"Jake. Jake." Noah shook me a little. "Come on. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay."
"How?" I asked, not lifting my head out of my sweatshirt. "How could everything possibly be okay?" My dad was dead. Is dead. "He's gone, Noah. I've spent a decade hating this man for abandoning me, and now, and now I don't get answers." The tears wouldn't stop.
I'm just like Mr. Atkins. This is what he meant when he wished his dad was still around. Not to curse at him, but for closure. I'm sure he had so many unanswered questions and now I'm the same.
"Jake, I can't say I know how you feel." Noah patted my shoulder. "And it feels a little wrong to say this, but, on the bright side, Mom and Dad can adopt you freely now. You're free. Your Mom is locked up and your dad isn't around. Isn't this what you wanted?"
