I'm Right Here

Chapter Thirteen

The loud talk was been going on for quite some time now. Annie sat in the dining area and George was in the kitchen, heating up some water. After Mary asked them if they wanted tea, she didn't even wait for Jake and Annie to respond, and she immediately went downstairs.

Jake sighed and said, "Here we go," before following his mother. When they reached the kitchen, George was standing by the kitchen counter, watching his wife open every cabinet and slamming them shut. "Ma," Jake said with concern.

Finally finding the metal kettle, she put it down on the counter top with force and turned around to face her son. "Can we...talk about this in the living room?" she said holding back her anger and tears.

"Yeah, of course," he replied and proceeded across the hall.

From where Annie was seated, she couldn't see Jake sitting on the couch, but she did see Mary pacing toward and away from him over and over. The words were muffled when they reached her, so Annie tried hard to pry into their conversation.

"He's gonna be fine," George said, turning on the stove. "By this time, Jake's probably used to it." Annie swallowed but the lump on her throat remained. "I never got your name."

She turned to him and smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I'm Annie Booker, sir."

He slightly nodded his head. "You his girlfriend?"

"Uh––no..."

George tried to hide his surprise, but failed. "What did your folks say?"

"Uhm...my mother never had the chance to react when my step-dad kicked me out."

"Your step-dad?" George raised a brow.

Annie took a deep breath. "Garth Cipriani."

"Garth? Fat-bastard Garth?"

Her brows furrowed. "You know him?"

"Everyone does. Not a lot of people particularly like him in this neighborhood. The guy has a reputation for..."

"Being an asshole," Annie finished for him.

George grinned and nodded in agreement. "For being an asshole."

"I can assume you are Jake's parents?"

"He never told you?"

"Well," Annie scratched her head. "We weren't actually close before all of this. I never talked to him before." She felt a heat rising to her cheeks and she had to bow her head down before George could notice.

"Good Lord. That child will burn in hell." He mumbled more to himself than to Annie. "We found him when he was eight years old."

Annie looked up from her lap. "Found him?"

"Yep. That little shit used to annoy the hell out of me. Even back then, he already had guts." He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "That kid was something."

Slowly, her head turned toward the living room. Jake was adopted. Annie wondered if Dom knew about this, if anyone knew about this. He was so mysterious that no one really knew what else he did other than sports and sex. The guys in school respected him for a reason. Some even said that he was a leader of some sort of gang or something. And as far as Annie knew, he lived alone in that apartment. Being raised by two elderly made her question what he became now. The two old folks looked like they took care of him well and taught him right. She imagined Jake sitting on the couch, avoiding his mother's gaze. That didn't look like the school's bad boy at all.

"Where did he come from?" She asked still not looking at George.

He shrugged and said, "The streets, a reckless guardian...we never really knew. Whenever we asked where he was staying, he'll just say 'around the corner.' "