Daughter of the Devil

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning somewhere around 11 a.m. Ryan told me Richard and Amanda had left about an hour ago. They'd left without telling where to and for how long. It gave me an idea.

Lately, I've been more interested in my birth parents. I've always wondered about them but recently they've done nothing but cloud up my mind all the time. With Richard and Amanda gone i could maybe search for clues.

I made my way to their bedroom door. I opened it but something was blocking the door from opening all the way. Managing to squeeze through the door opening, I saw the problem: a pile of clothes.
I stood in the middle of the room hoping to maybe think of a place to start looking. Then the front door was disturbed with a loud knock. I scurried out of the room and gently closed the bedroom door. Ryan opened the front door to reveal a man wearing a dark grey suit and holding a clipboard. I made my way to the door.
"Hello, I'm Jeff Simmons. I am here for the state-issued annual inspections for an adoptive relationship. Is there a legal guardian here?" He said adjusting his small framed, black glasses.

"No, not at the moment. Perhaps later today would be a better time." Ryan cleared his throat and looked at me.

"Okay, whenever they get home could you please notify them of my visitation?" Jeff scribbled onto a yellow paper and handed it to me. "I'll see you tomorrow, thank you." He turned around and got into a car.
Ryan closed the door and we examined the slip together. It was a notice for inspection. It said "annual" but sometimes they pop up without knowledge of in advance. The inspections are just so the state is assured this is a suitable living environment, clearly they've failed to do that.

Lets make this one of those surprise visits.

Richard and Amanda came back home around 3-ish. This was typically the time Ryan and I could leave. I was glad because just as I reached for my shoes, Richard pulled out a bottle of some Swedish-imported vodka from the cabinet above the dishes.

I decided I'd walk around the city. You see, where we lived it's away from the city, its where there are houses instead of large buildings and apartments. We're right outside Hell's Kitchen.

After a few minutes of walking i finally made it to a payphone. Yes, people still use those. I called my friend, Marya . She's pretty nice, she'd always calm me down whenever I cried at school and stuff. 

"Hey, wanna go to Jensen's diner? I asked. Through all the traffic and city life, her voice said "Sure sounds cool, i'll be there in a few."

I arrived at the intersection right before Jensen's, cars roared in the streets and many people occupied the sidewalks. A man in a suit wearing red round shades stood next to me at the crosswalk. He was blind, he was handling a red and white cane. The walk signal flashed and beeped and he paced the street to the other side as the cars came to a sudden stop. I opened the door to my destination and waited for Marya. She finally arrived after 10 minutes worth of waiting. She ordered just fries and a Sprite I ordered a cheese burger and fries with a  Dr. Pepper. We did more eating than talking. I eventually brought up my curiosity towards my birth parents. Marya encouraged it but was also discouraging it because she didn't want me to get 'hurt', emotionally or physically. I ignored the discouragement. 

I went back home and the place was a mess. Dishes were in the sing for some reason. There were clothing bags and shoe boxes in the floor. There was a puddle of what i'm pretty sure was wine. Richard and Amanda were arguing about something. It wasn't worth the eavesdrop, Richard was drunken out of his mind. I could tell Ryan didn't alert them of Jeff and the state inspection.

The rest of the night was silent... Until somewhere around 9.

"We are going out, we'll be back later, don't blow the house up."
I decided to continue my search in their room. I checked their closet which was lined with empty beer bottles. There was a shoe box on the corner of the closet. Inside were a bunch of Ryan's baby pictures, everyone was unhappy in them. Then, i saw some of my pictures, none from before age 7. That's when I found Richard and Amanda as my unfortunate permanent home. Before then, i was in half-way houses out of the wazoo.
At the bottom of the box a sheet of cotton-like paper, the corner read 'Birth-'. I pulled it from beneath the pictures, it was a copy of my birth certificate. 
I looked at the parental slots and only one was labelled, Father, Matthew Michael Murdock...