FATE

71. Where's Jonah?

BROOKE

I take a deep breath as I hit the dial button and stare at the screen, listening to the distinct sound of the phone ringing. I don't have a lot of hope that he'll pick up. Only a little part of me wishes he would.

The phone vibrates slightly. I gasp and place it on my ear.

"Hello?", I say quickly, "Dad?"

He picked up. So maybe, he's not ignoring me.

"Hi, Brooke!", a tiny, soft voice says.

"Tommy?"

"Yes, it's me", my step brother giggles softly.

"How are you?", I ask.

"I'm fine", he chirps, "how are you?"

"I'm fine too", I smile to myself. It feels nice to hear his voice.

"I miss you and Blake", he says, "Dad won't let me come stay with you"

"I miss you too Tommy", I say, "and where's Dad?"

"He's- ", he pauses, "-not here right now. He went out with mom and forgot his phone"

"What?", I ask, "and who's home with you?"

"I have a babysitter. She's really pretty like you"

I chuckle, "I'm sure she is"

"Hey Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Dad mad at you?"

I sigh, "I don't know. Do you think he is?"

"He told mom he doesn't want to talk to you right now"

"What?", my heart drops, "why?"

"That's what I heard him say, maybe he's angry with you", Tommy says, "you should apologize. Its good to say you're sorry"

"I will", i meter softly- but why would he not want to talk to me?

"Are you coming to stay with us?", he asks, "we're not in Africa anymore"

"I'm at my mom's house right now?", he replies.

"I wish we had the same mom so we could live together Brooke", he yawns.

"Soon, Tommy. I promise"

"Okay"

"Tell Dad I called, okay?"

"Okay"

"Bye Tommy", I mutter, "love you"

"Love you too Brooke", he blows a kiss.

I blow back a kiss to him before hanging up.

The phone drops from my hand. My chest hurts again. It hasn't felt this way in a while. I lie back on the bed. At least now I know he's ignoring me on purpose. He's just too much of a coward to tell me why. Why is everyone too much of a coward to tell me why they're leaving?

I close my eyes and feel tears streaming down my cheeks. The grief comes like a wave, pulling me into the ocean, pushing me down into darkness and choking the breath out of my body. My mind feels blank, my body- empty. I clench my fists tight enough for my nails to dig into my palm. I feared this. I knew it would happen.

When my dad met Anne, I was happy for him. After the divorce, it seemed like he was finally happy. His smile was coming back, he had that happy step in his walk and his eyes lit up when he spoke about her. When they started making plans to get married, I thought I could be unselfish about it- but a part of me knew it only meant our family was never coming back together and when they had Thomas, that was the ribbon at the top of the birthday gift.