Boy Interrupted

➵9

Jade

          "I'll be done in an hour Jesse." I said. He dropped me off at the community library, I thought it was time I'd start doing some research.

I scurried my way into the library and signed on to one of the computers. I didn't know where to begin. So I started with his name.

I typed Christopher Brown into the search bar, and the first thing that popped up was an article from two years ago.

Lisa Daniels dead in Christopher Brown's home.

I clicked on it and began reading.

Christopher Brown, 15 and Lisa Daniels, 15 as well, were said to be having a dispute in Brown's home when Daniels attempted to stab him. Defending himself, he punctured her in the chest. Police showed up and he was said to be sitting on his front porch. His mother, Janice Bassett, showed up at the crime scene almost 25 minutes later.

This wasn't enough information for me. I was just itching for more. But I didn't want to ask just yet.

I told Jesse an hour so for the rest of my time I just explored the library. I even bumped into Giovanni.

          When we pulled up to my house, I went straight to the beach. I saw Chris in his usual spot in the sand. He smiled when he saw me. I struggled my way through the sand and sat down next to him.

"Jade, I need your help." He said. His face insisted that he was pretty serious.

"With what?"

"So, you know how I told you I don't know anything about my father? Or what he even looks like?"

I nodded.

"Well a few days ago, I was snooping around in my mom's room and there was a safe underneath her bed."

"What was in it?" I said. My voice got lower and I moved closer to him.

"I don't know, it was locked. That's what I need your help with.."

"How the hell am I supposed to help you with that?"

He chuckled at my reaction. "My mom is about to go out to the store, and I can't wait any longer. I need to see what's in that safe. So after she leaves I need you to be a look-out while I snoop around for the combination, or something."

I nodded. It sounded easy. "Alright, I'll help."

And not even 20 minutes after that, Chris' mom was off to the store. He let me inside first, I just stood in the kitchen because I didn't know where to go. "Okay, you stand by that window and just yell when you see her car coming."

I nodded.

Chris

          I scurried my way down the hallway and into my mom's room. I didn't know where to begin. I looked in all of her drawers, I didn't know exactly what I was looking for but all I know was it had to have numbers on it. Nothing was in her drawers so I moved onto her closet, I looked in every single shoebox. And in the last one I found a folded up piece of paper.

It read : 23 45 27 .. 34 76 82

This had to be it.

I quickly walked over to the safe and proceeded to enter the first combination. It didn't work. But the second one did. My heart was throbbing as I opened up the safe. I found three pictures, and a letter.

I looked over the picture carefully. It was my mom in a hospital bed and she was holding a baby in her hands. I thought it was me, until I looked on the back of the photo.

Luis Brown . July 23rd, 1983.

My eyebrows automatically knitted together. I was born on May 5th, 1998. And my name most definitely wasn't Luis.

I looked at the next picture. It was a little boy sitting at what looked like my dining room table, and he had food all over his face. The back of the photo read My son Luis. March of 1988.

The last picture was folded up, and you could tell it had been printed out. I opened it up and it revealed a man, maybe in his early 30s, and he had my skin complexion. My mom's handwriting was on the back of the photo and it read Luis Brown, 2015.

At this point I was utterly confused. Clearly my mother had another son. I had a brother? How come she never told me about this?

Just as I was about to unfold the letter, Jade yelled "Chris!" Which indicated my mom was home. I hauled ass back into her closet and shoved the piece of paper back into the shoebox. I kept only two of the photos and put the letter and third picture back into the safe.

"Go!" I said to Jade as I ran into the living room. "I'll be outside later." She nodded her head and quickly kissed me on my lips.

My mom was evidently keeping secrets. And a lot of them.