into the dining room.
Dad offered a small smile in my direction. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing with him, but it’s like dealing with a whole new Jake.”
He wasn’t wrong about that. Over the past month, Jake had been less combative and more agreeable. It was easier to reason with him, easier to calm him down, and if I really thought about it, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worried about him becoming violent. It was great and even though I felt triumphant at the praise from my father, I knew I couldn’t take the credit.
It was all Audrey.
Well, Freddy, too. But mostly Audrey.
I wasn’t the only one she had fixed.
“I haven’t noticed much of a difference,” Mom all but snickered, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “He still fights with me.”
“Well, I’m not saying he doesn’t fight anymore, he’s always going to—”
“Then, let’s not act like he’s cured, Paul,” she snapped, leveling my father with an ugly glare.
Dad lifted the platter and turned to me with the look of a man who’d just had his balls handed to him. “Ready to eat?” he asked, his voice tense and struggling for control.
“Yeah, Dad,” I nodded, as I grabbed the biscuits, and I thought again about my conversation with Dr. Travetti. About my role as the bad kid and if it’d been as real as I’d been made to believe. Or if I was just doomed to wear a red mark handed to me after one very, very unfortunate accident.
But that’s all it was. An accident.
***
Jake was quietly watching Gremlins on the floor in front of the TV, his arms wrapped around Mickey’s neck. I came up from behind him with a slice of apple pie, topped with a heaping mound of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, and asked, “Hey, buddy, want some dessert?”
Jake turned to look up at me with a bewildered grin. “You betcha!”
“Here you go.” I passed the pie down to him. “Don’t make a mess, okay?”
With both our hands locked on the plate between us, his eyes fixated on mine with that look. The one that managed to work its way through my retinas and into my brain, with the intent of digging deeper and deeper until there was nowhere else to go but to burrow in the pit of my chest and curl up between my lungs. I was frozen and unable to look away, as his smile slowly stretched.
“You’re still blue,” he seemed to assure me, nodding. “But you’re pink also. So pretty and bright.”
“Ew, pink?” I twisted my mouth with blatant disgust as my curiosity ignited. “That’s gross, man. Don’t tell me that.”
Jake laughed, taking his pie into his lap. “It’s not gross! All the colors are pretty.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms and shaking my head. “Yeah, whatever you say, pal.”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV. “You should tell Audrey your colors. She put them on you.”
Instantly sobered at the mention of her name, I reached down to ruffle his hair. “Maybe I will.”
“Tonight.”
I chuckled under my breath. “Yeah, I don’t think so, Jake. I’m not seeing her tonight, so—”
“You are.”
I froze on the spot, startled by the sincerity in his tone. I had no plans of seeing Audrey until tomorrow night, after she and her mother had gone Black Friday shopping. What would make me see her tonight? What reason could I possibly have to change our plans now?
Breaking out of my stupor, I laid a hand over his head and said, “I’ll see you on Sunday, buddy.” He was quiet now and simply nodded, keeping his attention solely on the movie. I sucked in a deep breath and quickly moved into the kitchen before he had the chance to say anything else. There, I found my parents in conversation with one of my aunts. Quietly, I snatched my keys from off the counter, hoping to make a quick getaway before being roped into the chatter myself, when my mother turned to me.
“Oh, Blake, while you’re still here, I wanted to mention something to you.”
I caught Dad’s somber downward gaze and furrowed my brow. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Just so you know,” Mom went on without hesitation, “Dad and I went back to Shady Acres earlier this week and signed the papers. We’ll be moving Jake over there after Christmas.”
It took a few moments for the words to make sense in my head, while the impact instantaneously caused my heart to combust, leaving my chest open