Jaden Baker (8 page)

There was a roomy Crown Victoria ahead of him, perfect for tonight. Headlights lit his path, casting his long shadow, as he made his way toward the Crown Victoria. The car behind him slowed.

He turned into the light, shielding his eyes with his hand. The truck or van was too big to be Derek or Jenny’s car, and besides, they weren’t going to follow him. The headlights were too bright for him to see anything else.

The car slowed but didn’t stop.

Run!

Jaden sprinted again. He hopped a fence, then another, to put as much distance between himself and whoever followed. The yards in this neighborhood were smaller. People were awake in their houses, and he hoped no one noticed him streaking past. Ahead was a tall fence. Grabbing the chain links, Jaden lifted himself over the top, landed on the other side of the street, and ran into it.

A horn blared. He spun to see a car coming at him. He threw out his hands and hit the car’s hood, but he was pitched backwards. Stars burst in his eyes as he fell on his back, scraped his elbows and banged his head on the asphalt.

“Oh my God,” someone said, opening their car door and running to Jaden. “Are you okay?”

The wind had been knocked out of him, and his head was killing him, but he was alive. He rolled and pushed himself off the pavement, but was dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

The driver tried grabbing Jaden’s arm, but he pulled it away.

A radio went off, and the driver spoke into it.

“Yes, I think I found him.”

Jaden looked up. The driver wore a blue uniform and had a flashlight on his belt. A cop.

The cop gave dispatch his location.

“Your parents are worried about you, young man. How ‘bout we take you home?”

Jaden tried standing again, but his left leg hurt.

“I don’t want to,” he said.

“You need to see a doctor?” the cop asked. “Are you injured?”

“You hit me with your car, moron,” Jaden grunted.

“Let me see,” the cop said, laughing under his breath. He picked Jaden up and set him on the hood of the car.

“Don’t touch me,” Jaden said, pushing the cop. “I’m fine.” He looked at his cut up hands. “My ass hurts, though.”

“You hit your head,” the cop said. “But most of the damage is to the car. You left a pretty big dent for such a small person.”

Jaden slid off the hood and limped away. Another car sped forward.It braked and drifted before coming to a complete stop. Jenny leapt out and ran to Jaden, who simply froze.

“Oh thank God!” she said, crying. “Oh my God,” she sobbed. She pulled Jaden into a tight hug and rest her head on the top of his. “Oh God,” she kept saying, shaking as she cried.

Jaden didn’t pull away until he saw Derek coming. He pushed against Jenny, but she wouldn’t let him go.

“Are you okay, Sport?” Derek asked him.

“Lemme go,” he said, pushing harder. Jenny relented but kept him in a one armed embrace. He stared uncertainly at Derek.

“It’s dangerous out here at night,” Derek said.

“Honey, his hands are bleeding,” Jenny said, taking them into her own.

“He ran out in front of the car,” the cop said, sauntering forward.

“My God, Jaden,” Jenny shrieked, and hugged him again.

“Ryan told us what Finn said.” Derek eyed him, he didn’t look angry. “That kid’s a prick. I probably would’ve hit him too, if I was you. It wasn’t okay, but I get it.”

Jenny led Jaden into the car, and he found he was too tired to resist. She sat in the back seat with him, holding him to her, running her hand through his hair. Derek made phone calls to his friends, announcing they’d found him. Jaden stared blankly ahead, his head sore, his hands stinging.

When they reached the house, Jenny took him into the bathroom and cleaned his hands. He sat on the bathroom counter and watched her work. She kept sniffling and wiping her tears. Derek leaned against the doorway.

“How’s your head?” he asked.

Jaden shrugged, not meeting his eyes.

“You’re quite the runner. Where were you going?”

He didn’t answer because there wasn’t one.

Jenny wrapped gauze around his hands then took him to his bedroom. He followed her numbly. Derek took the rear. Jaden sat on the edge of his bed and stared. The Kauffmans held each other and studied him.

“Can we get you anything?” Jenny asked.

Jaden shook his head.

“Are you sure, honey?”

He sighed.

“Okay. We’ll leave you alone,” she said. They started to leave.

“
Are
you going to send me back?” Jaden asked, his voice cracking.

They returned, kneeled, and looked up at him.

“Oh honey, of course not,” Jenny said. “We would never send you back. We want you here. We want you to stay.”

“What if you change your mind?” he asked.

“We won’t change our mind,” Derek said firmly. “That Finn is a jerk. You’re not going anywhere, kiddo, that’s a promise.”

Jaden nodded, but wasn’t sure he believed them. He’d tried strangling someone. Finn deserved it, but still... Yet the expressions on their faces were genuine. There was no way to explain how he knew: tonight he was safe. What tomorrow would bring, he didn’t know. For now, Jenny and Derek told the truth. He was allowed the night.

“Okay.” He crawled in bed and lay down, clutching Bear to his chest.

Derek and Jenny looked at each other, then she said: “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“What?” Jaden asked.

“You want me to stay with you tonight, so you’re not alone?” She sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

He turned on his side and stared at her. “Okay,” he said.

She crawled in and put her arms around him, holding him close. He rest his head on her shoulder and shut his eyes, feeling warm. He fell asleep.

Jaden kicked off the covers when he woke, feeling sickly warm. California sunlight was oppressive, surging rather than streaming through the window. The light scorched his eyelids and put his sweat glands into overdrive. He pushed himself up in bed and reached for the shutter louvers, but like the door yesterday, they closed without his touch.

He checked the room, searching for spying eyes. He thought he was alone until the toilet flushed. When he heard Jenny turn the faucet for the sink, Jaden jumped out of bed and rubbed his head.

He
had
to stop doing that. Whatever
it
was would get him in trouble. Thankfully she hadn’t be in the room when it had happened. Granted a reprieve.

Jenny came from the bathroom, yawning.

“You’re up,” she said, going to him and brushing his hair off his forehead. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yes,” he said, which was perfectly true. He’d had a dreamless sleep and was feeling great this morning, except for his sore head and leg, stinging hands, and strange dilemma of spontaneous moving objects.

“Oh good,” she said. “I’m going to go change and make breakfast. French toast again?”

Jaden nodded and she left, leaving him alone, giving him time to think.

Last night had been good news bad news. On the one hand, he’d proven to the Kauffmans he could interact with other people his age, and wasn’t so damaged he’d need intensive therapy sessions for the rest of his life. He got along great with Ryan.

On the other hand, he’d been violent, something he hadn’t done before. Finn deserved exactly what he got, but now the Kauffmans knew he was a) sensitive about his mommy issues, and b) a little unstable, as he nearly strangled someone.

He pulled off his shirt and blue jeans from yesterday and decided to take a shower. Telepathy would be a nice skill to have, so he could read the Kauffmans’ minds. They said they wanted to keep him, but trying to kill someone was probably on the con side of the pro and con list when it came to taking in an older child. A squishy baby they’d raised themselves might not have tried to kill Finn.

Derek had said that he understood, that Finn was a prick and a jerk. Did his violent display show his human side? Maybe it was a good thing he’d reacted as he did. Maybe it proved he was a normal human being.

He’d been trying so hard to play the role he thought Derek and Jenny wanted, he’d forgotten to try and make himself comfortable. Since arriving, all he’d done was put on a show, worried that if he slipped up or did something not in line with their image of who he should be, they would send him back.

Jaden washed and rinsed, then turned off the water. He decided it was not time to panic. He would play it cool, try to relax, not bring up what happened last night and pretend it didn’t happen. He would look ahead, not behind.

The mirror was foggy, so he wiped it with his hand and stared at his reflection. They knew what they were getting, didn’t they? They knew he would be a challenge, not as easy as a fresh human. He combed his wet hair then dried himself, tossed the wet towel in the bin, and dressed in his new clothes.

Derek and Jenny had gone to a lot of trouble, he thought as he stared around his room.
His
room. They had gotten him his own bed, bought him new clothes, asked him what he wanted for breakfast and had tried to get him to make friends. To fit in.

And how had he repaid them? He ran at the first sign of trouble, after he’d done something bad, assuming Derek or Jenny would hurt him, when they had given no sign of that kind of behavior before.

They assumed the best of you, and you assumed the worst of them.

Jaden felt guilty. He had looked for their past sins, thinking they were hiding something, that one day or night they’d harm him. Yet they had shown nothing but trust and affection.

A clinking sound came from downstairs. Jenny was beating eggs for French toast.

Because she likes you.

Priorities had to be set. Looking at it scientifically, the more worried and panicked he was, the worse the issue became. Reason dictated that if he was able to feel comfortable, genuinely comfortable rather than faking it, the nameless issue would hide itself once again, laying dormant until it was required (if ever).

When Jaden entered the kitchen, Derek and Jenny were talking happily about some episode on television they’d seen. Derek greeted him with a hearty good morning, and Jaden gave one back. Because he liked them, too.

“Can I help you?” he asked Jenny.

“Sure. You can set the table. Thanks, Jaden,” she replied, opening the drawer containing cutlery and place mats.

They sat at the small dining room table, and the Kauffmans each reached out one hand for Jaden to hold when they said grace. Jaden took their hands and bowed his head but kept his eyes open and watched them recite a prayer.

“Amen,” he said with them, then he dug in to his French toast. Maybe the reason he thought the Kauffmans were corny or cliché was because that’s what people did. Maybe it was average, normal, for people to eat breakfast around a table after saying grace. Maybe it was ordinary to read the news or books in the morning. They were neither paranoid, frightful, or rude. Their attitudes matched the order of the neighborhood in which they lived.

“We were thinking,” Jenny said over a mouthful of toast, “we could go to the bookstore today and get some new books for you. We know you like to read, but we’re not sure what.”

Jaden took a huge bite of toast and nodded. “That sounds great,” he said. He put another piece of toast on his plate and reached for the syrup.

It slid a few inches into his open hand.

Jaden looked around. Derek frowned at him thoughtfully, then shook his head and continued with his toast and e-reader.

He poured the syrup then set it down, holding his breath as he pushed it away from him.

“Juice?” Jenny asked, holding up a pitcher of orange juice.

Jaden nodded.

I’m going to pick up my glass with my hands, he thought. Then I’m going to put it down. With my hands.

And so he did. She poured juice, he picked up the glass, drank some, and set the glass on the table. Nothing remarkable happened. He sighed.

“What are you reading?” he asked Derek.

“Just the news.”

“Oh,” Jaden said.

Now I’m going to have another piece of toast. I’m going to pick up the fork in my hand, stab a piece, put it on my plate.

He did so.

Then I’m going to pick up the syrup, pour it, and set the syrup bottle onto the table. Derek will assume he imagined it and will think nothing about what he saw before.

“Are you okay?” Jenny asked as he poured the syrup.