"I think you're fucking crazy." Kai crossed his arms across his chest looking at Hawthorne. He sighed. "Don't you think that at some point in the last 17 years someone would've told you something. Or one of us overhear something."
"I don't know, man." Hawthorne laid back into Kai's bed. Kai's room was just down the hall from his own, so he spent a majority of his time there. Uncle Patrick, uncle Luke, and Kai had always lived with Hawthorne's family. "I can't get it out of my head."
"You shouldn't be entertaining it at all, Thorne. How on earth could you have a different dad? Eli is Rose's dad, no doubt. You'd be crazy to doubt that. And last I checked, she's your twin. Case fucking closed, dude."
Hawthorne let his hands fall onto his face. "I hear you, I do. I really do. But I can't help but think about it. What if, in some weird world, it's true?"
"It's not." Kai's famous 'and that's final' voice. Hawthorne swore he sounded like a parent sometimes.
"What if we just Google it? Hm? If this dude really did get killed, it'd be in the news, right?"
Kai let out a huff. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?" Hawthorne shook his head, sitting up to look at Kai from where he sat in his computer chair. "Fine. What do you want me to look up?"
"Just google the area and his name. Kayson. That can't be too common a name, right?" He scrambled to the end of the bed so he could see Kai's computer screen.
"Well it certainly isn't Hawthorne." Kai chuckled at his own joke before typing in the words. It took a second before a news article came up.
LOCAL CRIMINAL KAYSON ROBBINSON FOUND DEAD
"Click that one."
The page opened to a picture of a cleaned crime scene. An alleyway decorated with caution police tape. It looked more like a stock photo than an actual place someone died. Hawthorne started reading the article as Kai scrolled down it.
Local criminal and gang leader Kayson Robbinson was found dead at 5:34 PM last Saturday. A young man came across the scene before reporting it to authorities. Coroners have ruled the death a murder. Police are considering this a gang related crime.
Hawthorne wasn't surprised to read what he was reading. Eli, Luke, and Patrick had told him watered down stories about their time in a gang. Everyone knew that particular area was crawling with gang activity. Hawthorne continued to read the article as it started to describe the type of activities that this man 'Kayson' had been involved in.
Robberies, assault, rape allegations, possible gang hits. Hawthorne was horrified. The more he read, the more he was praying that this guy wasn't his real dad. That whoever Sierra was looking for wasn't him. He didn't want this monster to even be a distant uncle, let alone a biological father. Hawthorne was mid panicking when Kai exclaimed, "Oh my god."
The screen showed a picture of a young man. He had broad shoulders, medium length blond hair, blue eyes. And a sharp, crooked nose. Hawthorne's nose.
"Dude. Listen to me. You're freaking out over nothing." Kai tried to reason.
"That's my nose. That man has the same nose as me. You know, Kai, the nose that no one else in my family has!"
"It's just a coincidence, Thorne. You're looking for things, okay? Your mind is making it up because it thinks it's going to be there."
"I'm freaking out here, Kai." Hawthorne tried to slow his breathing.
"Take a few deep breaths. In and out, okay?" Kai moved to sit next to him on the bed. "This doesn't mean anything. We never should've read that article. All it's going to do is make your mind run."
YOU ARE READING
Knowing Our Truth
Teen FictionHawthorne Long thought he knew all there was to know about his life. He had two dads, a twin sister, and plenty of friends. He had no reason to question his family. Until a random girl comes up to him and gives him news that will completely change h...
