If you're against it, I really wish you would speak up and tell me."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "I told you that I wasn't against it. But if it can't happen, I won't be upset either."

"What does that mean though?" She sighed, tired from all these roundabout sayings. "It sounds like you don't care either way and that concerns me."

"I don't. I don't care either way." Zeke shrugged. "I already treat him like a brother, will a piece of paper change that?"

Mary was stunned"You...you treat him like a brother? Really?"

"Him and Noah are joined at the hip. We've lived together for the last month. We play baseball together. Eat together. Wouldn't it be weird if I was still treating him like a stranger?" He looked out the window. "I don't want you to feel upset if the adoption doesn't go through. It's a long process and we know next to nothing about his family."

Mary was too happy to hear that he treated Jake like a brother, to mind the negative comments that came at the end. "Aw, Zeke, I'm so happy to hear that. Do you think the twins feel the same way?"

"Mm probably? It's not like they have a lot of emotional depth. Just a pair of blockheads." Zeke's lips twitched.

"Hey! Don't say that about your brothers!" She smirked. "Besides, one is already better than you in that aspect. Kyle is trying to get a girlfriend!"

"Who?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. Your dad didn't go into detail. He was telling me how Kyle wants to go on a date so I said he would have to take you or Noah as a chaperone."

Zeke frowned. "You want me to be a third wheel?"

"Whatever it takes to make sure he doesn't get into trouble." She sighed. "Actually, all four of them are in trouble right now. We didn't want to bother you with it, but the four of them went to a party the night we left." She held up a fist. "Those brats. Just wait until I get home."

"Oh."

"'Oh'? You knew?" Her voice went a pitch higher.

Zeke shook his phone. "I have social media accounts too. Just because I don't post, doesn't mean I won't go on it to see what others were posting."

"So you DID know! Were you going to tell me??"

"I was just going to punish them on the field." He leaned his seat back. "It wouldn't be beneficial to the team if you trapped them inside. They would probably get lazy." He shifted to his side. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we get close please."

Mary had an urge to shake her eldest son, but kept her hands on the steering wheel. Even though Zeke was going to punish them in his own way, it was still sweet of him to not sell out his brothers. It made her happy that he felt the need to protect them, but she also felt a little deceived. Mary wanted to talk a little more to Zeke about colleges, his brothers breaking curfew, and adopting Jake, but he was asleep in just a minute. Maybe he stayed up too late last night with the team? Ah! She didn't even get to hear his thoughts on what he thought about for the last school!

She took one last look and decided to let him be. He was still growing and sleep was essential. It's not like she wouldn't be able to bug him later.

Her drive through rush hour traffic, trying to get out of LA took over an hour, but she was able to reach the third and final college of the visit before 10am; giving Zeke a day and a half before their Friday night flight.

Zeke gave her instructions to return early Friday morning for the school tour and advisor meetings. She agreed and let him go after meeting the Coach of CSUF and the player that he would be bunking with. Afterwards, she sped to the hotel to check in and grab an early lunch before heading to the address given to her.

Like Camila said on the phone, the address wasn't too far from where he grew up, but it looked completely different. Just a couple miles away and suddenly it was all two-story houses, three-car garages, nicely trimmed lawns, and clean streets. Mary would even say it looked better than her own neighborhood. It just lacked originality. The houses all looked the same with few differences.

Mary easily found parking on the street and got out to stretch her legs. With all her nerves bundled up, she gave her husband a call.

"Let me guess: you're getting cold feet?" He answered.

"I am not! Rude!" She stomped her foot on the sidewalk. "I was just calling to ask for advice." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I don't know what to say. What if they think I'm a crazy lady?"

"To who? The new homeowners?" Wayne asked. "What's the worst they can do? Kick you off their property? Then move to the neighbors."

"They could call the cops!"

"Then I'll bail you out." He assured her.

"What if it isn't new owners? What if his dad still lives here? With a new wife and kids that he loves unconditionally? I don't think I could handle it. I don't think Jake could." She started to hyperventilate.

"You're overthinking. If his dad was really still in the same area, and ignored him and the news about him almost dying, then that means it'll be easier to get him to sign away his parental rights. Just calm down." Wayne stayed rational and became her voice of reason.

"You're right. Okay." She took a deep breath. "I can do this."

"Do you want to keep me on speaker while you talk to them?"

"Yes! Smart! I'll just put you on speaker and then in my purse. Okay, I feel better. Let's go." She put the call on speaker and slid it into the front pocket of her purse. "Can you still hear?"

"Yea. Loud and clear." He replied.

Mary and her racing heart faced the house. Time to confront this. Either if he's there or not, everything will work out. She felt more confident with each step as she walked to the front door.

The more she thought about, the more she actually wished for the father to be there. Then she could ask for him to formally give away his parental rights and then she'll be able to easily adopt Jake after the six month waiting period. That would be perfect. Maybe she would tell him off too! How dare he just abandon his son with a legit psycho. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind.

Unfortunately, wishing is just unreliable. She knocked on the door and rang the bell, but no one answered.

"No one seems to be home." She mumbled, depressed after pumping herself up for so long.

"It's the middle of the day on a weekday. I'm not surprised." Wayne's voice came from the phone.

"Ughh! Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because, you would have used that as an excuse to not go to the door."

She sighed. He was right again. "Guess I'll come back after dinner."

"Excuse me? Can I help you?" A woman's voice from the sidewalk called out to Mary.

Mary turned around and found a woman in a jogger outfit. "Hi. Um, do you live here?" She pointed at the front door behind her.

"Yes. Is something wrong?" The jogger looked at Mary with suspicion.

"No. I was just looking for the homeowner to ask some questions. If you have time?" Mary shifted from foot to foot.

"For what? Let me tell you now, I'm not looking to buy anything. Magazine subscriptions, solar panels, or whatever else you people sell. I don't have time to listen to a whole sell speech." She moved to the front door, pulling out a key.

"Nothing like that! It's actually...about the previous owners? Can I ask, when do you move in? Did you know the last owners?"

The woman was able to unlock the door and get inside. She glanced back at Mary. "I moved here ten years ago. Everything was settled with a real estate agent so I never dealt with the previous owners. If that's all, I need to get going."

"Wait! One more!" She looked up and down the street. "Since you can't help me, can you point me towards your oldest neighbor? The one who has lived here the longest? May even have an older boy in high school or something?"

The jogger woman looked annoyed, but still pointed to the left. "Three doors down. They've been here longer than the home owners association so they don't comply with the rules all the time. I believe they have a boy in college now. If he didn't drop out yet."

"Thank you so much!" Mary gave her a big smile and hurried to her next destination, not even worried if that woman thought she was suspicious or not. "Did you hear that, Wayne?" She said.

"Barely. So there's a neighbor with an older son?"

She nodded even though he couldn't see her actions. "Just a couple doors down. A family that lived there long enough to maybe remember Jake and his family. And they even have an older boy out of high school. This could be the older brother figure Jake has in his mind!"