A Twisted Tale of Sanity book 3

A Twisted Tale of Sanity

Chapter One: Homeless Child

Every day the boy sat on the curb eating whatever he could find in the trash bin behind the restaurant. Most days he only found a few fries and a partially eaten hamburger. Today was different, there was someone standing beside the bin. The nine-year-old boy knew that he could get in trouble for going through the trash, but he was so hungry.

As he started to turn and run away, a lady stopped him, and asked, "Are you the one that has been eating from the trash?"

"Yes, Mam" the child replied.

"Well come here let's have a look at you," the lady started. "You look like you haven't had a proper meal in quite some time. Where are your parents?"

The young boy just stood there shaking and staring at his shoes too frightened to answer. As he began to fidget with his feet, the woman looked down to see the tattered shoes upon his feet.

"Well are you hungry or not," the woman asked as she held the door open.

The youngster looked up at her and she gave him a wave, so he ran inside. She sat down beside him in a booth with two plates of food. As she set the plate in front of him he looked at her with hollow eyes and asked if he was in trouble.

The lady explained, "I don't see that you have hurt anything. You were just looking for something to eat. Just where are your parents?"

The boy sat and thought for a moment and said with tears in his eyes, "My mother died two weeks ago. I never knew my father he left us before I was even born. We got kicked out of the small apartment we were staying in because my mom got sick and could not work to pay the man rent money. I don't have any place to go."

The woman pondered this while the boy ate his food. "Will you wait here for me I have to check on something in the kitchen?" the lady asked as she got up from the booth.

The boy, not feeling any threat simply nodded his head in compliance. While the lady was gone, he finished his food and hers too. Then he curled up in the seat of the booth and went to sleep. As he slept he dreamt of his mother and how she would carry him, when he was too tired to go on. He could feel the warmth of her touch and it comforted him.

When he woke, he was no longer in the booth or in the street. He found his few belongings in a chair next to the bed he was in. His clothes had been washed and so had he. He was dressed in a nightgown of sorts and the bed was soft and warm. It was a pleasant change from sleeping on the street in the wet, cold, filth. The boy got out of bed and dressed. He went over to the window and looked out, he was very grateful not to be sleeping outside for it had started to snow. As he starred out the window there was a knock at the door.

"Are you awake?" a voice said from the other side.

The young boy turned and answered "Yes, I woke up a little while ago" as he walked over to the door and opened it.

The lady from the previous night smiled widely at him, "Won't you come downstairs, there is someone I would like you to meet."

The boy took her hand and went down with her. At the bottom of the stairs, the boy looked up to see a man standing in the middle of the room watching him. He was tall with broad shoulders and huge arms.

"Don't be afraid" the woman coached him.

The boy walked over to the man and held out his hand. The man took his hand and the boy said: "My momma called me Dizzy Desi."

The man replied, "My name is Rick. I'm very pleased to meet you."

The lady said, "My name is Dianna. Rick and I talked about something while you slept. We were just thinking that if you had no place of your own, maybe you would like to stay here with us. I can promise you a warm meal every night and a nice soft, warm, comfortable place to sleep."

"And maybe some new shoes too," Rick added.

Desi smiled at this. He was excited about having a real home again. He eagerly agreed to stay and asked if he could call them mom and dad.

Dianna looked at Rick and Rick looked from Dianna to Desi and said, "Sure, why not. Do you know your real first name? Your last name is now Zephron."

Desi thought for a moment and said, "I think my name is Desmond. Momma never really used it that much. The only time that she did was when I was in trouble."

Dianna told Desmond that he would be meeting his new brother and sister, who were both older than he was, in a couple of days. Desmond thought this was the greatest thing in the world. He would finally have the kind of family he had dreamt of for so long. It seemed as though things were really starting to look up, the way his mother always said it would.