The Troublesome Tale of Robin Tyler

..::< No Supper - 3 >::..

As I walked into the building with my head hanging low, the first thing my eyes met besides the worn wooden floor was a tapping foot. My gaze followed up from the foot, to a fragile thin body with arms crossed, to an angry scowl from Mrs. Henderson. She propped one hand on her hip and jabbed the pointer finger from her other hands in the direction of the grand staircase.

If I were one of the younger kids, I'd be on my knees begging for forgiveness and kissing her wrinkly old feet. But in reality, I was one of the oldest kids, and I had already been through this routine a plethora of times.

"Go to your room and don't you dare come out unless your presence is requested." We said simultaneously in a matching stern tone.

My mockery only made the old women angrier. I ignored her wrath and hollers as I made my way up the spiral staircase. She continued to spit threats at me, not realizing how much I didn't care. All I heard was something about more chores, and no 'snack time' for the next week, and more tutoring classes

"And no supper!" Was the last thing I heard as I closed my door, finally sealing myself away in the solitude I needed.

I set my bag on top of my dresser. Ignoring the fact that it looked like a tornado had hit my room, I went straight for my still un-made bed and fell face first into it. From this position I kicked off my shoes to allow my feet to breath again. My head turned to my small black alarm clock on my nightstand. It read 2:14pm. Sadly that meant I had missed lunch, and snack hour. We all know now that I clearly wasn't getting any supper either. I threw my face back into my blankets and groaned. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice come from behind me. The only voice I would allow to talk to me no matter what mood I was in.

"Look who made it home."

I sat up, already smiling, and turned around. The one-and-only James Lockridge was grinning back at me as he leaned against my dresser.

James was the oldest kid in the foster home. Well, technically we wasn't 'one of the kids' anymore. After he turned 18, he was considered an independent adult who didn't need any parents to adopt him. Sadly, that meant he was supposed to be put into the big kid world and start his actual life on his own.

Or at least he would've had to, but thank God Mr. Henderson allowed him to stay in the foster home as an employee/sitter. Now he stays here, working on saving money until he can at least get his own place. WHICH he said I could move into if I ever needed to. James was the only person I could trust my life with. If I could adopt him as a brother, I would in the blink of an eye. But since I can't, he's just my figurative brother.

"Well I had to come back at some point. You still owe me 50$." I scoffed with a wink.

James grinned and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, maybe I'll get that to you at some point." He grabbed my bag from where I left it and tip-toed over my clothes till he met me at my bed.

I playfully hit him in the arm as he sat next to me, "If I don't get it soon, don't think I won't charge you interest." I watched as James opened my bag and took out the three photo albums I had in there. Grabbing the red one in particular, he began to flip through it and made comments on each picture.

"This one is nice," He pointed out a photo of the sunrise I took this morning. "The colors are beautiful." He finished.

A soft smile spread on my lips as I admired my catch. The sun had just barely peaked out between two trees, causing a silhouette that brought out the colorful sky of blues, oranges, pinks above it.

"Yeah you're right..." I agreed, believing it was one of my best. I carefully took the picture out of its pocket, and hopped next to my bed, grabbing a pen off my nightstand. I scribbled "06-09-18" on the back of the photo, then reached for the clothespin line I had above my window. This was where I put my best shots.