Acquire (BoyxBoy)

Camouflage

I was dragged along the wet hallways my toes touching nasty substances. Every now and then an uncontrolled noise would erupt from the back of my throat when he squeezed too hard. My tattered clothes were no comfort from the frigid air.

Every sign of pain imaginable surrounded me. I couldn't see, but I didn't have to; the rest of my senses were on high alert. It smelt like someone defecated everywhere with the smell of throw up and piss covering it. I wanted to start throwing up my insides; maybe that's where the throw up is from. How can people even walk down here?

We finally got to a door that led out of the stench. Being able to breath freely felt so good. Just when I took a relaxing breath the hand around my neck tightened. I was once again reminded that this is no calm matter.

I tripped over my feet several times before I landed in an all white room. Where am I? A pale woman with sunken in cheeks and dark circles under her eyes came up to me. She looked so weak with her greying hair. She wasn't even that old, maybe late 40's early 50's, and yet she has several grey hairs. Her posture was bent as she walked towards me. I stayed immensely still, afraid I'd break her other wise. The man with the grip left soon after, leaving me alone with this woman.

Her aged dark blue eyes looked up at me. They were so interesting, I'd never seen eyes of such a deep blue. "I have to bathe you, please undress". Her hands were clasped together as she stared at me in pity. I followed her demand not wanting her to struggle. She seemed like a nice woman. Once I was finished getting dressed I sat down in the white tub dirtying it.

"May I ask a question ... Ma'am?" She squinted her eyes into a glare before looking down at the liquid soap.

"You may ask, but I will have no response".

"Never mind then", after that it stayed unnervingly silent. The only noises heard were the scrubbing of my skin with a loofa and the rinsing of my body with water from a bucket. It was painful due to how hard she had to scrub to get the dirt off, but since I haven't taken a bath in months it felt nice. Being homeless was hard, especially at such a young age, people always assumed I was conning them.

She finished washing my body and went onto taking care of my nails. I hated when she worked on my feet; scrubbing the bottom tickled, and getting the dirt from underneath my nails hurt. They did look good afterwards though. I smiled at the woman but she only returned a droll stare.

I walked over to the seat in front of the mirror. I hated looking in mirrors. I'm not overly insecure because I've excepted my looks, but growing up being the odd one out was never fun. When I had the necessities to, I would always shave in-between the thicker parts of my brow turning it into two. In elementary nobody even knew my name because I was the quiet kid, and when I was acknowledged by someone other than an authority figure it was as uni brow. "Hey look its uni brow", "aha he has a uni brow", "is uni brow crying? Aha aha aha".

Those where all things that haunted me in my sleep, so in middle school I shaved it, stayed away from all people and the ones I did encounter knew me as a fast tempered man to be feared, when really I was the one who feared them. I'm still the man that fears others, I'm just better at hiding it now.

The woman grabbed a pair of scissors and went at my hair. Not once did I look up into the mirror voluntarily, I knew what I was going to see, there was no point. Not feeling my hair on the back of my neck after wearing it long due to easily hiding in it felt weird. There's too much air back there. She handed me a black short sleeve turtle neck, black socks, and black sweats that cinched at the bottom. I was very comfortable in my new attire. I thanked her before I was led out by a man in white.

This man didn't touch me or grip me in any way which I was thankful for. We walked side by side at a pace I could keep up with, to two wooden doors. I was led in by the man in all white who pushed me in front of him. I didn't see anyone, but I did hear the noise of whimpers. I stood facing the back of a tall chair that most likely held someone important.

"Sir-". The man in white was interrupted by a voice coming from the direction of the chair.

"Can't you tell I am busy?!", he raged.

"We have another sir".

"Just do with him the rest, I'm sure he's no different than the other trash". Not being able to put a face to the voice was infuriating, especially since he was calling me trash. I balled my fists up at my sides and took it appropriately. I'm in a new place with new surroundings, I do not know if there is a punishment system here but I'm assuming there is; I might as well listen to rules so I don't get in trouble.

I was aggravated, but I just pressed my lips together and followed the man out of the room. He led me to a place that held other people dressed just like me. Some of them looked fearful while others seemed bored. I wonder how I looked to them. I sat by a black girl with pretty curly hair and hazel eyes. She was really slim and looked even weaker than me. As she sat with her legs crossed she played with her fingers, she was quite adorable. I wanted to talk to her, she didn't seem that much younger than me, but I was afraid to. Luckily she started the conversation.

"What do you want?" She looked up at me with a raised brow.

"How did you -"

"You're staring", she didn't seem mad, just curious.

"Can I ask how old you are?"

"Fourteen", she's so young! Someone with such youth should not be here. I don't even know why I'm here but at least I'm grown, she's merely a child.

"Why are you here?" She shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing with her fingers. I could tell the conversation was over and I no longer pestered her. I wanted to find out why we were all here. It made no sense.

A man came and took the girl through a different door than the one I came in. I hope she's going to be alright. She doesn't deserve to get hurt. Once the door shut I realized I didn't get her name. Maybe it's for the better, maybe I won't get attached if something bad does happen. Person, after person, after person was called until I was the only one left.

After several agonizing minuets the man in all white came back. "It's your turn". I stood up walking to wherever it is I'm going.