Finding love - 4. Chapter 4

The whole night was a blur with the media outside the house. The neighbors were calling left and right to complain. Dad called Mr. Baker and he was able to work with the local Bowie police force and his county officers to clear the area in front of the house. We weren’t on a main through fair but our small side street was packed.

“We moved them down to the church,” Mr. Baker said after Mom let him in.

“This is just one giant cluster” mom replied while vigorously texting. “My boss is giving me time off to deal with this.”

“How nice of your father,” dad said rolling his eyes.

“I’m sorry mom,” I said as I drew my legs up in front of me hugging them.

“Oh Mattie, we will take care of this; this isn’t your fault. Paul did you talk to Mark about posting the video?”

“I did actually and he was a bit surprised that it was posted. I am not fully buying it though. Carly and Brandon are doing their older sibling duty and interrogating him.”

“Carly is back?” Mom said shocked.

“She decided to take all virtual classes this semester. Losing Noah really messed her up; considering she was supposed to ride home with him and Jonah.”

I sat and listened to my parents, Uncle Ron, Uncle Tony talk with Mr. Baker. My phone kept chiming but I wasn’t going to look at it. Mom would lose her shit if she saw some of the messages coming in. Mrs. Andrews called and told mom she was lifting my suspension and I should report to school tomorrow. I was dreading this more and more. I texted my therapist and scheduled an emergency appointing and luck was on my side as it was at 8 am.

“Mom, I have an appointment with Luke tomorrow.”

“What I don’t have that on my calendar. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I just scheduled it.” I said with a Cheshire cat grin.

“He’ll do anything to avoid going to school,” Nathan said looking at Brody.

“Do you blame him Nate? I wouldn’t want to go back there if I were him.”

“He just needs to man up,” Nathan started to say when the room went so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?” Dad said rising from his chair.

“Nnnn… nothing.” Nathan stuttered.

“If you think I didn’t hear you, you’re dead wrong; you’re grounded.”

“but dad” Nathan was trying to back track and save face.

“Grounded until I say otherwise.”

Mom sent Brody home and the uncles eventually left. When it came time for bed I didn’t move from the couch. I just sat there starring at the wall.

“You ok son?” Dad asked in a tender and caring tone.

“No,” I said as tears started to fall.

“I am so sorry you have to go through this. Your mother and I are super proud of you for working on getting through this loss. I know it hasn’t been easy for you and your brother’s don’t seem to fully understand your relationship with Noah. Truth be told my relationship with Uncle Ron was the same way. He was and still is the ever caring older brother. He was always there for me when I was a kid and when he and Tony moved away for college I was devastated. I went from having my big brother every time I needed him to him being gone. I know our situation is different but just know that we are all here for you. If you want to hear a funny couple of stories, ask your Uncle how I tried numerous times to break them up.”

“Thanks dad, I will.”

I must have been exhausted and fallen asleep because when I woke-up I was in my bed tucked in. I looked at the clock and it was only 6 am and I could hear someone downstairs starting their day. I quickly made a b-line to the bathroom and noticed both Nick and Nathan’s doors were closed still.

“Hurry up,” Nick said pounding on the door “I gotta piss”

I rolled my eyes and told him I was just about done. I quickly finished and toweled off and left the bathroom. Nick must have gone downstairs as he wasn’t in the hall anymore. Nathan was coming out of his room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. I could see guilt written all over his face but he said nothing and made his way into the bathroom. I went into my room and closed the door and got dressed. Grabbing my tablet I made my way to the kitchen where mom and dad were both in a flurry of activity getting things ready for the day. Nick was seated at the table eating cereal and scrolling through his Facebook timeline. I chose to sit at the island as avoiding both my brothers was ideal this morning. Nathan eventually showed up and sat next to Nick at the table. I could see both parents seething as neither brother acknowledged me.

“Nathan, don’t forget you’re grounded and come straight home from practice.” Mom said placing a bowl in front of him for cereal.

“The guys want to go out after practice,” Nathan whined.

“Should have thought of that yesterday,” dad said. “Don’t even think about trying to go out after as both your mother and I are going to be home today.”

“Why do I get the feeling I am grounded too?” Nick asked.

“You’ve barely acknowledged Mattie and you didn’t even say anything yesterday,” Mom said glaring at him.

“There was just so much going on with the video and all. It’s all over Facebook and the news this morning. The Today show is doing a segment too.”

“Just what I need,” I scooted away from the counter and ran up to my room falling on the bed crying. I felt someone hug me but when I looked around no one was there. The Doctor’s at Children’s National Medical Center told me it was my brain making up the sensation as I wanted Noah to be there and his hugs always fixed everything.

“Are you ok?” Mom said standing in the doorway.

“I had a Noah hug.”

“You seem to get a lot of those. It’s almost time for your appointment with Luke; come downstairs when you are finished.”

“I need to get my tablet,” I said standing up but mom handed it to me and I closed the door as she descended the stairs.

I connected to the secure portal and waited for Luke to join the session.

“Hey Matt,” Luke said with his usual chipper attitude.

“Good morning Luke. I take it you’ve seen the news?”

“I have and Doc and I are worried about you. Are you feeling ok?”

“I just feel hopeless and alone. I just miss Noah; he’d know what to do.”

“Matt, you know what to do too. You’ve come a long way since June and you can get through this.”

“Not when my brothers treat me like crap and I have a teacher that bullies me.”

“So tell me more about what happened?”

“You saw the video and that’s exactly what happened. I’d rather not relive the experience.”

“Honey, everything ok? Your father and I can hear you shouting.” Mom said through the door.

“I’m fine.” I shouted back.

“Matt, we need to come up with a game plan. Do you remember the exercise for when you become stressed?”

“Yeah I do but when I am in the moment it doesn’t work,” I said becoming annoyed.

“Matt when need to come up with a coping method that helps you relax.” I felt myself getting rather annoyed at the whole situation and that’s when we lost the internet connection. I was happy that the session ended as I was getting angry. My phone rang and I saw it was the Doctor’s office and I chose to ignore the call. I grabbed my back pack and headed downstairs and I could hear my mother on the phone obviously talking to Luke and she was losing her cool and dad was sitting there with a huge grin. When mom got into her protective mama bear mode better watch out.

“That man is a real piece of work. Demanding I bring Mattie to the hospital for inpatient service.” She huffed.

“Based on what I’ve heard from Matt and you, it’s time to find a new therapist. I will ask Ron and Tony if they happen to know anyone.”

“That sounds like a plan; Mattie are you ready to leave? Your father and I will be taking you to school.”

“I guess so? I have my book bag not sure what else I would need.”

“Here put this on.” Dad said while handing me a hat that said Jacobs Construction.

“Like this doesn’t scream hey its Matthew Jacobs.” I said rolling my eyes.

“The alternative is a black cap from grandpa’s business.”

“Does it have a Black Hawk logo?” I asked excitedly.

“Nope it’s just a plain cap.” Mom said putting it on my head.

“Why doesn’t grandpa’s stuff have any logos?”

“When you do the work we do, you don’t want to advertise who you are.” Mom said

“What exactly does Black Hawk Operations do? You’ve never really said.”

“It’s a secret. Not even your father knows.”

“Let’s get this show on the road. We’ll take my truck since I am blocking yours in.” Dad said.

We got in the truck and dad seemed a little hesitant to leave and nudged mom and they were looking down the street. Mom quickly sent a text to someone and we left the house. Dad was diving like a new father and by that I mean slower than molasses. I think a snail passed us as we drove down Belair Drive towards the school. I sat there pondering what would happen today and if it would be any better. As we sat at the light at Belair and 450 you could see the media vans all lined up along the roadway with cameras set up in the small grassy area in front of the school. This ought to be interesting.