Fire and Rain (18 page)

“Is everything okay?” Billy asked.

He nodded and asked if he could make a phone call. Billy told him it was all right, and Jos hurried to the back and called the day care center, making sure they knew that only he or Kip were approved to pick up Isaac, and if anyone else tried, to call the police. They agreed and explained that was their policy. Feeling a little better that Isaac was safe at the moment, he began to plan what he was going to do to ensure that continued.

“WHAT ARE
you doing?” Kip asked that evening when he came upstairs. “I stopped to pick up Isaac, and they said you already had.” He came into the bedroom as Jos put clothes for him and Isaac into a bag.

“We have to go. I can take him away, and she can go to hell.” Jos slammed the drawer on the dresser and looked around the room.

“Running isn’t the answer,” Kip told him, but Jos wasn’t up to listening. All his energy was focused on Isaac and keeping his family together.

“She called me today, and… this is what I have to do,” Jos said. “You saw her. My aunt has money and she can buy what she wants.”

“Did she actually say that?” Kip asked.

“Not in so many words.” Jos shrugged. “I don’t have money to hire fancy lawyers like she can. Whatever I do, she’ll make me look like a homeless person who couldn’t take care of Isaac, even though I did everything I could for him. When we had food, I made sure he ate first. Once there was only one bed in the shelter, so I slept on the floor next to him so he could have the bed.” Jos picked up the bag and began carrying it down the stairs. “He’s the only family I have, and I’m not going to let some stranger take it away.”

“She’s your aunt, your mother’s sister,” Kip said.

“I thought you would be on my side,” Jos said, severing Kip’s last threads of hope. “You don’t think I’m good enough either. You think I should let her take Isaac away.” Jos dropped the bag near the front door and whirled around. “How could you?” He shook with fury and ached deep in his heart, but he couldn’t stop.

“I am on your side,” Kip said, but it sounded hollow to Jos’s ears. Kip held Jos’s shoulders, staring into his eyes. “You can’t do this.”

“I have to.” His desperation was taking over, and he had to get out of there.

“If you run and the courts can’t find you or Isaac, they’ll issue a warrant for your arrest, and guess who’ll have to try to find you? Red, Carter, me…. All of the people who care about you. Do you think everyone has been helping you just to help you? All of us have grown to care for you and Isaac. If you leave, all of that will vanish.”

Jos stood still, blinking as Kip’s words and tone got past the need to flee.

“You have a job, and you and Isaac have a safe place to live. You’re rebuilding your life, and you have to stop thinking that all of it is going to be yanked away from you at any second.”

“Then what do I do?” Jos asked. The air around him seemed thin, and he felt as light-headed as he had after he’d been attacked. Hell, he was being attacked again, only this time it was his aunt, and she was going to use lawyers to fuck him over rather than… the way Tyler had tried.

“You fight. If you want to raise Isaac, then you have to stand up to her and let her know that you aren’t going to back down.”

“Uncle Kip,” Isaac called as he came down the stairs, Pistachio and Weeble each under an arm. “Are you mad at Jos?” Isaac shuffled over, and Jos’s resolve crumbled like a house of cards. He couldn’t put his brother back out on the streets again.

“No,” Kip said. “He and I are discussing things, and I was talking too loud.” Kip tightened his grip and then pulled Jos against him. “You can’t go, because I don’t want you to,” Kip whispered. “You have to fight so you and Isaac can have a home together.”

“But what if I lose?” Jos asked, his voice muffled.

“Then we’ll fight some more, but if you run, you’ll definitely lose, because all the good things you’ve made happen will be gone. No job, no home…. That means that the courts will step in. But you’re building a better life for Isaac, and anyone can see that—well, except your aunt. Maybe if you invite her to visit, she’ll be able to see the life that you’re trying to build, and maybe she’ll support you too, rather than try to fight you.”

Jos shook and Kip held him tighter. “I don’t want to see her again either, but it can’t hurt to try.” Kip’s phone went off like a siren. “I need to get that. It’s Carter. He was doing a favor for me.” Kip stepped away, and Jos leaned against the wall and then slumped down it. Isaac climbed on his lap and handed him Weeble.

“It’s okay. Don’t be sad.”

Kip whipped around, the phone still pressed to his ear. “Hold on,” he said into the phone and nearly dropped the phone in his haste to set it on the table. Then Kip helped Jos to his feet and got him and Isaac to the sofa. “Breathe, sweetheart. Carter is looking into something for me, and I have to talk to him, but I need to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” He clutched Weeble to his chest. “Really. I just need to catch my breath.” Jos breathed deeply, and Kip went to get his phone. Isaac sat next to Jos and then climbed into his lap, and Jos set Weeble next to him and held Isaac. Jos knew his brother could feel his agitation, and he needed to get it under control.

When Kip came back in the room, he sat with them. “I’ll go make some dinner.”

“What was the call about?” Jos asked and then realized he really didn’t have a right to ask.

“I asked Carter to take a look into a few things for me, and he had a few questions.” Kip picked up Isaac. “Come on, little man. Let’s make dinner and give Jos a few minutes. Okay?”

Kip lifted Isaac’s shirt and blew on his belly. Isaac giggled and squirmed as Kip then zoomed him out of the room and down toward the kitchen. Jos breathed steadily and tried to rationalize what Kip had told him. He did have a job, and he was going to get a place to live. Isaac was happy and making friends in school. Things were a lot better than they had been a few weeks ago, and they would continue to get better. He just kept wondering if it was going to be good enough.

“Jos,” Isaac said, running in. “Kip is making pancakes!”

“For dinner?” Jos asked, and Isaac nodded vigorously, licking his lips.

“I asked him what he wanted, and he said pancakes, so that’s what we’re having,” Kip said from the doorway with a mixing bowl in his hand. “Do you want to come help us?”

Jos nodded and got up. Isaac raced to the sofa and grabbed Weeble, carrying him into the kitchen. Pistachio sat on one of the kitchen chairs, and Isaac put Weeble on another before hurrying over and climbing back up the stool that Kip had brought over for him.

“What should I do?”

“Make bacon,” Kip said, rolling his eyes with a smile. “If we’re going to have breakfast for dinner, then let’s go the whole way.” Kip set down the bowl and put an arm around him. “I know this is hard for you, and your aunt isn’t making it easier.”

“Family is supposed to treat you better than that,” Jos said. “Isaac and I deserved better and never got it.”

“I didn’t either. At least not very often. But sometimes we make our own family and to hell with the rest of them.”

“Uncle Kip said a naughty word,” Isaac crooned.

“It’s okay. Uncle Kip was being naughty, and he’s sorry.” Jos understood what Kip was saying. At least he thought he did. Was Kip speaking rhetorically, or specifically about them? Jos turned so he could see Kip’s eyes because he wanted to be sure. But Kip released him and turned to the griddle on the stove.

“Can you make a pancake shaped like Weeble?” Isaac asked, watching from his stool as Kip poured the batter. Kip made a teddy bear shape, and Isaac clapped, watching as Kip waited for it to cook and then flipped it over.

When the pancake was done, Kip put it on a plate and added some butter and syrup. Then he settled Isaac in his chair with a glass of juice and a fork. “Be sure to blow on the bites so they aren’t hot.”

Isaac grinned and then began to eat like he was starving. “Good,” he said with a syrupy smile.

“How is that bacon coming?” Kip asked him. Of course Jos had been too busy watching everything else to actually do much. Kip lit the burner farthest from him, and Jos began cooking the bacon.

“Slow down,” Jos said gently to Isaac. “There’s plenty more, and no one is going to take it from you. Kip will definitely make you more.”

Isaac barely slowed down. He finished his pancake and brought his plate back to Kip, dripping syrup on the floor as he went. Jos was about to yell at him, but he paused when Kip took the plate. “Let me clean up your drips, little man, and then I’ll make you another one.”

“Can you do Spistachio this time?” Isaac asked.

“I’ll try. Now go sit down and wait a little bit, okay?” Kip wiped up the floor and got Isaac settled while Jos took off the first strips of bacon and added more to the pan. “Every Sunday night after my mom died, Dad and I had breakfast for dinner. He loved waffles and pancakes, so this was our thing once a week. He and I cooked together, and then we sat and talked. It was always our time as a family.”

Jos nodded and finished the bacon. His heart raced as he wondered again exactly what Kip was saying. “I never had a lot of family time. Mom wasn’t interested in much other than where her next drink was coming from, so I don’t know how a family should behave. I want to give Isaac a better family than the one I had, but I don’t know how to do it.”

“Hey.” Kip gripped his shoulders. “If it wasn’t for my dad and the fact that after Mom died he got us both help so we could learn just how much Mom’s drinking had affected us, things would have been very different for me. Your mom’s drinking affected you, and I know you’re trying not to let it affect Isaac. But it will.”

“I know. Sometimes I fall back on the things I learned from her. How do I know how to be part of a real family if I never have been?” Jos turned off the burner and transferred the bacon to a plate. Kip took the stack of pancakes to the table, including one that looked like Pistachio—or at least it was a vaguely horse-shaped blob. He placed it on Isaac’s plate and fixed the pancake for him.

“It’s all right. I’m no expert, but we’ll figure it out together.” Kip looked him straight in the eye, and Jos nodded without thinking. “We have good friends and people who care. That helps a lot.” Kip set the plates on the table, and they sat down. Isaac reached for the bacon, but thankfully it was out of his reach. Jos gave him a piece, and Isaac dug right in.

“Do you ever think he’ll get used to having enough food and won’t stuff himself?” Jos asked.

“It’ll happen. Everything takes time. The memories of being hungry need to fade.” Kip took some pancakes and passed the plate to Jos.

When Isaac was too stuffed to eat any more, he played in the corner of the kitchen with Weeble and Pistachio.

“So I was thinking that I could try to invite my aunt for dinner or something,” Jos said. “I think I want to try to take your advice and let her see where Isaac and I are living. I was wondering if she’d actually come, but then she can’t not come. Otherwise she’s giving up a chance to get to know the nephew she’s supposedly so interested in taking care of.”

Kip grinned. “Now you’re thinking. Go ahead and invite her, but say nothing about the lawsuit. At this point, pretend you don’t know and just act like you’re being nice. That will throw her off. When she agrees, we’ll plan what we hope to get from her that evening.”

“What do you mean?” Jos asked. “I was hoping to convince her to drop the whole thing.”

“Maybe. But she has information we need. You don’t know much about her, so we need to find out what we can. Oh, and when you get a chance, do an Internet search. Everything we can find out will help.” Kip seemed way too happy. Jos didn’t know why, but was less nervous now that he had a plan to start dealing with his aunt. His appetite, which had been lacking, returned with a vengeance. He reached for some of the bacon and actually began to feel better about everything. Kip seemed to have that effect on him.

“After dinner I’ll search and see what I can find,” Jos said.

“Good decision. Everything seems better when you have a plan of attack. And you don’t feel as out of control, which is settling in and of itself.”

JOS PUT
Isaac to bed, and then, while Kip cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes, he sat at the kitchen table using the laptop, with a notebook nearby. He whistled a few times, and Kip looked over in time to see Jos jotting down notes.

“She runs a wedding business, it looks like. Dresses, events, flowers, catering, the whole works. It looks like she does everything for the bride but get the groom to propose. The prices are—” He whistled again. “I was able to find out her address. It’s hard to see from Google Earth, but it looks like a nice enough house.”

“Does it look like she’s ever been married?” Kip asked.

“Only if she was and changed her name back. I found her under Katherine Applewhite, so I’m going to guess that she never was.”

Kip humphed. “Didn’t she say that she had someone find you?”

“A private detective or something. Yeah,” Jos said.

Kip nodded. “Why? She’s never met Isaac before, and you haven’t seen her in years. Why would she care? If you weren’t part of her life, then why wouldn’t she just leave you alone?”

“She’s family?” Jos answered, but his tone clearly registered that he didn’t believe his own answer. “I don’t know. I mean, if she really cared, she’d try to help both of us instead of just taking Isaac. My mother hated her, and I’ve met her twice and I can say I don’t much like her either. She wouldn’t play with Isaac, and when he offered her Weeble, she looked as though she was going to get germs and carefully set him aside. I don’t get it.” Jos sighed and closed the computer. “I got some information, but….”

“It confused me too. So I asked Carter to look into her when he had a minute. I want to believe that she’s doing this because she thinks she can provide a better life for Isaac than you can. At least that would mean that she has a heart.” But he wasn’t so sure. If that were the case, then she’d have been warmer and would seem genuinely interested in Isaac. He also thought she’d be interested in helping them both. “Something doesn’t feel right, and he can dig things out of computer systems that other people can’t. There are limits to what he can do since this isn’t an investigation, but he said he’d try.”