I Can Help You

"I know about you" Summer whispered, "I know what happened to your brother, your real brother"
Joey reeled backwards in shock as though he had been punched. How could anyone, Summer of all people, have found out? His first thought was for Jakob, what would happen to him if they were discovered?
"How... " he croaked
Summer took his hand.
"I can't tell you that Joey" she said sadly, "But I understand why you did it. I've lost a brother too"
His mind was spinning. For four years they'd hoped and prayed no one would ever find out who they were, or what they'd done. And now it was all over, it was too good to be true.
"I didn't do anything, it wasn't up to me" Joey said, "I was only eleven"
There was no point in denying it.
"Everyone thought you were dead" Summer told him, "There was a funeral and everything. I was crying when they showed it on the news, me and my mates loved your Dad's band."
That was something else Joey had hoped would never be unearthed. That his father, now known as Paul Cameron, had once been the most famous man on the planet. That his mother, now named Mia, had once been the envy of thousands of her husbands fans. That his brother Jakob should have been almost thirteen, not four. He looked at Summer, wordlessly begging her to say she was kidding.
"I'm not going to go to the papers Joey" she reassured him, "I promise I wont. Does Jakob know?"
It was such a stupid question. How on Earth could they have explained to him that he shouldn't even have been here? How do you explain cloning to a four year old?
"No" Joey answered, "We're not allowed to tell him"
For the first time, he realised it was raining, and that his school uniform was soaked through, and sticking to his skin. Summer didn't appear to have noticed either. Her flame red hair was hanging limply, makeup smeared down her face.
"Summer" Joey said, "You can't tell anyone, not even your sister, please"
She nodded solemnly, adjusting her schoolbag on her shoulder. They'd been friends since Joey had started at Kingston Private School, over four years before. She was the outsider of the class; somehow word had got out about her past. He was the new kid, they were a perfect match. Summer had confided in Joey, she'd told him how she'd moved to Kingston with her older sister, after her brother Max died. She'd told him about her Mum, and how nobody knew where she was. A nearly every day, he wished he could tell her about Jakob.
"I won't tell a soul" Summer said, "I know how risky it is"
'Risky', didn't come close to describing the enormous burden Joey, Billie and Adrienne had been carrying for four years. Dr Hill had made it clear from the beginning that no one else could know what they'd done.
"If you tell people about Jakob, mummy and daddy would be in a lot of trouble" he'd warned him.
Joey hadn't known what to say. He'd promised not to breathe a word that night. Then he'd been taken to a secret hospital underground to meet his brother. Again. No one had explained to him that what they'd done was illegal; they'd just expected Joey to accept what had happened and be grateful to have his brother back. Except Dr Hill.
Dr Hill explained things properly, even to Jakob.
"I need to go now" Joey said, snapping out of his thoughts, "I'll see you tomorrow Summer"

When he finally reached the house, water was dripping from his nose, and he was sure the jotters in his bag would be in less than perfect condition. A clean silver car sat outside, bringing Joey out of his dream world. How could he have forgotten? Dr Hill visited once every month, always on the eleventh. Jakob greatly looked forward to these visits, seeing the doctor as some kind of favourite uncle. The rest of the family, particularly Joey, were less enthusiastic. There was something very unsettling about the way the doctor's rodent-like eyes surveyed you over his half glasses. With a sickening feeling of dread, Joey pushed open the front door, stepping into the spotless hallway. Adrienne always made sure the house was tidy for Dr Hill's visits. Why, was a mystery to Joey. He was hardly going to snatch Jakob back if he spotted a cobweb in the corner.
"Afternoon" Dr Hill said, apparently not noticing how wet Joey was. That was nothing new, he had a habit of only taking note of things he considered important enough to bother about. Adrienne however, did a double take.
"Look at the carpet" she screeched, "And you'll have ruined those new trousers I bought last week"
For years, Joey had wished she was more like other mums. Since they'd had Jakob back she'd become unbelievably mumsy, and Joey wasn't sure he liked it. Billie Joe was different too. He never let Jakob, the new Jakob, out of his sight. Trudging upstairs, Joey heard snippets of the conversation in the lounge.
"No, he seems fine" his mother was saying, "It's just the sleep walking I'm worried about"
The sleep walking had been going on for a few weeks, and it terrified them. Jakob would wake, normally around two or three in the morning, and make his way into the bathroom. He would run a bath, with just freezing cold water, and sit in it, saying, "Harry was cold then" over and over. Joey could still remember the first time it happened. Adrienne had been screaming, insisting that they took him to a hospital. But they couldn't. Jakob wasn't like everybody else. He was, 'special' as Adrienne put it. 'Special' was such a loose description. When Joey had started school, in the days where his Dad was still famous, the teacher had introduced his as being special. But they'd described Kelsey, a blind girl, as special too. When someone is described as special, you might wonder if they have a disability, or have famous parents. You certainly never guess that they died at the age of eight, and were cloned and brought back to life by an eccentric doctor.
Joey felt incredibly guilty calling Dr Hill eccentric; after all he had given them Jakob back. Sometimes late at night, Joey would wonder what it would be like if Jakob never died. He would have been twelve, almost thirteen. They'd have been able to play computer games together, and sigh whenever Billie Joe pulled one of his daft stunts. Instead, he was throwing temper tantrums, and wailing if anyone touched his teddies. Feeling very alone, Joey lifted a heavy textbook from his back. Normally he was a good student, but that night he just wasn't in the mood for homework. Throwing the book onto the floor, Joey listened for the sound of the door opening and shutting, then a car starting.
When it finally came, he raced downstairs.
"Pizza all right for tea?" Adrienne asked
Nodding, Joey slid into a chair beside his brother. He looked exactly the same.
"Hey" Joey whispered, "You all right?"
Jakob, who was busy making two toy trains crash into each other, ignored him. The trains banged, a horrid scratching, scraping sound, making them all wince.
"Don't do that Jakob" Adrienne said sharply.
Apart from suffering migraines, there was another reason she didn't like Jakob's game. For that was how it happened. A train crash. Joey still had the ugly scars running down his back.
"No" Jakob retorted, continuing to bang the trains together. Generally he got everything he wanted, probably because Adrienne hadn't got over how lucky she was to have been given a second chance. Bt this time, he'd gone to far. And he didn't even know why.
"Jakob" Adrienne said gently, "Please stop it"
This time he obeyed, and Joey almost fell out of his seat. When he refused to do as he was told, he received a slap across the back of the head. But Jakob was only little. It was easy to forget that, since he should have been eight years older.

It had been the day after Joey's eleventh birthday, and Billie Joe had suggested they all go shopping. And that was the moment the whole nightmare started. That was the day he'd lost his brother. That was the day they'd met Dr Hill.

And that was the day his whole life changed.