Mind Gap

by Marina Cohen

  “What’s wrong?” asked his father.

  Jake did an about-face, racing back toward his apartment building. “Move!” he yelled over his shoulder.

  New hope coursed through his veins. I can stop this! I can get to Drew before he leaves the apartment.

  Jake yanked out his keys and opened the lobby door. He turned toward his father, who had been following him, and held a hand to his chest.

  “You can’t go up. It will be too confusing. When I know Drew’s safe, I’ll explain everything.” He let the door swing shut and bolted toward the elevators. Jake punched the buttons several times. The doors opened, and Jake stepped inside.

  He hit number seven, then suddenly remembered the faulty wiring. Jake jumped off the elevator just in time. The doors closed and the car left without him. He raced toward the stairwell and charged up flight after flight until he burst through the metal door on the seventh floor.

  Jake stood panting in front of his apartment. The door swung open, and his mother pounced on him. She flung her arms around Jake as if she wanted to hug him and strangle him at the same time.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick! I swear, Jake, this time you’ve gone too far!” Her voice trembled with a mixture of rage and relief.

  Jake thought his heart would explode as he squeezed her as tightly as he possibly could, trying to string his thoughts together. “You have no idea … I’ll never … not ever … I swear, this time … You have to believe me …”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. She pressed him into her chest. “Don’t leave like that again, Jake. Don’t ever …” The rest of her sentence was swallowed by incomprehensible sobs.

  Jake wanted to hold her forever, but he had to talk to Drew first. He gently pushed her away and began to walk toward the living room.

  “Where’s Drew? I need to talk to him. Did you get my message?”

  “What message?” she asked.

  Jake froze. “Drew,” he gasped. “Where is he?”

  “You just missed him,” his mother said. “He left a few minutes ago. He said something about meeting Cole and finding you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Jake could hear his mother calling behind him, but there was no time to explain — he hadn’t a second to lose. He had sent the elevator up to the seventh floor. Drew must have taken it down. They’d just missed each other.

  His mind scrambled faster than his feet. He sprinted toward the front door where his father stood waiting all alone. Drew had slipped past him. He hadn’t recognized his own son. The last time his father had seen Drew he was a baby.

  A young woman walked by Jake’s father and entered the building.

  For some reason Jake stood there watching the woman push the button and step calmly into the elevator. Jake blinked. And in that second he saw the elevator engulfed in flames and the woman screaming inside.

  That’s her! That’s the woman. She’s going to die!

  Jake didn’t know which way to turn. He had to get to Drew. He was already late. It was almost one. He might even be too late, but he had to try. At the same time he couldn’t just let this woman die.

  Then, as if emerging from a dream, he heard Short-Shorts’ voice echoing around him. “Decisions … Decisions …”

  Jake swiped at the air and sprang into action.

  “Get off!” he yelled, lunging at the elevator and jamming his arm between the doors. “You have to get off! There’s something wrong with the wiring!”

  “Wiring?” said Mr. Borrelli, appearing behind Jake. “What are you talking about?”

  “There’s no time to explain. You just have to trust me, Mr. B. The elevator’s broken — you need to shut it down. Now!”

  The woman stepped off, looking shocked and confused. Mr. Borrelli shook his head and stepped into it himself.

  “Mr. B, you have to get off!” cried Jake. He grabbed the man’s arm and pulled. “Look at me. I wouldn’t say this if it wasn’t true. You have to trust me.”

  Mr. Borrelli stared at Jake. There must have been something in his eyes that convinced the old man. “Okay, Jake,” he said, hitting the emergency stop button. “I’ll get a sign and call for service.”

  Relief rippled through Jake. He had done it. He had saved that woman. And Mr. B. He had made a change. Short-Shorts was wrong. Jake did have the power to alter the future!

  He exited the building and snatched his father’s arm. “Did you see him? Did you see Drew pass by?”

  “I … I saw a young kid, but I didn’t know it was him.”

  “He’s gone to the coffee shop!” shouted Jake, letting go of his father and running as fast as his legs could carry him. “I can still make it! There’s still time!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Jake tore open the door to the coffee shop. Drew sat across from Cole at a booth near the back. A brown paper bag lay on the table between them. He flew toward his brother screaming, “Drew, get away from him!”

  Drew turned around, his eyes wide with shock and relief. “Jake!”

  Cole stood up and put his hand on the bag. “Nice of you to decide to show,” he said coldly.

  “And what were you going to do if I hadn’t?” said Jake, hauling Drew to his feet. He tucked his little brother in behind him and squared off against Cole. “Use Drew? He’s only ten years old, Cole. What kind of sick person are you?”

  Cole took his hand off the bag and pointed an accusing finger at Jake. “You stood me up at the party, and you were going to stand me up today —”

  Jake reacted with lightning speed. He snatched the paper bag and held it high in the air. “Is this it, Cole? Is this what’s so important to you? More important than me? More important than my kid brother?”

  “You’d better give that back if you wanna stay healthy,” Cole said.

  Jake looked at the guy he’d called his best friend for nearly four years. He didn’t know him. He was a complete stranger. Cole’s eyes were glazed over. His hands were shaking. He had sunken deeper into all the 5 Kings had to offer — much deeper than Jake had realized.

  “You need some serious help, man,” said Jake. “I’m taking this to the cops.”

  Rage spread like wildfire across Cole’s cheeks. Then it happened — so fast and so slow at the same time. The world around Jake evaporated.

  Cole reached into the back of his pants, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at Jake. “Gimme the bag.”

  Chaos erupted. Gasps and screams sliced through the white noise. Chairs scraped across the cheap floor as the other customers dived for cover. Drew sobbed behind Jake, pressing into the small of his brother’s back.

  Jake summoned whatever courage he had left. “No,” he said firmly. He started to back up, inch by inch, keeping Drew safely tucked behind him. “Put it down, Cole. We can all walk away from this.”

  Cole’s eyes flashed white-hot. “It’s too late. I’m in too deep. I owe Vlad more money than I’ll ever make in my whole life. He’ll cut me loose if I do this favour for him. If I screw up, I’m fish food. I’d rather take my chances in juvie.”

  In the distance Jake could hear sirens approaching, but the noise was faint — they were too far away.

  “You’re fooling yourself,” said Jake, trying to buy some time. “They’ll never cut you loose, Cole. Not ever.”

  “Give me the freakin’ bag!” screamed Cole. “Or I’ll … I’ll …”

  “What? You’ll shoot me?” Jake kept backing up, slowly, carefully, as if he were walking on daggers. He was partway to the door.

  The gun quaked in Cole’s grasp. Sweat streamed down his cheeks in tiny rivulets.

  “Come on, Cole,” Jake said. “You’re not like them. You’re no killer. You won’t pull that trigger.”

  Cole’s hands were sh
aking so hard that Jake was sure the gun would slip from his hands.

  “Come on, man,” repeated Jake.

  Cole stared at Jake for the longest time, the ice in his eyes beginning to melt. Then, slowly, deliberately, he lowered the weapon.

  Relief loosened the noose around Jake’s neck. He could breathe again. “I knew you wouldn’t do it,” he whispered.

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  Cole’s eyes flashed with a hatred and rage so fierce in that instant that he looked more animal than human. In the same moment Drew stepped out from behind Jake.

  “Get back!” Jake screamed, reaching for his brother.

  Cole raised the gun and aimed. Jake watched in paralyzed horror as Cole’s fingers squeezed the trigger. Jake dived in front of his brother and shut his eyes. He heard the shot ring out and waited for the impact …

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  The pain didn’t come. Opening his eyes, Jake felt his chest. There was no hole there. No blood. He could hear his brother sobbing nearby. They were both alive.

  Jake glanced down. Lying motionless on the floor in a sea of blood between him and Cole was his father. Cole was wide-eyed, still holding the gun, when the police stormed into the coffee shop. He dropped it, and it landed on the floor next to Jake’s father. The police converged on Cole in a flash, knocking him to the ground and pinning him.

  Jake scrambled to his father’s side, taking his hand.

  “No, Dad,” he whispered. “I can’t lose you again.” His father squeezed his hand once and then it went limp. “Help!” Jake cried. “Help, someone! Get an ambulance!”

  The last words faded back into Jake’s throat.

  “Who are you talking to?” Drew asked, approaching Jake from behind.

  Jake looked up at the chaos around him. No one was taking any notice of his father.

  “I shot him!” Cole yelled. “I shot him straight in the heart!”

  The police cuffed Cole and were dragging him out of the coffee shop.

  “You saw me!” he shouted to everyone around him. “You saw me shoot him! Where’s the bullet? Where did the bullet go?”

  Jake searched the sea of faces. They were all staring at Jake. Then Jake glanced down at his father. Like smoke in the wind, his body started to fade until it disappeared altogether.

  Cole was still screaming when the door to the coffee shop closed. He was kicking and struggling. For a split second he managed to gaze back at Jake. Their eyes locked for a second, and in that instant the coffee shop melted away and Jake was standing on the train one last time. The passengers, now nothing more than wraithlike creatures, hovered in front of Jake. They split like a curtain and drifted apart. For the first time Jake got a clear look at the lone figure sitting at the back of the subway. The figure turned to face Jake.

  It was Cole. He had been riding that train all along.

  Something grabbed Jake, dragging him out of his trance. He was back in the coffee shop again. Drew was hugging him and crying.

  They were safe — both of them. Jake had made the change. He’d made it when he first stepped onto that subway.

  As the two brothers stepped out of the coffee shop and into the bright light of day, Jake’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the text: Choices, choices. Decisions, decisions. Party’s waiting, Jake. Party’s waiting …

  Jake put an arm around his brother, flipped his phone shut, and tossed it into the trash.