Voices continued as they gave themselves instructions on where to search and where not to. "But is there such a thing as 'you do not have to search that area'?" No one would hide in the dirt just to save his head. Isn't that the real place you should search for?
"For f**king sake, I can't be the only one arrested on the street!"I continued to stare at the dumpster. None of the police had gone near it. Silly heads. They were looking into different houses and stores around."Why won't these blockheads just open the dumpsters, search the trash bags, and go into the silent corners of the bridge? These are real hideouts for the people living on the street.""Let's go! We will come back another day!"Two police officers got into the patrol car. But the patrol car was not the only car the police brought to the street. There was also a black van behind the patrol car, and over five officers jumped right back into it.The car started, and the police officer who was in the driver's seat reached into the car’s locker and brought out a doughnut to eat. The one right next to him was no different. He held a soft drink in his hand and a hotdog roll that looked golden brown, with a slightly crispy exterior.Who would torture a child with the aroma of a hint of yeast and butter? "My God, it also has the smoky aroma of being grilled or overcooked in an open flame. Just the way I dreamed it to be every day."I have watched many vendors prepare it openly and sell it to many customers, but I have never had a taste of it. Even so, the aroma was so enticing that I could describe it if someone woke me from sleep, no matter what time of the day or night it was.I swallowed my saliva as my stomach rumbled with hunger. I watched them from the back seat, opening my mouth each time they took a bite and swallowing each time they did. But no one cared for me. No wonder their stomachs grew out of their body, popping out like a man suffering from kwashiorkor."Stupid fowls, old things!" I exclaimed."Mind what you say. I do not want to hear your breath talk, let alone your voice," the other officer in the driver's seat said.The car moved, and we arrived at the police station. The police officer got down and opened the door of the backseat. He pulled me out, held my neck, and pushed me forward as soon as my leg touched the ground.For a person in a dirty top, a tattered big shirt, and slippers, I could see their eyes judging me, but all of those things did not matter. Every other person who did not live on the street judged me the same way.However, not everyone judged me negatively. Some felt empathy, and that was it. Empathy was the height of it all because it was more painful than when people judged you in a bad manner.Another lesson learned on the street: people will judge, and few will empathize, but no one would be ready to help. If you went too close to them, they screamed as if they had seen a ghost. If they had a bat in their hand, they'd hit you with it and not feel any remorse for what they did. They just want you out of their sight.The memories of this flashed before me. The eyes the police officers stared at me as soon as I set foot in the station reminded me of people who had empathized with me before, but they still flushed a bucket of dirty water in my face. "Go away!" they screamed."Name!" she raised her voice again with a hiss."Marcus!" I answered, staring around at the welcome of a new environment. I had already chosen my room: a separate corner that was designed with iron bars. As it appeared, it was the only place left for me after all."Parents?""Hey! Don't fucking waste my time here; I don't have any time for this.""You love the cell, huh?""Hey! Crampton! Lock him up. He won't talk!""Hey, Move it!" Another officer stood behind me. If I had waited before I stood to my feet, I could tell he was ready to push me to stand, but since I stood to my feet gently and walked by myself to the corner I had stared at before, he was lenient.I walked inside the cell, and even before I turned, the sudden sound of metallic clanging and the rattling of keys filled my ears as the cell door was pushed closed.I wondered what would happen from this moment on. Would they take me to jail? Would there be bullies there? Would the inmates there confront me for being new among them?Slowly, I sat on the floor and squeezed myself into a fold with my head buried in my knees.What came with this was a sudden memory of the first night I ran from the church to the street. A group of boys had come at me. At first, they stared at me, wondering what I looked like dressed up so cleanly among them.Of course, I was scared, like a little child should be, with heavy breath on my chest, rising and falling like the hills.They pushed me to the ground and..."Where is he?" I heard suddenly. "Marcus!" the male called. However, I did not recognize the voice."Who locked him in the cell? Get him out this instant," he instructed, showing his ID card."Hey, rise to your feet. Let's go!" the man said to me from a little distance from the office to the cell. I could not quite recognize who it was, so I continued to look at him, wondering and trying to refresh my memory if I had seen him somewhere before. More questions about who he was, why he bailed me out of the cell, or how he knew they arrested me struck my mind. Anyway, it was nice that some stranger came to my aid, and I could come out of the cell without being taken to jail. That was a good feeling. The same way the metal clanged, and the key rattled before, it did again, and the cell's iron door was opened. Quickly, I rose to my feet. If not for anything else, it was because I felt they could change their mind somewhat, and I wouldn't want that to happen. "How are you?" The smile on the man's face showed he knew me before. But where? And why was he being so nice to me? "Who are you, sir?" I asked, raising my eyes before I could gaze at his face since I was standing nea
As soon as Mr. Harry Rice finished talking, my stomach began to rumble. He looked at me with a little smile on his face. If that was the case for me, it was a lie. I felt so empty inside, and I took my hands to rub my stomach, like a pregnant woman would."Seems like someone really needs food. I know a restaurant. I will take you there," he said.His words surprised me. No one had been this generous to me before, let alone offered to take me to eat well, except for Andrew, who had stolen for me as well. If only he had not used me as a device to save his head when things went wrong, I would have been grateful until the day I die.Mr. Harry Rice got out of the car, as he was sitting in the back seat, and came back in because he was now in the driver's seat."Hold on," he said.He kicked the car, and the engine roared to life. The music started, and he turned the steering wheel to the right, coming out of the queue he had parked in.As he drove, he grooved to the music, singing loudly at
"Yes, We must research to locate your father's inheritance for you. I heard they locked it away so that no one but you could find it. So we are going to need help. Eat up now! That is for later," Mr Harry Rice said.The server brought two plates of something creamy and cheesy, with a soft and slightly chewy texture from the pasta. They served it along with vegetables, bread, and meat.Though I was too hungry, I waited to understand what cheesy and creamy food they brought for us to eat, and I stared at it strangely.Mr Harry Rice understood this, and so he smiled again even after taking two or three bites of his food. "You don't like macaroni and cheese?" he asked softly, almost calling on the server to change the food.But who does not like macaroni and cheese? I have heard rumors about it from the others in the street who have snuck into some restaurant's kitchen and stolen macaroni and cheese.They said it was such a delicious meal that you would almost bite your fingers if care w
As she took my hands and led me into another section of the boutique, which was hidden behind a curtain, the number of clothes I saw on the racks amazed me. "Do you like it?" the staff asked. How could I not like what I saw? She need not have asked because my face showed it all. "I love it all!" I exclaimed. "Good!" she said as she hurried her steps towards a rack and brought out a cloth. "Try this on." She handed the cloth to me. As I received the cloth, my worries about my stained hands dirtying the fabric vanished, and I felt the texture of a new cloth in my hand. I felt complete contentment and immense joy inside me, and I did not fail to express it again. "You can go into the changing room and let's see how you look in them. Right?" The staff said it again with a smile. I knew that was a good idea, even though I said nothing back in response at the moment she said it to me but only smiled. Quickly, I looked from side to side, front to back, and I could see nowhere that look
My legs froze in great panic. For over one, two, and three minutes, I saw no way to help Mr. Harry avoid being implicated in a crime he did not commit if the police arrived. A lesson I learned on the street was never to get involved and only watch from a distance, even if the victims were my friends. If they implicated you in a crime, you could never get out of it."C'mon, to the car!" Suddenly, Mr. Harry's voice interrupted me, and I looked at him with conscious eyes as he carried the driver, who was slumped in the car."Open the door and get in."I opened the door, and Mr. Harry yelled from afar, rushing towards his car. People who had gathered around the car and the building it had crashed into were trying to help the other victims. However, no one was coming together with Mr. Harry, which gave me some solace.As Mr. Harry got to the car, he immediately placed the slumped driver in the back seat, and I had left the door open for him. He said nothing at this moment, but he closed th
"It's been a while since we had a reason to come here, Harry," said the slumped driver. "A while indeed, William," replied Mr. Harry. "Do you think the engine will still start?" the slumped driver asked. "It will. I am sure of that. The others should be close," Mr. Harry assured him. I overheard this conversation between Mr. Harry and the slumped driver as I turned to look at them from the closed staircases. I was still frightened and terrified, wondering what I was doing there with them. The slumped driver brought out a flashlight as the light in the underground suddenly turned off when the staircase closed up. Mr. Harry also brought out his flashlight, and they began walking. As they walked, they talked about me and how sure they were that I was the last heir of the Taylor family. However, what they said about me did not matter. What mattered was the persistent question they failed to answer about where we were and where they were taking me. I followed quickly behind them as
These people were all wearing the same thing, like it was some kind of uniform. They were all putting on black leather jackets and black jeans with some kind of British boots. They looked suspiciously like they were some kind of criminals.When they walked in, all they did was walk toward the slumped driver and Mr. Harry. They all exchanged hugs and handshakes, and when they were done, one of the five checked me out strangely from head to toe, as if I were some kind of strange creature."Is he who you talked about?" one of the five asked, turning to Mr. Harry.But Mr. Harry did not say any words. He answered with a nod, and that was it. "He doesn't look like his father then," the same person of the five said. Then the others looked at me, except the last of them, particularly a lady who blew her gum in my face and walked away.When they all walked past me, I saw they were carrying a backpack behind them, and in that manner, they took their hands and their mouths and dusted and blew al
"It is a map of his inheritance," Ethan announced again, typing on the system without looking up. However, Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks stood up, while Mr. William remained seated.Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks walked up to the screen while I watched from behind Ethan."The inheritance has been hidden in different locations around the world," Ethan announced."Specifically, in five given locations," Samantha said.Ethan and Samantha's words confused me, and I couldn't help but wonder why my father had kept his inheritance a secret in different locations."There is some footage here. Should I play it?" Ethan asked."Play it," Harry instructed, and I saw him stand more upright and look into the screen with more attention.I stepped closer to Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks as the footage played. Mr. William also rose to his feet, and we stood together.At first, there was no sound coming from the black and white footage, and it suddenly looked pixelated. I focused on the screen and listened."Hold on.
Suddenly, out of my blank state, my eyelids fluttered slowly. Awareness crept back into my senses. A deep breath escaped my lips, and with each inhale, life returned like the first rays of dawn breaking through the darkness. Finally, my eyes opened, and I blinked at the world's brightness.The weather seemed cold and unforgiving, with a biting wind that cut through layers of clothing like a sharp blade.As soon as I groaned in agony, attempting to sit upright, the first person my eyes peered at was Samantha."We thought you were dead!" she said."Welcome to a new day. Now, get ready for training," she said again."But training? I was barely getting better," I thought. As if the others heard my thoughts, my eyes peered at them, who were right in the right corner adjacent to Samantha in the left corner in the same tent with me. I saw them shrug their shoulders and raise their hands like they were unconcerned about my health."Get up now, Mr. Marcus. Get to training. Your father's enemie
I did not flinch, nor did my feet tremble with fear. Just like before, I knew the gun was empty because I was the one who assembled it, and I did not see where I had inserted the bullets. "Why are you not flinching?” Samantha asked, and with that, I replied, "Because there is no bullet in the weapon in your hand.” I answered, showing perfect confidence on my face. "Oh! Really?" Samantha asked. "How about now?” She said this as she now, indeed, right in front of my eyes, inserted some bullets into the gun and pulled the safety off. "I ask, how about now?" My heart was racing right at this moment; however, I did not show it. For some reason, I knew very well that Samantha was never going to shoot me. I did not respond but continued to breathe heavily, with my face swollen like a frowning child. Either way, it did not mean Samantha was not going to ask another question. "Are you the son of your father?” She asked. However, if I said anything, it would be a lie. A perfect silence ami
How Samantha said, "If I were indeed the son of my father, I would assemble the gun back," made me furrow my brows in deep seriousness as I immediately began to disassemble the gun, noticing each piece I had disassembled and capturing it in my mind as if a camera had snapped it and stored it in a hidden place to be used later.I said nothing at this moment, and certainly, Samantha said nothing to me either. Even so, she stood closer to me and picked up one of the pistols from the sandy patches, then proceeded to load it with bullets.With both hands, she held the pistols in her grip, closed one eye, and aimed at a distant target."Pa! Pa! Pa!"She fired three times, and the sound of the pistol was deafening. However, when I looked to see what Samantha had shot, I realized it was all a ruse.Nevertheless, I said nothing and continued with what I was disassembling and assembling as instructed by Samantha. At this moment, Mr. Harry's voice called my attention."That's some excellent targ
"Is she insane? How could she tell me to pull the trigger on her? Does she want me to kill her all in the name of training?" I thought, and hence, I refused, saying, "I can't."Hearing what I said, Samantha's face grew colder as she said, "In the act of war, it is a game of being the first. When your enemy refuses to shoot, you hit him in the head with a bullet."Now Samantha came closer to me and pointed the gun at her head. She looked at me and said once more, "Now f**king pull the trigger!"At this moment, my legs trembled in great fear, and I could not even fathom what Samantha was thinking."Does she really mean I should kill her?"My hands began to shake simultaneously like leaves in the wind, trembling under the action Samantha had portrayed.Slowly, while I expected Mr. Harry and the others from a distance to see the insanity Samantha had asked me to do, I looked at Mr. Harry and the others, and what they did and said at this moment surprised me."Such a feeble-minded street b
Coming out of the tent, I wore a breathable, lightweight shirt, as it was the only shirt provided in the tent. Then I put on athletic shoes with good support and cushioning. I also wore a light jacket and a head cap that lowered to my forehead.Seeing this, Samantha walked towards me immediately. I could see how she smiled at me and led me towards the sandy patches.As I walked with Samantha, the way she approached me and smiled at me made it clear that my claim of not being nervous was a lie. I turned my head around in search of Ethan, who might emerge from the tent he had entered at any moment.Meanwhile, the others were with Mr. Harry by the crates. They opened each crate, selecting weapons and loading them with bullets.I quickly wondered why they were doing this, considering that Mr. Harry had asked Samantha to train me specifically. Suppressing my question wasn't an option at this point, so I directed it to Samantha."Why are they loading bullets into each gun and strapping them
Before I knew it, we had already arrived at a location different from the bushes Mr. Harry had driven through. This area had tall rocks surrounding it and a small pond of water that seemed to lead nowhere, visible from the car we had yet to step out of.As I gazed around, I noticed in the distance to the right a formation that provided both a sense of containment and a touch of rugged beauty.In this way, the tall rocks acted as protective barriers, enclosing the training area in a secure embrace.Additionally, I observed that the landscape within was a combination of sandy patches and compacted earth, with clear demarcations indicating designated firing zones and pathways.At the center of the training ground, a wide and well-maintained firing range was set up. The range featured a row of target boards at varying distances, allowing participants to practice their marksmanship skills effectively.Upon exiting the car, Mr. Harry and I walked towards the sandy patches. I saw a sturdy wo
In this way, I heard the car tires screech so hard, like a whistle that signaled the end of the world. With this, the fear gripping me was tighter than when any gang leader had grabbed any kid by the neck on the street.Immediately, I heard Mr. Harry's voice again. "Hit the brake, son, and turn the wheel left so the car doesn't flip completely like a tossed coin."As if I understood what Mr. Harry had said at this moment, I did what I thought he said, hitting the pedal beside the accelerator and turning the steering wheel to the left.Suddenly, I saw that the car halted and smoke began to spread from inside the car and, hence, out of the car window."You are such a terrible driver, Mr. Marcus, but thank you for not killing us," Darling said.I began to sweat profusely suddenly, like a racer who did all he could yet came last on the track, as the whole scenario felt as if I had seen death face-to-face, and my heartbeat was heavy like a mythical hammer pounding so greatly inside the mor
Driving a car for the first time was a mix of immense fun and an undeniable risk to life.Every time I turned the wheel, either I had turned it too much, nearly colliding with a car beside me on the road, or I had turned it too little, causing the car to deviate from my intended direction.Throughout this, Mr. Harry continued to chuckle, playfully teasing me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. In that moment, I couldn't help but wonder how he remained so relaxed, akin to a king on his throne, despite being aware of the potential danger. So I inquired,"Mr. Harry, how can you sit so comfortably while you know I'm driving poorly?""You're not driving poorly, son. In fact, for a first-timer, you've done quite well to avoid colliding with other cars or walls. You've performed better than I did during my first drive," Mr. Harry responded, leaving me perplexed as to why he had laughed earlier if he thought I was doing a good job."So why did you laugh, Mr. Harry?"Once more, upon posing t
But how did Mr. Harry expect that I would be able to start the car when all I have done all my life is be on the street and beg for alms to feed me for the day?Did he also not recall that he was the one who, in fact, taught me how to open a car door?"But Mr. Harry, I do not know how I am going to start this vehicle," I said, immediately after I had stared at the steering wheels for a while and could not figure out how to start the car at all.Hence, Mr. Harry said, "Hey darling,"And immediately, the voice from the car answered, "Hey Harry, what can I do for you?""Our friend here, Mr. Marcus, does not know how he is going to start this vehicle. Could you help him figure it out?" Mr. Harry asked at once."Of course, Harry, I can certainly do that," the voice answered, and she immediately continued talking."Hi, Mr. Marcus. If you want to start this vehicle, it is very easy because it is fully automated. So, don't worry about a thing. I will surely be of help until we arrive at our d