Jaden Baker Read Online Free PDF Page A

anything.”
    Though she said his name with gentleness, he hesitated to ask. He wasn’t sure if he came with a thirty day warranty, and didn’t want to be returned to his group home. The Kauffmans were nice people—he was pretty sure.
    “Some people get arrested. I just wanted to know if you had.” Which was true.
    Derek rubbed his mustache between his thumb and fingers.
    “How about we play a game?” Derek said.
    Jaden fidgeted. “What kind of game?”
    “Twenty questions. We ask ten about you, you ask ten about us. We have to answer all the questions you ask, but you can pass.” Jenny smiled at her husband’s idea, and set down her reader.
    Not the worst idea in the world, even if it was juvenile. He hopped off the stool and sat on the edge of the couch, with Derek on the other end. Jaden nodded at him.
    “Okay,” Derek said contemplating the ceiling, trying to think of a first question. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked.
    Typical adult question, Jaden thought. Safe. One he rarely pondered. Most of his nine years concerned the present and escaping undesirable situations. Little time was spent thinking about the future, much less what he’d do with it. He liked a few things, like playing basketball, watching television, and reading as many books he could get his hands on. He could not think of a fitting career.
    “I don’t know yet,” he said. “I like basketball,” he offered instead.
    Derek smiled. “Me too.” He grinned over at his wife. “Next question goes to you.”
    He’d drop the big question later, if he needed. Best to stick with the general questions early on. “Okay,” he started, “why did you become a lawyer?”
    Derek smirked. “That’s what you want to know?”
    “Yes,” Jaden said. “People hate lawyers.”
    “Well, my father was a lawyer, and I like to argue and win. I wanted to help people get what they deserved.”
    “Money’s nice?” Jaden said, eying the big screen TV.
    Derek nodded. “I won’t complain. That’s two questions.”
    Jaden tried to hide his smile. “You are a lawyer.”
    “He’s good,” Jenny said.
    “Our turn. Jenny, you ask something.”
    “If you could be any animal, what would you be?” she asked.
    Very psychobabbly, Jaden thought. This question was designed to get into his head. If he said a bird, it meant he wanted to fly away from his problems. If he said a bear, it meant he felt weak and powerless. Every animal was symbolic, there was no getting around it, even if said he wanted to be a jellyfish.
    “A fox,” he replied.
    As expected: “Oh, they’re very sly and clever. Your turn.”
    Jaden stared at his hands, his stomach churning. All he could think of was asking the question. He had to know he wasn’t going back. Despite their silly, little game, Jaden knew they read his history, knew almost everything about him. Knew when, where, and whom he was born to, where he grew up, what landed him into the foster system. It was lopsided.
    “Which one of you can’t have a baby?” he asked.
    To his surprise, neither of them was surprised. They didn’t even look at each other to communicate telepathically. Jenny stared straight into Jaden’s eyes and answered truthfully.
    “I can’t. We can get into details later, after we’ve known each other longer, if you still want to know. Derek and I tried adopting a baby,” she continued, like maybe she did have telepathic powers, “but we got tired of waiting. We wanted our own family and we found you.”
    Jaden studied his hands again. His mouth was dry and there was a burning behind his eyes.
    “That’s what you really wanted to know?” Derek asked.
    Jaden nodded.
    “We wanted you, Jaden,” Jenny said. “We want you to be our little boy.”
    The words were kind ones; he felt something strange in his stomach. Not butterflies, more like stinging wasps. She meant what she said, but it didn’t feel real, not to him. The situation felt awkward.
    Perhaps the conflict