Once home, we took showers as Mrs. Atkins made dinner and Mr. Atkins went inside his office downstairs.
"Jake, you feeling a little better?" Noah asked when I came back to the room, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
l tugged the towel on my wet hair and forced a nod. I was feeling better than before. I stopped crying and my arm didn't hurt so much. On the inside though, I was feeling numb. I imagined my first meeting with my brother a couple different ways but that wasn't one. In my imagination, I would be the one that was mad. I would scream and yell at him. Or maybe I would give him the cold shoulder and pretend he never existed.
"Jake, it's going to be okay." Noah got up from his desk and patted my shoulder. "Are you ready to go down for dinner?"
I hung my towel up on a hook and followed him out of our room. We walked side by side down the hall and down the stairs, with Noah stealing glances at me the whole time. I could feel his concern, but it just made me more nervous.
"We have to do something, Wayne." I heard Mrs. Atkins stress. "We can't just let this go unpunished."
"And I'm not saying we will." Mr. Atkins said in a much more calm manner.
Noah shot me a look, raising an eyebrow, before racing down the rest of the stairs and into the dining room. "What's happening?"
I didn't sprint like him, but continued my walk.
"Oh, Noah. Is Jake with you?" I heard Mr. Atkins asked. I walked in just a few seconds later and found them sitting at the table with Mr. Pickens. "Jake. Hey. Come, have a seat."
Noah was the fastest to react like always. He sat down and pulled out a chair for me. "Dad, Mom, what were you guys saying before?"
Mrs. Atkins lips thinned as she frowned, shooting her husband with a displeased look. "Your father and I are having a disagreement on what to do next. I want to file a report with the police."
"Yes!" Noah shouted.
"It's not that simple." Mr. Atkins sighed. He looked at me. "Jake, we would like your input. Mary wants to file a police report, assault on a minor. At the very least, harassment. There are benefits to this, I agree, but I think the cons outweigh those benefits."
"What are the cons?" Noah asked.
"The attention it will gather." His dad answered. "The media would be all over this."
"Who cares if they paint him in a bad light, Wayne." Mary argued. "He's not a good person! Look at Jake's arm! I don't want him thinking he can just go around grabbing Jake anytime he likes."
Mr. Atkins sighed again. "Mary, the media would put the spotlight on Jake too. I'm not saying 'do nothing.'" He looked to Mr. Pickens. "I want Mr. Patterson to feel some sort of consequence, but I don't want his future to be ruined by something like this. We shouldn't just doom his future over a small mistake."
"It wouldn't be the end of his career." Mary shot back.
"But there could be negative consequences from the league offices."
"Are you saying he could get suspended?" Noah asked in a small voice.
"Potentially." Mr. Pickens jumped in to answer. "MLB has very strict rules regarding domestic disputes." He looked at me. "What are your thoughts?"
Thoughts? I blinked.
"We'll support you either way, Jake." Mr. Atkins gave me a reassuring smile. "We can pursue this to the highest degree, or just let it slide."
I tapped my index fingers together in my lap.
Sensing my unwillingness to contribute, Mr. Atkins cleared his throat. "How about I write down some options for you to choose from? We'll let you pick, no questions asked."
I nodded. That sounded better.
The three adults gathered on one side of the table to discuss what they should write down with Mr. Pickens being the most vocal. Soon, the other three brothers came down and Noah gave them a brief description of what has transpired.
They stood behind us in silence as five pieces of paper were placed in front of me. They weren't the only ones…everyone stayed silent including me as I looked over my choices. The first thing I did was give away the two extremes: 'do nothing' and 'call the police immediately without regard to media.'
Neither of those would be fair. To me, that is. Both would put me in an unfavorable position and I'd be unhappy. I didn't like how he grabbed me, but I didn't want the media attention to start up again. I also didn't want him to get away scotch-free like my mother did most of my life.
The remaining three options were varying degrees and mixes of either submitting this to the courts and filing a restraining order. It made me hesitate. I don't think I want a restraining order against the remaining member of my blood-related family. I started to get a headache from looking over my choices and trying to find one that fit me and my wants.
"We can be flexible." Mr. Atkins seemed to understand my struggles more clearly than I did myself, as he slid me a pen. The same pen they used to write up the ideas.
Understanding what he meant, I picked up the pen and started to circle some parts of each option.
-'take pictures and document occurrence.'
-'have George send cease and desist letter to Patterson lawyer.'
-'Dr. Moore write an evaluation of impact on Jake's state of mind and discourages Jake being alone with Patterson again.'
Feeling a sense of relief and satisfaction, I sat back and let the three adults look it over.
"Are you sure, Jake?" Mrs. Atkins was the first to look up. "I promise you won't get in trouble if we take it up with the law."
"Mary." Mr. Atkins warned.
I gave a firm nod. Getting the police involved would make things hectic and I didn't want to do that to the Atkins family. Or…or even Jeremy. I don't know why he acted like that, but I thought I saw a flash of remorse or regret, and that is more than I can say for my mother.
With a plan in hand, the Atkins and Mr. Pickens got to work. We took pictures of my arm, which was definitely going to bruise; and then the other boys recounted what happened, minute by minute. After all that, Mr. Pickens left and then Mrs. Atkins started to serve dinner.
