From the dark and weightless void where I floated, a soft and gentle presence began to press upon my back. It cradled my shoulders and neck, and when I twitched and shifted it moved with me to make sure I wasn't left without support. What a wonderful thing it was. I couldn't ask for a more perfect existence. Then a burning dryness caught my throat and had me coughing loudly to make me remember what existence actually was. The fluffiness of the mattress remained, but the aches and pains of my body also manifested to bring to light once more the situation I was in. Paranoia jumped in easily too as soon as the sounds of someone shuffling about reached my ears. My eyes flashed open instinctively where upon spotting a man standing right by my side staring I hurriedly closed them.
"If you're awake, be awake. There's no need to act," the man instructed.
Hesitantly, my lashes fluttered open once more. I'd woken on my side buried underneath the sheets and bed cover, and I was grateful they covered most of my face. The man looking down on me didn't give off a dangerous aura. Still, who knew what I'd ended up in after I passed out.
"This is a safe place, in case you're wondering. My name's Leo."
"Because you're orange like a lion?" I wondered before I could stop myself.
"Yes."
"That's unique. I like it."
"I'm told your name is Cinnamon?"
"...Yes," I warily confirmed the lie. "How do you know my name?"
"We'll get to that in a bit. It was my turn to watch and wait for you to wake, but Coral knows what medicine you need now better than I do. Hold on."
Leo left. While I didn't hear the sound of a lock turning upon him closing the door, he closed it with enough firm intent to make it clear I wasn't to wander. Such was fine with me for the moment. While I'd received some kind of care, it was true I remained sick. My arms still shivered while my head ached with the fire of a fever. The cough lingered in my throat, and I blinked back the water pooling in my eyes. At least I didn't have the sniffles. A stuffed nose was my least favorite part about being sick, aside from perhaps nausea. I closed my eyes and relaxed more deeply against the mattress soaking up what comfort I could. There was no way this relaxation would last long. A minute later, footsteps approached the brick room I was in of what appeared to be a rather shoddy building. Leo walked in with a red woman on his heels. Seeing them both from that bit of distance helped me see neither could be more than twenty-five. Honestly, it was likely they were closer to being twenty.
"I'm Coral," Coral introduced herself properly. "I'm just going to check you over here real quickly."
"O-Okay."
I let her poke and prod. She wandered over to a hanging cabinet on the wall she unlocked and grabbed several items from. I took the pill she gave me and sat still when she injected a shot into my shoulder.
"That's the last of that gone. We'll have to figure out how we can get some more." Coral carefully wrapped the needle and put it in a box. "Cinnamon, you should be feeling mostly better with a bit more sleep though."
"Thanks," I mumbled. "Really, how do you know my name though?"
"I'll get him," Leo said.
Again he left, and again he returned a minute later. This time, however, the one who followed was familiar.
"Pieter?" I remarked.
"Hello," he greeted.
"I..." I couldn't think of what to say, so I fell silent waiting for him to go ahead with the explanation.
"Welcome to our house," he began.
"Our house?"
"It's an abandoned warehouse on the old wharf. Leo and Coral here are the last of the original members of the group of runaways and homeless kids who turned it into a place where people like us can have a safe place to stay. They act as the 'mom' and 'dad', if you will. We don't just take in any stray we see though or else it would get too chaotic. You have to have potential. I got the suspicion you were on your own when I saw you at that event, and when I tried to follow you I was amazed at how fast you were! Seriously, you were like a cheetah!"
"It was you following me?"
"Yup. They way you reacted made it more likely you were homeless. The paranoid way you could sense you were being watched, the way you bolted at danger...they were clear signs to me. I had no idea where you went though, obviously. Jess and I finding you again meant the meeting was fated."
"Jess?"
"Jessamine. She's one of the older girls here. She helped me carry you back here, because let me tell you, it's not easy sneakily carrying an unconscious body throughout a city. Coral has been nursing you back to health. You've been out most of the day."
"Oh. Um, thank you."
Pieter shrugged and smiled lightly. I glanced at Coral, but she and Leo had been having their own oh-so-soft conversation with one another while Pieter and I talked. They didn't realize I'd addressed them in any sort of way until he and I remained silent.
No one said much more to me. Leo told Pieter to go 'back to work', and the two left the building. Coral escorted me and my shaky legs down the stairs, outside, and to a port-a-potty the 'house' used as their main toilet. Once back in bed, I got a large glass of water and a lukewarm bowl of soup. The medicine hit me hard after that. Sleep took me again without warning where I didn't wake until the stars hung high in the sky. Coral stirred from where she shared the bed with me. I got one more pill, another trip to the bathroom, and a few crackers. No one was in the room when I came to the following morning. Coral must have given me some powerful stuff. A bit of heat remained on my forehead, but for the most part I felt fine with energy to spare.
And with that energy, I had to take my leave.
I'd been helped, and the people here clearly understood my plight. However, how could I stay? Alone was the only thing that worked for me. The more people I interacted with, especially on a consistent basis, the higher the risk of them figuring out who I was. Maybe whoever lived here wouldn't care, or maybe they might turn me in. I didn't want to find out. Unfortunately...
"Whoa, whoa. Hold up." A pink and yellow teenager walked into the room as soon as I turned the handle to slip out and sneak off. "You're not getting to leave that easily."
"I appreciate the help I got, but I didn't ask─"
"Don't you continue that line of thinking. The whole 'I didn't ask for help, so I'm not responsible for what it cost' route." The girl shook her head. Her words reproached, but she didn't speak overly harshly.
"Are you Jessamine?" I wondered, mumbling.
"Yes."
"Thank you for helping me."
"That's better." She placed her hands on her hips and looked me over. "Glad to see you look better. You did need the assistance. No one from that store you collapsed by would have noticed you for a long time, and I don't think at that point there would have been anything they could have done to help. It took a lot of the expensive medicine we had to get you under control."
"...I don't have much money. Only a few dollars." I caught on.
"That's why you can't leave. You didn't ask for it, but you used up precious, valuable resources. Pieter is wanting to recruit you if you'd like to live here, but you only have to stay as long as it takes to pay back the debt you're in."
Great. Ten-years-old, and I was in debt.
"How much do I owe?" I asked reluctantly.
"Leo and Coral have yet to finalize the total, but it's somewhere over one-hundred dollars right now."
"Over one-hundred dollars!? I'm never going to be able to pay that back!"
"It's probably not to best time to mention then that living here also incurs fees that'll add to that as well, but I do need to mention it."
My mouth dropped open, and the overwhelming nature of the news sent my eyes swarming with tears. This place was jail, basically!
"Hey, it's okay," Jessamine spoke more softly. "It's not as bad as it seems."
"How?" I snapped, which she ignored.
"It's a good system we've got set up here. I don't know your story, but you've probably been scrounging for loose change up until now. We have a lot of experience and techniques to give out that makes it so even people like us can make a fair bit of steady cash. The way the house works is that everyone is required to make fifty dollars a week to hand over to Leo and Coral. Rent, basically. That gives us the roof over our heads, a place to sleep and bathe, clothes, and access to food, water, and medicine. You can keep anything more you make to spend on whatever you want, give it to Leo and Coral to keep as savings, or give it to them towards the upcoming week so you have more wiggle room if you fall short."
I blinked away the tears and fell silent. That...didn't sound so bad. Remaining here still heightened the risk of my secret getting out, but I would likely be fine for a while. I could learn whatever techniques Jessamine talked about, build up some savings to use on my hut, have a safe place to stay during the winter, and then have a good forest home to live in once spring came around.
"I mean, I obviously don't have a choice on leaving, but...that does sound okay," I admitted into the quiet.
"Good. Even if you want to leave later, it'll be nice to have another girl around for a while. Mostly everyone here are boys. Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew. C'mon."
We stepped outside the room. There were three other doors in the small hallway area that I assumed were the rooms where the rest of the 'family' slept.
"Are Leo and Coral a couple?" I asked.
"Yes. Both have actual jobs too. Leo works in construction, and Coral is a secretary for a massive law-firm that operates in the city. They could live normally, but they've decided they can't abandon us here."
"Oh. That's...that's really kind."
"Part of it's kindness, and part of it is the pressure of moral obligation. If they chose to leave, all of us here would be screwed."
The short hallway led to the rest of the upper floor of the warehouse, which was a simple viewing deck for the main floor below. Seven others stood around. Pieter I spotted first. He chatted with a blue boy and a pink, purple, and yellow boy, both of whom looked to be a year or two older than us. A brown girl our age laughed and giggled with an older pink girl. A green and yellow teenage boy played foosball by himself while a gray teen stood leaning against the wall folding his arms and turning his head away from the group.
"This is everyone else. They normally would have left by now, but I asked them to stay so you could be introduced. And so we can work out a predicament," Jessamine explained.
"Predicament?"
The attention of the group snapped to her and me as we walked over. Everyone shuffled closer save the gray teenager, who stayed where he was. However, I took a step back when the other brown girl kept on coming closer. She stood right in front of me with an unpleasant expression.
"C-Can I help you?" I questioned uncertainly.
"You can't be named Cinnamon," she huffed.
"Um, I don't see why not..."
"Because my name is Cinnamon! Cinnamon Delight!" She stomped her foot.
"Delight? You certainly don't seem like one," I couldn't stop myself from blurting out.
She gasped with her eyes narrowing and jaw opening wide in shock, but Pieter, the younger Mixed boy, and Jessamine laughed.
"You're rude!" Cinnamon said angrily.
"You're the one getting worked up over the fact that more than one person shares the same name." I rolled my eyes. The truth that my name wasn't Cinnamon almost slipped to the top of my tongue in order to easily get rid of this problem, but I wasn't about to give away my real name. I also had no clue how to lie and say why I'd lied about my name in the first place. "But I don't really care. I'm fine being called Cinny or something."
"My nickname is Cinny!"
"Then Cinna. Or even Mon. I don't care."
"Two should work fine then," the pink teenager piped up. Her stare on me wasn't nice either.
"Two?" I frowned.
"You're the second Cinnamon. Cinnamon Two. So, Two."
"I'm not being called a number."
"You just said you didn't care," she retorted arrogantly. "If─"
"We'll work it out later if this is going to keep going like this. Cinnamon, you are being a brat, so can it," Jessamine jumped in, addressing the other girl. "New Cinnamon, let me just do the introductions so everyone can leave and some people can remember their manners."
Jessamine quickly rattled off everyone's names. The arrogant pink girl was Tulip Swath. The gray boy standing separately was Gravel Might while the other teen boy was Coriander Millet. Pieter's last name was Clay, the blue boy was Skylar Horizon, and the Mixed boy was Jam Orchid.
Tulip and Cinnamon left quickly. The others I said quick 'hello's to before they, too, departed. Pieter lingered due to Jessamine motioning him back.
"I'm sure you're still a little sick, so you don't have to go out today if you don't want to. If you would like to begin though, Pieter will be your escort and begin showing you some of the stuff you can do," Jessamine said.
"I feel pretty good. I'd like to go out," I confirmed.
"Okay. You can leave your bookbag here unless you really need it for something. One of us always stays behind to watch the place, which is my job today. Nothing will happen to it."
Reluctantly, I left the bag behind. It sent my nerves crawling entrusting my meager but precious belongings with a stranger, but my shoulders were glad for the relief. None of the others had left with bags either, which meant I'd look weird being the only one carrying around such a bag with me.
"Won't people wonder why we're not in school?" I asked once Pieter began leading me towards the road.
"Normally us younger ones have to wait until more appropriate hours, yeah, but today most of the school systems in the city are having teacher days."
I didn't know what a 'teacher day' was, but I decided not to ask as I clearly was supposed to know about them.
"Oh. Hmm, then how about how are you guys able to stay in that abandoned building so calmly? There are a few business still open around here. Don't they say anything? Don't the police come by?"
"People know we're here, and the police who work this area are somewhat on our side," Pieter explained. "The people who work nearby can't be bothered to get mixed up in the mess of runaway and abandoned kids, so they leave us alone. Then, when the family here was founded, the police recognized our presence kept out people who were way more undesirable, like drug dealers and whatever. As long as we don't make a ruckus or trouble, they leave us be as well."
"Shouldn't the police be doing something though if they know the location of runaway minors and whatnot?"
"Probably, but the world doesn't work like that." Pieter shrugged.
"That makes me a little mad."
"I prefer they leave us be. In any case, this works well with me telling you some of the biggest rules we have. If you get in trouble, don't come back unless you're sure you can't be tracked here. If you get caught by the police, then you're on your own. None of us here will help, and you can't say a word about the house. It would put the rest of us in a bad situation. Which is also why stealing is a big no-no. Conning people out of money is fine as it gives them a chance to realize they're being swindled, but just taking things is forbidden."
"Got it," I said, hiding my guilt.
Pieter and I walked a long way throughout most of the city. I didn't mind it, but Pieter noticed my shoes and suggested I get sneakers. He said Coral was really good at finding deals. His shirt and coat and then Jam's shirt and coat had been part of a BOGO special. I didn't know what a BOGO special was either. Guess in addition to a list of things to buy I needed a list of vernacular to learn.
"You should think about losing your ribbons," Pieter suddenly said when we neared the end of a street in the upper suburban roads.
"No way." I frowned, clutching them tightly. "They're to remember my mom."
"I'm not saying throw them out. It's just that people can judge based on what you're wearing, especially if it doesn't match your color. Taking them off momentarily could help you when trying to find work. The couple we'll be helping now won't mind, so I'm just saying this for the future."
"Who are we helping?" I asked, refusing to address this for the moment.
"Mr. and Mrs. Sun. Mostly Mr. Sun. This is actually their house behind me. Mr. Sun loves to have all these flowers and plants, but he has a really bad back and knees even though he's pretty young still. So, I come over to help him with the upkeep. I also help him mow the law, shovel when there's snow, and so on. It's my main source of income. I don't like bringing the others as it's a more subtle rule that we don't impede on each other's marks, but this will be a good way to ease you into everything."
"Thank you then. I'll do my best," I promised.
"Good. Now, there's a bit to the story you need to learn, and it's one of the benefits of having Leo and Coral around. One of the common lies we use is that they're our foster parents. That's who Mr. and Mrs. Sun think they are to us. You'll be a new foster sister who's staying with us for some time. It's a good cover to explain why people suddenly come and suddenly leave."
"I understand."
Still, I figured it better to leave most of the talking to Pieter. He motioned me towards the front door where he knocked a special knock. A brief moment later, a yellow and red man stepped out wearing a big smile. Pieter had been right. Mr. Sun wasn't old at all. Was he even thirty?
"Ah, Pieter. I was hoping you might pop by today, although I suspected you might want to enjoy your day off school," he spoke in a booming though kind voice.
"I didn't really have anything to do, and I know you want to get those new trees in before it gets cold."
"Thank you." Mr. Sun turned towards me. "And who did you bring along?"
"This is Cinnamon, my foster sister."
Mr. Sun frowned.
"She looked different last time..."
"Sorry. This is my new foster sister. She and Cinnamon happen to have the same name."
"I see. Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Cinnamon."
"Hello." I shook the hand he offered.
"I was thinking Mrs. Sun might have some chores or work Cinnamon could help with."
"Pepper is actually out at the moment. I don't think we'd need more help with the trees." Mr. Sun scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "But...there's a bit of clutter here and there to pick up, if that's fine with you, Cinnamon. Oh, and Pepper has been wanting to go through our atrocious cabinet of tupperware. Organizing that would be a great help."
"I can do that," I agreed eagerly.
"We'll start there then. I'll show you the few messy areas, and Pieter and I will get to work on the trees."
It grew obvious quickly that Mr. Sun was being quite kind and generous. The house was near spotless. There were only things like half a small bin of garbage to take out, a few food stains on the stove to wipe with a cloth, and the bed in the master bedroom to make. I couldn't see anything signifying Mr. and Mrs. Sun having children, so there wasn't even toys to sort or dishes hidden away to clean. Pity was the clear factor here in the unspoken promise of money for such simple tasks, and I was glad Mr. Sun soon went outside with Pieter for my cheeks flared with embarrassment. I cleaned with as much vigor as I could muster though. Despite there not being much to do, the amount of effort put in would not wane.
Not only did I take out the garbage, I wiped down the bin and scrubbed it until all one could smell was the freshness of the lemon-scented cleaner. The stove got the same treatment with a bit of metal shiner I found underneath the sink spread on top. That bed got its sheets and cover aligned to mathematical perfection. Thankfully, the tupperware cabinet truly was a mess. The tubs were thrown in haphazardly, half spilled out when I opened the door, with hardly a matching top to be seen. Several different brands added to the confusion as it would be like finding a puzzle piece with the right shape where the size was just slightly off. The whole thing was a long process of trial and error that led to what I considered a great success. The whole cabinet got emptied, I swatted back the few spiderwebs forming in the back right corner, everything got a scrub here too, and I found a match for everything save for one tub and one lid that had no partner. The rest got put back in sorted by size and shape. That definitely made any money earned money actually earned.
"Looks good," I spoke proudly to myself, squatting down to examine my work before being jolted to standing.
"Excuse me," a woman's accusatory voice startled me.
Quickly turning, the yellow and gray woman standing there with a heavy frown and suspicious stare could be none other than Mrs. Sun.
"Who in the world are you?" she prodded.
"My name is Cinnamon. I'm Pieter's foster sister. He brought me with him today in case there was anything you needed help with, and since you weren't here at the time Mr. Sun gave me a few chores to do."
"You are not Cinnamon."
I really should have just come 'clean' and made up a different name.
"My foster sister and I share the same first name. My last name is Holiday. Leo and Coral only just took me in," I explained.
"Oh." Mrs. Sun wariness vanished. "I see. My apologies."
"It's okay. Mr. Sun was confused at first too, and I'm sure seeing a random kid in your house without explanation put you on guard. There wasn't much, but I tried to do the best work I could. I just finished organizing your tupperware."
Mrs. Sun exhaled gratefully at me opening the door to show her the results.
"That's a thing of beauty. Thank you. I knew it was getting horrible, but I hate organizing things like that."
"I don't really mind it." I shrugged.
"Would you mind doing something else for me then? I have a massive folder of pictures I've taken off my camera going back over a year now. What I would really love is for a separate folder to be made for each date, and the pictures inside those folders to be put in numerical order."
"I can do that no problem." I smiled wide.
Mrs. Sun set her laptop up at the kitchen bar and started on brunch while I got to work. She wasn't kidding about the massive folder. There were over two thousand pictures within with the titles being nothing more than a random combination of numbers. Organizing everything wasn't hard though. I simply had to click on the picture, look at the information about it that popped up at the bottom of the screen, and place everything appropriately from there. Basic, tedious busywork, essentially. Busywork that I was indeed fine with. Mrs. Sun and I chatted while the sandwiches and salad was made. I steered clear of most topics relating to me due to not being sure how much I should be saying, and Mrs. Sun sympathetically picked up on that. I ate my food, kept talking with Mrs. Sun, and finished cleaning up the folder by the time Mr. Sun and Pieter finished their work and came in to eat.
"I can see more now of why being a part of the family is so helpful," I spoke.
Pieter and I returned to the city around noon. My work had earned me twenty dollars. That was almost half of what I needed in one go, and I had gotten a good meal. No wonder Pieter wasn't keen on the others encroaching on what had to be a cash cow for someone our age. I'm sure Mr. Sun had given him a decent amount more for the manual labor.
"Uh-huh. It's a great thing we have going. Bet you're glad I recruited you, huh?" Pieter boasted.
"I'm not sure if I'm going to stay for good yet, but I am glad. I do want to thank you too. I don't know what would have happened to me had you not been searching me out."
"You're welcome."
"So, where are we going to go now?"
"Actually, I was thinking we could go our own ways for the rest of the day."
"But...aren't you supposed to be teaching me things and showing me around?" I wondered.
"Yeah, but you've already got twenty bucks. I can show you more tomorrow or whatever. There's some things I want to do that won't be good if you tag along."
"I..."
I wasn't sure if I had a right to be insulted, but I felt a bit insulted.
"You were doing okay enough on your own before, aside from getting sick. I'm sure you can find a meaningful way to spend your afternoon. Okay? Bye!"
And with that, Pieter bolted off down the street.
I stood in shock and surprise unable to process the abrupt turn for a moment or two. There Pieter had smiled so widely and proudly at having found me and pulled me into his family, but there he dashed off abandoning me without a second thought when he was supposed to be showing me the ropes? I couldn't understand it. Still, I slowly slunk towards the library. My only other money gathering technique was scrounging for loose change, exactly like Jessamine said. I found another dollar or so in dirty coins on my way to the building.
If school was out, I could be there for a while without suspicion. I guess this was also a good chance for me to do what I wanted without someone breathing down my neck. First I got that list written of medicinal herbs and plants to be found in the wild should I be stuck in a predicament like before. Then I searched a bit more on how to make my hut winter-proof before sinking into researching on making money as a kid. Using the lie of Leo and Coral being my foster parents opened up a wide realm of possibilities. Searching the right places online should find me families like the Suns where I could clean, walk pets, or even babysit. My optimism soaring high with excitement hitting me like it hadn't for a while now, I dared to take a plunge into research my fears wouldn't let me touch before.
Getting an update on dad and grandpa.
Even though I'd found the determination to type their names into the search bar again, my rapidly-beating heart still burned fire down deep until it reached my stomach. I forced my hand to move and click through the articles before my confidence left. There wasn't much to learn. Like any trial, dad and grandpa's sentencing and punishments were still in process. Fewer articles mentioned me, and that was due to the police suspecting Mr. Flaxen having handed me over to The Company or another group. They thought less and less that the general public would have a chance at simply spotting me on the street. Such was a benefit. I could stay at the warehouse with less stress.
About to finish up, my burning chest froze. I'd scrolled to the bottom of the last article I meant to read where a picture sucked my world into it. All sensations, all thoughts, all logic vanished. There in that article was a picture of my mom. The tag underneath stated the rights for the picture had been granted by the Vivid family, which made sense. The article came from a news station situated in Berrybrook. I stared for what had to be a half hour. Never before had I seen mom's face. Dad claimed the rapid pace they'd had to escape Berrybrook meant all physical belongings were left behind, and they'd had to abandon their phones so as to not be traced. An obvious lie now, and I wondered the real reason there'd been no pictures. In any case, I gladly sacrificed a quarter to print the picture out when my consciousness properly snapped to reality once more.
I resumed my search for loose change after leaving the library. The pennies would add up in time, and there really wasn't anything else for me to do. Dedicated searching and an aching neck earned me two more dollars. It was a pitiful amount compared to what I'd gotten before, but now I was even closer to halfway done with this week's rent. Not having to worry about food meant the money would pile up faster than ever before. I contemplated searching for change a while more or tracking for houses that might hire a kid's cheap manual labor. However, the increasing pounding in my head and tickle in my throat urged me back to the warehouse. My body hadn't fully recovered, and if I wasn't careful I'd likely spiral downwards into that terrible state again.
Worried if I'd come back too early, the sound of a decent number of people moving about relaxed my shoulders.
"Hey, Two."
And that voice instantly tensed them again.
"Please don't call me that," I requested to Tulip, who came down the stairs with Cinnamon closely following.
"You said you didn't care what we called you, so I'm going to call you that," she insisted over a sneer and condescending stare.
"I meant I didn't care about a nickname derived from my name." I bit back irritation.
"It is a nickname derived from your name. You're Cinnamon Two."
"You know, I think I like 'Lesser' instead. Like, 'Lesser Cinnamon', because she's below me," Cinnamon proposed with a smirk.
"Did I mumble something that offended you when I was unconscious?" I questioned with a frown. "What have I done to make you seemingly hate me with such a passion?"
"It's called hazing, sweetie." Tulip grinned a grin that made me want to punch her perfect teeth. "It's a sort of trial or test when you're a new member of the group. Do you care enough about staying to push through what's unpleasant, or are you weak-willed and useless, ready to run away like a pampered child to mommy? You have to be the first if you want to survive out here."
"That's nonsense." I folded my arms. "That's just an excuse for abuse."
"Like you know what abuse is like?" Tulip mimicked me.
"How do you know what I've been through?"
"I can tell," she growled. Her glare widened, and the intensity of emotion bursting in her eyes frightened me. It was like I was a tea candle in front of a dragon. "You haven't seen the true cruelty of this world."
She flicked her hair over her shoulder, tilted her head down at me wearing an even deeper sneer, and sauntered off with Cinnamon once more rushing to dog her heels. The two walked out of the warehouse. Part of me hoped they'd never return. Quite an unlikely hope. With a sigh, my feet growing sore slowly took me up the stairs where Skylar and Jam ran around making most of the noise I'd heard by slamming pillows into one another. They didn't seem to be aware of what had gone on downstairs.
"Hello," I greeted with a smile.
Pillow fighting. Grandpa and I had had the fun bouts from time to time whenever dad wasn't around, for he didn't approve of the playful fighting. I might have accidentally hit him just hard enough once after dad already stumbled from a hit to the face from grandpa that tripped him more to where he slammed his head into the wall.
"Hi," Jam greeted me back quickly.
Skylar didn't bother with any kind of hello. The two continued knocking each other senseless with their weapons of fluff. I stood and watched. Sadly, with each passing second it became more and more clear they didn't find it worth it to bother with my presence. Their fight slowly shuffled them further away. At least they weren't being mean to me, I suppose...
Pillow fighting probably wasn't the best activity for me either. My head still hurt, I held back the cough, and hints of a chill scattered up and down my arms. Jessamine had said the weekly rent covered medicine. It had to be more common medicine than whatever had been the fancy kind it'd taken to get me feeling better. Hopefully, I would be able to get some of the cheaper stuff without it adding more to my debt. The bed from before called to me, but I slunk onto the couch opposite the side of the warehouse where Skylar and Jam made their ruckus. The room from before clearly belonged to Leo and Coral. I'd likely only been allowed to sleep there because of the condition I'd been in. No one had shown me where else I could rest my head. The couch wasn't the most comfortable, yet it worked for the moment. I drifted off without too much effort.
"Hey," Leo spoke to me gruffly.
Then came that awakening. I didn't dare think to pretend still being asleep this time around, for his stare on me was hardly any better than Tulip's.
"Y-Yes?" I asked warily as I sat up.
What had I done wrong? Was it the couch? Had I not earned the privilege of even resting here?
"Pieter took you to the Sun residence, correct?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Did you take that bookbag of yours with you?"
"No?"
"Empty your pockets for me."
Confusion set in fast. I took out what I had─ the twenty three dollars, my list of medicinal plants and ideas for jobs I could do, and the printed picture of mom. Leo scrutinized it all, handed them back, and motioned for me to stand. What was I supposed to do when he proceeded to pat me down? He made sure not to be too inappropriate and was obviously searching for something instead of trying to do something, but still...
"I got a call from Mr. Sun. He told me of how you and Pieter were there today, and how the fifty dollar bill he'd left on his nightstand went missing. Pieter, he said, had been with him the whole time including when the two came inside to eat. You, however, were inside the house alone for plenty long enough," Leo explained sternly.
"I didn't take the money," I promised, my lovely heart picking up in speed again. "One of the very first things Pieter told me was that stealing was banned. I clearly don't have the bill on me either."
"Where is Pieter now?"
"He just came back. Cinnamon came back alone twenty minutes ago," Skylar joined the conversation. He and Jam cared to acknowledge me now that this was going on.
"So there was time for you to have stashed the money elsewhere," Leo proposed.
"Wha─!? No, I didn't─!"
"Pieter! Up here now!" Leo interrupted, leaning over the railing to scurry Pieter to our position.
"I promise I didn't take the money. While I did go in the bedroom, there was nothing on the nightstand. I just cleaned the house, straightened up the tupperware, and helped Mrs. Sun organize the messy photo files on her computer. Pieter was supposed to have kept showing me around, but he said he had stuff to do that he didn't want me along for. He dashed off. I went to the library to get this list of medicinal plants so I might not have to waste more of what you have, and I made this list here of ways I could work so I can pay off my debt. Other than that, I just walked around looking for loose change."
I held up the items I spoke of in turn hoping Leo would see the logic in me having them in conjunction with the story. He still didn't respond to me though. Pieter arrived and looked at everyone curiously.
"What's up?"
"I got a call from Mr. Sun that a large amount of money went missing from his bedroom. Do you know anything about this?"
"No, I don't." Pieter shook his head with a frown.
"Cinnamon claims she didn't see it, much less take it. She is also saying you left her alone when you were supposed to be guiding her and looking out for her to make sure she didn't overwork herself like I told Jessamine to tell you. What about that?"
I stared at Pieter. I hadn't known anything about that last bit, but Jessamine had pulled Pieter aside to speak privately once I decided to head out today.
"I mean, we weren't together in the afternoon, but I wasn't the one who took off. She said she had to use the restroom. We went to the park. I stood around waiting only to just happen to catch her speeding off the other side of the lot. Honestly, I assumed she was abandoning her backpack and taking off to get away from her debt. Jessamine warned me she'd already been a bit flighty, having tried to sneak out this morning."
"L-Liar!" I cried. Pieter's calm expression didn't change even as my eyes full of hurt and betrayal stared unblinking at him. "Why in the world would I come back if that was true?!"
"Did you try to sneak off this morning?" Leo questioned.
"I...yes. But that was before I knew about the debt, and it's really hard to trust─"
My words were useless once again. Leo suddenly strode past me to the bedrooms. He returned quickly with my bookbag in one hand and snatched my wrist with his other. I was left to stumble and protest as he guided me along. He didn't pull or yank, but there was no breaking free of his iron grip. On we went until he finally released me once outside the side door. Pieter followed along with Skylar and Jam choosing to more subtlety watch from inside. Tulip caught the noise from wherever she'd been around the corner to stride over with glee in her eyes. Leo firmly planted my backpack upon my shoulders.
"We don't keep liars and thieves," he spoke coldly. "Forget about your debt. Just get out of here."
"I didn't take the money! I'm not lying!" I professed.
Tears started to swarm my eyes as I desperately stared at him. Exactly like I told Pieter, I hadn't made a choice on whether I'd wanted to stay or not. But...when I'd been at the library, when I'd seen that picture of mom...I thought for a moment that I might. I might stay. In this warehouse of abandoned and runaway people, there was a family. A family that worked together and understood the painful nature of the world. A family that might not lie to me.
No matter how long I waited, Leo's expression didn't change. I shifted my gaze, my emotions to the one I had assumed I could trust the most.
"You're...YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT, PIETER!" I belted to his face, my face burning with rage and my shoulders shaking with fury.
For some reason, the idiot looked stunned at the intensity of my now seething hatred. Only when it was too late did the guilt hit him and cause his solemn expression to fall. However, I didn't care. Pieter had pulled me in partly because he found my speed to be an asset. Well, I could show this pathetic excuse for a family how fast my legs could take me. I ground my heel into the cement and bolted, clearing the length of the long warehouse in an instant, glad to be getting far away from Tulip's snickering and Leo telling her to be quiet.
And with that energy, I had to take my leave.
I'd been helped, and the people here clearly understood my plight. However, how could I stay? Alone was the only thing that worked for me. The more people I interacted with, especially on a consistent basis, the higher the risk of them figuring out who I was. Maybe whoever lived here wouldn't care, or maybe they might turn me in. I didn't want to find out. Unfortunately...
"Whoa, whoa. Hold up." A pink and yellow teenager walked into the room as soon as I turned the handle to slip out and sneak off. "You're not getting to leave that easily."
"I appreciate the help I got, but I didn't ask─"
"Don't you continue that line of thinking. The whole 'I didn't ask for help, so I'm not responsible for what it cost' route." The girl shook her head. Her words reproached, but she didn't speak overly harshly.
"Are you Jessamine?" I wondered, mumbling.
"Yes."
"Thank you for helping me."
"That's better." She placed her hands on her hips and looked me over. "Glad to see you look better. You did need the assistance. No one from that store you collapsed by would have noticed you for a long time, and I don't think at that point there would have been anything they could have done to help. It took a lot of the expensive medicine we had to get you under control."
"...I don't have much money. Only a few dollars." I caught on.
"That's why you can't leave. You didn't ask for it, but you used up precious, valuable resources. Pieter is wanting to recruit you if you'd like to live here, but you only have to stay as long as it takes to pay back the debt you're in."
Great. Ten-years-old, and I was in debt.
"How much do I owe?" I asked reluctantly.
"Leo and Coral have yet to finalize the total, but it's somewhere over one-hundred dollars right now."
"Over one-hundred dollars!? I'm never going to be able to pay that back!"
"It's probably not to best time to mention then that living here also incurs fees that'll add to that as well, but I do need to mention it."
My mouth dropped open, and the overwhelming nature of the news sent my eyes swarming with tears. This place was jail, basically!
"Hey, it's okay," Jessamine spoke more softly. "It's not as bad as it seems."
"How?" I snapped, which she ignored.
"It's a good system we've got set up here. I don't know your story, but you've probably been scrounging for loose change up until now. We have a lot of experience and techniques to give out that makes it so even people like us can make a fair bit of steady cash. The way the house works is that everyone is required to make fifty dollars a week to hand over to Leo and Coral. Rent, basically. That gives us the roof over our heads, a place to sleep and bathe, clothes, and access to food, water, and medicine. You can keep anything more you make to spend on whatever you want, give it to Leo and Coral to keep as savings, or give it to them towards the upcoming week so you have more wiggle room if you fall short."
I blinked away the tears and fell silent. That...didn't sound so bad. Remaining here still heightened the risk of my secret getting out, but I would likely be fine for a while. I could learn whatever techniques Jessamine talked about, build up some savings to use on my hut, have a safe place to stay during the winter, and then have a good forest home to live in once spring came around.
"I mean, I obviously don't have a choice on leaving, but...that does sound okay," I admitted into the quiet.
"Good. Even if you want to leave later, it'll be nice to have another girl around for a while. Mostly everyone here are boys. Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew. C'mon."
We stepped outside the room. There were three other doors in the small hallway area that I assumed were the rooms where the rest of the 'family' slept.
"Are Leo and Coral a couple?" I asked.
"Yes. Both have actual jobs too. Leo works in construction, and Coral is a secretary for a massive law-firm that operates in the city. They could live normally, but they've decided they can't abandon us here."
"Oh. That's...that's really kind."
"Part of it's kindness, and part of it is the pressure of moral obligation. If they chose to leave, all of us here would be screwed."
The short hallway led to the rest of the upper floor of the warehouse, which was a simple viewing deck for the main floor below. Seven others stood around. Pieter I spotted first. He chatted with a blue boy and a pink, purple, and yellow boy, both of whom looked to be a year or two older than us. A brown girl our age laughed and giggled with an older pink girl. A green and yellow teenage boy played foosball by himself while a gray teen stood leaning against the wall folding his arms and turning his head away from the group.
"This is everyone else. They normally would have left by now, but I asked them to stay so you could be introduced. And so we can work out a predicament," Jessamine explained.
"Predicament?"
The attention of the group snapped to her and me as we walked over. Everyone shuffled closer save the gray teenager, who stayed where he was. However, I took a step back when the other brown girl kept on coming closer. She stood right in front of me with an unpleasant expression.
"C-Can I help you?" I questioned uncertainly.
"You can't be named Cinnamon," she huffed.
"Um, I don't see why not..."
"Because my name is Cinnamon! Cinnamon Delight!" She stomped her foot.
"Delight? You certainly don't seem like one," I couldn't stop myself from blurting out.
She gasped with her eyes narrowing and jaw opening wide in shock, but Pieter, the younger Mixed boy, and Jessamine laughed.
"You're rude!" Cinnamon said angrily.
"You're the one getting worked up over the fact that more than one person shares the same name." I rolled my eyes. The truth that my name wasn't Cinnamon almost slipped to the top of my tongue in order to easily get rid of this problem, but I wasn't about to give away my real name. I also had no clue how to lie and say why I'd lied about my name in the first place. "But I don't really care. I'm fine being called Cinny or something."
"My nickname is Cinny!"
"Then Cinna. Or even Mon. I don't care."
"Two should work fine then," the pink teenager piped up. Her stare on me wasn't nice either.
"Two?" I frowned.
"You're the second Cinnamon. Cinnamon Two. So, Two."
"I'm not being called a number."
"You just said you didn't care," she retorted arrogantly. "If─"
"We'll work it out later if this is going to keep going like this. Cinnamon, you are being a brat, so can it," Jessamine jumped in, addressing the other girl. "New Cinnamon, let me just do the introductions so everyone can leave and some people can remember their manners."
Jessamine quickly rattled off everyone's names. The arrogant pink girl was Tulip Swath. The gray boy standing separately was Gravel Might while the other teen boy was Coriander Millet. Pieter's last name was Clay, the blue boy was Skylar Horizon, and the Mixed boy was Jam Orchid.
Tulip and Cinnamon left quickly. The others I said quick 'hello's to before they, too, departed. Pieter lingered due to Jessamine motioning him back.
"I'm sure you're still a little sick, so you don't have to go out today if you don't want to. If you would like to begin though, Pieter will be your escort and begin showing you some of the stuff you can do," Jessamine said.
"I feel pretty good. I'd like to go out," I confirmed.
"Okay. You can leave your bookbag here unless you really need it for something. One of us always stays behind to watch the place, which is my job today. Nothing will happen to it."
Reluctantly, I left the bag behind. It sent my nerves crawling entrusting my meager but precious belongings with a stranger, but my shoulders were glad for the relief. None of the others had left with bags either, which meant I'd look weird being the only one carrying around such a bag with me.
"Won't people wonder why we're not in school?" I asked once Pieter began leading me towards the road.
"Normally us younger ones have to wait until more appropriate hours, yeah, but today most of the school systems in the city are having teacher days."
I didn't know what a 'teacher day' was, but I decided not to ask as I clearly was supposed to know about them.
"Oh. Hmm, then how about how are you guys able to stay in that abandoned building so calmly? There are a few business still open around here. Don't they say anything? Don't the police come by?"
"People know we're here, and the police who work this area are somewhat on our side," Pieter explained. "The people who work nearby can't be bothered to get mixed up in the mess of runaway and abandoned kids, so they leave us alone. Then, when the family here was founded, the police recognized our presence kept out people who were way more undesirable, like drug dealers and whatever. As long as we don't make a ruckus or trouble, they leave us be as well."
"Shouldn't the police be doing something though if they know the location of runaway minors and whatnot?"
"Probably, but the world doesn't work like that." Pieter shrugged.
"That makes me a little mad."
"I prefer they leave us be. In any case, this works well with me telling you some of the biggest rules we have. If you get in trouble, don't come back unless you're sure you can't be tracked here. If you get caught by the police, then you're on your own. None of us here will help, and you can't say a word about the house. It would put the rest of us in a bad situation. Which is also why stealing is a big no-no. Conning people out of money is fine as it gives them a chance to realize they're being swindled, but just taking things is forbidden."
"Got it," I said, hiding my guilt.
Pieter and I walked a long way throughout most of the city. I didn't mind it, but Pieter noticed my shoes and suggested I get sneakers. He said Coral was really good at finding deals. His shirt and coat and then Jam's shirt and coat had been part of a BOGO special. I didn't know what a BOGO special was either. Guess in addition to a list of things to buy I needed a list of vernacular to learn.
"You should think about losing your ribbons," Pieter suddenly said when we neared the end of a street in the upper suburban roads.
"No way." I frowned, clutching them tightly. "They're to remember my mom."
"I'm not saying throw them out. It's just that people can judge based on what you're wearing, especially if it doesn't match your color. Taking them off momentarily could help you when trying to find work. The couple we'll be helping now won't mind, so I'm just saying this for the future."
"Who are we helping?" I asked, refusing to address this for the moment.
"Mr. and Mrs. Sun. Mostly Mr. Sun. This is actually their house behind me. Mr. Sun loves to have all these flowers and plants, but he has a really bad back and knees even though he's pretty young still. So, I come over to help him with the upkeep. I also help him mow the law, shovel when there's snow, and so on. It's my main source of income. I don't like bringing the others as it's a more subtle rule that we don't impede on each other's marks, but this will be a good way to ease you into everything."
"Thank you then. I'll do my best," I promised.
"Good. Now, there's a bit to the story you need to learn, and it's one of the benefits of having Leo and Coral around. One of the common lies we use is that they're our foster parents. That's who Mr. and Mrs. Sun think they are to us. You'll be a new foster sister who's staying with us for some time. It's a good cover to explain why people suddenly come and suddenly leave."
"I understand."
Still, I figured it better to leave most of the talking to Pieter. He motioned me towards the front door where he knocked a special knock. A brief moment later, a yellow and red man stepped out wearing a big smile. Pieter had been right. Mr. Sun wasn't old at all. Was he even thirty?
"Ah, Pieter. I was hoping you might pop by today, although I suspected you might want to enjoy your day off school," he spoke in a booming though kind voice.
"I didn't really have anything to do, and I know you want to get those new trees in before it gets cold."
"Thank you." Mr. Sun turned towards me. "And who did you bring along?"
"This is Cinnamon, my foster sister."
Mr. Sun frowned.
"She looked different last time..."
"Sorry. This is my new foster sister. She and Cinnamon happen to have the same name."
"I see. Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Cinnamon."
"Hello." I shook the hand he offered.
"I was thinking Mrs. Sun might have some chores or work Cinnamon could help with."
"Pepper is actually out at the moment. I don't think we'd need more help with the trees." Mr. Sun scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "But...there's a bit of clutter here and there to pick up, if that's fine with you, Cinnamon. Oh, and Pepper has been wanting to go through our atrocious cabinet of tupperware. Organizing that would be a great help."
"I can do that," I agreed eagerly.
"We'll start there then. I'll show you the few messy areas, and Pieter and I will get to work on the trees."
It grew obvious quickly that Mr. Sun was being quite kind and generous. The house was near spotless. There were only things like half a small bin of garbage to take out, a few food stains on the stove to wipe with a cloth, and the bed in the master bedroom to make. I couldn't see anything signifying Mr. and Mrs. Sun having children, so there wasn't even toys to sort or dishes hidden away to clean. Pity was the clear factor here in the unspoken promise of money for such simple tasks, and I was glad Mr. Sun soon went outside with Pieter for my cheeks flared with embarrassment. I cleaned with as much vigor as I could muster though. Despite there not being much to do, the amount of effort put in would not wane.
Not only did I take out the garbage, I wiped down the bin and scrubbed it until all one could smell was the freshness of the lemon-scented cleaner. The stove got the same treatment with a bit of metal shiner I found underneath the sink spread on top. That bed got its sheets and cover aligned to mathematical perfection. Thankfully, the tupperware cabinet truly was a mess. The tubs were thrown in haphazardly, half spilled out when I opened the door, with hardly a matching top to be seen. Several different brands added to the confusion as it would be like finding a puzzle piece with the right shape where the size was just slightly off. The whole thing was a long process of trial and error that led to what I considered a great success. The whole cabinet got emptied, I swatted back the few spiderwebs forming in the back right corner, everything got a scrub here too, and I found a match for everything save for one tub and one lid that had no partner. The rest got put back in sorted by size and shape. That definitely made any money earned money actually earned.
"Looks good," I spoke proudly to myself, squatting down to examine my work before being jolted to standing.
"Excuse me," a woman's accusatory voice startled me.
Quickly turning, the yellow and gray woman standing there with a heavy frown and suspicious stare could be none other than Mrs. Sun.
"Who in the world are you?" she prodded.
"My name is Cinnamon. I'm Pieter's foster sister. He brought me with him today in case there was anything you needed help with, and since you weren't here at the time Mr. Sun gave me a few chores to do."
"You are not Cinnamon."
I really should have just come 'clean' and made up a different name.
"My foster sister and I share the same first name. My last name is Holiday. Leo and Coral only just took me in," I explained.
"Oh." Mrs. Sun wariness vanished. "I see. My apologies."
"It's okay. Mr. Sun was confused at first too, and I'm sure seeing a random kid in your house without explanation put you on guard. There wasn't much, but I tried to do the best work I could. I just finished organizing your tupperware."
Mrs. Sun exhaled gratefully at me opening the door to show her the results.
"That's a thing of beauty. Thank you. I knew it was getting horrible, but I hate organizing things like that."
"I don't really mind it." I shrugged.
"Would you mind doing something else for me then? I have a massive folder of pictures I've taken off my camera going back over a year now. What I would really love is for a separate folder to be made for each date, and the pictures inside those folders to be put in numerical order."
"I can do that no problem." I smiled wide.
Mrs. Sun set her laptop up at the kitchen bar and started on brunch while I got to work. She wasn't kidding about the massive folder. There were over two thousand pictures within with the titles being nothing more than a random combination of numbers. Organizing everything wasn't hard though. I simply had to click on the picture, look at the information about it that popped up at the bottom of the screen, and place everything appropriately from there. Basic, tedious busywork, essentially. Busywork that I was indeed fine with. Mrs. Sun and I chatted while the sandwiches and salad was made. I steered clear of most topics relating to me due to not being sure how much I should be saying, and Mrs. Sun sympathetically picked up on that. I ate my food, kept talking with Mrs. Sun, and finished cleaning up the folder by the time Mr. Sun and Pieter finished their work and came in to eat.
"I can see more now of why being a part of the family is so helpful," I spoke.
Pieter and I returned to the city around noon. My work had earned me twenty dollars. That was almost half of what I needed in one go, and I had gotten a good meal. No wonder Pieter wasn't keen on the others encroaching on what had to be a cash cow for someone our age. I'm sure Mr. Sun had given him a decent amount more for the manual labor.
"Uh-huh. It's a great thing we have going. Bet you're glad I recruited you, huh?" Pieter boasted.
"I'm not sure if I'm going to stay for good yet, but I am glad. I do want to thank you too. I don't know what would have happened to me had you not been searching me out."
"You're welcome."
"So, where are we going to go now?"
"Actually, I was thinking we could go our own ways for the rest of the day."
"But...aren't you supposed to be teaching me things and showing me around?" I wondered.
"Yeah, but you've already got twenty bucks. I can show you more tomorrow or whatever. There's some things I want to do that won't be good if you tag along."
"I..."
I wasn't sure if I had a right to be insulted, but I felt a bit insulted.
"You were doing okay enough on your own before, aside from getting sick. I'm sure you can find a meaningful way to spend your afternoon. Okay? Bye!"
And with that, Pieter bolted off down the street.
I stood in shock and surprise unable to process the abrupt turn for a moment or two. There Pieter had smiled so widely and proudly at having found me and pulled me into his family, but there he dashed off abandoning me without a second thought when he was supposed to be showing me the ropes? I couldn't understand it. Still, I slowly slunk towards the library. My only other money gathering technique was scrounging for loose change, exactly like Jessamine said. I found another dollar or so in dirty coins on my way to the building.
If school was out, I could be there for a while without suspicion. I guess this was also a good chance for me to do what I wanted without someone breathing down my neck. First I got that list written of medicinal herbs and plants to be found in the wild should I be stuck in a predicament like before. Then I searched a bit more on how to make my hut winter-proof before sinking into researching on making money as a kid. Using the lie of Leo and Coral being my foster parents opened up a wide realm of possibilities. Searching the right places online should find me families like the Suns where I could clean, walk pets, or even babysit. My optimism soaring high with excitement hitting me like it hadn't for a while now, I dared to take a plunge into research my fears wouldn't let me touch before.
Getting an update on dad and grandpa.
Even though I'd found the determination to type their names into the search bar again, my rapidly-beating heart still burned fire down deep until it reached my stomach. I forced my hand to move and click through the articles before my confidence left. There wasn't much to learn. Like any trial, dad and grandpa's sentencing and punishments were still in process. Fewer articles mentioned me, and that was due to the police suspecting Mr. Flaxen having handed me over to The Company or another group. They thought less and less that the general public would have a chance at simply spotting me on the street. Such was a benefit. I could stay at the warehouse with less stress.
About to finish up, my burning chest froze. I'd scrolled to the bottom of the last article I meant to read where a picture sucked my world into it. All sensations, all thoughts, all logic vanished. There in that article was a picture of my mom. The tag underneath stated the rights for the picture had been granted by the Vivid family, which made sense. The article came from a news station situated in Berrybrook. I stared for what had to be a half hour. Never before had I seen mom's face. Dad claimed the rapid pace they'd had to escape Berrybrook meant all physical belongings were left behind, and they'd had to abandon their phones so as to not be traced. An obvious lie now, and I wondered the real reason there'd been no pictures. In any case, I gladly sacrificed a quarter to print the picture out when my consciousness properly snapped to reality once more.
I resumed my search for loose change after leaving the library. The pennies would add up in time, and there really wasn't anything else for me to do. Dedicated searching and an aching neck earned me two more dollars. It was a pitiful amount compared to what I'd gotten before, but now I was even closer to halfway done with this week's rent. Not having to worry about food meant the money would pile up faster than ever before. I contemplated searching for change a while more or tracking for houses that might hire a kid's cheap manual labor. However, the increasing pounding in my head and tickle in my throat urged me back to the warehouse. My body hadn't fully recovered, and if I wasn't careful I'd likely spiral downwards into that terrible state again.
Worried if I'd come back too early, the sound of a decent number of people moving about relaxed my shoulders.
"Hey, Two."
And that voice instantly tensed them again.
"Please don't call me that," I requested to Tulip, who came down the stairs with Cinnamon closely following.
"You said you didn't care what we called you, so I'm going to call you that," she insisted over a sneer and condescending stare.
"I meant I didn't care about a nickname derived from my name." I bit back irritation.
"It is a nickname derived from your name. You're Cinnamon Two."
"You know, I think I like 'Lesser' instead. Like, 'Lesser Cinnamon', because she's below me," Cinnamon proposed with a smirk.
"Did I mumble something that offended you when I was unconscious?" I questioned with a frown. "What have I done to make you seemingly hate me with such a passion?"
"It's called hazing, sweetie." Tulip grinned a grin that made me want to punch her perfect teeth. "It's a sort of trial or test when you're a new member of the group. Do you care enough about staying to push through what's unpleasant, or are you weak-willed and useless, ready to run away like a pampered child to mommy? You have to be the first if you want to survive out here."
"That's nonsense." I folded my arms. "That's just an excuse for abuse."
"Like you know what abuse is like?" Tulip mimicked me.
"How do you know what I've been through?"
"I can tell," she growled. Her glare widened, and the intensity of emotion bursting in her eyes frightened me. It was like I was a tea candle in front of a dragon. "You haven't seen the true cruelty of this world."
She flicked her hair over her shoulder, tilted her head down at me wearing an even deeper sneer, and sauntered off with Cinnamon once more rushing to dog her heels. The two walked out of the warehouse. Part of me hoped they'd never return. Quite an unlikely hope. With a sigh, my feet growing sore slowly took me up the stairs where Skylar and Jam ran around making most of the noise I'd heard by slamming pillows into one another. They didn't seem to be aware of what had gone on downstairs.
"Hello," I greeted with a smile.
Pillow fighting. Grandpa and I had had the fun bouts from time to time whenever dad wasn't around, for he didn't approve of the playful fighting. I might have accidentally hit him just hard enough once after dad already stumbled from a hit to the face from grandpa that tripped him more to where he slammed his head into the wall.
"Hi," Jam greeted me back quickly.
Skylar didn't bother with any kind of hello. The two continued knocking each other senseless with their weapons of fluff. I stood and watched. Sadly, with each passing second it became more and more clear they didn't find it worth it to bother with my presence. Their fight slowly shuffled them further away. At least they weren't being mean to me, I suppose...
Pillow fighting probably wasn't the best activity for me either. My head still hurt, I held back the cough, and hints of a chill scattered up and down my arms. Jessamine had said the weekly rent covered medicine. It had to be more common medicine than whatever had been the fancy kind it'd taken to get me feeling better. Hopefully, I would be able to get some of the cheaper stuff without it adding more to my debt. The bed from before called to me, but I slunk onto the couch opposite the side of the warehouse where Skylar and Jam made their ruckus. The room from before clearly belonged to Leo and Coral. I'd likely only been allowed to sleep there because of the condition I'd been in. No one had shown me where else I could rest my head. The couch wasn't the most comfortable, yet it worked for the moment. I drifted off without too much effort.
"Hey," Leo spoke to me gruffly.
Then came that awakening. I didn't dare think to pretend still being asleep this time around, for his stare on me was hardly any better than Tulip's.
"Y-Yes?" I asked warily as I sat up.
What had I done wrong? Was it the couch? Had I not earned the privilege of even resting here?
"Pieter took you to the Sun residence, correct?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Did you take that bookbag of yours with you?"
"No?"
"Empty your pockets for me."
Confusion set in fast. I took out what I had─ the twenty three dollars, my list of medicinal plants and ideas for jobs I could do, and the printed picture of mom. Leo scrutinized it all, handed them back, and motioned for me to stand. What was I supposed to do when he proceeded to pat me down? He made sure not to be too inappropriate and was obviously searching for something instead of trying to do something, but still...
"I got a call from Mr. Sun. He told me of how you and Pieter were there today, and how the fifty dollar bill he'd left on his nightstand went missing. Pieter, he said, had been with him the whole time including when the two came inside to eat. You, however, were inside the house alone for plenty long enough," Leo explained sternly.
"I didn't take the money," I promised, my lovely heart picking up in speed again. "One of the very first things Pieter told me was that stealing was banned. I clearly don't have the bill on me either."
"Where is Pieter now?"
"He just came back. Cinnamon came back alone twenty minutes ago," Skylar joined the conversation. He and Jam cared to acknowledge me now that this was going on.
"So there was time for you to have stashed the money elsewhere," Leo proposed.
"Wha─!? No, I didn't─!"
"Pieter! Up here now!" Leo interrupted, leaning over the railing to scurry Pieter to our position.
"I promise I didn't take the money. While I did go in the bedroom, there was nothing on the nightstand. I just cleaned the house, straightened up the tupperware, and helped Mrs. Sun organize the messy photo files on her computer. Pieter was supposed to have kept showing me around, but he said he had stuff to do that he didn't want me along for. He dashed off. I went to the library to get this list of medicinal plants so I might not have to waste more of what you have, and I made this list here of ways I could work so I can pay off my debt. Other than that, I just walked around looking for loose change."
I held up the items I spoke of in turn hoping Leo would see the logic in me having them in conjunction with the story. He still didn't respond to me though. Pieter arrived and looked at everyone curiously.
"What's up?"
"I got a call from Mr. Sun that a large amount of money went missing from his bedroom. Do you know anything about this?"
"No, I don't." Pieter shook his head with a frown.
"Cinnamon claims she didn't see it, much less take it. She is also saying you left her alone when you were supposed to be guiding her and looking out for her to make sure she didn't overwork herself like I told Jessamine to tell you. What about that?"
I stared at Pieter. I hadn't known anything about that last bit, but Jessamine had pulled Pieter aside to speak privately once I decided to head out today.
"I mean, we weren't together in the afternoon, but I wasn't the one who took off. She said she had to use the restroom. We went to the park. I stood around waiting only to just happen to catch her speeding off the other side of the lot. Honestly, I assumed she was abandoning her backpack and taking off to get away from her debt. Jessamine warned me she'd already been a bit flighty, having tried to sneak out this morning."
"L-Liar!" I cried. Pieter's calm expression didn't change even as my eyes full of hurt and betrayal stared unblinking at him. "Why in the world would I come back if that was true?!"
"Did you try to sneak off this morning?" Leo questioned.
"I...yes. But that was before I knew about the debt, and it's really hard to trust─"
My words were useless once again. Leo suddenly strode past me to the bedrooms. He returned quickly with my bookbag in one hand and snatched my wrist with his other. I was left to stumble and protest as he guided me along. He didn't pull or yank, but there was no breaking free of his iron grip. On we went until he finally released me once outside the side door. Pieter followed along with Skylar and Jam choosing to more subtlety watch from inside. Tulip caught the noise from wherever she'd been around the corner to stride over with glee in her eyes. Leo firmly planted my backpack upon my shoulders.
"We don't keep liars and thieves," he spoke coldly. "Forget about your debt. Just get out of here."
"I didn't take the money! I'm not lying!" I professed.
Tears started to swarm my eyes as I desperately stared at him. Exactly like I told Pieter, I hadn't made a choice on whether I'd wanted to stay or not. But...when I'd been at the library, when I'd seen that picture of mom...I thought for a moment that I might. I might stay. In this warehouse of abandoned and runaway people, there was a family. A family that worked together and understood the painful nature of the world. A family that might not lie to me.
No matter how long I waited, Leo's expression didn't change. I shifted my gaze, my emotions to the one I had assumed I could trust the most.
"You're...YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT, PIETER!" I belted to his face, my face burning with rage and my shoulders shaking with fury.
For some reason, the idiot looked stunned at the intensity of my now seething hatred. Only when it was too late did the guilt hit him and cause his solemn expression to fall. However, I didn't care. Pieter had pulled me in partly because he found my speed to be an asset. Well, I could show this pathetic excuse for a family how fast my legs could take me. I ground my heel into the cement and bolted, clearing the length of the long warehouse in an instant, glad to be getting far away from Tulip's snickering and Leo telling her to be quiet.
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