Reality, Fate & Destiny. - Epilogue

Epilogue

It's been about a month me and Adam went out and I can honestly say that my life has been perfect. Well, not really perfect because we faced more problems but we faced it together and that was enough, even for me. Mandy and Max are still going out, and even though I was against this, but Mandy really seemed to get along with him and that was enough for me. Jack, however has been going out late every night, getting into trouble (and not just with the parents) and he has been drinking a lot more.

I can't say that I wasn't worried because I was. Of course, I talked to him about it but he always get mad and sometimes he doesn't even come back home for days. Because our parents weren't home often, they didn't notice Jack's absence. Adam and Hayden are friends now; they worked it out but I don't see them hanging around that often anymore because Hayden is going out with Sierra now. They seemed a lot happy together so everything was alright.

I asked Max last week about Jack and he said that I shouldn't worry about him or interfere with his business because I might make things worse. Talking to Max always make me feel angry but I knew what he said was right; I shouldn't make things anymore worse than it already is, or was. Although I was worried about Jack and I wanted to know what was going on with his life, I shouldn't make things more complicated for him.

"Is Jack home yet?" Adam asked as he close the front door. I heard the door shut close as I was sitting on the sofa drinking coke, waiting for him to sit next to me. "Coke?" he sniggered.

"I'm sober now," I replied sarcastically. He scoffed and took the can out of my hand, gulping the fizzy drink like he hasn't drink anything for weeks. "Hey," I said and took back the can out of his hand. He pulled me towards him and kissed me gently. "Alright, I accept your apology," I smiled and he smiled back at me. "I'm worried. Jack hasn't been home for two days," I said worried.

"Hm, maybe he's out with Max," Adam said. It was obvious that he was unsure of what to say because he was just confused as I was. I shook my head and bit my sleeve that covered my fingers. He took my hand and smiled weakly, "don't worry. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

We both sat there on the sofa quietly. The song Unloveable by The Smiths was playing softly on the old vintage record player that dad bought a year ago. We were both curled up and it was so quiet I could almost hear the sound of our breathing. He hummed the song and put his head on my head. It was really quiet, but a nice quiet. "Stay with me. Mom and dad's still not back and God knows where Jack is. I've been alone for two days, so stay with me," I whispered quietly and held Adam's hand firmly. He chuckled softly and kissed the top of my head,

"You don't even have to ask baby. Don't worry, I'm here." He replied and hugged me tighter and I felt safe in his arms. I felt his warm breath on the top of my head going in through my hair. After a few minutes, my phone buzzed on the coffee table and I looked at the screen, 'Unknown number.'

"Hello?" I asked nervously because I didn't know who it was and I was scared that it might be a police.

"Is this the Franks residence?" a man with deep voice answered. The man sounded like he was a person with authority; it was the police.

"Y-yes, who is this?" I stuttered. Adam looked at me anxiously. I was sure that he was just as anxious and scared as I was because he was Jack's friend as well. "Who's that?" Adam mouthed and I shrugged.

"This is Officer Mandrake. Can I speak to whoever's in charge please." I was nervous now because mom and dad weren't home so I gave Adam the phone.

"What? U-um hello?" Adam sounded more nervous than I was. "Erm, yes I am in charge. Uh-huh, yes. What happened? What?! God."

"What-what's going on?" I asked nervous because it sounded like something happened. He placed his finger on his lips and signalled me to wait until he finish.

"Okay. Thank you officer, we'll be right there now," Adam tapped the phone and placed it back on the table and looked at me intensely. "We have to go to the station now," Adam said standing up and went over to the kitchen to get the car keys. "Come on."

"What's going on? What happened? It is Jack? Is he okay?" I asked him nervously knowing that it's not okay and something bad happened. Adam licked his lips and looked at me worriedly. He took my hand and sighed. I locked the door and ran to the car where Adam drove quickly to the police station. I kept looking out for the station everytime Adam turns a corner. When we approached our destination, I quickened my pace to the front door and found a couple of beaten up boys sitting on a ragged old sofa placed next to one of the metal file drawers.

Some of the police gave me a dirty look while munching on their doughnuts. The station wasn't big so when we walked a little further, we found Jack sitting on a wooden chair with his face bruised up. He was wearing a grey shirt with baggy jeans. "Jack!" I yelled and grabbed his face. I pushed his cheeks with my thumb when he groaned in pain and pushed my hand away from his face. "Goddammit, what happened?!" I asked the police sitting opposite Jack who was in his forties and had a thick mustache. He was wearing the cream police uniform and he had that if-you-don't-confess-now-I'll-arrest-you face.

"Who are you?" the officer asked me sternly studying me like I was a suspect.

"I'm his sister, gosh what happened officer?" I asked demanding an answer from someone. He tutted without giving me any eye contact and walked over from his unorganized desk. Adam was standing right behind Jack's chair looking just as nervous and worried as I was.

"Your brother got into a gang fight," he said hoarsely. His mustache moved up and down as he talked, "do you know anything about this?" he asked me giving me a sharp look. I shook my head defensively. He scoffed and looked at Jack, "if I catch you get into another fight again, I'm gonna have to lock you up you understand me?" Helpless Jack nodded his head without looking at the police officer. Me and Adam return nervous looks and he asked the man in the uniform,

"Um officer, do we have to pay a fine or..?"

"No but you kids gotta look out after your brother or else yes and he has to spend the night here. Understand?" he replied going back to sit down behind his desk. We all nodded and made our exit out of his room and the station. We got into the car and all three of us were quiet. None of us knew what to say because it was awkward and if one of us said something wrong, it could cause trouble. After a few minutes of silence, Jack got a phone call.

"Hello? Yeah, Jade and Adam did. Look bro, if you don't handle this and if I get caught again I aint helping you no more," he whispered sounding angry at someone. "Yes, I'm serious, you gotta clear this shit up bro or else I aint helping you no more. No fuck that if I get busted again I'm gonna get locked up!" he yelled and me and Adam looked at him instantaneously. "Look, I can't talk now, I'll see you after," and then he hung the phone and looked at us through the front mirror.

"Look Jack, if you got any problems tell us man, we're here to help you," Adam said calmly and focused on the road.

"Shut up kid, you don't know shit."

"Dude, we're the same age," Adam laughed, "no seriously, what's going on man? You're not like this."

"Alright, stop the car and I'll tell you both but shut up about it," Jack said sounding so serious. Adam did what Jack asked him to do and parked it in the middle of the road. Luckily there was no car passing by so it didn't cause us problem. "Two nights ago Max called me saying that he was in trouble so I went over to his house to see what was going on and then when I reached there, his door was busted open and his place was trashed!" Jack said taking breaths after every sentence. He continued before I could ask any questions, "so I ran inside and he was on the floor. I asked him what happened and he said that some fucking guys came in and started asking for the debt that his dad still hasn't paid yet."

"Wait, what debt?" I asked wanting to know what happened.

"Shut up let me talk," Jack said rudely, "then I decided to find them and they were like at the back of the alley of Max's house so I went there and confronted them when one of those motherfuckers hit me with a bat or a brick I don't know." Me and Adam made faces and honestly, I was intrigued by the story.

"What happens then?" Adam asked.

"I got pissed eventhough I was weak. I attempt to hit him back and when I kneed that fucker in his balls, some crazy ass police just happens to be there. So that's when I had to spend the night and he called you guys down, Jesus if mom and dad finds out about this, I am so fucking dead!" he said banging his head on the back of the passenger seat.

"Shit," me and Adam said it at the same time. "So, does Max need money?" I asked him.

"Nah, his dad does. Apparently he got into some gambling shit and couldn't pay the man back." I sighed and asked Adam to drive home as fast as he can. We reached home ten minutes later and I ran upstairs to my room taking out a small box from underneath my bed. Inside, I had like $500 in cash so I took all of them and ran downstairs.

"Here, give this to him. I don't know if it's enough or not but it'll help, I guess," I said handing the money over to Jack.

"Shit, where'd you get this kind of money?" Jack asked, flipping the money.

"Unlike you, I save money."

"Wait, you give it to him," he said handing me back the money.

"What? No, me and him don't get along really well. Plus I don't want him to know it's me," I said.

"Come on." Jack pulled me and we began walking down the street making our way to Max's house. "Here, you give the money to him yourself," he said knocking on the door. Before I could run away, Max with a black eye and bruised arm opened the door looking at me with such sad and angry eyes. "Dude, Jade has something to give you."

He looked at me helplessly and stood at the doorway. It was pretty obvious he didn't want any guests entering his house. "Um, here. I don't know if this'll help but I hope it's enough," I said sheepishly handing him over the money. He took it without any response and looked at me; eyes full of sorrow. To my surprised, he hugged me and whispered 'thank you' through his tears.

I hugged him back and smiled, "please, if you need any help just ask because hey, you're like a brother to me." He smiled gratefully and hugged me again.

"Alright, lets go then." Jack said and we made our way back home. After a few weeks, me and Max were friends and surprisingly, he's not such a prick like I always thought he was. Maybe this whole incident has made him change or maybe that's just the kind of person he is. I hoped for the best for all of us after this because me and Adam are happy and I am really please that Mandy and Max are too. Jack stayed out of trouble and he is thinking of finding a job while finishing his studies at college. That made me and my parents happy. They didn't know what happened of course, which was a good thing. So I guess, life turned out pretty great even though there might be more troubles, I'll always remember that with my friends and family, everything will be okay.