Misinformation Can Be Deadly

Chapter 8: Oh the Glasses Gays are Finally Here

"So basically, anyone can come to the orphanage and choose to adopt kids?" Roman asked.

"Yup," Virgil answered, holding his phone to his ear to make it look like he was on a phone call as he walked away from the bus stop.

"How often does that happen?"

"Not as often as we would like. A kid named Dannie was adopted recently, to a nice lesbian couple I guess."

Roman's eyes widened. "Are they married?"

"Yeah, why?" Virgil squinted his eyes at him.

The demon jumped and threw his fist into the air. "Finally! Humanity was weird for a bit making it illegal for two people of the same sex to marry! I absolutely hated it, what was the point? You humans have always been queer."

"I blame Europe," Virgil said with a shrug.

"Do you think you'll be adopted soon?"

"Nah, people don't want to adopt older kids. They want to make memories with their kids while they're young, and many people think older kids are problem children. Plus, I do come with a lot of problems, getting into fights and all."

Roman frowned. "You don't start those fights. And surely some people adopt older kids?"

"They do, but they're really rare, and none have come to our orphanage in a long time. It's fine, that's why I'm going to work now, to save up money and get an apartment. It'll help with rent for a bit, so I can stay in school a little longer. I don't know what I'm going to do though because soon working part time isn't going to help me. I might have to drop out."

"You need money? I can get you some!"

"Without stealing?"

"I'm a demon, I have my ways."

"I guess that could help. We can figure something out when we get there. But for now, I need to work. Saturday's are the worst. Oh by the way, let me remind you now that you're not allowed to kill anyone."

Roman became worried. "Why do you need to remind me of that?"

"You'll see."

"Nah huh! The last time you said that, you got beat up! You are really making me start to hate simple phrases and words!"

"It's not going to be that bad again. I just deal with difficult people at work. Anyway, we're here." Virgil walked to the side of the building and pulled out his keys. "Just behave yourself."

"You do remember that you're talking to a demon, right?"

Virgil gave Roman a piercing glare before walking into the door. He quickly checked in and took off his jacket, sliding his phone into a pocket. He took his apron off of the hook and put his hoodie in its place. Time for Hell on Earth...

~~~

Delores picked up a bunch of stuffed animals, placing them on the couch for the kids to find later when they look for them. The younger kids were upstairs playing together, and the older kids were hiding in their rooms. It was a typical Saturday, though after cleaning Delores needed to check on them to make sure they were okay.

Though, she didn't get the chance to even finish picking up the living room since someone knocked on the door. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face, walking over to the door.

Opening it, she saw two men. One had a black button up, tucked into jeans with a black belt and a blue striped tie around his neck. His glasses were almost rectangular, not much but certainly more boxier than the other man's circle glasses. The other one wore a blue polo shirt with a cardigan over his shoulders. He wore khaki pants and his light gray sneakers had stickers and drawings all over them. They both seemed to have completely different personalities, yet they both wore matching wedding rings.

"Hello, can I help you two today?" Delores asked, putting on a welcoming smile.

"Hi! I'm Patton Berry, and this is my husband Logan," the man with round glasses greeted, holding out his hand. Delores took it and smiled brighter at the two.

"We're here to look into adoption," Logan explained.

"It's very nice to meet you both," Delores told them. "Why don't you come in and I can bring you to my office."

She stepped aside to let them in before closing the door and leading them to her office. Pushing open her door, she revealed a neatly cleaned room, it was usually locked to keep the kids out but they seemed pretty occupied today and usually knew to stay out.

There was a desk towards the back, filing cabinets behind it. A small bed was pushed to the side of the room, neatly made, and a dresser was on the other side of the room. There were a few other things, like the lamp in the corner, but there wasn't much. Taking care of an orphanage doesn't pay as well as it should.

"Now, we have quite a few kids in our orphanage, is there a specific age group or maybe gender you were hoping for?" Delores asked as she moved to the filing cabinets, pulling out a key to unlock them.

"Yeah, we were hoping to talk to the oldest child here?" Patton asked, making Delores freeze up for a moment. She unlocked a low cabinet and pulled out a folder.

"That would be Virgil! Seventeen years old, he'll be aging out next month." She placed the folder on her desk, gesturing to the chairs in front of the desk for the two to sit. There were three chairs, two for parents and one for whatever kid they wanted to speak to. "Unfortunately, he's at work right now. He left a few hours ago so his shift should be ending soon, he usually gets off the bus at four which is a ten minute walk away. So you should be able to talk to him in maybe twenty minutes if you want to wait?"

"That would be delightful," Logan agreed, crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap. Oh Delores hoped that they would like Virgil, and that the boy would like those two, because it seems clear to her that these two would give him a good home.

"I know you don't know much about us, but do you think he would like us?" Patton asked hopefully. Dealing with gay couples in the past, Delores knew exactly what he was asking.

She wasn't going to out Virgil obviously, even if they seemed like a safe couple, it still wasn't her place to do that. But she did give Patton a bright smile and told him, "I think he would feel very safe in your home."