Runt

Chapter 13

Ms. Brown's fists were clenched, and she didn't look very happy.

"I have no clue what's going on in here, but-" Her eyes fell on the unconscious Pound on the floor. Her jaw practically fell to the floor. Her eyes then fell on me. A little blood was coming from a cut in my lip, and I knew I had a black eye (not to mention a couple of bruises). Her face became an angry scowl.

"Do you boys do nothing but FIGHT?!" She screamed. The room was silent.

"Put that boy down immediately!" She shouted, and I was dropped to the floor. I winced in pain. She stomped over to me and grabbed my ear. I shouted in protest as she pulled me up and dragged me into another room. As the left, she told a couple of boys to help Pound. She brought me to another room. What right did she think she had to drag me into another room? I would just have to teach her a lesson, too.  She let go of my ear and I raised my fists, ready for a fight.

"What are you doing?!?!" She exclaimed as I got closer, ready to uppercut her. She backed away.

"Why are you trying to fight me? I may be short, but I'm an adult." She said the last word as if it wasn't obvious.

"So what?" I asked, spitting a little blood onto the ground. Her eyes went wide.

"Your supposed to respect adults." She said, as if she expected me to know that.

"You have no right to drag me by my ear into here!" I spat. Ms. Brown gritted her teeth, then took in a deep breath, and let it out.

"Honey... where did you come from?" She asked me, and I didn't reply. She repeated the question, and I still didn't reply. She huffed with frustration.

"We might as well get you cleaned up... and, please, try not to pick fights with the other boys." She said exasperatedly. I followed her into another room. It was the strangest place I had ever been in. There was some strange thing on the ground that looked like a shiny, white chair, but strangely shaped. There was also something hooked to the wall, with a spout and two knobs. Then the second most amazing thing happened. Ms. Brown walked over to it, turned a knob, and fresh water came pouring out! I stared in amazement. She cast a sideway glance at me and noticed me staring in awe. She turned it off and studied me.

"What's wrong?" She asked me.

"W-what was that?" I asked her. She raised one eyebrow and turned it back on.

"T-that..." I said, pointing to it. Ms. Brown looked back at it.

"This?" She asked, pointing to it. I nodded. I could see she was stifling a laugh.

"That's a sink... haven't you ever seen one?" She asked me.

"Sink..." I murmured, testing the word out on my tongue. I looked up at her and could see she was waiting for a reply.

"No... I have never seen one..." I murmured, embarrassed. Ms. Brown stood there, mulling over what I had just said. After not even a minute she snapped out of it and looked at me. She nodded and explained what it was. I learned that it was how people washed their hands if they got dirty, and fresh water always came out of it. She explained to me that there were pipes throughout the whole building that connected to that sink. It was slightly confusing for me, but I had a question.

"Do the pipes connect to the sewers?" I asked her. She raised her eyebrow for a moment to think.

"No, but they connect to a water well, which I'm sure eventually connects to the sewers. Why do you ask?" She asked curiously. 

"Nothing..." I murmured. I felt a little proud of my home, serving it's purpose to the city f Eastlea. She nodded to me. She grabbed a towel and soaked it with sink water. She handed it to me and I wiped the blood off my dry and cracked lips. I dabbed my black eye and handed it back to her. She took it, rinsed it and put it away. She led me back to the boy's room, which was once again filled with crazy boys. Ms. Brown went over to a couple of kids surrounding Pound (who was still unconscious)  and helped them carry him away. I sat down on my box-spring mattress. It was super comfortable, and I was glad. I sat at the edge, observing all the boys play with one another. I looked at my feet, and after about a half hour the room went silent. I snapped out of the trance that I was in, so used to hearing the noise that it was surprising to hear it go silent in a matter of seconds. I looked up and saw Ms. Brown standing in the doorway.

"Alright, dinner time!" She shouted. Instantly everyone started to flood out of the room. I had no clue what "dinner time" was so I just followed everyone else, confused. Everyone charged down the halls and into a small room with tables everywhere. Everyone was sitting down with friends, so I chose an empty table and sat down. There was a table in the center of the room that was larger than the others and after waiting a couple of minutes Ms. Brown came in carrying a couple of trays. She set them down at the main table and on them was the most amazing thing... so much food! Some type of weird white blobs, some type of meat (I think) and slices of steaming warm bread! My mouth was beginning to water while I was watching. I reached up my hand and wiped the drool off my lip. I winced as I touched my dry and cracked lips.

"Alright... single file line!" Ms. Brown shouted. At once everyone got up and began to form a line. I stood at the back of the line as people brought flat things with food on them to tables. After a couple of minutes it was my turn. I stared at all the food, not sure what to do. There were so many confusing objects, I didn't know what to do. I glanced up and saw Ms. Brown staring at me.

"Is there a problem?" She asked me. I blushed, embarrassed at not knowing what to do.

"I'm not sure what to do..." I murmured. She raised an eyebrow. She stepped forward.

"You may take one scoop of mashed potatoes, one piece of turkey and one slice of bread." She said, as if she expected me to know what "mashed potatoes" and "turkey" were.

"Umm... what are 'mashed potatoes' and 'turkey'?" I asked her. She swallowed.

"Allow me to help..." She said quickly, and grabbed a spoon and a flat thing. She scooped a white blob onto it, put a piece of meat on it and one slice of bread. She handed the flat thing to me, and gave me a shiny, silver colored thing with three points. I held it up.

"What's this?" I asked her. She grabbed one and gave me a simple lesson on how to use it and what it was called. I nodded and brought my flat thing to my table. I sat down and picked up the "fork". I held it like she told me to, carefully brought it to the "mashed potatoes" and scooped some up. I brought it to my mouth and carefully ate some. It tasted great, like nothing I'd ever had before! I eagerly scooped some more, and ate it. By the time I was done with the mashed potatoes and bread, I felt like I saw getting the hang of using this "fork". The first time I took a bite of "turkey", I felt about ready to die from the taste (in a good way)! I shoveled it into my mouth, and when I was done, I was full. Not the normal full, but it was like I had never been that full in my life. I sat back, letting all the food digest. After a couple of minutes Ms. Brown told everyone that it was "bed time". I had no clue what that was, either. I assumed it meant going to sleep, because it had the word "bed" in it. I followed everyone else to the boys room. Everyone went to their beds, so I went to mine. I sat down on the heavenly mattress. It was super comfortable, and I knew I was going to sleep well. And, man, was I wrong.