Page 37 of Street of Dreams
“OK.” The boy waved at Mac. “Bye.” And then ran upstairs.
Mac stared after him in wonderment. He reflected on the soft tone of Jake’s voice and the way he interacted with the boy, who obviously looked up to him.
“Everything I do is for that kid,” Jake said. “I’m not going to let him turn out like me and my brothers. He deserves better than this shithole.”
“You helped him study for his math test?”
A smile bloomed across Jake’s face. “That’s what you got out of all this?”
“No. Yeah. I don’t know. Why don’t I ever see him with you or your brothers?”
“I’m not letting him hang out on the streets. We try to keep him out of the neighborhood. South Side isn’t the best place for a kid to grow up. We both know that. He’s eight years old. I don’t want to expose him to the junk out there. He goes to private school. He’s an artist. He takes art classes. Swim lessons. Goes on play dates with the kids from his fancy school. He has a different life than any of us. He’s the real reason I can’t leave,” Jake clarified. “I take care of him. The twins help. A lot. But he’s my responsibility. It’s all on me. My old man doesn’t pay any attention to him. And that’s the best thing that Bruce has ever done.”
“You can go to the police. Child services,” Mac blurted out, as new ideas popped into his head and provided hope for an escape.
“Child services?” Jake’s voice raised an octave and his brows skyrocketed.
“You could get custody.”
“No one is giving me custody of a kid. They’d stick him in foster care, and who the fuck knows what kind of people he’d end up with.” Jake shook his head, adamantly. “That’s not happening to Ben. Or the twins.” He lowered his head and was quiet for a long time. When he looked up, a frown covered his face with pure and honest emotion. “I got so much on my mind all the time. It’s almost too much to handle.” He swallowed painfully. “To tell you the truth. I’m fucking scared. Really fucking scared. There’s so much fucked-up shit that could explode at any minute. Half the time, I’m waiting for the cops to bust down the door. The other half of the time, I’m waiting for a street gang or someone who my old man fucked over to shoot up the place. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Ben. Or the twins.” Jake paced around the living room. He kept scrubbing his face with his hands, trying to wash away the tension and fear that betrayed his hardened exterior. He looked raw. Exposed.
Again, Mac wanted to give Jake a hug, but hesitated. Instead, he stopped Jake from walking in circles with calm hands on his shoulders. “It’s OK. We’ll figure it out. Together. I don’t know a lot about any of the things going on in your life. I’m not going to pretend I do or that I have the answers. I just want you to know that you’re not in this alone. I’ll do everything I can to help you and your brothers.”
Jake stared back at him, and wetness slowly filled his eyes. “You’d do that? For me? For us?”
“Of course, Jake. I care about you. And your crazy brothers.Becausethey’re your brothers.”
The corners of Jake’s mouth started to twitch. He looked as if he were trying to say something but couldn’t get past the emotion that clogged his throat. He covered one of Mac’s hands, which were still resting on his shoulders, with his own hand, and simply nodded.
Mac’s heartstrings tugged inside his chest until they were stretched so thin that they were ready to snap. He couldn’t stand there and bear witness to Jake’s emotional suffering any longer and wrapped his arms around the guy, hugging him tightly.
Jake stiffened at first, but slowly relaxed and returned the hug twice as hard, as if he’d never been hugged in his life.
