Finding Jaime

Chapter 5

"Jaime," a voice whispered. "Jaime, time to wake up."

"Five more minutes, Mom," I pleaded. 

I heard a sigh. 

"Jaime, come on. Up you get."

I opened my eyes. It wasn't my mom waking me up. It was some strange woman. 

"Mrs. Brown will be here in half an hour. Come on.  Up you get. I've got breakfast ready."

I groaned and rolled back over. 

"I know, Jaime. But it's time to get up. Change your clothes, brush your teeth, and come downstairs.  Don't forget your stuff."

She  left the room, and I got out of bed, dug through my duffle bags and grabbed a clean shirt and jeans and underwear. I sighed as I changed, tied my sneakers and found my toothbrush. I went into the bathroom down the hall and went pee. Charlie came in. 

"Get out, you little brat!" I yelled, making the smaller kid jump and run out of the room. 

I finished up, brushed my teeth and put my stuff back in my bags, which I picked up and carried downstairs. I realized I'd forgotten the cup and the plate. Who cares?

"Jaime," Mrs. Kingston called from the kitchen. "Come on in here and have some breakfast."

I dropped my bags and slunk into the kitchen. 

"Come on, sit down," she said, maneuvering me over to the table and sitting me down. She put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me. "Eat up."

I pushed the food around the plate, nibbling at the bacon.  Mrs. Kingston sat across from me sipping from a cup of coffee. 

"It's going to be alright, Jaime," she said to me. 

I grunted at her, pushing the eggs around with my fork. What did she know?

The rest of the kids started coming downstairs and taking plates and eating breakfast before they started leaving for school, all of them saying goodbye to Mrs. Kingston before they left.  Charlie stopped in front of me, his eyes magnified by his glasses and his backpack looking like it was bigger than him. 

"You're  not nice," he said to me. "But I think it's because you're sad. I hope you feel happy soon."

Mrs. Kingston smiled at him as he left for school with the other kids. 

I managed a few more bites of eggs and finished a piece of bacon before the doorbell rang. Mrs. Kingston looked at me and went to answer the door. 

I scraped the food into the garbage and put the plate in the sink.

"Good morning, Jaime," Mrs. Brown said, coming into the kitchen. I slumped down in my chair. 

"I see your bags are by the door. It's about time to head over to the courthouse. Are you ready?"

I shrugged. 

Mrs. Brown helped carry my bags out to the car and I got in the front passenger seat. I did up my seatbelt while she got in the car and we drove away. 

As we drove along, I watched the scenery go by. 

"Have you met him?" I asked, quietly. 

"I'm sorry?" Mrs. Brown asked. "Did you say something?"

"My dad. Have you met him?" I asked again, a little louder. 

"Oh. No. I haven't. I did speak to him yesterday, briefly, but no. I haven't met him," she said. 

"Can you tell me anything about him?"

"Well, not much, really. He seems very nice. He's fairly successful. Well, he does well for himself, anyway. He lives with his girlfriend and their two kids. He has an older son from another marriage. Well, his oldest son is actually you, but your brother, your half-brother is 12, then you have another half-brother who is almost seven, and a half-sister who is 3. The older brother lives with his mom, so you'll probably meet him on weekends when he's with his dad. Your dad."

"What does he do?" I asked. 

"He's in the entertainment industry," Mrs. Brown said. "He'll have to explain it to you, I think."

I slumped back in the seat. This is LA. Of course he's in the entertainment industry. Everyone seems to be. 

"He's very nice. Nervous and excited to meet you, but nice," she continued. 

I looked away. Bullshit he was excited to meet me. If he had wanted to meet me he had 15 years to do so.

It  took about forty minutes to drive to the courthouse owing to LA traffic at nine in the morning. We pulled up, and Mrs. Brown helped take my bags out of the car again. We carried them into the courthouse and Mrs. Brown led me to a boardroom off the main hallway. 

"We'll wait here for your dad. He'll be here, probably with his lawyer. Your mom's lawyer should be here pretty soon, too. It's just a formality.  Everything has already been signed, and your dad will have to sign a couple things, then, you'll be free to go."

I slumped into a chair at the table in the room. 

Mr. Taha came into the room about five minutes later. 

"Hey Jaime. How're you doing this morning?" 

I glared at him.  How was I doing? How the fuck did he think I was doing?

About ten minutes later, another guy in a suit walked into the room. 

"Good morning," he said. "My client is on his way,  and should be here on time. I expect he'll text me when he arrives. I'm just going to take a couple of minutes to talk with him, and then we can get these papers signed."

"Thank you," Mr. Taha said. 

I stayed slumped in the chair, not looking at anyone. 

The lawyer's phone beeped and he got up and went out into the hallway. A couple of minutes later, I saw my mom's lawyer and the social worker sit up. I stayed slumped in my seat. 

"You have got to be kidding me," a voice said. I looked up at the man who came in with the lawyer. 

Oh. Shit.