Andy lived in the same town as Jake but he was a little further away from them. He lived about half an hour away from their house. He lived there five years ago and Jake could only hope that maybe he still lived there with his family.
Using his house as the starting point he started walking in the direction he thought was right. He found his house using the same strategy did he not? Then he should be able to find Andy's house as well. It might take him a few mistaken turns along the way but surely he would find the house. With this hope and plan in his mind, he set off.
Last time it took him roughly two hours to find his house which was not a bad time considering, this time however it had been four hours and he still had not found the right one. He thought he will make a few wrong turns in his search but he took a whole lot more. He thought his memory was not so bad last time but this time he was cursing it.
'Why the hell can I not find his house? I am pretty sure I remember it all the way till here but I am getting confused still.' Jake was standing in the middle of the street looking around the houses until finally, his eyes landed on the right one.
'There it is, finally. That took a lot more time than I thought it would. I hope you are still here Andy, please don't disappoint me.'
He walked up to the house and stood in front of the door. This was the same situation as the last time, he just hoped this time would be better than the last. He heaved a sigh and pressed the doorbell. Although he pressed it there was no sound so he pressed it again. Still nothing, he waited for a second and then knocked on the door.
Usually, the wait before someone opens the door for you is a few moments worth, this time however it felt like an hour. Someone came to the door and with a clunk the door opened. The face of a young girl peered through as her eyes tried to identify Jake. She was about fifteen to sixteen years old. He did not recognize her again but there was a sense of familiarity that was tugging at him in the back of his mind.
He did not want to accuse this sweet girl of being his daughter again. It did not go well the last time and it was not like he would accuse every girl of being his daughter until he found the right one. This time he waited for the girl to speak so he could ask her.
"Yes? Who are you?" The girl peeked through the door to look at the stranger standing on her doorstep.
"Hello! I am sorry to bother you so early in the morning but I am looking for someone. Andy Bernard, He is an old friend of mine, he used to live here with his family some time ago. I am not sure how long ago it might have been, maybe three to four years ago. Does he still live here or do you know where he might be living right now?"
The girl looked at Jake and closed the door halfway. She was wary of Jake for some reason. Not before but only after he introduced himself, which was a little weird. Jake was not sure what it was but she was definitely wary of him.
"Yes this is Andy Bernard's house but who are you supposed to be? You are not his friend, if you were my dad's friend then I would know you. He doesn't have many friends nowadays. What do you want with him?" The girl closes the door even more as she becomes suspicious if he really is a friend of Andy's.
Jake's ears perked up when he heard the word Dad escape from the girl's mouth. It was like a forgotten piece finally fit perfectly into the puzzle giving him the full picture. He realized why the girl looked so familiar to him. Now that he heard her call Andy, dad, he realized this girl was Andy's daughter, Alice.
The little Alice who with Ellen used to run around the house calling him Uncle Jaykay. She had grown up a lot since the last time he saw her when she was 9. Because of that, he did not instantly recognize her, rather she seemed familiar.
"Alice? Are you Alice? Little Alice!?"
"Yes, I am Alice. How do you know my name? Wait who are you? Are you a loan shark?"
'How does this man know my name? He cannot be Dad's friend, I know all of them. Is he one of the loan sharks or someone sent by them?'
Although Alice got a little scared not knowing who this man might be, still it made her feel a little nostalgic to hear someone call her little Alice. The only one that ever called her that was her uncle. Alice snapped out of her thought as she got a little scared and tried to close the door but she could not. Jake opened the door with force and grabbed her. He grabbed her by her waist and picked her up in the air.
"Alice! Oh, little Alice it is so good to see you. You have no idea how happy I am to see you like this, all grown up. You used to be so little and now look at you, you are so big that I can hardly pick you up haha."
Jake was happily tossing her in the air as he was laughing. He was really happy to see her. So happy in fact that he forgot that Alice was no longer a little girl and that she might be uncomfortable being tossed into the air like this.
"No! Stop! Let me go you weirdo, I don't know you. Dad! Dad! Help me Dad some weirdo is trying to kidnap me." She was scared for her life right now. She had no idea who this man was or why was he laughing as he held her over his head.
When Alice screamed for help was when Jake realized how Alice might be feeling right now. She was scared of him so much that she was asking for help. She was calling for her father which meant that Andy was also there. But he should probably clear any misunderstanding of him being a kidnapper. He gently put her down and explained to her that there was no reason to be scared.
"Weirdo! No no, I am not a weirdo or a kidnapper. I am your uncle Jake, Ellens's father, don't you remember me? You and Ellen used to dangle from my arms when you were little kids. Have you really forgotten me?"
"I don't know who you are mister and I am not little. You cannot be Ellen's father because he is dead. Just leave right now or my father will come and you don't want to see him when he is angry. Just leave!"
Alice wanted to close the door but Jake was already inside and it was not like she could push him out physically. All she could do was try and scare him away, which did not work. Right then the man pretending to be her dead uncle raised his hand towards her, fearing that he might hurt her she closed her eyes as there was nothing else she could possibly do. She flinched when he did touch her, instead of hurting her he patted her head gently.
"Don't worry Alice, I mean you no harm and never will. I only called you 'little' because that's what I used to call you the last time I saw you. I am your Uncle Jake and even if you cannot believe me please answer my question. Your friend Ellen and your aunt Sylvia... Are they... Are they alive? Are they ok? Where are they? Where are my girls, Alice?"
Alice had thought about a lot of ways this interaction would go and of all of those ways she could imagine, which were pretty bad involving kidnapping, the opposite was happening right now. Other than the initial excitement, this man was rather gentle. He only wanted to know if Ellen and Aunt were alive. That would mean that he had not seen them in a long time. All the signs were pointing toward the same feelings that were starting to bubble in her mind.
'Can it really be? Is he really Uncle Jake? Even if he is not, the least I could do was just confirm that they are alive.'
"Yes, they are alive and they are fine."
'They are alive and they are fine' These words hit Jake like a truck slamming into him. The relief that took over his body and the smile that crept on his face was liberating. So much so that even Alice was surprised by the genuine smile of happiness and relief on his face. He wanted to revel in that feeling and ask Alice a whole lot more questions but they were interrupted by an angry shout coming from inside the house.
"You damn bastard! Let my daughter go right now or I will break every bone in your body."
Jake heard a shout from inside the house and he stopped questioning Alice. It had been ages since he last heard this voice, especially when it was angry. He had not heard this nostalgic tone in over twenty years. This pissed-off voice definitely belonged to his friend Andy.
"You let my daughter go you son of a bitch!"
Jake looked towards the entrance waiting for his friend to appear. It has been so long that his friend must have changed a lot. Little Alice was not so little anymore then Andy must have changed a lot. What if he aged horribly over the years or what if he got fat? Fat and round Andy, Jake could laugh just imagining such a picture.
He was just imagining Andy running out of the house with a baseball bat in his hand to save his daughter. This was something that he would always do. Whenever he got angry he would grab the nearest thing to him and would get ready to fight. If he had to leave his house he would always grab his handy Baseball bat.
'I bet he still carries a baseball bat with him when he is angry.'
He was looking forward to seeing his friend so much, he was really excited. He had been thinking about the worst-case scenarios from the moment he came here. He was just so happy that the best scenario was what was happening.
He had stopped expecting the worst for just a moment to be happy. Just a small moment of reprieve that was granted after suffering for so long. Maybe that is why he was caught unguarded and his heart broke when he finally saw his friend.