Young And Beautiful

Chapter 3

I hadn't thought about running away from home before I actually just did it. I genuinely believed the Browns were my only family. But I was wrong. My home was the orphanage. I realized that when I found myself with nowhere to go in the middle of the night, with nothing but a freezing child and a dollar. I hitched a ride to town and trotted off to the orphanage. What would I say to Madam Mirriam? Would she send me back? It was way past midnight, and it was dark and quiet. I could feel Matt's body tremble beside me.

My hand shook uncontrollably as I knocked on the orphanage door. I almost ran away, but I knew I had no other choice. Mirriam always said that I was like the daughter she never had. She cried as if she was at a funeral the day I left. She wouldn't send me back. Or maybe she would. I had lost faith and trust in all humans.

The door finally cracked open after the third knock. It wasn't Madam Mirriam. No. It was an old lady with an arched back and old wrinkled skin. She smiled at me and my insides turned.

"Sheron?", a voice from inside the house called. "You're late-"

A younger looking woman appeared from behind the senior. She frowned down at me as she tried to slip a golden hoop through her red ear.

"Great. Another stand-in. And you have a kid with you? Oh god. What's your name? You know what? It doesn't even matter. This is getting ridiculous! When was the last time Sheron came to actually do what we pay her for?"

She clenched and sucked her teet. I remember thinking that even when she was clearly very angry about something, she was still absolutely beautiful. She ran her hands through her chestnut-brown layered blowout.

"Whatever. Come in. I'm going to be late."

"Ma'am, I think you're mistaken," I started. "I don't know who Sheron is. I'm looking for Madam Mirriam Beaufoy, the owner of the orphanage?"

She placed a hand on her hip, getting more annoyed by my presenceby the second.

"Mirriam Beaufoy? She sold this place ages ago. What do you want from her?"

My eyes watered as I squeezed Matt's hand. "My son and I have nowhere to go...We were hoping she'd take us in."

The woman folded her arms, examining me.

"Then you're free to caretake fulltime then?" she inquired, glancing at the older woman. "This is my great-grandmother. She can't be left alone, and I have an emergency at work. Yes, at 1am. You're up for it?"

I was dumbfounded. I just stared at her.

"You know, you need this money if you don't even have anywhere to go. Come in."

I did as she told me to. The orphanage was dead. The building looked like a home now, with framed pictures and paintings on the walls, coated in fresh new paint. The whole house seemed to have been renovated.

"Okay so, Nana likes to walk around the house. Don't bother her and she won't bother you," the young woman explained, grabbing her expensive looking handbag off the couch.

"She doesn't like to sleep. She says death will steal her. So right after I leave, put two of the pills on the kitchen counter into her milk; knocks her right out. It's not druggingif it benefits all of us."

She checked herself in the large living room mirror, perfecting her black curls. "Make sure she's watching TV after you give her the milk. Cover her with a blanket or two so she doesn't get a cold. You'll find those in the first room to the right upstairs."

I nodded. That used to be Madam Mirriam's bedroom.

"Good. And you and your son can use the room next to Nana's for now."

She took her car keys from the glass table in the center of the living room and headed to the door.

"Please don't make me regret hiring a stranger to stay with my Nana," she said before running out. "And help yourselves to some food in the fridge!"

My stomach growled on cue as I awkwardly stumbled over to the old lady supposedlyher Nana. She glanced at at me with that smile that made my skin crawl. I had always been afraid of the elderly.

"Where's Grace, dear?" Nana questioned in a soft, strained voice.

I assumed Grace was the young lady who just left.

"She had to go to work," I mumbled.

Nana nodded, closed her eyes and hummed unrhythmically. I slowly walked over to the couch where Matthew had quickly fallen asleep. I took a blanket, and I covered his small frail body. After planting a soft kiss in his hair, I headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was the same, besides the effects of the big renovation. It was the same because all my memories in it were still alive however the interior was completely different. I opened the frigde, and my jaw dropped at how it was so stacked with fruits to veges, cooked food to desserts. My mouth watered.

I grabbed a milk carton and placed it on the granite kitchen table. I poked my head back into the fridge, scanning for something for myself to eat. There was ready made pasta, so I just warmed it up in the microwave.

I mixed Nana's sleeping pills into the milk and served it to her. She drank the entire glass, and as promised, was knocked out in about ten minutes. Something about the whole thing made me feel uneasy, but I just thought maybe it was better for her to sleep than to roam around the house the entire night.

I sat at the kitchen table, quietly eating my mushroom pasta as I looked around the kitchem. I could not quite believe that the orphanage was just shut down. Madam Miriam put her every hard earned penny into this place. What happened to the other children who weren't adopted? What happened to the madam?

It was almost 3am when I finally carried Matthew upstairs to sleep. Our room for the night was furnished with everything pretty and pink. Matthew passed out immediately, again after his head hit the pillow. I just watched him for a while until I finally fell asleep. I somehow knew that this house would be my home again.