Strip

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

I tapped my fingers against the arm of the couch, screwing my eyes shut. The sounds of children screaming in the yard outside was leaking into the common room, drowning out the tv playing in the corner. It had been almost a month since I had arrived there, but I still hadn't got used to the sound of so many children.

I opened my eyes, and peered out the window. The back yard was a clean square of bright green grass, littered with cheap toys. Children were every where, most of them around 4 or 5, the oldest one out there 11. A couple adults stood on the sides, to make sure that none of the kids wandered off. Not that is was necessary- there was a huge chain link fence surrounding them, securing that no one would be leaving.

James sat in the corner with a pair of 4 year old's. They were playing with barbies, carefully styling their hair to perfection.

I sighed, and leaned my head back against the worn fabric of the couch. Unlike me, James seemed kinda happy here- he had made friends almost immediately, and always had someone with him no matter where he was. He was eating more, laughing more... he seemed better in general.

Which I didn't like. I mean, of course I wanted James to be happy. But at the same time, I didn't want him to get too comfortable here- Only 4 more months until I could leave, and James would be following me soon. Then we would go back to our old lives. Well, better lives this time. I would be done with school, so I would have more time to work, and make more money, and maybe we'd get some help from the government  or something like that... either way, things would be better for us this time.

While I waited to turn 18, I felt like I was slowly dying in the orphanage. I was the oldest one there, the second oldest at 15, leaving me with few people to talk to. The people who ran the orphanage seemed incredibly suspicious of me, despite the fact that I never did anything other than sit in my room, and when I was forced out of there, sit on the couch and watch tv. 

My phone had been taken away, just like everyone else's, and locked up in a box next to the door. I was allowed to take it when I left for school each morning, but they tracked it to make sure I didn't cut class or something like that.

School was horrible, to say the least. I was at a new one, obviously, and everyone there seemed meaner. I didn't bother with classes anymore, and instead just stared out the window wondering if James was alright. I thought about Janice sometimes, and Drew, and Toby, and Ally, and Cath, and Dicky, and Mrs. Copper, wondering if any of them every thought about me. If any of them had taken a notice of my disappearance, if any of them had tried to look for me. At first I received endless voice mails from Janice, ranging from "You better fucking be here on time," to "Molly, please answer, I'm so worried about you," but over time, they had fizzled out. I had probably been replaced at McDonald's by then, my place at the stripper pole taken up by a new girl. Maybe she had a smaller butt than me. 

I thought about Max the most. I had gotten a grand total of one phone call from him, a week after getting here, with one voice mail.

I had listened to it a million times.

"Uh... hey Molly... It's me. Max, it's Max. Uh, you havne't... you know... been in school, and stuff. I went by uh, Dirty Girls, to... to see if you were there. Dangit, I uh... I'm really sorry, ok? I um, I miss you. You're probably sick or something... Gosh, uh... I'm so sorry. I hope you get back soon. I love- I mean, no I don't... ok bye."

I wanted to call him back. I really, really did. I wanted to tell him I missed him too, and that I was so sorry about everything I had done, and explain everything that happened. I wanted to tell him where I was, and part of me wanted him to come and sweep me up, and carry me away to some other life.