“It’s time for you to leave boy.”
A thirteen-year-old Will looked up to stare in disbelief at the old man. Mr. Jellen was an elderly fellow who had been running an orphanage in Michigan all by himself for almost twenty-five years. Today was the day he was finally releasing the boy who had been in his orphanage for nearly twelve years. Tears of joy stung Mr. Jellen’s eyes as he reached down to hug Little Willy.
“We have finally found a family that can appreciate you, my boy.”
Will did nothing as the man embraced him. It was legitimately unbelievable to Will. At his age, almost no one would want to adopt a child that was already nearing his teens. Will had been at this orphanage for as long as he could remember. Ever since his mother had apparently left him here, Will had grown up in the larger townhouse surrounded by other children that always came and went. None of them had ever stayed longer than a year. Unfortunately, this was not the case for Will. Families always streamed in, looking for their newest member; only to find them among the other children, leaving Will behind.
Mr. Jellen had always told him that it was just the luck of the other kids; that it wasn’t his fault. As the years passed, Will became more and more hopeless. He was well aware that the older he got, the lower his chances were of getting adopted. After year ten, Will had completely lost hope. He knew that it was basically impossible for a family to want a boy his age, so instead of focusing on getting adopted, Will began to spend all of his energy on the other children. He would comfort them, play with them, and clean up after them every day. At this point, he was basically acting as an assistant for Mr. Jellen. He was always trying his absolute best to be useful.
They won’t kick me out if I’m more useful than useless right?
Will repeated this question to himself almost every hour of every day since his ten-year anniversary. Although Mr. Jellen was a nice man, Will knew that he was getting old, and he spent so much time taking care of the kids that his source of income was barely enough to cover the growing costs of the orphanage. Lately, donations were the only thing really keeping the place alive. To make matters even worse, Will knew that he was literally and figuratively eating up the majority of the expenses.
As a growing teen boy, he had to eat a lot and he kept outgrowing the clothes that were given to him by Mr. Jellen. Regardless of these expenses, Mr. Jellen hadn’t stopped buying Will what he needed. He bought everything without complaint and always tried to act perfectly unfazed by the dwindling funds.
Despite the efforts of the old man, as well as Will’s personal mantra, the costs of him living at the orphanage were just growing. He had noticed that Mr. Jellen had stopped eating with all of the children during dinner. Will had also found out that the elderly man had begun to go out during the nights to beg on the street for more donations. Finally though, it all was coming to a close. The fact that a family had adopted Will meant that a large part of the orphanage’s expenditures would be gone.
Not to mention, a couple days ago, Mr. Jellen had received a call from his daughter, who sometimes dropped by the orphanage. Apparently, she would be coming to live at the orphanage soon to help out her father and the other kids. It was a huge turnaround for the old place. Will couldn’t be happier for Mr. Jellen or the kids that would be receiving another great caretaker.
A part of him was confused though. As the old man continued to tearfully embrace him, Will couldn’t stop thinking about the so-called family that wanted to adopt him.
I haven’t had an interview in years… Now someone wants to adopt me out of the blue?
Will softly patted the weeping man on the back until he was finally done.
“Um sir? Who wants to adopt me? How do they even know about me?”
Mr. Jellen pulled back while wiping his snotty nose.
“You remember my daughter, right? She apparently made a website awhile back with the information of a couple children. It seems like a family found out about you on there and wanted to adopt you right on the spot! Isn’t that wonderful, my boy! After long last, you can finally have a family of your own! They are actually coming today to finish the paperwork and pick you up! I’m so happy a family has finally seen what a wonderful boy you are!”
The man began to break out in tears again and Will had to guide him back to his room so he could calm down.
Hours later, Will found himself all packed up and standing outside the orphanage where a young couple was waiting near a grey minivan. The young man had slick black hair and hard brown eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket and light blue jeans with a pair of polished boots. He was quite tall as well. He not only towered over Mr. Jellen, but also the woman standing next to him.
The woman had bleached blonde hair and hazel eyes that looked kind of glossed over. She wore a bright sundress and had a large pair of square sunglasses sitting on her head. Will thought the two looked quite ordinary standing next to the bland minivan; just like a family you would find in a movie. The only thing they seemed to be missing was a small joyful child.
I guess that’s where I come in.
The couple put on identical smiles when they saw Will coming outside with his bag.
“It’s so nice to meet you Will! We are so excited to have you in our family!”
The woman in the sundress had an annoyingly squeaky voice. According to Mr. Jellen, her name was Kate Rivera. The man next to her, Greg Rivera, gave Will a small nod. Mr. Jellen and Will approached the couple, and the adults began to exchange words, seemingly crossing some T’s and dotting some I’s. Will looked over at the minivan while they talked.
Looks brand new, did they just get it before adopting me?
While Will continued to study the car, Mr. Jellen suddenly grabbed him in an embrace one more time.
“It seems that this might be the last time we see each other Little Willy. I am so grateful for all of the time we had together. Never forget that I love you my boy.”
It was Will’s turn to cry this time. All of the memories he had at the orphanage came crashing down, breaking the dam of tears Will had been unknowingly holding back. He tightly clung to the old man that had been his only source of care and love for the majority of his life.
“Look here Little Willy.”
The old codger lightly turned him to look back at the orphanage. Will was so overwhelmed with emotion that he didn’t care that Mr. Jellen used the nickname that would usually annoy him. All of the children currently staying at the orphanage were on the front porch, crying and waving as they watched their oldest brother get ready to leave. Snot and tears began to stream faster out of Will’s face as Mr. Jellen let him go to the children. Will practically sprinted over to the small crowd and threw himself into the wave of hugs and snot and tears.
Stolen novel; please report.
Mary the crybaby, Tommy the artist, even Claudia, the five-year-old, usually quiet girl, was now bawling in Will’s arms. So many more children continued to cling onto Will and wish him tearful farewells. After a good half hour of goodbyes, Will said his final farewell and climbed into the car where his new parents were waiting. As the newest family pulled away from the only place Will had ever called home, all of the members of the orphanage continued to wave until they finally faded out of view.
This was Will’s new start. Although he would desperately miss those at the orphanage, Will was finally becoming a normal boy that wouldn’t have to be a burden anymore.
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“Hurry up brat.”
The boy now known as Will Rivera began pulling weeds even faster. It had been five months since Will had been adopted and moved to Indiana. As soon as he had crossed state lines, his so called parents finally revealed their true colors.
Greg Rivera was not some normal dad who liked to wear leather jackets and act cool.
The real Greg was a tobacco addicted, tank top wearing, lazy cunt.
He was the owner of a local strip joint called “Glossy Gurls” that had a basement that made some sort of small brown crystals people went wild for.
Kate Rivera was not some sundress wearing minivan mom either.
In fact, she wasn’t even married to Greg, and the minivan was just a rental.
In reality, Kate Rivera was just one of the employees of Greg’s businesses. Will soon found out her name was actually Juicy. Juicy was currently naked and draped over Greg in the corner of the strip club basement where Will was fervently pulling small weeds that were growing out of the cracked tile floor. So far, nothing had changed in the five months Will had become the slave of Greg Rivera. He woke up, cooked and cleaned for Greg at his house across the street, then walked over to Glossy Gurls and began cleaning there.
Once Greg had approved of his work, he walked back over to the house where he would shower and then sit in his lightless attic and then eventually fall asleep waiting for the next day. He didn’t talk, he didn’t go anywhere else, and he never let himself upset Greg.
They won’t kick me out if I’m more useful than useless right?
Will’s only thoughts were filled with his mantra. Time was nothing to him. Years could have passed, and Will would not have noticed. He rarely ever thought about the orphanage. All that mattered to Will was not being cast out by his new family. He was lucky to be adopted at all. He would not allow himself to fail the first family he ever had.
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Two months later, it was Will’s birthday.
The day went by no different than any other. Will wouldn’t have even realized that it was his birthday if it wasn’t for Juicy. It was late in the evening when she interrupted Will right in the middle of him finishing up the top floor of Glossy Gurls.
“Hey Little Willyyy!”
She loved to call him that nickname after hearing it from Mr. Jellen.
“It’s your birthday today right baby? How about you come watch some TV with your mommy as a little present?”
She grabbed Will’s hand and led him to one of the backrooms where Will knew she took customers often. The room was dark and glowed pink. There was a TV hanging on the wall as well as a small fridge filled with liquor. A basket full of multicolored small packages sat on top of the fridge. She led him over to the wide couch that was across from the TV and sat him down while she turned it on. The news flashed onto the screen where silent subtitles began scrolling at the bottom.
Although not an everyday occurrence, this wasn’t a particularly uncommon situation for Will. Many of Greg’s employees always tried to bring Will back into these rooms. Usually, Greg would stop them and command that Will “continue to work instead of fuck off.”
Tonight seemed different though. Greg had left early that night because of some business, so Will was helpless against Juicy.
I can see why people like coming back here.
Will had no real frame of reference for nice things. Just watching TV was already a nice treat for him, so the comfortable couch and easy lighting was also a nice addition. Will wasn’t an idiot though. He had watched what the strippers did on stage every day because of the fact he was always cleaning the place. He wasn’t exactly sure what people usually did back here, but he knew that it involved naked women and usually a middle-aged man.
“Let me just go freshen up baby, then I’ll come back for your Little Willy.”
She laughed for some reason at that, then walked back toward the showers at the back of the building. Will sat silently while watching the news. Countless stories scrolled through the feed, all of them talking about some major or minor event happening somewhere in America. A couple minutes passed, then a familiar picture showed up on the screen. Old memories began to spark as Will realized that it was his old orphanage. The headline said ‘Breaking News’ and Will’s interest was finally peaked after months of never thinking of the place. Just as they were about to get into the story, Juicy came back dressed in nothing but a towel.
“Alright baby, time for mommy’s birthday present.”
She strutted over to Will while swinging her wide hips just like she did on stage. Although Will was now fourteen, he was a bit of a late bloomer so Juicy and the rest of the employees appearances were never really of interest to him until just barely a month ago. Unknown feelings bubbled up in Will as he watched the woman slowly unravel the white towel that was covering up the majority of her body.
Her eyes looked just as glazed over as the day she picked him up from the orphanage.
She finally reached Will and straddled over his lap while facing him. Her soft, tan skin brushed against Will as she clasped him in her hands. Her large, perky chest began to surround Will’s face as she pulled him into her.
“Oh baby, mommy is gonna make you feel sooo good.”
Will’s body instinctively reacted to the strange feeling in his stomach and Juicy giggled from her perch on top of his lap.
“It looks like I’ll finally be able to see your Little Willy, Little Willy!”
The naked woman began rubbing the top of Will’s pants before she slowly grabbed his waistband and pulled them down. Will was helpless as he tried to protest, only to find that it just came out muffled and inaudible. Soon enough, he felt a warm and wet sensation growing as the soft woman began to move up and down. Moans erupted from Juicy as Will did nothing but sit in shock as the strange feeling worked its way through his body.
The woman soon changed into a sitting position and used one hand to press Will’s head into her chest while the other went lower towards the origin of the wet sensation. Hot breath blew through Will's scruffy hair as she continued to move rhythmically.
Soon enough, Juicy started moaning even louder and the hand that was on Will’s head moved to her side where she began using it to balance. Without realizing it, when her hand came down, she unknowingly hit the remote that had been sitting next to them. A loud, strong voice filled the room.
“I am very sorry to report that there were no survivors. Warning to those at home, this is a truly heartbreaking scene that is not fit for younger viewers.”
Will’s thoughts abruptly returned to the news report where he saw the picture of his old orphanage. The woman on top of him did not react to the noise and instead leaned back while continuing to moan. Suddenly, Will’s blood ran cold and the previous sensation he had been feeling was totally forgotten. Sitting on the TV screen was a picture of complete horror.
The place where he used to share so many fond memories was now just a pile of ash.
Memories that Will had not thought of for months exploded back into his mind. The faces of his fellow little brothers and sisters, homely meals made by Mr. Jellen, and the memory of the tearful goodbye he shared with them all right before this hell fest with his new family. Tears came crashing down his face as the reality of the situation hit him like a truck.
The moaning woman absently heard his sobs and began to move even faster.
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Hours passed by as Will sat unmoving on the couch.
Sometime ago, Juicy had left, leaving him alone. Slowly, Will came back to reality and looked down at his half naked body. He numbly put his pants back on before walking out of the empty building.
He was halfway to the house when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.
Will felt extremely wrong.
Before, something had always driven him forward, allowing him to do the same damn thing every single day.
Now it was gone.
Burnt away just like everyone from his beloved orphanage.
Will finally realized that he lived only for his fellow orphans for so long that now that they were gone, there was no reason for him to continue on. He listlessly began to wander down the road.
What am I supposed to do?
After an unknown amount of time, Will arrived in front of a school that appeared to be very far away from where he started. He vaguely remembered one time that Mr. Jellen confessed to him that he wished he had not skipped his final years of high school. Will took one step onto the entrance platform before passing out.
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Not even a week later, Will had enrolled in the school and started living in a spare classroom that the principal turned into a living space.
It seemed that Will had finally stumbled upon some good luck, or at least that’s what he thought until a supernova white crack appeared in his room the night before graduation.