Pit Boys - The Next Race

Chapter 5 - Trouble?

The car pulled up in front of the orphanage. Before they stepped out, Pete put his hand on Way's and held him back.
"How are we supposed to do this?" He asked. Way shrugged.
"We have an application here." Way waved around the papers in his hand.
"Yeah but wouldn't there be more procedure for this? I really don't think we can just take them home immediately."
"We'll figure something out." Way said getting out of the car. Pete sighed and followed him.
Once inside, they were shown to the office of the lady who ran the orphanage. Pete thanked the person who had shown them there and they waited for the lady. Soon enough, she walked inside. She looked around 50 years old, with a kind, motherly face and a sweet smile.
"Please take a seat." She said as she sat down. "How can I help you?"
"Hello." Both Pete and Way responded with their hands folded. Way handed her the papers in his hand.
"We would like to adopt these two children."
She looked through the papers for a minute and then looked up. Way got the feeling that she was not particularly satisfied with them.
He scrambled for Pete's hand and then held it. "We have always wanted children." He gushed. Pete looked at him, completely taken aback. This had not been part of their plan. But he quickly recovered and nodded at the lady.
"We have been together for so long." Way kept on talking. "And now, finally we can get married and adopt children too." Pete squeezed his hand to let him know that he was going a tad bit too far.
"Of course, we are happy to help. You can meet them today and interact with them. And I can make an appointment for next week for you to take them out, maybe visit your home." The lady smiled at the two of them.
Pete and Way exchanged a look. The rate at which this was going, suggested that they would not be able to actually move the children for at least another month.
"Is there any way we can take them home sooner?" Pete inquired.
The lady narrowed her eyes. Despite her motherly look, she seemed to be sharp as a whip.
"We insist that both the children and the parents get fully acquainted with each other before they actually move in. We will have a social worker come inspect your house as well to make sure that they will be fine. Also you will need to submit a few more documents specifying things like your sources of income, so that we know you have the means to look after them properly."
Pete looked at Way as if to say, I told you so. Adopting children was not as easy as walking into an orphanage and picking them up. Apparently, Way seemed to have other plans. Pete watched as Way slowly leaned forward and looked into the lady's eyes.
"You have known us for weeks, we've been here many times. You remember us." His voice was quiet, gentle almost like a lullaby. Pete shook his head. He was not the one getting hypnotised. The lady's eyes clouded over for a second. "Yes, of course." She said.
"Now we have come to take them home." Way did not break eye contact. "We promise, they will not come to any harm. Please call for them." The lady nodded and picked up her phone. She talked to somebody about the children and then hung up.
"These children, they are special you know." She said.
"We know." Way assured her. "They will be safe with us."
"Let me go and see if they are ready." She got up and left.
"Are you sure she's not gonna call the police on us?" Pete asked. Way turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Pete hissed at him. "What happens when she figures out all of that was a lie? This was not what we planned on doing, we're basically kidnapping them ourselves."
"Alright, if we were to go according to the rules, those children would have been out of the country." Way shot back at him. "Please, what better idea did you come up with?"
Pete was fuming but he had to agree Way had a point.
"Once we sign the papers, we have legally adopted them." Way continued. "It won't be a problem."
"Well, what if it does become a problem?" Pete turned to look at him again. "What am I supposed to do then?"
"We'll figure something out." Way half smiled as the lady walked in again, with the children in tow. She sat down at the desk and the children stood in front of them.
"This is Na." She said pointing to the girl. "She's fourteen."
"And this is Ton." She pointed to the boy who looked up at them wide eyed. "He's six."
The girl's face was expressionless as she looked at Pete and Way. She was tall and thin with short hair that curled around the edges. She held the little boy's hand and slowly moved him so that she was standing in front of him almost as if protecting him from them.
The boy looked at them his eyes open in wonder. He looked small for his age, a little chubby with short hair that stuck up all over the place. He blinked at them, his hand curled around the girl's finger. His other hand clutched a toy tightly. It seemed to be some kind of doll.
"Now, you will need to sign this form confirming the adoption." The lady placed a couple of forms in front of them. "You don't have to bother with the details, we can fill them out later on." Pete signed the forms after reading everything and making sure it was all in order.
"Thank you so much for your cooperation." Way smiled at the lady as they got up to leave.
"Of course." She smiled and turned to the children. "Now, you be nice." She waved as they walked out and the children followed them.

Back at Pete's house, they made the girl sit and listen to what they had to say. Since the girl was 14 she was old enough to understand what trouble they were in, so they had decided to tell her everything. Pete had hired a nanny to look after the children and he asked to take the little boy away. However, the boy started shrieking as soon as he realised he was being taken away from the girl.
The girl knelt down in front of him and held his hand. "It's ok, I'll come to you very soon." She told him in a soothing tone as the volume of his screaming diminished. "You go with the nice lady now, she will give you a bath and then we will read a story together." The boy nodded and held the nanny's hand. He reluctantly left the room.
The girl watched him leave and sat down on the edge of the couch. She didn't look up and kept her eyes fixed on the carpet.
Pete and Way looked at each other not knowing where to start. Neither of them knew how to talk to a teenage girl especially to tell her that her life was in danger.
"What do you want from me?" The girl asked looking up and saving them the trouble of starting the conversation.
"We want to keep you safe." Pete replied, hoping his voice was calm enough to reassure her. But it only seemed to enrage her.
"I've seen you before." She said, her voice cracking. She was overcome with fear, and anger and she was not doing a very good job of hiding it. "You were there, at that place."
"I know." He said, gently. "I promise, we don't mean you any harm. We just want to protect you and Ton."
"Protect us from what?" The girl spat. "From people like you?"
"Well, you seemed to have misunderstood the situation quite a bit." Way sat forward and offered a small smile. The girl didn't budge.
"So think of it this way. There was several people who had already given money to Tony in exchange for children like you. And when he died, they were angry because they lost their money. Now, they are here to take away you and the others."
"No." The girl said, scooting backwards on the couch. "It was all over when he died. We were safe. This was all supposed to be over." Her lips trembled as she hugged her knees. She was terrifed.
"We understand." Pete said quietly. "We thought it would be over too. We grew up in that house as well." The girl looked up at them, her eyes shining with tears. Way nodded.
"We know how much you suffered." Way said. "I promise you we won't let them take you. Or any of the others. We brought you here so that we could protect you."
The girl looked like she wanted to believe them but couldn't.
"I understand that you are too scared to trust us." Pete replied. "I just ask that you give us the benefit of doubt. We won't treat you like they did."
The girl looked from one to the other and finally nodded.
"Why don't you go and see your room then." Way smiled. She sat up and nodded. "You can always tell us or the nanny if you need anything." She stood up and walked out of the room.
"Wait," Pete called out. She turned back. "What was your special power."
For the first time since they had seen her, the girl smiled. She lifted her hands, her eyes focused. Pete and Way turned to see the coffee table hovering several inches above the ground. They turned to look at the girl who was smirking. She returned the coffee table quietly to where it had been.
"That was no trouble." She turned and left the room.
Pete turned and looked at the coffee table, unable to wrap his head around what he had just seen.
"She's going to be trouble for us."