Escape

Escape

Copyright © 2011-2014 Nicole Bourdon All Rights Reserved. Printed using Lulu Publishing; edited and written by Nicole Bourdon.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. For information address Nicole Bourdon, Logan, Utah 84321 First Edition Printing Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bourdon, Nicole.

Escape/Nicole Bourdon.—1st ed. p. cm.--(Escape; bk. 1) Summary: Growing up at a terrible camp and never knowing the outside world, Marcus decides to take a chance, even if it costs him his life. He was lucky enough to make it out alive, but he soon discovers escaping from that terrible place wasn’t even a fraction of what was in store for him. As he discovers who he truly is and that he was never meant to be a part of that horrible camp, he also must learn things that every child should know, but sadly he never got the chance.

ISBN 5 800101 686036 (softcover) 1. Action and adventure—Teenage fiction. 2. Realistic fiction—Teenage fiction. 3.

Children’s fiction 4. Camps—Fiction 5. Families—Teenage Fiction Front cover copyright © Nicole Bourdon Any questions or concerns should be emailed to: borntowrite9532@hotmail.com Check out my blog: www.crazylily0.blogspot.com

To Sasha, Ester, Britney, Allie, and Afton A girl never forgets someone like a best friend

“I understand that you’re frustrated after today, and you have every right to be, but I have a plan that I’ll need your help for.”

I stopped and turned around, more curious than actually wanting to help him.

“A plan for what?” I asked.

“To get out of here,” Lance said a little lower. “You don’t know anything about the outside world, but I do. It’s such a great place, Marcus. You’re not kept in this cage, you can do what you want when you want, they have decent food and cold water, and people actually want to help you rather than just beat you when you do something wrong. I didn’t have the best home life with my father, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go back in a heartbeat and get away from this awful place if I could. I have a plan to get out of here, but I can’t do it alone. Will you help me?”

Escape A Novel by Nicole Bourdon

Escape

Forward Jolene gave her baby a smile as he smiled back. He was only six months, with adorable little dimples and a million dollar smile. He had a little tuff of blond hair poking up on the top of his head and his baby teeth with just coming in. He had her green eyes but his father’s nose and chin. She knew someday he would grow up to be someone great, but for now she was just her little baby.

She picked him up and took him out of the crib. He smiled in anticipation as he tried to grab a piece of her hair. She laughed as her husband, William, came in. “It’s nearly nine o’clock at night,” William told her. “Isn’t he asleep yet?”

“He doesn’t seem very tired to me,” she explained. The baby stared at his father and then smiled. William smiled back, clearly really tired from a hard day’s work. “Bad day at the company?” his wife asked him.

“You have no idea. It’s like every time I managed to find a break someone wants me to do something else.”

“Well, with great power comes great responsibility. I say that you work too much, but I guess the money is always nice.”

He gave her a look. “I do not work too much. I’m home often enough, so it doesn’t matter.

Jolene stared at her husband and shook her head. He was such a workaholic. She studied him, giving a slight smile as she did so. She always loved his brown hair. Her son had got the blond like hers, but her daughter had the brown hair and brown eyes like her father. He was a very tall and broad man, certainly someone that could scare someone away if he wanted to. She had a very slim figure with long, wavy blond hair. There was a lot of negative things she could say about herself, but William would always shoot down anything she could come up with and tell her she was perfect. She always just told herself he was her husband so he had to say that.

They turned around and saw their daughter, Melissa, walk in. She had just recently turned seven, and was the furthest from a girly girl you could get. She walked in with a book tucked under her arm. She held it out to her father. “Daddy, will you read this to me?” she asked with her cute, impossible to say no to tone.

William looked at her hoping she was kidding, but of course she wasn’t. Luckily Jolene stepped in to save the day. “How about I read it to you after I get Anthony to sleep? Your father’s really tired because he’s been working all day.”

14

Forward “But he’s always tired,” Melissa complained.

Jolene replied with a smile, and Melissa didn’t seem to be too happy.

Before she left the room Melissa gave Anthony a kiss on the head. She was crazy about her little brother. Then she walked out with her pouty face on.

William didn’t plan to stay up another minute longer, so he headed to bed, giving Jolene and Anthony a kiss before he left also.

Once it was just her and the baby she sat down on the rocking chair and rocked him to sleep. Once it was quiet and it was just the gentle sway of the rocking he could feel, he was asleep in no time at all. Jolene set him in his crib and tucked him in. She quietly turned off the light and tiptoed out, watching his small chest go up and down.

A couple minutes later she was in Melissa’s room reading her that story. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess,” Jolene began from her story. Melissa might have been a huge tomboy, but for some reason she loved princess stories. It was the only thing girl about her.

“She lived in a beautiful castle overlooking the sea. Everyone knew her kindness and really liked her, except for one person, the evil queen.

“The evil queen hated her because of her parents. They had banished her from the kingdom because of her evil doings. The evil queen wanted revenge. That night she snuck into the castle and took the little princess right from her bed, an evil smile across her face the entire time. The baby cried and cried, but the evil queen wouldn’t let her go.

“She took the princess and raised her as her own for many years, convincing her she was her mother and this was where she was supposed to be. The girl learned to accept it since that was all she had ever known and started to call this woman her mother. But as she got older, people who went outside of the kingdom started to get suspicious of her little cottage. One day she realized she must get rid of the child, but she was too late by then. She was caught just a little while later, put in jail, and the princess returned to her family. She finally had the life she had always wanted. The end.”

Of course Melissa was still wide awake, but Jolene wasn’t about to stay up until she went to sleep. “Goodnight, honey,” she said as she gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“But, mommy,” Melissa protested, “Why would anyone do that to a little kid?” she asked. “That’s so mean.”

“It’s just a story, honey,” Jolene explained.

“So that couldn’t happen in real life?”

“Well, I suppose it could, but the person would be caught soon, and I’m pretty sure the child wouldn’t live with someone they thought was their parents but really weren’t. That’s not very likely to happen, because 15

Escape kidnappers have other intentions than just keeping the child for years and years.”

“Like what?” Melissa asked, curiosity filling her eyes.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” her mother said with a smile as she turned on her nightlight, shut off her regular light, and walked out.

Melissa sighed and then snuggled up under her covers, more tired than she thought.

Jolene walked into her bedroom, her husband already asleep and snoring loudly. She shook her head. She hated the nights when he snored.

But either way she got dressed in her Pajamas and snuggled up next to him. In no time at all she was out.

She woke up to the sound of crying. William followed right behind her and they both listened. Anthony was screaming like crazy. They didn’t think much of it until they heard the cry growing fainter. William was the first to react as he jumped out of bed and ran to Anthony’s room. Jolene followed close behind him.

When they got to Anthony’s room they didn’t see him. The room was completely empty and the only sign of movement was the now open window by the baby’s crib. William ran toward the window, and Jolene watched in astonishment as he jumped out of it. She went over and saw him sitting on the grass, up and ready for action sooner than she thought.

But it was no use. The night was completely still. There was no sign of a car, a person, or even something that would make you think something had happened that night. Jolene ran to call the police as William got into his car, determined not to give up yet.

By this time Melissa was up, wondering what all the commotion was about. “What’s going on, mommy?” she asked Jolene as she slowly made her way downstairs to the kitchen Jolene put a finger on her mouth, indicating to be quiet and then started to talk to the police on the phone. “Yes, I would like to report a kidnapping.”

“My young son, he’s only six months.”

“No, they disappeared. There’s no trace of them.”

“Alright.” Then she hung up, tears filling her eyes.

“What’s wrong, mommy?” Melissa asked with concern.

Jolene started to bawl, grabbing Melissa and holding her. “Your brother was kidnapped,” she managed to say through tears.

The guard stared off into the night. This job could scare any-one, but it didn’t scare him. He just stared as if there was something out there that he could see but no one else could. A short while later a figure started to appear out of the darkness. He readied his gun, prepared for anything or 16

Forward anyone. Luckily it was just one of the other men. He held a baby in his arms.

“Tell Phil I got another one,” he told the guard.

The guard looked at him with no expression. “You know he doesn’t like it when you bring children in here without his permission.”

“But he also said if you find a good chance seize it. He said the younger the better, because than they’re easier to manipulate.”

“He also said find kids with no family. A kid no one will miss or look for.”

“Don’t worry, they didn’t see me. There’s no way they’ll ever find this kid. What are you worried about? Now let me in.”

The guard gave him a cold look and then pushed a button. The metal gates of what looked like a prison slid open and the person with the baby stepped in. By this time the baby had stopped crying and was just looking around, his curiosity going crazy. The man stepped into a dark camp ground, green army tents pitched everywhere. But he headed toward a log cabin at the very end of the camp. He was kind of nervous. Talking to the head was never easy, and he just hoped he would accept this baby.

17

1 A tall, muscular man with broad shoulders gave me a smile. “Don’t you want to swim?” he asked me.

I smiled in reply and immediately went inside my house to get my bathing suit on. I walked into my nice, carpeted room. I felt the carpet on my feet and smiled some more. It was my dream to feel carpet. I had only heard stories. Smiling didn’t happen very often.

I got my bathing suit on and then ran outside to join him. I dove in the nice and cold water, splashing the lady in the beach chair. She didn’t get mad, rather just gave me a smile and laughed. There was something about that smile. I spent a while playing Marco Polo with the man, and then the lady said it was time for dinner. Another smile spread across my face as I went inside to get dressed and wash up.

We sat at the dinner table, talking amongst each other. I looked down at my delicious dinner of steak, the food I had always wanted to try but never got the chance. I picked it up, enjoying the look and feel of it before the taste. My parents just smiled at me some more as I started to eat it.

They were actually starting to give me the creeps. Why did they just keep smiling and staring?

I put the meat into my mouth and tried to savor the taste. But instead of tasting what I thought would be steak I tasted old, hard food. I gagged and then threw the stake across the room.

My parents gave me a troubled look. I took my plate and chucked it across the room as well. This wasn’t food! My parents once again just smiled from this. Now I was even angrier. Weren’t they going to say anything at all? Even ask why I did it?

I sat back down in my chair and started to cry. I cried my eyes out.

Slowly my parents started to disappear from view, still smiling. I wanted to throw something at them. Yes, I desperately wanted to throw something at a bunch of made up parents. I only wish I had some real parents…

I woke up to the sound of pounding. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. “Come on boys, everyone better be up and ready to work in half an hour! Get moving!”

I sighed as I watched the other boys get up. This was nothing new.

Waking up to the sound of the boss one pounding, quickly getting

Chapter One dressed, and then running to the breakfast tent to get something in my system before a long day’s work. I had grown used to it.

I got up out of bed and followed the line that was slowly moving out of our tent. I came out into the darkness. Of course the sun wasn’t up at four in the morning. It never was. I hugged myself, a bit cold. I had on a light jacket that was given to me by one of the older boys many years ago that had felt bad for me. I was very thankful for it, more than he would ever know, or that I even knew at the time. Most of the boys here didn’t have one and they were all freezing. Hypothermia was very common. But it’s not like any of the bosses cared. Boss one was on watching duty today.

He wasn’t as bad as some of the bosses. Box six was my least favorite.

With him, if you even sneezed you were in trouble.

“Get a move on!” boss one said rudely. No one ever called the bosses by their actual names. No one knew their actual names for that matter.

Everyone here got the low down of what went on the second they arrived, and the bosses told every single one of them they didn’t need to know their names and they better memorize what number they were really fast. All the bosses had to be called by sir, and you could only speak to them if spoken to. Anyone who broke that rule had major consequences.

They showed no mercy, not even to children. I had gotten in trouble multiple times for trying to help someone that was being punished. If it was an older kid I just walked by and acted like it was none of my business, but I couldn’t stand it when they did that to a little kid. That’s where most of the scars on my back came from.

My feet hurt as I walked over the hard and rocky ground. This was also nothing new. The only people that were lucky enough to have shoes here were those that had just arrived, and most of them were very young, so they didn’t understand the significance of actually having them. I had really old, holey work pants on, a practically shredded shirt, and a really old, light jacket. Still, I had it better than most here.

I ran to the food tent and grabbed a tray. I held it out as the serving lady plopped a big glob of oatmeal on my tray. We had cold oatmeal every morning, but it was food, so I never found reason to complain. I went to a table and quickly scarfed down my food. I was already late as it was, and if I didn’t get out to the stations soon I would be punished. The cafeteria was almost cleared, although there were still some last minute people like myself trying to scarf everything down. Once I was finished, I didn’t even think about it as I ran out of the tent. I really didn’t want to be punished today. I was determined to fulfill this, but usually when I said that the total opposite happened…

After that it was the normal daily routine. I did whatever was required of me, which involved a lot of manual labor and such. But before all that, there was roll call, warm-ups, and the start of the day pep talk.

19

Escape The day started with a five mile run around the track, which was basically a dirt road that curved around. No one was even sure how much five miles was, so we all just ran around it ten times. I didn’t know much about numbers, but I knew how to count to ten. That was something I had picked up from hearing the other boys joke around. Teaching anyone here was strictly against the rules, so I would most likely never learn to read and write.

I never knew what to think about what some of the other boys said. I was one of the youngest when I came here, so I relied on what I heard a lot. I didn’t really have another choice.

The run wasn’t much of a sweat to me. I ran around the track with ease and met up with the other boys, who were already getting orders yelled at them from boss number one. I always felt lucky that I was pretty healthy. We weren’t supposed to show any weakness. I had heard that since before I could remember. I got off a little bit when I was younger, but once you hit the age of seven you were expected the same amount as even the teenagers. I was already nine now, so I could show no weakness.

Once someone hit eighteen, they disappeared. I had lost a lot of friends that way. I never knew where they went, but I wanted more than anything to find out. There were rumors floating around about them getting to see the outside world. I wasn’t sure if I believed it, but anywhere had to be better than here. I was sure of that.

We all lined up in formation, always in the same order: youngest to oldest. The seven-year-olds were on one side, the seventeen-year-olds on the other. I was right smack in the middle, next to some other boys my age who I didn’t associate with much. Those few that were younger than seven got a special place to go where they weren’t required to do work because the boss had said they were useless until at least the age of seven.

I had only seen two younger than five in my life. They didn’t come here very often. Most were at least six. I had been one of the younger ones. I heard that story from the older boys all the time. I wasn’t exactly sure how young I was when I came here, but everyone told me they remembered me walking around as young as three. Finding a three-year-old around here was very uncommon.

We all stood up perfectly straight as boss number one came around and looked at us all, looking for any sign of movement or weakness. We were divided into groups. No one was for sure what made someone in what group, but each group had a mixture of different ages and personalities. The group they were in also shared a tent with each other, and each boss chose a group to work with for that day. Today was boss number one for my group. I knew some people outside of the group, but I preferred to talk to the boys within my group because it was so much easier than someone from another group. The only time I saw the other 20

Chapter One groups were during the run, breakfast, and dinner. We ate lunch and did all our daily routines as groups, so I saw the people in my group ten times more. Once role call came around everyone was expected to stay within their groups until dinner.

“Alright, gentlemen!” boss number one shouted to us all. We all remained perfectly still, something I had been taught since before I was required to do labor, and I learned with perfect accuracy as not to get in trouble. “I want you all to drop down and give me two-hundred!”

Outrages numbers like this were very common. No one complained as we all dropped down. The boss came around with his clip board to make sure everyone was accounted for. Only one person in the history of this camp had ever tried to escape, and that person was never seen again. To even think about it would get you in a ton of trouble. It was suicidal.

After about twenty minutes most were finished with the two-hundred, and the others were close. “Now, gentlemen!” he shouted again, “Your WP tests are coming up. In only two months you’ll all stand in front of one of the bosses so we can take a record of what you can do. The results will be given to the head. He accepts no weakness and only expects the best from his camp. Don’t let him down or severe consequences will follow. One day, some of you sooner than others, you’ll all stand before the head himself and show him personally what you can do. One day you’ll all reach the rightful age of eighteen, and then what you’ve been training for will finally come into play.” He smiled an evil smile as he said this.

I shuttered. I had heard this many times before, and the thought of standing in front of the head himself scared me. The bosses were hard enough to deal with as it was. No one had ever seen or spoken to the head and came back to tell the tale. They either were in such a huge amount of trouble that they spoke to him and then never came back, or they had turned eighteen and were no longer in the camp.

The shutter caught the boss’s eye. I went back to standing perfectly still, and the boss luckily didn’t say anything and continued. I could feel himself sweating I was so nervous.

“What’s our motto?” the boss shouted.

“WE SHOW NO WEAKNESS!” all the boys shouted in unison. We repeated this every morning. I was told when I was younger it was to help get it in your head so there would be no questions about it. We were told to live and breathe on that motto. It was the only thing I was ever taught.

I knew nothing else.

“Now let’s get out there and prove it!” the boss shouted as everyone turned around and started running the opposite way.

The rest of the day was also the usual routine. We all ran across the flat dirt until we got to the mountains not too far from the camp. We 21

Escape climbed up this every day and then did a training course. This time of year the mountain was bearable because there was no snow. So many got sick and were never seen again during the winter because of the cold snow. I always managed to get through it, although sometimes I didn’t know how.

The rocks were a bit of problem without having any shoes, but I would rather deal with sharp rocks than snow any day. My feet were used to having no shoes, so they had hardened, and as a result I could withstand more.

It took us about five hours to climb up the mountain. It wasn’t that we were slow. That was far from the problem. It was a very steep and high mountain, and we were required to go all the way to the very top and report ourselves to one of the bosses up there. The bosses were always there first, because they cheated and drove around in a small jeep. It was everyone’s dream to ride in one of those jeeps, but only those that were in a ton of trouble got the privilege, and of course none of them had ever lived to tell the tale.

Once we got back down the mountain we were allowed a short rest for lunch. I was always thankful for this. I sat down, all out of breath. I grabbed the canteen around my neck and drank the last of the water in it.

Water was very scarce around here, especially during this time of year. It was so hot out here, but we were only allowed three canteens a water a day. With how much work we did and at what temperatures we did it in, that certainly wasn’t enough. Heat exhaustion was always a problem during the hot days. I had been through it plenty of times, but it was rarely bad enough I had to stop what I was doing. I almost always kept going. Some couldn’t, and those people were brought back to camp.

Some of them would just rest for the rest of the night with a beating for showing weakness and then be fine in the morning, and others just disappeared without a trace.

I was the quiet and rather shy one. I hardly ever talked unless spoken to, as I had always been taught, even with the boys. Most of the boys showed a completely different side once they got free time in their tent for a couple hours every night, but I was always the same; quiet and completely obedient to whatever anyone told me. I was still beaten every now and again, but not as often as most people around here, and oftentimes the bosses would use me as an example of what everyone should be. This often made the boys against me, thinking I was on the boss’s side. I had never shutdown that assumption, although I knew it that was far from true. I wanted to get out of here just as much as everyone else, but I didn’t see much hope in actually doing it. I had lost confidence long ago. I would be here longer than anyone else. Everyone told me I was the youngest person to ever come here. Some of the boys knew a little bit about their past or could remember some faces in their 22

Chapter One dreams. I had nothing. No memories of any kind. This was all I had ever known. Like almost every boy here, I had been broken.

After I sat down boss number one came out with the lunches. It was what we usually had: soup in a can. They never bothered to cook it or even take it out of the can, so we were forced to use the pocket knife we had been supplied with to cut it open. I was always so hungry that I scarfed it down, wishing for more even though it slithered down my throat like a snake. But today I wasn’t feeling the best. Of course I wouldn’t admit this to anyone, because that would show a sign of weakness, but I took only a bite and suddenly couldn’t stand anymore. I was fairly sure that I had heat exhaustion, and the best way to deal with that was just by drinking water, not eating disgusting soup.

One of the boys in my tent noticed my face and gave a mischievous smile. “Oh, Marcus, you don’t look too good,” he told me as he tried to look concerned. “You shouldn’t force yourself to eat. I’ll be more than kind enough to take that soup off your hands for you.”

I wasn’t stupid, but I had no plans to eat it, so I handed it to the boy without a word. The boy looked down at it like it was a Christmas present he had been waiting for, and he brought it back to where he was sitting.

“You’re so mean, Dalton,” one of the other boys said. “I’m sure he needs it more than you.”

“Hey, I’m sixteen and he’s eight. I need it much more than him. I personally think they should take some of the younger kid’s food and give it to the other kids. It’s not like the younger kids need the same amount we do.” The boy just shook his head as I drank in silence, letting the warm water go down my throat. Water was never cold here. I didn’t know the concept of cold water except for the snow I put in my mouth during the cold time of year. I had never had cold water during the warm time for sure.

I’m nine, I thought to myself. But I didn’t say this out loud, rather I just turned my head. That’s just another nine years before I could finally get out of this place. Anywhere had to be better than here.

23

2 That night I was sitting on the floor of our tent. The best time of the day had come. We had two hours to do whatever we wanted just as long as we weren’t plotting anything, as the bosses had told us. I was just sitting around listening to all the other boys talk, as I did most nights. But today I was only half listening. My mind kept coming back to that dream I had last night. That wasn’t the first time I had had a dream like that, but it affected me every time.

“I can’t believe you’ll finally get out of this place tomorrow,” one of the boys told Dalton, a seventeen-year-old that would be turning eighteen tomorrow.

“I’m in shock too,” Dalton said. “I was told to be ready and up bright in early tomorrow. When everyone else is headed to breakfast I’m supposed to head to the head’s tent. I’m so excited. I finally get to meet the head and get out of this place. I’ve been here for twelve long years. I came when I was only six, and I can barely remember my past. Now I’m about to leave and it will finally all be over.”

“How do you know for sure it will be over?” someone ques-tioned.

“It’s not like anyone has ever come back to tell us what happened to them. For all you know you could be transferred to another camp. A camp that’s ten times worse than this one is.”

“It’s not possible for a camp to be worse than this,” Dalton told him.

“I’m sure of that. You’ll understand someday when you’re about to turn eighteen and leave. You heard the boss this morning; this is what I’ve been training for. It must be great.”

“I certainly hope so.”

“Do you ever wonder if anyone misses you in the outside world?” a young boy not too much older than me asked from the side of the couch.

I kind of knew him. His name was Lance. Most around here were lucky to have an actual name given to them at birth, since they could remember it, even if they were very young when they came here. After all, every child was supposed to know their first name, no matter how young they were.

The bosses called us by numbers, depending on which order we arrived. I was called by the number 1653. I couldn’t imagine that many people checking into this camp. But of course not all of them made it out. Of course we didn’t like being called by numbers, so we all used our regular names when we addressed each other without the bosses around. As for me, my name was Marcus, but it wasn’t the name given to me at birth.

Chapter Two The boys had called me that for as long as I could remember. It was the only identity that I had.

“Nah,” Ryan said. “I only remember a little about my past. My mother passed away and I didn’t know what to do, being that I was only six. My father was never around, and I ran out into the city, trying to find anyone that could help me. Instead I found one of the guards from camp that told me he would help me and brought me here. I regret every day going with him, but no one from the outside world misses me, because my mother was the only one I had.”

“I got lost at the park one night when I was six and also had a guard find me and tell me he would help me,” Dalton said. “I remember my father was shouting something to me about not being naughty and to behave. I was screaming and being completely difficult. My mother was pregnant with a girl at the time. My father blew me off, and both he and my mother weren’t really paying attention to whether or not I was behind them. I got lost in the crowd because there was some sort of concert that day. I wonder if they ever miss me sometimes, but at least I know they had my younger sibling once they were born to replace me. They probably don’t even think about me anymore.”

“My father always seemed to be working,” Lance said. “I ran away because he never really paid any attention to me. I was also found by a guard in the city and he brought me here. I would rather be alone running around the streets than I would be here.” He sighed and then looked towards the floor.

“And then there’s Marcus,” Dalton said as he looked at me. Why was I being brought into this? “He can’t remember anything, since he came here when he was only six months.”

“Really?” Lance asked in shock. “You were only six months? Do you remember anything about your family?”

I shook my head. I was sure the people from my dream were nothing like my real parents had been. I wondered what kind of parents would let a guard take their infant song. It made no sense.

“Marcus doesn’t talk much,” Dalton told Lance. He was fairly new here and didn’t know as much yet. Well, at least he didn’t know a lot related to social things. “He’s one of those boys that can never do anything wrong and the guards all love.” I wanted to point out I wasn’t exempt from being beaten and I was still afraid to death of the guards, so I didn’t see why he thought they all loved me.

“Do you actually like it here?” Lance asked me in shock. “How can anyone like it here? I promise you the outside world is ten times better.

Don’t kid yourself.”

I stood up, determined to end this once and for all. “I don’t like it here,” I told them all fiercely. “I hate it here just as much as you all do. I 25

Escape was always taught to keep my mouth shut and do everything someone told me. I do what I do to stay out of trouble. Maybe you all have histories and know something better, but I don’t.” With that I sat down, trying to take some deep breaths to calm myself.

“Wow, he talks,” Dalton said with a chuckle. “You know, I told one of the older boys we should name you the shy one, but he got mad at me and said that wasn’t a real name. One of the long gone older kids came up with that name. He said that’s what his uncle’s name used to be or something. It’s very rarely we get to name anyone, so we all kind of fought over what your name should be. If we ever get another one that needs a name I’m aiming towards Jason. That is such an awesome name.”

Ryan just shook his head, clearly annoyed at Dalton. I had never been told that story. I was named after someone’s uncle? I suddenly envied this person. I wished more than anything that I had an uncle. I wished that I had an uncle that I could actually remember at that. Most of the boys here had hard pasts with their family, and most of them said they came in here thinking their life would be better but it wasn’t. I always wondered what my past was and how I ended up being the youngest person to ever come here. I figured I had a hard life for those six months, because everyone else that came here seemed to. I just wished I could remember.

Sometimes I felt like bashing my head against a wall, wondering if it would trigger a long lost memory. I never actually did it for fear of weakening myself, but if I knew it would work I would definitely do it.

Having a bad memory to look back on seemed better than having no memory at all.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I had always been a fairly lousy sleeper, but tonight seemed worse than most other nights. My stomach had really started to hurt now, and I was really afraid for what tomorrow would bring. Being sick was always terrible here, and the bosses always seemed to make me feel like getting sick was my fault and I could somehow prevent it. I never understood that logic, because I never wanted to get sick.

The next morning I felt terrible. I barely managed to get three hours of sleep, and my stomach had not given up. I felt like I was going to puke.

Of course the boss came in right on time to do the morning call. I felt even worse than I felt before, and I had a bad feeling when I saw boss number six come in. Of all days, why today? I was hoping for a more lenient boss.

I sluggishly made my way outside, a feeling coming in my stomach on top of the fact that I was ready to throw-up. This would not be a good day.

26

Chapter Two I couldn’t touch my breakfast because my stomach was hurting so bad, even though I was starving, since I hadn’t eaten but two bites for lunch the day before. I tried to blow it off, and I told myself not to show any weakness as I headed out to the field and got in line.

Boss number six started the usual daily pushups, being as mean and fierce as he possibly could. After about ten pushups my stomach finally gave out and I collapsed onto the ground. I tried to stay strong so the beating would be less intense, but I couldn’t help bursting out crying because my stomach hurt so badly. That was the number one rule of this camp: never cry under any circumstances. That shows complete weakness.

The boss came over as everyone gave me a concerned look. They all knew I was in trouble, and they pretended like it was none of their business so they wouldn’t get in trouble too. Boss number six grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the crowd. It was there I got down on his knees, still crying, and awaited the blow.

I was on my bed, fast asleep. It wasn’t very often I got to sleep in the middle of the day, but I had taken an extra beating so I could sleep for a while so I would feel much better in the morning. But I had a feeling I would be feeling the beating in the morning, so it really didn’t matter.

All the other boys had come back a while ago, and they were all whispering among each other. “Marcus doesn’t get beat very often,” Dalton said.

“I feel bad for the poor kid,” Lance said. “You would think they would give him a break, since he hardly ever does anything wrong.”

“He was sick,” Dalton said with distaste. “And he’s only eight, so he can’t contain the pain as much as we can.”

“If he’s really as sick as he looks, I’m surprised he even got through some of the pushups. He should have been out by breakfast. But at least he’s getting some rest,” Lance said.

I woke up sometime that night, feeling a little better but not the best. I couldn’t sleep any longer, so I got up and saw all the boys as they stared at me. I tried to keep to myself and pretend like nothing had happened as I headed to the shower stalls. At least the worse was over and everything could go back to normal by tomorrow. To me, all this was normal, and I couldn’t imagine anything better.

After I got out of the shower I was stopped by Lance. I tried to continue on and show him I didn’t want to talk, but Lance didn’t seem to take no for an answer. “Marcus,” he said as he stood in front of me, “I just want to talk.”

“I’m not in the mood to talk,” I said bitterly.

“I understand you’re frustrated after today, and you have every right to be, but I have a plan that I’ll need your help for.”

27

Escape I stopped and turned around, more curious than actually planning to help him. “A plan for what?” I asked.

“To get out of here,” Lance said a little lower. “You don’t know anything about the outside world, but I do. It’s such a great place, Marcus.

You’re not kept in this cage, you can do what you want when you want, they have decent food and cold water, and people actually want to help you rather than just beat you when you do something wrong. I didn’t have the best home life with my father, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go back in a heartbeat and get away from this awful place if I could. I have a plan to get out of here, but I can’t do it alone. Will you help me?”

“No way,” I stated. “I don’t need to get into any more trouble, and we both know what happens to people who try to escape. They’re never seen again. Their fate is ten times worse than being here.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’m sorry, but this place is so horrible, and after being here for so many years I feel the only thing they could possibly do that would be worse would be to kill me, and in all honesty that sounds better than being here until I’m eighteen. Death seems like a cheap way out, I know, and I don’t want that, but I’ll take the risk.”

“Well, I won’t. I can’t risk getting caught and having my life taken from me. Living is a privilege, and on really bad days it’s the only good thing I can find in my life; the fact that I’m alive. If I take that away, there’s nothing else.”

Lance shook his head. “You don’t understand, Marcus. We all know that any place is better than here. Imagine if we actually escaped and found any place else. You don’t think people have escaped before?”

I suddenly looked up. “Really?”

“Well, of course they don’t tell you about it. They don’t want you to get any ideas, and they want to put it through your head it’s not possible so you shouldn’t try it. But I know the truth. I’ve heard lots of rumors.”

“Well, if someone managed to escape, wouldn’t they have caught them by now and then taken them back?”

Lance looked a little uneasy. “Don’t think about that. Just think of everything you could do if you somehow managed to get out of this place.

You should sleep on it. I can tell you my battle strategy in the morning if you’re interested. Let me know.”

And with that he left, leaving me there completely confused on what I should do.

I very much did think about it that night, although I didn’t really ‘sleep on it,’ because no sleeping was done at all. I had a feeling I was setting myself up for trouble, since I had been sick the day before and now I wasn’t getting a good amount of sleep. But I had plenty of nights like this before, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

28

Chapter Two I couldn’t take a risk this big. If I didn’t succeed—which was very likely, since guards were everywhere and the security was really tight—I would either be very badly beaten or even killed; and if I did succeed, there was always the issue of being found, and then I would be killed for sure. The guards had made it very clear what would happen if anyone tried anything like this. But to be able to get away from this place and know something so much better like everyone else did was my dream.

Literally. I dreamed it every night, imagining what it would be like to have a real family and a real life. Of course escaping didn’t necessarily guarantee I would get that, but it would certainly get me closer than here. Most of the boys said their lives weren’t the best, but it was much better than being here and they would go back in a heartbeat. Since I had nothing to judge off of, I could only dream what it would be like and wonder if I had a story of my own.

The following day I went through the motions, pretending like there was nothing on my mind. It wasn’t hard. I did it almost every day. But today I had to try extra hard, because there was a little more on my mind than there normally was. Luckily I managed to get through the day with no beatings or looks of any kind, so I felt accomplished.

Once I got back to the tent, I motioned for Lance to follow me, and he did. We headed behind the shed, a place where the guards usually wouldn’t bother to look. They weren’t too worried about what they were up to after training anyway.

“Have you decided?” Lance asked with a smile.

I couldn’t believe I was even considering this. I must have been crazy.

But crazy or not, I knew what I had to do. I just couldn’t take this place for another day, let alone for another nine years.

“I’ve decided if you can present to me a decent battle plan, I might consider it. This isn’t amateur work, and I can’t take any chances of something you planned failing because that could cost me my life. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” Lance said seriously. “I’m not stupid. I’ve planned this for a while but could never get anyone to go with me. But together, we can finally leave this awful place. I’ve had years to change and master my plan. If it doesn’t work, nothing will.”

I nodded, looking around to make sure none of the guards were even in shouting distance.

“Meet me behind our tent tomorrow right after training,” Lance told me. “It’s a good time because the guards won’t worry about us planning something so soon after training, and around the tents should be empty because everyone will want to get in the shower.”

I nodded in understanding. We both shook hands as professionals would and then parted ways, trying to make sure nothing looked 29

Escape suspicious. I wasn’t going to back out. It was finally the time I had been wanting since before I could remember, and I couldn’t lose it.

30

3 “Okay, here’s the plan,” Lance told me in a hushed whisper as we sat behind the tent the next day. I felt almost worse than when I was sick. I had butterflies in my stomach, and I was more nervous that I had ever remembered being before. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to do this. It just had to end disastrously, and then I could either lose my life or get so badly beaten I would never be happy again. Either way, WHY WAS I DOING THIS? Lance pulled out a map and set it down in the dirt. I was looking every which way, paranoid a guard was going to show up any minute. “This is a hand drawn map I made. The guards don’t know about it, of course, and they never will. The only way to get out of this place is if we somehow manage to get out of the fence, but that’s not easy when it’s both barb wire and electric. While scanning the grounds, I was lucky enough to come across a little hole in the fence.” I gave him a surprised look. “No one knows about it, because it’s in the land no one would ever dare go to even if they had permission.” I crinkled my nose. He couldn’t mean what I was thinking he meant. “The land of the dead,” Lance confirmed.

It wasn’t really a land of the dead, but all the boys called it that, because it was where all the dead bodies went. They died from a number of different things, all related to the camp. No one there disturbed them, and the guards didn’t bother to move them, because they didn’t have anywhere to put them where they wouldn’t be found from someone from the outside, and they wanted them there as a reminder to all the boys of what would happen if they got out of line other than beatings, and with the bodies, they knew to take them seriously. I had only been there once.

Our tent had managed to tick off the guards really bad one year during our testing, and as a result they took us through the land of the dead to scare us. It had worked. It was an experience I don’t wish to repeat. I saw people there that I had known, and it almost made me cry to think about.

“We don’t have another choice,” Lance said as he read my expression.

“It’s the only loophole I can find, and it’s our only chance of escape.”

I nodded, although I didn’t like the sound of this plan already.

“Of course the electric part of it still works,” Lance continued, “but I have a way around that. Over by the showers there’s box that controls the fence. The only way to open is with a key. That’s where you come in.”

I flinched. I certainly hoped Lance wasn’t planning on making me his bait. It was possible, but I tried to get that thought out of my mind.

Escape “Boss number one keeps the key on his desk. All we have to do is wait for a day when he’s in charge. After training on that particular day, I’ll cause some kind of distraction that will make him have to come to our tent and take care of me, and while he’s sidetracked you sneak in and steal the key. As long as your quiet about it and no one catches you, you’ll be fine. I know I’ll get beat afterwards, but it’s something I’m willing to do to finally get out of here. I won’t do anything too horrible, but bad enough I can buy you some time.” I had to give him some credit. At least I wasn’t the bait. “While I’m being beaten, you go and unlock the box and turn off the switches. It shouldn’t be that hard—you’re bright, so I have confidence you can do it. Once they’re off, bury the key so no one will find you with it, and then I’ll meet you over in the land of the dead after they release me. By that time I’m sure the camp will be in complete commotion, so we have to be careful. That’s something I planned for by far. We sneak under the broken part of the fence and then run to freedom.”

“What if they follow us in their vehicles?” I asked in concern.

“We’ll just hide and be careful. Once we get out of the fence we can totally dodge them, but until then we have some tricky things to do.”

“But it’s a bunch of open desert,” I pointed out.

“Don’t worry; we’ll figure it out. Once we get out of this place, you’ll never feel more alive; trust me. Everything we need to do will come to us in no time at all.”

I nodded, although I was starting to lose confidence in this plan. But I still had to try. I was sure Lance was right about feeling more alive once we were out. I couldn’t wait for that feeling.

The next few days seemed like a blur to me. All I could think about was what was going to happen in only a few weeks’ time, and I kept thinking about all the reasons I should just tell Lance I didn’t want to help him anymore. I was sure to get caught. I didn’t want to take that chance, but then I wanted more than anything to get out of here and know the outside world that most of the other boys seemed to come from. I knew that I had come from it too, but I couldn’t remember, so it didn’t feel like it.

That night I fell asleep and had a very strange dream. Strange dreams weren’t unusual for me, but they always made me think, and some were stranger than others.

I was walking through camp. It was completely deserted, and everything looked like it had been destroyed. I couldn’t hear a sound. I was a bit chilly, and my light jacket didn’t seem to be helping. I tried to figure out what was going on and why it was deserted.

32

Chapter Three I headed over to the gates, a place I didn’t have the privilege of seeing very often. I had never seen them opened, although I figured they had to be open sometimes to let new food in and let the guards in and out when they got new boys. I looked through them and couldn’t believe what I saw. It was so sunny on the other side, and I could see many people, including Lance and others I knew, talking amongst themselves and smiling. I wondered why they were on the other side and I was still here. I tried calling to them.

One looked over and then came to the gates. I got excited and prepared for him to open them so I could finally step foot in the outside world. But instead of opening the gates, the guy seemed to give me a weird look, wondering what I was doing by the gates.

“Get back in there,” he told me. He didn’t seem like a guard, so I didn’t know why he was talking to me this way. “You’ll be in there forever. We can’t let you out.”

“Why not?” I asked. I didn’t recognize my own voice.

“Because you’ll never get out,” the boy spat. “Now don’t ask any more questions.

Good luck.” And with that the boy went back to the other boys, leaving me just standing there.

I walked away from the gates and sat by a tent. I started to feel the tears come, but I held them back. I couldn’t forget what I had been taught all my life: “Under no circumstances cry. That’s showing complete weakness.” I told myself that I wouldn’t cry, although I really wanted to. I wanted to cry everyday here, but of course I rarely did. I knew the consequences if I did, so I tried to avoid it.

I stared down at the ground, and it suddenly started to snow, making me ten times colder than I was before. I held myself by the tent, wondering why my life was so miserable and what I ever did to deserve it.

I suddenly heard a soft and gentle voice whisper in my ear, “Don’t worry, mommy’s here.”

I looked around, wondering where the noise had come from, but I couldn’t see anyone. I stood up, hoping to find whoever this was. Even a face would be better than nothing.

But I didn’t get the chance, because I suddenly heard an alarm go off. I plugged my ears from the sound as the scene slowly started to fade.

I woke up on my hard and cold bed and realized it had been the camp alarm. I wasn’t worried. I knew this was just a late night drill. They did these periodically. They really sucked, though, because not only did we have to work in complete darkness, but we were also really tired, not just for the time that we had to do it, but also the next day when we were expected to do everything we would normally do with very little sleep.

I didn’t waste any time and got out of bed, watching the other boys look around, wondering what was going on. I quickly slipped my jacket on, because it was rather cold this time of night, and then headed outside to stand in a formation with the others.

33

Escape “Up that mountain,” one of the bosses, I was too tired to figure out which one, said. I followed all the rest of the boys for a jog up the mountain. I was so tired I was just kind of following my body, and luckily it seemed to know what to do.

I followed them all up and then back down the mountain, really tried and barley moving, and then we finally made it back to camp. Sadly, the boss didn’t look too happy about what we just did.

“You call that jogging?” he told us. “That was fast walking. Fast walking doesn’t go over well in my book, so I want all you sissies to do it again.”

Of course there was no sound of a groan or a complaint, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle going again without collapsing halfway through. But I knew that I wouldn’t have a choice in the matter, so I followed all of them back up the mountain. They looked just about as egger to do it as I was.

Luckily, when they got back down the boss seemed satisfied and finally let us go to bed for the last hour before morning. It wasn’t much, but I was so tired even two minutes would have sounded like heaven. I fell asleep instantly, this time having no dreams.

I had just gotten to sleep when I heard the sound of the morning wake up call. I was tempted to skip breakfast for the extra sleep, but not only would the boss that was in charge not allow that, but I wouldn’t be happy with my choice later in the day when my stomach ate itself because I was so hungry. I didn’t weigh much as it was, so I knew I needed to eat as much food as possible.

I got out of bed and my heart did a flip when I saw the boss that was in charge for the day. There was no mistake: it was boss number one. He had that stern look and had his whip in hand, just in case he needed it. He also had a small hand gun in his pocket, also in case it was needed. It made me shudder to look at. I didn’t make eye contact with Lance, although I was sure he had seen him too. Today would be the day. I would either finally escape, or get badly injured or even killed. Which one I didn’t know yet, but there was no turning back now.

I ate my breakfast alone for the day, needing to clear my head. I was so nervous I could barely hold the fork. Luckily everyone kind of looked the same way from the lack of sleep, so I didn’t draw a lot of attention to myself.

“Come on, you pansies!” one of the bosses yelled to the eating area. I swore they came up with a new name for us every day, although sometimes things were repeated. “Don’t let a little lack of sleep slow you down. You’re supposed to be prepared to fight anything.”

I desperately wanted to know why we were supposed to be prepared to fight anything, but I knew that question would never be answered until 34

Chapter Three I turned eighteen, which hopefully I wouldn’t be here long enough to ever find out. But if I actually escaped, I knew that wouldn’t bother me. I put the last bit of breakfast in my mouth and then headed out. At least I felt pretty confident this would be my last workout day, even if things turned the opposite way and I ended up in the land of the dead…

To me, today seemed so much harder than ever before, but that could have just been because I didn’t get much sleep or I had been sick previously. Either way, I had to force myself to keep going. My body seemed to sense that I had a plan to get out of here, because it acted like it was the last two minutes of a race and you had to keep going even if you felt like you were about to collapse, because you could actually see the finish line. Today, that was how I felt. Nothing would stop me from winning.

Once the day of working was finally over I headed back to my tent and saw that Lance was already there waiting for me. While everyone headed to the shower Lance motioned for me and we headed to the back of the tent where no one would look for us.

“Are you ready to do this?” Lance asked.

“Not really,” I said uneasily.

“Don’t get weak kneed now,” Lance told me. “We’re this close. My plan is fool proof. We’ll be out of here in only a couple hours’ time, and then I can show you all around the outside world. It will be awesome, and by this time tomorrow you’ll be the happiest you’ve ever been. Your job is fairly easy. It’s me who should be nervous, and I’m pumped. I’m prepared to take the beating, so I hope you’re prepared for your job.”

“Sure,” I mumbled.

“Just don’t screw anything up,” Lance said as he got all serious.

“Remember that if anything goes wrong it’s both of our necks.”

I just nodded in reply.

“I’ll see you over by the land of the dead,” Lance said as he walked away.

I took a deep breath and just sat there. I figured I couldn’t leave until I actually heard Lance being beaten. Until then I had some time to do some deep breathing exercises and think my last thoughts. The images of my made up parents kept flashing into my head. Yep, that was my last thought.

It didn’t take long. I heard someone crying, and then I realized it was Lance. That’s what he had meant by he wouldn’t do something too bad. I closed my eyes, afraid for what was next.

“What are you crying about?” I heard boss number one ask him in a voice no one liked to hear the bosses use.

35

Escape “I don’t know,” I heard Lance say. “This place just really sucks and my life really sucks. I just feel like crying.” I thought he was a fairly good actor, but acting like your crying was never a good thing.

“I’ll give you something to cry about,” the boss said as I heard the whip. I covered my ears and then ran away from the tent, not wanting to hear it. It was one thing to see some older kid I didn’t talk to that much being beaten, but I knew Lance, and I knew the reason why he was doing what he did. He didn’t need to be beaten.

I walked as quickly as possible to the boss’ cabins. I had to hide three times when I saw someone coming out. I was so nervous and afraid I was going to get caught at any time, but luckily the guards didn’t seem to be suspicious of anything being up, and as a result they weren’t guarding a lot, rather just looking around and making sure everything was in order.

I managed to slip through one of the cabin doors, and sure enough, I found a small office. On the other end of the cabin was a room with a nice looking bed and some other stuff. I tried not to stare or let my curiosity get the best of me. Lance was being beaten so I could get this, so I had to be careful.

I looked at the desk and couldn’t see any keys. I was starting to get afraid the boss had taken them with him, but then I saw two drawers I was able to open that I hadn’t realize were there. I skimmed through them but didn’t find much of importance. Just a map of the camp that I didn’t know existed, a bunch of papers I couldn’t read since I was illiterate, and a huge packet with some numbers on them, some of them that had been crossed out. I shuddered to think about why they had been crossed out, but then I tried to take that out of his mind and continue to search. I looked through the second drawer and found a bunch of cards that I also couldn’t read, although from the pictures I could tell they were for things outside of the camp. It kind of made me jealous to look at. I put them back and then my eyes lit up when I saw something shiny at the very back of the drawer. I pulled it out, and sure enough, it was a set of keys.

But there was a little problem. Lance hadn’t told me there would be more than one key on the chain. There were tons of keys, and I had no way of knowing which one unlocked the electric box. I freaked out when I heard someone coming. Luckily there were two doors, and so I went toward the opposite one, stuffing the keys in my shorts as I ran. Luckily they had pockets, although I really didn’t see why. It wasn’t like we needed them or ever used them for that matter.

I ran all the way back toward the tent. I tried to keep a low profile, because there were still guards everywhere. I could still hear Lance being beaten in the tent, so I figured that I had made good time. I ran behind the tent and searched through the keys; hoping one of them would give me a clue as to which one was the right one. Sadly, they all looked the 36

Chapter Three same to me, and since I had never used a key in my life, they weren’t much help. I finally decided I just had to figure it out and hope that I got lucky.

I shoved them back in my pocket and then headed toward the box Lance had been talking about. It didn’t take me long to spot it, but it was in a pretty open space. I got a bit nervous thinking about what the guards would do to me if I was caught. I tried to remove that thought from my mind and I slowly pulled the keys out, looking around to make sure no one was looking. This wasn’t an area of camp that was used a lot, especially by the boys, so I just had to make sure no one was coming over here for some odd reason. I was more worried about a guard that was just looking around then one of the boys, though.

I tried the first key, but no luck. I got more nervous when the second key also didn’t work. I kept looking around, convinced this was too easy and someone was going to come any minute. The third and fourth keys were also no luck. I closed my eyes and almost cried, wishing the fifth key would work. By some miracle it did, and the box opened with a click.

I was in such shock I almost forgot what I was supposed to do when I opened it. I came back to reality and then saw an assortment of switches.

I wasn’t sure which one to use. They were labeled, but I couldn’t read, so they did me no good. I suddenly realized why the guards had insisted we don’t learn to read. Some of the boys did from before they came here, but since I had been here for as long as I could remember I had no reading skills whatsoever, and the guards had made it very clear none of the older boys were to teach me.

I decided it was best to just turn off all the switches, since I didn’t know which one went to the fence and the only way I could test it would be by actually touching it, and that would just be stupid. But from the second I turned off the first one I had a feeling this box went to a bunch of things, because I could hear commotion in the camp. I freaked out and quickly turned the rest of them off. I could hear someone coming, so I quickly dropped the keys straight in the dirt, left the box open, and ran. I just hoped Lance had managed to get to the land of the dead, because we would have to move quickly.

I stood by the land of the dead, afraid to look back. When I did, I saw it was completely black and I could hear the bosses shouting orders to everyone. It seemed like I had turned the power off in the entire camp.

Lance had been right about it being crazy.

I walked into the land of the dead, walking slowly as not to disturb them or draw attention to myself from the camp. Walking by a bunch of dead bodies was kind of creepy, but I held my breath and tried not look at any of them. I was relieved when I saw Lance sitting on the edge of the fence, looking like he had been waiting for me.

37

Escape “You did it, Marcus,” Lance said happily. “The worst is over. Now we just have to move quickly so they don’t catch us trying to sneak out and it’s a ride to freedom.”

I took a deep breath. “Maybe we should turn ourselves in,” I said.

“You can’t flake out on me now,” Lance told me with a look. “We’ve already gotten this far. Besides, if they find out it was you who stole the keys and turned off the power, you will be dead. So either way it’s better to use that for a chance of escape rather than telling them the truth. Now come on before someone looks over here. I’m sure the guards are searching the camp.”

I nodded and then followed him. Just as he had said, there was a small hole in the bottom of the fence. But it was much smaller than I thought.

Even with me being less than a hundred pounds I couldn’t picture myself going through it. I saw Lance trying it first, although I kind of wished it were me, because I could hear the guards getting closer.

Lance had issues squeezing through, and as a result he got stuck. I pushed him to help out, and after a couple minutes we managed to get him through. He looked so happy he almost forgot about me.

I also tried to squeeze through, and even though I was smaller than Lance, I seemed to be having a harder time. Lance grabbed my arms but I was starting to get really scared, because I could hear that the guards were just a little bit away. Lance pulled, and then I heard one of the guards shout, “Over there!” as they ran toward us. After tons of pulling he finally got me out, but I cried out in pain as part of the fence scratched my back.

I fell down to the ground, sure it was bleeding, but Lance made me get back up as the guards starting shouting to them and to each other, trying to get someone over on the other side of the fence.

I got back up, although I wasn’t sure how, and then the two of us just ran as we heard the guards talking about getting help from the outside.

Lance’s eyes suddenly lit up when he saw a jeep parked just a little while away from where they had been running.

“You can’t drive one of those things,” I pointed out.

“How hard can it be?” Lance asked. “Keep in mind I’m twelve. I’m a lot older and wiser than you.”

I highly doubted that, but since I could hear more guards coming and I didn’t feel like running away from them, a vehicle sounded like the best option.

Lance got in the jeep and managed to start it up. I had a bad feeling about this, but I got in it anyway and waited for Lance to figure out how to get it to move.

The guards were closing in on us, and Lance seemed to have a hard time getting it to move. He tried to push the gas, but it didn’t make any movement at all. I saw the stick thing in the middle and suddenly had an 38

Chapter Three idea. I moved the stick forward, and as a result the car moved forward. I couldn’t have been happier as we started to drive through the desert and away from the camp. Of course the guards started to follow us, and then my panic attack started to come back.

“Relax,” Lance assured me. “There’s no way they can catch us on foot.”

But as I looked back, I felt my heart pounding again, because we lost them for a couple minutes and then saw two other vehicles following us.

So much for them not being able to catch us on foot.

“Crap,” Lance said as he also looked back. “Let’s hope for a miracle.”

That didn’t sound very assuring to me, but I tried to look down and pretend they weren’t following us and we would certainly make it.

“There’s lots of open desert,” Lance said. “We just have to lose them.

It shouldn’t be too hard.” He started to swerve every which way and go towards weeds and holes to lose them. But I was still worried, because there was nothing to hide behind. It was all open desert, which meant we could be seen from miles away.

We continued to drive for another ten minutes. Lance was better than I thought, because he was actually losing them, although they still weren’t too far away. I was more nervous than ever. We couldn’t fail when we were this close. But how we planned to lose them was beyond me. I sure hoped Lance had a plan, because I didn’t.

“Do you have a plan to get rid of them?” I asked.

“Why is everything up to me?” Lance asked. I could tell that he was starting to worry now too. “I came up with a way to get us out of camp, so I believe it falls to you to figure out how to get rid of these goons.”

I shook my head. Now we truly were screwed. Relying on me for anything was always a bad idea.

Suddenly a light bulb clicked in my head. It was a longshot, but it was better than nothing. And considering getting out of there in the first place was a longshot, I had learned taking chances wasn’t always a bad thing.

Besides, I was dead anyway, so if I was going to die, death by doing something stupid as an escape sounded better than being caught and having them choose my fate.

“I have an idea,” I said with a smile.

“Well, let’s hear it then,” Lance said impatiently while looking back at the people who were following us.

“We jump out of this thing-” “Okay, you lost me,” Lance interrupted. “In case you didn’t notice, we’re being followed, not the other way around. If we jump out that’s practically giving ourselves up. They can stop easily, and without a car we’ll be completely vulnerable.”

39

Escape “Just hear me out. Look at all this dust we’re kicking up,” I said as I pointed. “If we move fast enough we can jump out without them even realizing it because of all the dust, and then we can find a hole to hide in and hope they don’t find us.”

“Don’t you think they would realize the car wasn’t moving anymore and then stop and try to find us? They’re not stupid. We wouldn’t be able to find a place to hide before they see us.”

“We just need to find something heavy enough to put on the gas pedal so the car will keep moving even after we’re out. By time they realize we’re no longer in the car they’ll be long gone and we’ll be in hiding. We can come out once night comes around and it’s really hard for them to see us.”

Lance smiled and nodded. “I like the way you think. Alright, but let’s hope things don’t go wrong. This sounds just about as crazy as my plan, and that’s saying something.”

I smiled, something I rarely did, and suddenly I felt happier than I could ever remember feeling before. This was my chance, and I wasn’t going to blow it.

“What do you think we have that’s heavy enough to hold it down?”

Lance asked as he tried to keep his eyes on driving so he didn’t lose control and end up flipped over somewhere in the middle of the desert. I looked around but couldn’t see much in the front seat. I looked in the back seat and smiled when I saw a tool box. It looked pretty heavy, and I just hoped it would hold.

I had a hard time picking it up and bringing it over. Lance wanted to help but kind of couldn’t. When I finally got it over I set it on the seat, hoping it would work. I carefully set it next to my foot and moved it just in time for the tool box to stay there. Luckily it held and the car kept going even though Lance was no longer driving.

“What if this thing drives itself into a pothole?” Lance asked.

“Considering your twelve, I’m sure that’s something they’re expecting,” I said with a smile as Lance gave me a look.

“Ready?” Lance asked as I swallowed and looked over the edge of the vehicle.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as we both stood up.

We both braced ourselves. “On the count of three,” Lance said as I nodded. “One, two, three!” he shouted as we both jumped out of the moving vehicle.

I saw stars and for a few minutes couldn’t figure how where we were or what I was doing here. Luckily, Lance seemed to recover faster and then dragged me away from the scene of action. “We have to find a place to hide,” he told me as he continued to drag me. I still couldn’t focus, and I wasn’t sure why I was being dragged. I thought I was back at the camp 40

Chapter Three and I had accidently passed out and now I was being dragged for a beating. I started to plead. “This was your idea might I remind you,” he said as he continued to drag me and ignore my pleas.

After a couple minutes he finally found a small hole in the ground— well, it was more like a giant crack caused by the lack of rain—and threw me in there along with jumping in there himself.

“Please don’t,” I pleaded. It was so hot and I was really thirsty, so I was starting to get a bit delusional.

“Shush,” Lance told me. “It’s me. We’re not back at the camp. Now shut up so I can hear where their car is.”

I decided to stop talking after that and just kind of sat in the side of the hole. I was slowly starting to realize what was going on, which began to make me scared.

Lance listened and soon enough heard the sound of a car driving by.

He crossed his fingers and hoped it kept going and didn’t stop. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it drive straight past like the hole didn’t faze them at all. Once he couldn’t hear it anymore he turned to me.

“We did it,” he said as we high fived. “We still have to figure out a way out of this desert without getting caught, but the hardest part is over.

Now we just have to wait until night comes around and then we can be on our way.”

“What about food and water?” I asked. My throat was as dry as cotton, I was hot, and it was dinner time, so I was also a bit hungry.

“Once we get out of this desert you’ll have all the food and water you can muster,” Lance said with a smile. “You just wait.”

Then lance sat back and stared up and out of the hole. We had to sit here until night came around, and that would be hours from now.

“So what’s the outside world like?” I asked. I figured if they had to sit here forever, I might as well get some use out of it.

“It’s amazing,” Lance replied. “People can’t tell you what to do with the exception of making sure you don’t break the laws. They have laws that keep people from hurting each other and keep the system in order.

It’s not like here where they can threaten to kill you if you make them mad. The only way they can kill you is if you kill someone else, and the worst that can happen if you screw up is do some jail time. And I have a feeling jail isn’t a fraction as bad as here. They actually treat you like a human being. People are really nice, and the food is so much better than here. Things are canned, but there’s still some good food too.”

“Where will we go?” I asked. I had wondered that, since everyone had mentioned having a family of some sort and I had heard you can’t be on your own until you’re eighteen.

41

Escape “We’ll just go around the city. It’s no big deal. There’s plenty to do, and people are always willing to give to a bunch of needy children. When I ran away I always found somewhere to eat, and people were really nice.”

“Do you plan on finding your dad?”

Lance flinched. “Not right now,” he replied bitterly. “My dad probably doesn’t even remember me, and he was probably glad to get rid of me.

Maybe I’ll find him eventually, but not anytime soon.”

“Why wouldn’t your dad care about you? Don’t you think he was sad when you ran away?”

Lance looked down. “It’s complicated, Marcus. My dad was always working. He… he didn’t really like me all that much. My mother died giving birth to me and as a result he pawned me off on a nanny and never really spoke to me. He didn’t like looking at me for that reason. I was always trying to get his attention, and he always blew me off like I wasn’t his son. When I would try to talk to him he would tell me to go play, and whenever I would ask my nanny about him she would always say he was busy. I ran away because I was unhappy and I was convinced he didn’t care about me. I would love to see my dad again, but I highly doubt he’d want to see me.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus told him. “But things will get better.”

“Better than here by far,” Lance confirmed as we both looked up at the cloudless sky.

Once darkness hit we both climbed out of the hole, happier and more pumped than we could ever remember being. We both got a little sleep while in the hole so we would be awake all night, although we were still a bit tired from the late night last night, so we were going kind of slow.

“Do we have a new plan?” I asked as I stared at all the open desert in complete darkness.

“We keep walking until we find something that can help us,” Lance replied. “A town shouldn’t be too far away.”

“I don’t like the sound of your plan,” I mumbled. “We could die out here. We have no food or shelter of any kind. How are we going to survive?”

“You worry too much. We can handle going without food for a couple days, and if we get too hot we can find some shade in a hole of some sort.

Everything’s going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about.”

I shook his head, not sure if I believed him. Had we really come this far just to die out in the desert? By this time it was so dark we could barely see three feet in front of us, so I just followed Lance, who kept telling me he would just go with his gut feeling and they were bound to land in a town eventually.

42

Chapter Three We walked all night long. Once the sun started to come up we agreed to take a little nap, because we were both exhausted. We found a small hole and took a nap, hoping nothing would find us in the two hours we were at a standstill.

Once we finally woke up again it had been nearly four hours, two longer than planned. We both quickly got up and started moving again; but we were sure someone was on our trail and was trying to find us. We kept walking up until it got really hot, then we both started to get a bit cranky.

“This was a stupid idea,” I mumbled. “We have no food and no water, and we’re out in the hot, hot sun. This really sucks, and we’ll probably die out here.”

“Will you stop whining?” Lance told me. “It’s starting to get really annoying. I got us out of that terrible camp, yet you still find some reason to complain. I’m sorry my escape plan wasn’t perfect, but next time maybe you should consider making up your own and maybe you could figure out a better way to do it.”

“I helped get those goons to stop following us,” I pointed out, “so back off. We both helped equally, but now we’re going to die here in the desert.”

“No, complainers will die in the desert. I’m stronger than that.”

“It doesn’t matter how strong you are. If you don’t have water and you’re out in the desert for days, you’ll die of thirst. No one can get around that. The camp makes you think you’re this strong and allpowerful person, but in reality you’re not all that strong.”

“If you’re going to complain so much maybe you should just go back.

I’m sure they’ll welcome you back with open arms, and if you beg enough maybe they won’t kill you; they’ll just make you wish you were dead.”

I shook his head. “I’m not going back to camp. Maybe you should. If you think you’re so strong maybe camp is the only place you’ll belong.”

Lance gave me a look and he looked like he was ready to take me on, when I suddenly stopped him and pointed. “Do you see that?” I asked as I pointed to a far off object.

Lance looked up and sure enough saw the image of something very faint in the distance. He couldn’t make out what it was, but it certainly wasn’t a plant or anything.

“Maybe it’s an old boat,” Lance suggested. “I’m pretty sure most deserts used to be a lake.”

“Impossible,” I told him. “Deserts are far too dry.”

“Remember I went to school for a couple years and you’ve been here all your life, so don’t push it.”

I flinched at the sound of school. I would give anything to go to school. He had no idea. We both headed toward the object. In a place 43

Escape completely dry and empty, anything looked like something. And it gave us some hope so at least we would stop fighting for a little bit.

The object didn’t seem to be getting any closer after almost an hour, and I was ready to give up hope when it finally started to come into view.

I couldn’t tell what it was. It was a big, red object that was a bit seethrough but then wasn’t. I didn’t know how to describe it, but when I turned back to Lance he had huge eyes like he had just seen what he had been looking for.

“Yes!” he shouted. ‘We’re getting out of here.”

“What is it?” I asked as we both started to jog towards it.

“A car!” Lance shouted happily.

I gave him a confused look. What was a car? I didn’t really know what I boat was either, except by how the boys from the camp used to describe one, but I had never heard of a car.

“It’s like the vehicles we drove out of here, but it’s ten times nicer,” Lance explained. “It’s what common people use to get around. And by common people I mean people who don’t live or work in a camp.”

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure how it would help us, because we would still be lost even with a car.

We came toward it and saw it was just sitting there with no purpose. It was pretty nice, and I noticed Lance staring at it like it was heaven. He tried to open it and then got frustrated when it didn’t work. “It’s locked,” Lance mumbled.

I didn’t see the point in locking a vehicle. Was it so people couldn’t take it like we had taken the camp’s vehicle? I tried not to think of that as we both kind of just sat there.

“So now what?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Lance sighed. “I’m all out of ideas. This was my last hope.”

“Well, what is this doing in the middle of the desert?”

“Beats me. Maybe someone stole it and then ran off like we did with the car we stole. Or maybe someone died in that from heatstroke.”

I didn’t like the last option.

We both jumped two feet when we heard a noise. “Hey!” someone shouted.

We were sure it was the guards, so we both took off running. “Where are you going?” the voice shouted. “Do you realize you’re in the middle of a desert? Where are your parents?”

We both suddenly stopped dead in their tracks, realizing it couldn’t have been a guard. We both turned around and were surprised to see a teenage boy. He looked about the same age as some of the older boys in the camp were, with short, brown hair, a nice, blue shirt on, and a pair of jeans that I couldn’t help but stare at.

44

Chapter Three He came up to us and kind of just stared at us and what we were wearing.

“Who are you?” Lance asked him.

“My name’s Ryan,” he replied. “I was just out here doing some things and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw two little kids running around the desert. Who are you guys and how did you get here?”

“I’m Lance and this is Marcus,” Lance pointed. “But we’re not kids.

I’m twelve, and Marcus here is eight.”

“Nine,” I corrected.

Ryan laughed. “You totally just proved your point,” he said sarcastically. “But seriously, what are you doing out here?”

“We lost our parents and now are kind of just wandering around,” Lance lied. I gave him a confused look, wondering why he was lying.

Couldn’t we tell him about the camp?

“You lost your parents out in the middle of a desert?” Ryan asked, clearly not believing a word he just said. “Well, whatever you say. Do you guys need a ride back into town?”

“Yes!” I answered immediately.

Ryan smiled. “You guys look pretty out of shape. You want some water?”

“Yes!” Lance replied excitingly.

“How long have you guys been out here?” Ryan asked as he opened his trunk and pulled out two bottles of water. We both chugged it down before we replied. It was warm, but I didn’t care. Water was water, especially out in the desert like this.

“Two days,” Lance replied through breaths.

“Two days?” Ryan asked in disbelief. “What kind of parent leaves their kids out for two days?”

“It was an accident,” Lance lied.

Ryan shook his head. “Very well. Let’s go. You guys can tell me where to drop you off when we get into town.”

We both nodded enthusiastically and then hoped into the now unlocked car. We were both staring at each other like this was the luckiest day of our lives. I was sorry I ever doubted Lance.

“Hey, you guys didn’t see any weird objects lying around did you?”

Ryan asked them before he started the car. “Like a ribbon, or some bones,” he said a bit lower.

We both gave him a weird look. “No,” Lance replied. “Were you looking for something?”

“No,” Ryan replied quickly. “I just like to take pictures out here,” he said as he motioned toward his camera that was sitting in the front seat.

Lance and I exchanged glances, thinking the exact same thing.

45

Escape Ryan drove away and turned on a box in the front seat that had me totally mesmerized. It lit up when he touched it, and then it seemed to talk to him.

“I don’t know how I ever got along without GPS,” Ryan seemed to say to himself. “Now I can go out in the desert and not worry about getting lost.”

I continued to stare, wondering what GPS was and how it prevented you from getting lost. Whatever it was, it sure was cool. Lance didn’t seem to find it interesting at all and stared out the window, watching all the dust being kicked up. I sure hoped no one was still following us and that no one would see the car leave. I wanted our escape to be easy, and I wanted to get to town without any problems. Getting to town didn’t necessarily mean that we were safe, but they were certainly a lot safer than being out here.

We drove for at least another four hours, my head starting to spin from the motion of the car and the evening starting to draw late, and then I finally saw a road come into view. It was a real, actual road! I got excited, staring at the blackness of it. It would have been much easier to have a road when we had been driving the other vehicle.

Only after about twenty minutes on the road, my mouth dropped when I saw a town come into view with buildings and all. I saw some people around that I also stared at. I could finally have some happiness in my life. I sighed and watched more streets pull into view, wishing I could jump out and say hi to everyone. I smiled at the thought.

46

4 We drove through town for a little while as I continued to stare, causing Ryan to look at me funny. “Where do your parents live?” Ryan asked.

“At a hotel,” Lance replied a little uneasily.

“So they’re staying here on vacation?” Ryan asked.

“Yes,” Lance replied, trying to sound confident. “I always forget the name of the hotel.”

Ryan nodded. “Hampton Inn?” he asked. “Our town is kind of small, so that’s the only one I know of on this side. There might be some more on the other side of town, though.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Lance smiled.

“Well, alright, but I hope you guys don’t mind if I pick up my girlfriend first. I told her I’d give her a ride home, but I’m kind of late, so I need to pick her up immediately before she kills me.”

I shuttered. I thought Lance said they couldn’t kill people or they would be killed themselves?

“That’s fine,” Lance said as if it were nothing.

Ryan nodded and continued to drive. It wasn’t long before we pulled up in front of a building that even Lance didn’t seem to recognize. We looked out and saw this girl staring at Ryan looking like she wasn’t happy.

Ryan went out to meet her.

“I actually have a really good excuse as to why I was so late,” Ryan told her.

She seemed to roll her eyes and then got in the passenger’s seat of the car. He tried to open her door for her, but she was too quick and opened it herself. She got in as I took a good look at her. She had long, brown hair and brown eyes. She was holding a bag in her hands and looked really tired, like she was really ready to get home. I figured I didn’t look much better.

She suddenly looked back and did a double take as Ryan got back in.

“Ryan, what are two little kids doing in your car? Are you babysitting or something? Last I checked that wasn’t like you.”

Ryan laughed. “Me, babysitting? I don’t think so. I found these two in the desert. They were just wandering around, so I gave them a ride into town.”

She gave him a look of disbelief. “What were you doing in the desert?” she asked.

Escape “I’ll tell you later,” he told her as he started the car.

“You know, Ryan, it doesn’t exactly make you look good to my parents when you’re wandering around the desert for some odd reason and then you pick up two little kids. Last I checked normal people didn’t wander around the desert and pick up little kids.”

“You know, Melissa, your parents don’t really like me anyway. Next time I’ll be sure to leave them there. That will make you feel good.”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Don’t twist my words, Ryan.”

Lance and I were kind of just staring back and forth between the two of them, afraid to speak.

“Well, what are you doing with them?” she asked.

“They say their parents are staying at a hotel, so I’m going to drop them off.”

She gave him a look. “Honestly? Why would their parents leave them in the middle of a desert and then expect you just drop them off at a hotel? Use logic, Ryan.” She turned to us. “Who are you and why are you lying?” she asked us.

I kind of just shrunk down; afraid I’d say the wrong thing. “Well, we’re not here to steal your stuff if that’s what you think,” Lance told her. “Just drop us off. We’ll be fine. We’re not your problem to worry about.”

“We’re not going to drop two little kids off at some random place,” she stated. “Listen, my mother’s a social worker. Perhaps she could help you guys.”

“We don’t need help,” Lance said quickly.

“Well, unless we can get proof your parents are really in that hotel, meaning they talk to us personally, we’re not dropping you off anywhere.

Right, Ryan?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said, sounding like he was just going with what she was saying.

Lance folded his arms in frustration. “Why can’t you guys just mind your own business?” he asked in annoyance.

I didn’t see a problem with going to see her mother. Anyone who could help us sounded great go me. “I don’t have a problem with that,” I said.

Lance gave me a look like I had just said the wrong thing.

“Good,” Melissa said with a smile. “I think you’ll live,” she said as she gave Lance a smirk. He gave her a mean look back, and then Ryan headed to her house.

As we pulled up to a large house, I couldn’t help but smile. I saw grass in the front yard. I had seen grass before, but not as nicely kept as it was at her house, and I could see a few decorations on the lawn. I saw some orange things along with some things on the window. I wondered what they were used for and why they were there as we both got out of the car.

48

Chapter Four Lance still didn’t look happy about this, but I was more excited than I had ever been in my life. Would this lady be able to help me finally get a real family?

Ryan suddenly tried to hide behind the car as Melissa shook her head.

I looked up and realized a car had pulled into the driveway. A man got out, and he didn’t look too happy.

“Hello, Ryan,” he said calmly.

“Hello, Mr. Bevan,” Ryan mumbled as he avoided eye contact.

“Taking my daughter home I assume?”

“Yes,” Ryan replied.

“You can leave now,” he said with a smile as Ryan nodded and then got back in his car.

Melissa looked annoyed. “Must you do that every time he comes over?” she asked in frustration.

Her father smirked in accomplishment and then suddenly looked over at me and Lance. “What’s going on here?” he asked.

“Ryan found these two boys in the desert and I’m going to take them to mom.”

“In the desert?” he asked in astonishment. “What were they doing in the desert?”

Melissa shrugged as I tried to hide. I suddenly didn’t want to be here anymore. I felt completely intimidated and didn’t know what to say. These people were from the real world. They would find what I knew and what I didn’t know to be rather weird. I didn’t know anything.

“Yeah, take them to your mother,” he mumbled as he fumbled for the keys to get inside.

It was rather chilly out, being it was October, and I wished that I would have brought that jacket with me. It was certainly better than nothing. It didn’t help that I was still wearing shorts.

I slowly followed them inside, and Lance was still giving me a look, clearly not wanting to be here. I ignored him, and the second that I got inside I was suddenly glad that I had come here, because it was so warm.

It wasn’t like the tents at camp.

I saw a lady with medium long, blond hair come out. She looked really nice. It suddenly dawned on me both Melissa and this lady were girls. I had heard about girls, but I had never actually seen one. They didn’t look that much different from boys, so I didn’t see why the boys at camp always seemed to be talking about them and what they would do if they ever got out of the camp.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she saw us come in. Her husband pointed to Melissa.

“Ryan found these boys out in the middle of the desert and they couldn’t tell me who their parents are. I thought I’d bring them to you.”

49

Escape “Out in the desert?” she asked in shock. “What in the heck were you boys doing out in the desert?”

“We got lost,” Lance replied.

“If you’re going to lie, do a better job than that,” her husband told him. Now it was my turn to give him a look. Why couldn’t they just tell them the truth? I didn’t understand what it would hurt, considering we did nothing wrong that I knew of. Then again, Lance had said that the laws were different here. Did we do something illegal that I didn’t know about?

“Now, William,” she told him with a look, “don’t be mean. Don’t worry, boys, no one will hurt you here. I’m a social worker in case my daughter didn’t tell you that already. I can help you.”

Lance made a face as I started to get a bit nervous.

“Allow me to introduce my family,” she said with a smile. “I’m Jolene Bevan, and this is my husband William, and my daughter Melissa.” We both nodded.

“I’m Lance and this is Marcus,” Lance told her.

“And your last names?” William asked.

“I’m Lance Marks,” Lance replied, “and he’s Marcus Jones.” It was clear he had made my last name up, although Marks sounded pretty legit, especially considering he actually had a last name that he knew before he came to the camp. It made me sad to think about the fact I never had a last name. Having a last name meant you belonged to someone, whoever they were or wherever they happened to be at that time. I didn’t belong to anyone, because I was just Marcus.

Luckily, they didn’t seem like they thought he was lying. “You guys are more than welcome to stay here for the night,” she said with a smile.

“We’ll get this all settled tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”

I nodded, and after a while Lance slowly nodded too.

“Follow me, boys,” she said with a smile as we both followed her up some stairs. She showed us into a small room that was almost completely white. I smiled at the sight of the bed and the walls. It was simple, but to me, it was everything.

“I’m afraid there’s only one bed,” she sighed. “You guys can either both sleep on it or one of you can sleep on the couch.”

“We’re fine,” Lance told her.

She smiled, and it was beginning to concern me. The fake parents in my dreams always smiled too much. I didn’t like fake smiles. “If you boys need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” she said as she left.

The second she left Lance turned to me. “Now look what you’ve gotten us into,” he accused. “We’re stuck here when I could be showing you around the city.”

50

Chapter Four “What’s wrong with being here?” I asked. “Here we have a warm place to stay with nice people. They just want to help us.”

“She’s a social worker. They try to help us, but they only make things worse. Almost all of the boys from that camp were let down by a social worker, and that’s how they ended up there. We’ll be next.”

“But I want a family,” I told him. “I thought escaping would mean I would get one. If she can help me get one, then I want to stay. Don’t you want a family?”

“No,” Lance said bitterly. “I had one once, and it failed on me. I don’t want another one.”

I shook his head. “Well, I want one. I don’t know if I ever had one before, and maybe I’ll never know, but I do know I want one now. I want a last name,” I said as my eyes filled with tears.

“Don’t think that just because we’re away from the camp you can get all sappy with me,” he told me. “I don’t like crying.”

I frowned and then sat on the bed, frustrated at the way he was acting.

“Who gets the bed?” I asked, eying the soft white pillow and the soft blanket. I had slept on a cot all my life, and it always smelled horrible. I was going to jump at the chance of having a clean and soft bed to sleep on, even if it was just for a night.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lance replied. “We’ll be gone by morning.”

“No way,” I said as he shook his head. “You’ll be gone by morning, but I’m staying right here. It’s cold out there and I want to stay here. I don’t want to walk around the city with no purpose. I want to belong.”

“Why must you be so difficult?” Lance asked in frustration. “Fine, I won’t leave. But be assured this will blow up, and then you’ll be wishing you would have listened to me.”

I rolled my eyes and blew him off.

“Oh, and you can have the bed. I figure since you’ve never slept on a real one I should be nice.”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile as he lied down. I was completely exhausted, and the bed felt so nice, but the pain in my stomach was overruling sleep, even on a soft and clean bed that I had never had before.

“I’m so hungry,” I said to Lance. My stomach really hurt, and I was sure Lance could hear it, it was so loud. I hadn’t eaten in two days.

“Me too,” Lance echoed.

“You think they would let us have some of their food?”

“She’s a social worker, so it’s in her job description,” Lance mumbled bitterly. “Just remember one thing about families: they don’t like children that aren’t their own. They don’t treat them the same, and they don’t always like to take them in.”

Marcus shook his head. “Let’s not think about that right now. Come on, let’s go downstairs and ask for some food before I pass out.”

51

Escape “You and me both,” Lance said as he started to walk toward the door.

We both came downstairs and saw Jolene sitting on the kitchen table looking stressed. She suddenly perked up when she saw us. “Hello, boys,” she said with a smile. “Is something wrong?”

“Do you think we can have something to eat?” I asked.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” she said as she got up. “I didn’t even think about asking if you were hungry. You guys can have leftovers or I can make you a sandwich.”

I didn’t really care; I just wanted food, and I wanted it now. “A sandwich is fine,” I told her as Lance nodded.

She smiled and then made us a sandwich. She sat down with us as we ate, and I wondered why. She looked rather depressed. What Lance had said about families not wanting children that weren’t their own suddenly started to ring in my ears and I wondered if he was right.

Food had never tasted so good in my mouth before. Not only was this sandwich the best food I had ever tasted, but we were also starving, so cardboard would have tasted good at this point. We scarfed it down and luckily she just smiled and then made us another one, seeming to sense we were really hungry. We both decided to stop after two, and then she wished us goodnight as we headed back to the room we would be staying in.

I went to the bathroom, which was so clean compared to what I was used to, and then after I was done and Lance used the bathroom I looked around the living room. I knew what a couch was, although I didn’t see many boxes at the camp. I wondered what it did but thought it best not to mess with it.

I looked up on the wall and saw an assortment of family portraits. The one in the middle was a picture of a little girl in a dress carrying a lunchbox. There was no doubt in my mind this was Melissa, the one we had first met, when she was much younger. She looked a little younger than I was now, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. To the side of that picture was a picture of her in her teens, also smiling and holding a flower. There were more pictures of her, but those were the only two that caught my eye.

On the right side of those was a picture of William and Jolene when they were much younger. She was in a white dress, and he was in a black suit. I wondered what was going on in that picture. It really bothered me about how much I didn’t know. Then to the other side of that was a picture of a much younger looking Jolene carrying a baby. The baby didn’t look that old, and he was smiling happy to the camera. I couldn’t help but wonder who he was. I didn’t remember seeing a boy. The only logical explanation that I could come up with was that he didn’t live here 52

Chapter Four anymore. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to meet him. Or perhaps he was a family friend or something.

I jumped when I saw Jolene was standing right behind me. “That’s my beautiful family,” she told me with a smile. “I’m so grateful for them.

Someday, Marcus, you’ll have a family too. That’s why I’m here to help you. I know things seem confusing and hard right now, but in time you’ll have two parents that care about you so much.”

“Really?” I asked, not sure if I believed her. Lance had said families didn’t like to take children in that weren’t their own.

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “That’s my job and my joy in life. I love seeing children become happy, even if they weren’t before. That’s why I got into this career.”

I nodded. I stared at the pictures one last time and then headed upstairs. I hoped she was true to her word, because I would give anything to have a family.

I slept like a baby that night. I actually stayed asleep throughout the entire night and the bed was so soft. I didn’t dream that night, although that was probably a good thing, because my dreams weren’t always the best. I woke up the next morning with a smile, not believing that I actually slept for as long as I wanted. It was crazy. I couldn’t sleep past eight o’clock, though, because my body refused to let me. Either way, I was happy for the extra sleep and the food, and as a result I felt better than I had in a long time.

I came downstairs and saw Jolene putting things in her bag really quickly as if she was late for something. She smiled at me as she ran upstairs. I looked to where she was going and saw her knock on Melissa’s door. When there was no response she opened it, startling Melissa.

“Whoa, mom,” Melissa said as she slowly got up. “What are you doing in my room this early in the morning on a Saturday?”

“I need you to do me a huge favor.”

Melissa sighed. “Alright, what is it?”

“I just got a call from work telling me of a huge emergency. I was planning on taking the boys to my office today to figure out what we should do with them, but they’ll have to be put on hold for a couple days.

I’m wondering if you’ll watch them while I’m gone today.”

“Oh come on, mom, I have plans.”

“It’s not like their babies. The youngest looks about eight. You won’t have to do much.”

She moaned, clearly not wanting to do this. “I’ll give you twenty bucks if that’s what you want,” she offered.

“Alright,” she said enthusiastically as she got up.

Jolene shook her head. “It’s sad I have to bribe my children to do me favors.”

53

Escape “Welcome to the world of teenagers,” Melissa said with a smile. “Now get out so I can get dressed.”

Jolene sighed and then walked out. She looked at her watch and then ran downstairs. I watched as she ran out the door, still looking at her watch.

I sat on the couch and stared at the box. I still wondered what it did. I looked over and saw Lance coming down, looking like he had gotten a really good night’s sleep.

“Good morning,” he said with a smile. That was new.

“What does this thing do?” I asked as he pointed to the box.

Lance laughed. “That’s a TV. It makes entertainment come out of it like no other.”

I gave him a confused look, wondering how that was possible.

“You push a couple buttons and you can have things broadcasted to you from all over the world. It’s digital like you saw with the GPS thing.

Technology is so cool. It’s definitely one thing I’ve missed.”

“Did you have a lot growing up?” I asked.

Lance sighed. “Let’s just say I had everything except for what I actually wanted,” he mumbled as he sat down. We both turned as we saw Melissa come down.

“Hello, boys,” she said with a smile. “Guess who gets to babysit you today?”

“We don’t need a babysitter,” Lance said. “I’m twelve. I can practically babysit.”

“I don’t really care, I just know I’m getting twenty bucks out of it,” she said with a smile. “So be good and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t those both fall under the same category?”

“Cut it out,” she said with a serious face. “Now, Ryan will be coming over today. It’s important you don’t mention this to my parents. Do we have an understanding?”

“Why do we have to lie?” I asked. I really didn’t like this. What was wrong with the truth? Everyone wanted to lie.

“It’s not technically lying if you just don’t say anything,” she explained.

“Why do your parents hate him so much?” Lance asked. “Is there a story behind this? If there is I would really like to hear it.”

“None of your business,” she stated.

“Well, then I guess it’s your parents business to hear about Ryan, heh?”

She sighed. “Fine, play that way,” she mumbled. “Ryan and I kind of almost went all the way once, and my dad kind of caught us.”

Lance started to laugh. “Well, that explains it.”

I looked completely confused. “What does that mean?” I asked.

54

Chapter Four Now it was Melissa’s turn to laugh. “Keep your innocence,” she told me with a smile.

“Is there anything to eat for breakfast in this house?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Why don’t you find something?”

“Well, since you’re getting twenty bucks to babysit, that is kind of your job.”

She looked at him in annoyance. “What do you want?”

“Eggs!” he replied happily. I nodded in agreement, although he just wanted any sort of food right now. After being at that camp, I didn’t care what I ate. It all tasted so much better than what I was used to.

She sighed and then headed to the kitchen to make them. While she made them Lance turned on the TV, causing me to look at it in amazement. I saw the people on the screen moving around, and I was in shock. How was that possible? They didn’t have anything like this back at the camp. Melissa came in and gave me a weird look. “You act like you’ve never seen a TV before,” she told me.

“Marcus is a very deprived child,” Lance explained. I gave him a look that he either seemed to ignore or miss.

“Well, I promise you there’s nothing interesting about a TV,” she told me. “Every house has one, or at least should. The eggs are ready,” she said from the kitchen as we both quickly got up.

She shook her head as we scarfed it down. “Boys, what can you do?” she mumbled to herself as she put the pan in the sink. She heard someone knock and then smiled, knowing exactly who it was.

She opened the door and then waved Ryan in. He smiled as he walked in, relieved her dad wasn’t home.

“Hello, Ryan,” she greeted him.

He noticed the two of us eating in the kitchen. “I thought your mother was taking them to find out who they are today?” he asked.

“She apparently had an emergency at work and now I have to babysit,” she explained. “It will be delayed a couple days. But I get twenty bucks out of it.”

He smiled. “What will you do with twenty bucks?” he asked with a smirk.

“I could think of a million things I can buy with twenty bucks,” she replied. “We should go to the mall sometime this week.”

“I’m so there, so as long as it’s with you,” he said with a smile. He looked like he was about to kiss her, but then she stopped him and pushed him away instead.

“You never told me what you were doing out in the desert yesterday,” she told him. “You’re weird enough as it is, but then you’re late picking me up because you find two kids out in the desert? I would love to hear the story behind this.”

55

Escape He smiled. “I just happen to come across them while I was looking around. They were standing by my car. You’ll have to ask them for more information, because I’m in all honesty not sure.”

“Okay, so then what were you and your car doing down there in the first place, before you ran into them?”

He sighed. “I really want your father to like me. I know he has good reasons for hating me, but I just wish he would see more than what he thinks he sees. So I thought if I could somehow find your brother’s body out in the desert he would like me. Because I remember them talking all the time when we first started dating about wanting to find his body so they could have a proper funeral and bury it.”

She gave him a concerned look. “Ryan, you never seem to have an end to your weirdness. Wanting to find my brother’s body? I’m not sure if I should be flattered or revolted. Either way, though, that has bad idea written all over it. I want to find his body too, and I would love to know it was safe in the ground rather than out in a field somewhere, but I highly doubt you’ll find it. It’s been nine years and he was so little. Unless they killed him recently, there won’t be anything to find. You’ll be looking forever. Besides, even if you do find it, my dad would find more reason to hate you. Maybe he’ll be upset you found it rather than someone else, maybe their last bit of hope that he’s still alive and out there somewhere will be gone, or maybe he’ll just think you have serious issues for looking in the first place.”

Ryan shook his head. “It’s been nine years. I’m sorry, but your parents will just have to deal with the fact that the only thing they can do is find his body. I’m convinced it’s buried out in the desert somewhere. It’s a great place to hide a body because it will most likely never be found. He was only a baby when he was kidnapped. What kind of kidnapper kidnaps a baby to raise it as his own or do anything except kill it? You said yourself your father thought someone wanted ransom money but the call never came. Other than money, what else could the kidnapper have wanted?”

She sighed. “You’re probably right, but there’s still hope out there, and until we see the actual body we’re going to hang on to that hope. My mother has told me that since I was little. She hasn’t told it to me lately, but she doesn’t need to for me to know she believes it.”

He sighed. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I know,” she said with a smile as she gave him a kiss. “In time my parents will like you, but until then just be on your best behavior.”

“Alright,” he said with a smile as he kissed her back.

I was half listening to their conversation. Something about a baby and the desert? I had already decided that something was very strange about 56

Chapter Four Ryan, so I wasn’t even going to bother figuring out what they were talking about.

Lance and I were talking to teach other as we sat on the table. “What exactly do social workers do?” I asked. “Do they find homes for children who don’t have families?”

“Sort of,” Lance replied. “That and for children who are being abused in their current family. That’s what she thinks is our problem.”

“Why would she think that?”

Lance gave me a look. “We were found out in the desert making up lies about why we were there, we wouldn’t tell them who are parents were, and you just wait until she sees the bruises. She’ll flip.”

“Will we get in trouble?” I asked in concern.

“No,” Lance replied as if it were obvious. “Our nonexistent parents will. When they can’t find them they’ll just send us to a foster home and pretend like everything is alright, but in reality it’s not.”

“Lance, were you ever in foster care?” he asked. With the way he talked about it, he could have been.

“No,” he replied quickly. “I’ve just heard some really bad stories about it. I guess it can’t be as bad as the camp, but it’s the next closest thing apart from the fact you’re no longer physically abused.”

I looked down. Being beat when I did something wrong was something that I was used to. It got to the point where it really wasn’t all that bad. But apparently they would flip when they saw the bruises on me, and I wondered why. It wasn’t like it killed me. But apparently in everywhere but the camp it wasn’t allowed.

We got up and put our dishes in the sink, and then we headed back out to where Melissa and her boyfriend were.

“Okay, your turn,” Melissa said to Ryan. They appeared to be playing some sort of game. I just stared at it, feeling even stupider for what I didn’t know. What was it that they were playing? I had no idea. We didn’t have games like this back at the camp.

“Monopoly?” Lance asked, seeming to know exactly what it was. I looked at him with envy.

“Yep,” Ryan replied with a smile. “You two want to play?”

“I don’t know how,” I said sadly.

Ryan gave me a weird look. “Who doesn’t know how to play Monopoly?” he asked. “It’s such a basic game. Everyone should know how to play it.”

“It’s easy,” Melissa told me. “We’ll teach you.”

I nodded and then sat down, glad to be included in some-thing.

They started the game and I was given some money along with a game piece. I started to get nervous knowing money was included. Money 57

Escape wasn’t something I ever saw back at camp, but I very much knew it existed and what it was used for.

Melissa explained the rules, and I found it rather complicated and kind of wished that I hadn’t agreed to play. But I decided not to back out now and just hoped I would get the hang of it the more we played.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Since the second I moved a piece things got complicated. “Do you want to buy that?” Melissa asked me when I landed on one of the colored squares. “Buying property is good, because then people have to pay you if they land on it. You get your investment back plus much more.”

“Alright,” I said uneasily.

“That will be two hundred and fifty,” she told me.

I stared down at his money as if it were foreign to me. Then I looked down, embarrassed and not sure what to say.

“Marcus can’t count,” Lance explained.

They both gave shocked expressions. “What do you mean he can’t count?” Ryan asked. “Isn’t he nine? What nine-year-old doesn’t know how to count?”

“I can count to ten,” I said softly. The fact he could count to ten gave me some pride in myself, but now that I was away from the camp, that wasn’t much at all.

“But you can’t count money?” Melissa asked. I shook his head in reply.

“Did you go to a public school?” Ryan asked.

“Did you go to school at all?” Melissa echoed.

I shook my head to both of those, causing them to exchange glances.

“Did you go to school?” Ryan asked Lance.

“Of course,” Lance replied. “I went to school for many years. I was actually pretty smart in case you didn’t guess that already.”

Melissa didn’t seem to be paying attention. “What else can’t you do?” she asked, a little concerned now.

I looked down. Should I tell her, or would I bring just more unnecessary embarrassment on myself? But Ryan seemed to read my mind.

“Can you read?” he asked.

I felt tears come to my eyes, but I pushed them back. “No,” I replied softly.

Then I got up and left the living room, completely embarrassed. It didn’t seem to bother any of the boys at the camp that I couldn’t read, because most of them had very limited skills themselves, but here I knew it wasn’t normal and everyone would be talking about it. It made me seem stupid, and in my opinion I was far from stupid.

58

Chapter Four “Where are you guys from?” Ryan asked Lance as they continued to sit in the living room. “It’s against the law to keep a child from school.

Obviously your parents had some issues if they left you in a desert, but I didn’t think they kept you from school too.”

“Marcus isn’t my brother,” Lance told him. “We don’t have the same parents. I don’t know about him, but I come from an average house. I told you my parents just lost me in the desert; no big deal.”

Ryan stared him down. “I don’t understand what lying is accomplishing. Did you parents ditch you out there or something? It would make sense.”

“No,” Lance protested. “My parents were good people. You just don’t understand.”

Melissa shook her head. “My mother really can help you. I could see why you would be scared, but your life will get so much better.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Don’t judge what you don’t under-stand,” he mumbled as he got up and went the same direction that I had gone.

I sat on the stairs and listened to their conversation. Eavesdropping was something I had learned from a very young age.

Ryan and Melissa picked up the game and then sat on the couch. “This is crazy,” Melissa said. “In all the children my mother has brought to our house and taken care of until a home could be found, none of them were illiterate. And they could certainly count money.”

“Ever had a child come from a desert?” Ryan asked.

“No,” she replied. “This is like abuse times fifty. I think even my mother will have a hard time grasping this. I’m kind of afraid for what will happen when she checks for bruises.”

“You think they have any?”

“I think there’s a good chance considering their parents abandoned them in a desert and one of them doesn’t even know how to read or count.”

“But he said they weren’t brothers. I’m having a hard time putting this together.”

“My mother will put it together. She always does. I’m not sure how they know each other, or why they were both found in a desert together with two different parents and one is literate while the other one isn’t. It’s very strange.”

“Has your mother ever had a case like this?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but I’m pretty sure she hasn’t. It’s normal for the children to lie and claim their parents didn’t do anything wrong, but if these boys were abandoned out in a desert I don’t understand why they won’t just tell the truth. It’s not adding up.”

Ryan shrugged. “You know, I could help Marcus out with the reading thing.”

59

Escape “What’s in it for you?” she asked with a smirk.

“Think of it as community service,” he replied.

“Brownie points with my father?” she accused.

“Maybe,” he said with a guilty face.

She laughed and then shook her head. “So, what do we do for the next three hours?”

“Scary movie?” he suggested.

“Alright, but I’m not holding onto you during the scary parts.”

He shook his head. “You take the fun out of everything.” She smiled in reply and then went to go find the place where they kept their movies.

60

5 Jolene came home later that night, looking a bit stressed. Ryan had long since left, having a family commitment that night. She came home with a bunch of bags in her hands, many electric devices going off in her purse, and she didn’t look like she was in a good mood at all.

“Hello, mom,” Melissa said with a smile.

Melissa checked her phone, sighed, and then turned to Melissa.

“Hello,” she mumbled. “That wasn’t so bad now was it?”

“No,” she replied calmly. “They’re actually very well behaved boys.

But, mom, there’s something you should know.”

“Can it wait?” she pleaded. “I have so much to do tonight it’s not even funny. The emergency at work has turned into something much bigger, and now things are just really crazy. I haven’t had the chance to mention to anyone about these two boys, and I don’t think I’ll be able to for a couple days sadly.”

She turned on her laptop from the kitchen table, looking completely stressed and even a bit nervous. “You mind making dinner for you and the two boys tonight? Your father won’t be home of course.”

“Does he have an emergency at work too?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

“It’s your father,” Jolene replied as if it were obvious. “He’s a busy man.”

“Of course,” she said bitterly.

Jolene didn’t seem to be paying much attention, because her phone started to ring and she answered it. “Hi,” she said to whoever was on the other end.

“I’m getting them as we speak.”

Melissa walked out, sighing. This was nothing new with her parents, but at least her mom wanted to listen and was always there to make her dinner. This week seemed extra crazy. Her dad on the other hand always seemed to be working…

Lance came down and saw Melissa in the kitchen, trying to make a quick dinner. I was still upstairs, upset and mad about the day and not wanting to talk to anyone.

“Your parents seem to work a lot,” Lance mumbled to her as she cooked some noodles.

“Tell me about it,” she sighed.

“Are your parents pretty important at their jobs?”

Escape “Yes,” she replied. “My dad’s a CEO of a major company and my mother’s a social worker who always has work to do. You better believe they’re important.”

“Do they like their jobs?”

“My dad complains about them overworking him, and my mother always seems to be stressed, so I’m not sure.”

“Why do they work so much if they don’t like to?”

Melissa sighed. “It’s their way out of life,” she mumbled. “My family’s been through a lot I’ll just say that.”

He ate dinner, but I still refused to come down. As a result Lance and Melissa ate alone, and it was a bit awkward.

“When am I going to get out of here?” Lance asked while shoving a bite of food in his mouth.

“Why are you in such a hurry to get out?” she asked. “Your parents left you in a desert of all places. And your friend doesn’t know how to read. It would just make things so much easier if you would tell us what’s going on and why you were there. My mother can help you and make your life better.”

“I know your type,” he spat. “Your mother will pretend to help us, but she’ll just make things worse. Besides, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth.”

“Try me,” she challenged.

“No thank you. It’s really none of your business. If I remember correctly, it’s your mother’s job, not yours. But you’re the one that got me into this position, so I blame you for having to be here.”

“And where would you be if you weren’t here? I was trying to help you! If you weren’t here you would be out on the street somewhere or back with the parents that left you in a desert, most likely to die.”

“Being on the street wouldn’t be a bad thing. You can’t trust people or rely on them.”

She sighed. “Abused children have trust issues you know.”

“For the tenth time, I wasn’t abused by my parents, so get that out of your head.”

“Well, if you don’t tell us what actually happened that’s what my mother will have to assume. If you’re so sure they’re not, then why were you in the desert, and who are they?”

“Once again, that’s not your business.”

She rolled her eyes. “Very well, but realize you’ll have to admit it eventually. My mother’s just a little busy right now.”

He ignored her and continued to eat.

“Will you do me a favor and bring some food up to Marcus? I understand why he’s embarrassed, but that doesn’t mean he has to starve.”

62

Chapter Five “Whatever,” Lance replied as he grabbed the plate she handed him. He gave her credit for being a really good cook.

He came upstairs and saw me sitting on the bed and staring at the floor.

“Hey, I got dinner for you,” Lance told me as I sat up. “Melissa said just because you were embarrassed didn’t mean you would have to starve.”

I shook his head. “Why am I here? Maybe staying at camp would have been the best option. I don’t belong here. I’m not like them.”

“Don’t say that,” Lance told me. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you about social workers, but that doesn’t mean I think you should have never left camp. Leaving that horrible place was the best thing that happened to both of us. Coming here wasn’t so bright, but it’s not too late. These workaholics won’t even notice if we sneak out, and we can easily find a place far enough away where they’ll never find us again. We can do what we want when we want it, with no family to slow us down.”

“But I want a family,” I said sadly. “I want someone to teach me how to read, write, and count. I want to be normal. I don’t feel like I belong, but if they can help me, then I don’t want to leave.”

Lance shook his head. “You’ll never give up on this will you?”

“Nope,” I replied as I grabbed the food. I was actually really hungry, since I didn’t have any lunch. And Melissa’s cooking wasn’t half bad either. But then again, anything tasted good compared to the crap we got back at the camp.

“We can’t keep this up for long,” I told him. “Sooner or later we’ll have to tell them where we’re from and what we’ve been through. They won’t take our sorry excuse for long, and in a few days’ time Jolene will be interested in us.”

“You’re probably right, but even if we did tell them the truth they wouldn’t believe us. For normal people who didn’t live the way we did something like this would be absurd. We’ll just stick to our story and let them come up with whatever they want. Since they won’t be able to find our parents, we have nothing to worry about. The worst they can do is put us in foster care, but by time that happens I’ll be long gone.”

“But you have a father,” I pointed out. “Won’t they be able to find him?”

Lance shook his head. “I get the bed tonight,” Lance said as he eyed what they were sitting on, wanting to change the subject. “I haven’t sleep on a bed in four years. Tonight will be a good night.”

“We won’t have a bed if we’re on the street,” I pointed out.

“They have places we can go to sleep. Like I said, people are always nice to children.”

63

Escape “How long were you roaming the city until you were taken by one of the guards?”

“Less than a week,” Lance replied. “But in that week I learned a lot of street smarts. I totally could have gone longer.”

I shook his head. “Well, goodnight. I would imagine this floor is more comfortable than the cots.”

“Eh, they’re about the same. But it’s warmer by far, and the blankets are much nicer than the small ones they gave us at camp. But you can always sleep on the couch.”

“I’m fine,” I said as I grabbed the pillow and blankets that were on the edge of the bed and lied down.

Lance was asleep within an hour, but I just lied there, wide awake and unable to get to sleep. The floor wasn’t much better than the cot I used to sleep on, but Lance had been right about it being much warmer. After a couple hours I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to take up the offer of sleeping on the couch. It had to be better than the floor.

I took all the blankets and my pillow down to the couch and snuggled up inside them. This was much better, but I still wasn’t tired. I supposed since I got more sleep than I had ever remembered getting in my life yesterday my body wasn’t tired at all. I would have easily been able to sleep on the floor last night, but not tonight.

I laid there for about an hour and then heard the front door open. I almost had a panic attack, but then I calmed down when I saw it was only William. I then realized I probably didn’t want him to know I was awake, so I put the blanket over my head and pretended to be asleep. William came in, took a quick look at me, and then headed upstairs.

I removed the blanket and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, thinking to myself. Did they really want me here, or was she just doing her job? I tried not to think about it and tried to tell myself in only a week I would have a great family that cared about me, whether they were biological or not.

I put the blanket back on when I heard someone come down. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was Jolene and William.

“I just don’t understand you,” Jolene said as they both headed into the kitchen. I heard them go in the kitchen, and then I heard the sound of papers shuffling. “It’s like pulling teeth to get you to be home with your family. It’s one in the morning and you’re just barely getting home. Do you think Melissa likes the fact that she hardly ever sees you? And you wonder why she’s acting up and doing things with Ryan. She needs you, and you haven’t been there for her. I don’t understand what you working so much is accomplishing. It’s not like we need the money, and you complain about your job all the time. It seems like you do it to get away from us.”

64

Chapter Five “I don’t work to get away from you guys,” William protested. “I love you both, and I enjoy being around you. I just have a lot to do at work.

I’m a CEO of an important company. Working long hours was in the job description. You know I would be home with you and Melissa if I could.”

“Don’t even talk to me about having to do a lot of work. I’ve had all my electronic devices ringing all day, the calls won’t stop coming, I had a really long and stressful day at work, we apparently have some sort of emergency, and I have two boys staying with us until I can take care of them. I haven’t even mentioned them to anyone at my work it’s been so crazy. But I still managed to get home long before you, as I always do.”

“Okay, breathe,” he told her. She mumbled something under her breath, which I assumed meant she didn’t listen to him.

“I try hard to get all my work done at the weekdays so I don’t have to work weekends. You work weekends just the same as you do weekdays.

Shouldn’t you at least have one day off? Just one day, such as Sunday?”

“You work on the weekends too, so who are you to be talking?”

“I work on weekends occasionally,” she spat, “so don’t even try to say that. This is the first weekend I’ve worked in months. You work every weekend.”

“I didn’t work last month. We went out to eat, remember?”

“That was the first weekend we even sat together as a family in months. Our family is falling apart, and if you don’t fix it we’ll never heal.

Melissa is nearly an adult. What do you want her to take from a childhood, a workaholic father that was never there so she learned to get away with things and be rebellious?”

“What do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to tell my boss I can’t work this many hours even though I’m a CEO because I have a family that likes to complain?”

“That would be a good start,” she mumbled, clearly frustrated at his sarcasm. She sighed and then I heard more papers.

“Don’t be so cranky just because you had a long day at work.”

She ignored him and continued go through the papers.

“Fine, be that way,” he mumbled as he left the kitchen and went upstairs. She sighed and then sat down at the table. I could hear her crying very softly.

I just lied there, trying to look completely motionless. It sounded like they weren’t all that happy. I didn’t understand how anyone who lived in the real word and had a good family would be unhappy. But I was only staying here for a few days, after all. I would be gone by time Monday, so their family problems weren’t any of my business. I didn’t care which kind of family I got; I just wanted someone to claim me. I hated not knowing who I was, as I had all my life. Hopefully now I would have an identity, and finally have a real life.

65

Escape

I passed out about twenty minutes later and didn’t wake up until morning.

When I finally did wake up I could hear Jolene talking to someone in the kitchen.

“Everything’s going to be alright. I’m going to do a few things and then we can find out who your parents are. It would just be easier if you would tell me, but if you insist on not telling me, there are other ways I can figure it out. I just want to help you.”

“My family’s not important. And there’s nothing to tell. Just don’t worry about me.”

“You’re a twelve year old child who obviously has trust issues. I very much am worried about you. If your parents don’t hurt you, then I’ll just return you to them, but if there’s abuse involved, I want to help you.

You’ll have a better life.”

“You don’t know anything about my life, so don’t say that.”

She shook her head as I slowly got up and walked in. “Good morning,” Jolene said with a smile. “I have a great day planned for you boys. I’m afraid I can’t get much done at the office until Monday, so in the meantime I had hoped we could get to know each other a little better.”

“Why do you care?” Lance asked. “We’ll only be here for a couple days and then you’ll never see us again.”

Jolene sighed. “Despite what you think, that’s not what social work is about. I got into this career because I wanted to help children, not because I wanted money or I wanted an easy job. If you boys are in a situation that you shouldn’t be in you’ll very much see me again, because I’ll be the one that’s over you. If not, well, then we had a fun day and I hope you’d enjoyed it.”

Lance shook his head and started to make circles on the table with his finger.

“I got you boys a little something,” she told them as she pulled out a bag. Inside she pulled out some clothes. I was staring at it in shock, while Lance clearly wasn’t excited. “I hope I guessed on the size right. I don’t want you guys to have to wear those shorts and shirt that look a bit shredded any longer.”

“Where did you get the money for those?” Lance accused.

She gave him a look and handed him an outfit. “Just go put it on,” she told him. He shook his head and then left the kitchen.

She smiled as she handed me my outfit. “You’ll want to look nice for today,” she told me. “We’re going to have lots of fun.”

I nodded and then headed up to the bedroom to also try them on.

Since I had never worn anything other than my camp outfit all my life, 66

Chapter Five this was a day in history for me. I couldn’t help but feel the jean material and couldn’t believe for once in my life I got something nice.

After I was all dressed I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, smiling shyly. I stopped once I saw Lance come over, not looking happy at all.

“Stupid lady,” he mumbled. “Now we have to spend an entire day with her looking like this. And if she does send us into foster care it won’t be the end of her. I hated her little ‘I love children so much and I want to see them happy’ speech. She thinks we’ll be happy, but we won’t.”

“What’s wrong with the way we look?” I asked, looking myself over in the mirror again.

“These are total rich person clothes,” Lance explained. “This jacket, this shirt, these jeans, and these shoes are all really expensive. You won’t find just anyone wearing them. She clearly has a lot of money, but she’s not fooling me.”

“I like them,” I said as I walked out of the bathroom.

“Don’t let her blind you,” Lance said as he chased me down. “She’ll tell you all these things to make you feel good, but none of them will be true and you’ll wish you’d listened to me later. Buying us nice clothes is all part of the act so we’ll trust her and we’ll tell her our parents abuse us so she can take us away from them.”

“You should really have more confidence in them,” I said as we walked into the room we were staying in. “You don’t know everything.”

“And you do?” Lance questioned.

I sighed. “I overheard them talking last night when I was supposed to be asleep on the couch. She was complaining about him working too much, and then she started to cry.”

Lance shook his head. “It’s just a typical problem of rich families. He’s a workaholic and she’s unhappy about it. They both use work to get out of life. Melissa’s spoiled rotten and doesn’t get enough attention, so she acts out and disobeys her parents. Typical, typical.

I sighed. I wouldn’t know anything about typical families. I just didn’t understand how anyone would work so much if they knew they had a good family. If I ever got a family, work would be the least of my worries.

We kind of just sat there for a few minutes, and then we heard Melissa and Jolene arguing downstairs.

“Mom, I can’t watch them for another day. I thought this emergency was only supposed to last a day.”

“It was, but things got complicated,” Jolene said. “Just watch them and I promise I will take them first thing on Monday. I mentioned them to someone and she got all panicked and begged me to keep them at my house until we can figure it out. We’re currently working on three cases right now and I’m going to be late for a court date in a few minutes.”

67

Escape “It’s Saturday,” she said with frustration.

“I know. And I promise we’ll get to spend all day Sunday as a family.”

“We haven’t spent Sunday as a “family” in years. What makes this week any different?”

Jolene sighed. “I really have to go. I’ll see you tonight.”

Melissa stared at her as she walked out and then looked down at the ground. She sat on the couch as we came down. “Sorry about your parents,” Lance said. “Trust me, I know how you feel.”

She looked at him. “So you’re admitting you do have parents?” she said.

“Of course I do. Everyone has parents, don’t they? That doesn’t mean my parents are important to the situation at hand.”

“Your parents are very important to the situation at hand. They’re kind of the main point.”

“Don’t worry about my business and I won’t worry about yours,” Lance said with a smirk.

“You can’t keep this up for long. My mother will figure out who you are eventually. We’re just trying to help you.”

“Don’t start this up again,” Lance mumbled.

I shook my head. “He’s stubborn,” I mumbled.

Melissa laughed. “Well, it looks like you guys will be dealing with me for another day. I’m sorry for your misery, and believe me, I don’t want to babysit for another day either.”

“We don’t need to be babysat,” Lance told her. “I’m thirteen and he’s nine.”

“We’ve been through this,” Melissa said as she rolled her eyes. “I know how old you both are. Something tells me I may or may not get paid for this, but I don’t care anymore. I have bigger problems in my life than two orphaned children.”

I looked down. She didn’t need to say it like that. Technically I was orphaned, but the last thing I wanted to do was be reminded of that. They were supposed to be helping me.

“We’re not orphaned,” Lance mumbled. She gave him another challenging look. “What is there to even do in this house?” he asked.

I looked around. I could think of hundreds. All we could do back at camp was talk to each other and hang out in that small room. How could he complain?

“We have all sorts of stuff. Video games, pool, ping pong, computer, television. You name it, chances are we have it.”

Lance’s eyes seemed to light up. “Video games?” he asked. “I’ve missed them so much.”

Melissa smiled. “What exactly do you miss, Lance?” He gave her a look, realizing what she was trying to do and then looked away.

68

Chapter Five “Just show me where they are.”

She smiled and then pointed to a drawer below their flat screen TV. He opened it and then smiled with bright eyes when he saw all the video games it contained.

“What to play, Marcus?” he asked me.

I was kind of nervous. I didn’t even know it was possible for entertainment to come out of a box until a couple days ago, and now he suddenly wanted me to use it? What if I did something to screw it up? He seemed to sense my uneasiness and gave me a smile of encouragement.

“Don’t worry about it, Marcus. It will be fun. I’ll show you how to play.

It’s not hard at all, even for someone who’s never seen one.”

“You don’t know how to read or write, count, and you’ve never seen a TV? Where are you from; some crackpot town in New York?”

I stared at her. What was that supposed to mean? What was New York, and what was a crackpot town?

“Don’t answer her, Marcus,” Lance told me. She gave him a glare.

“Let’s just play.”

“What if I break it?”

Lance laughed. “I promise you that you won’t break it. But even if you did, I’m sure these guys have enough money on their hands to easily buy a new one.”

She gave him another glare. “Money’s not everything. In case you didn’t notice, we have major problems, and I would rather have a normal family than have money.”

“So you’re admitting you have a lot of money?”

“My parents have a lot of money. Someday I’m going to go off to college and I refuse to let them help me.”

He laughed. “You say that now.”

She shook her head and then headed upstairs, egger to get away from him. I swore I heard her say something along the lines of, “that little devil kid,” as she went upstairs.

“Yeah, I get the feeling she hates me,” Lance told me with a smile.

I shook my head. “I hope that wasn’t your goal. These people are trying to help us. You shouldn’t make them hate you.”

“We’re not going through this again, Marcus. They’re not trying to help us. We’ll end up in a worse situation than before if we let her help us.

We need to leave. I admit chilling around their awesome house for a few days and annoying the crap out of their daughter has been fun, but we need to move on to bigger and better things.”

“And where will we stay? It seems to me this place isn’t like the camp.

People won’t feed you and give you somewhere to sleep like they did.”

“Did you forget I was on the run for weeks before I was found and taken to the camp? People are always nice to children. I always found a 69

Escape place to sleep, although I admit it wasn’t always luxurious like this. And I got plenty of food.”

“And no one ever ask who you were or tried to call someone?”

“It happens once or twice. But I know how to run. No one will ever catch me and take me back to either my dad or the camp. If nothing else I’ll make sure of that.”

We started to play some video games. Although I had a hard time at first, in no time at all I was completely winning. “It was just beginner’s luck,” Lance mumbled as he picked out another game. I wasn’t as good at the others and he won me a couple times, but overall I was definitely winning and it seemed to be making him upset.

We played all day until Jolene eventually came home, and she just gave us a smile when she saw us. Melissa was in the kitchen. She gave her mother a look as she walked in, and Jolene just smiled in reply. “Look what I got you, honey,” she said with a smile. I was momentarily distracted from my video game, considering we had been playing it all day, and Lance looked annoyed. She pulled out a piece of clothing that was circle shaped. I wasn’t sure what it was, because I had never seen one before.

She didn’t seem to appreciate it as she rolled her eyes. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

“You should be happy,” her mother said sadly. “I was thinking of you.”

“It’s not like you don’t buy me random things I don’t really need all the time.”

She sighed and then threw it at her. She left the kitchen and headed upstairs. “Are you boys hungry?” she asked as she came in. We both turned around and Lance put his angry face back on. “Some food would be nice, yes.” I shook my head. He was such a jerk.

“I can make you something. What do you want?”

“Anything edible,” I replied. The food here had to be ten times better than the canned stuff we got back at camp.

Lance, on the other hand, seemed a bit pickier. “Can you make some flaming yon or something?” he asked. “I’m sure you guys have some lying around the house.”

She gave him a weird look. “You’ve had flaming yon before?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I have. I wasn’t that deprived.” I gave him a strange look. That was a strange name for a food.

She seemed to study him for a moment. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I hated being left in the dark. “Well, I don’t know if we can have that tonight,” she finally said. “We don’t usually carry a lot of it at once, so I wouldn’t be able to make enough for all five of us. But how about some macaroni and cheese? Everyone loves macaroni and cheese.” Lance 70

Chapter Five made a face and I gave him a look. How could he complain? I didn’t even know what that was, but he had to better than anything back at camp.

She seemed to write him off and went into the kitchen to make it anyway. “Rich people are so stingy,” he told me as we continued our game. I kind of just stared at the TV for the next twenty minutes. Lance was happy at first because he kept winning, and then after a while he got annoyed when he realized I wasn’t even trying.

Once it was ready we both went into the kitchen to eat. She gave us one of her famous smiles. “I promise I’ll get this all sorted out on Monday. I promised Melissa and my husband I would stay home on Sunday so we could all have a family day, so I can’t take you in then, but Monday should be fine.” I felt awkward impeding on their family time, especially since they didn’t seem to get much of it. But since I was stuck here until Monday, maybe even longer, I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. I had no plans to run away like Lance did. These people were going to help me, and I wasn’t planning on throwing it back in their face.

I wasn’t surprised when she left after she had given us our food and Melissa went with her. They both sat in the living room and I was thankful they got some time alone while Lance and I also got some time alone.

“You should be nicer,” I told him. “Did you act like this before you came into the camp? I can’t see anyone wanting to help you if you did.”

“No, I didn’t,” he replied. “You don’t understand, Marcus. Social workers are horrible. We don’t belong here, and I don’t want to give that evil woman any respect for as long as I’m stuck here.”

“Unless you can give me a real reason why you hate them, I’m not going to believe you. What you’ve said and what has happened have been two completely different things, so why should I believe you?”

He shook his head. “Do you really want me to tell you why I have such a huge problem with social workers?”

“Yes, I would love to know.” I knew he had something in his past that would make him act like this. Hearing stories wouldn’t amount up to this much hatred.

“I was crossed by a social worker,” he explained. “I wasn’t taken away, but someone else I knew was.” I gave him a confused look. “I had a brother, alright. He was an older brother, and I was only little, while he was a bit older when my mother died. My brother was extremely accident prone and always came home with a new bruise. Since I’m the one that pretty much killed my mother with my birth my dad ignored me but loved my brother, so I didn’t like either of them because I didn’t feel like part of the family. When I was six and my brother was ten, a social worker came over and did an inspection through our house. She told my dad all these things were a mess and demanded him to clean them, but even when he 71

Escape did she took my brother away anyway, claiming he was abused because of the small bruises he had. My dad was heartbroken and it caused him to lash out even more on me, the one son he had left. We had them coming in all the time after that because they were convinced he was going to try to abuse me too, but he never did. He never really paid any attention to me. Sometimes I wondered if he would even care if they took me away, but I guess he did to a point because he always passed all their inspections after that. He tried to get my brother back all the way up until the day I left, but he never had any luck. They never even gave him a chance. We had visits, but my dad never took me. I never asked him why, although I would have loved to go.”

I stared at him. What was I supposed to say? I guess it suddenly made sense why he hated them so much. But what did I have to worry about?

It’s not like I had anything to get taken away from like he did. I just wanted some place to go. “I’m sorry to hear that, Lance. But remember these people aren’t here to take you away from anyone. You said it yourself you didn’t want to go back to your dad, and if they really care about bruises they most likely won’t take you back to him. They’ll just give you a good place to stay. Sure, that social worker that took away your brother had her facts wrong, but she was probably just trying to help.”

“She made things completely worse by trying to help. You don’t understand. You don’t have anything to lose. You never have.”

I looked down. I didn’t need to be reminded of that. He realized what he had said and then apologized. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Well, I understand you hate her, but stop being such a jerk and our time here will be short and painless.”

“You think we’re ever going to see each other again after all is said and done? They’re not very good at keeping people together unless they’re siblings, and since we’re not related in any way once they realize they don’t know where to put us they’re separate us into different families, and not only will we never see each other again, but we’ll bounce from house to house, never having a real family. That’s to say they don’t find my dad and not accuse him of the marks. It’s very unlikely, but I also have a possibility of going back with him, something I really don’t want to do.”

“People change. How do you know your father wasn’t heart-broken when you went missing and tried everything to get you back like he did your brother? You were his only son at that point.”

Lance shook his head. “I’m not seeing it. But what about you, Marcus?

You can only imagine what your family was like before you ended up at camp, and you’re never going to have a permanent home after this.

Doesn’t that bother you at all?”

“No,” I stated, “because having something is better than having nothing, and anything is better than the camp.”

72

Chapter Five “Whatever you say, Marcus. But I stand by what I said about social workers.”

I finished the last of my macaroni and put it in the sink. That stuff was actually pretty good, and despite what Lance had said, he seemed to be enjoying it as well. I came into the living room and overheard Melissa and Jolene talking. “He can’t read, write, or count,” Melissa told her. “That’s not normal at all. What kind of parents can get out of sending their child to school?”

Jolene looked very concerned. I was hiding behind the door way, hoping they didn’t bother to look back. “He can’t read, write, or count?

Oh, dear. This must be an even worse abuse case than I thought. That’s not normal. They must have hid him down in the basement or something.

If he was registered through the state, he had to have gone to school, because not going to school is very illegal and they would have prosecuted his parents. He couldn’t have been registered if he’s been around this long and hasn’t gone to school. But I’ve never heard of a case like this. He’s already eight! Someone should have found something by now. Are you sure he was just making that up?”

“Lance likes to lie and makes things up, but I don’t think Marcus would. I’m not sure how they know each other, because they are nothing alike. They are definitely not related.”

“They don’t look related for sure,” she said as she seemed to stare off into space. I came back toward Lance and he gave me a look.

“Eavesdropping is a bad idea,” he told me. “Although you won’t get beaten like you would if you were caught doing it back at camp, people still don’t appreciate it.”

“They were taking about me, so I think I have the right to know.”

“What were they saying about you?”

“Melissa was just telling her I didn’t know how to read, write, or count, and Jolene was saying not going to school was illegal and this must have been an extreme abuse case. Then she wondered if I was making it up and Melissa told her that’s something you would do but not me.”

“I’ve accepted she hates me,” Lance said with a smile. “And she’s probably right. Throwing off social workers is so much fun.”

I shook my head at him. “So what’s school like? If it’s required for everyone, is it like camp where they make you do physical things and beat you if you do something wrong?”

Lance laughed. “Marcus, we’re living in a completely different world now. No one beats people without getting in trouble, which includes school officials to students and parents to children. School was something I never much cared for, but compared to camp it was heaven. The only physical activity you were required to do was gym, and the worse they would make you do was run around the room a couple times. You also 73

Escape had to do work from books and other learning materials. School is where you learn things needed for life along with a bunch of other crap I always found pointless. School was where we all learn to read, write, and count, which is why you don’t know how to do it.”

“So I’m never going to learn because I never went to school,” I said as I looked down sadly.

“Are you kidding me? People as old as ninety go to school. It’s divided by age, though, so no worries. You’re only nine, so you’ll still have nine more years of just normal school. After that comes optional school, and it’s so much harder than the required school. But you’ll certainly be behind, since you’ve missed four years of it. But you can catch up. They go through the same things over and over again if you ask me.”

“Really?” I asked with a smile. “Can I go now?”

He gave me a look. “Really, school’s not that great. And I don’t know what Jolene’s plans are. Technically we should be in school, but it’s been postponed because of her job issues. But we’ll be out of here by next week if she keeps her promise of taking us on Monday. I promise you she’s not going to want to keep us for much longer. Once they find us a permanent place to stay, they’ll make us go to school. But they might make an exception for you, since you don’t know anything.”

I looked down. I didn’t need to be reminded of that either. School sounded like so much fun. Getting to meet people my age, and finally learn to do what everyone else knew how to do? I was so excited! But maybe he was right and I wouldn’t get to experience it like normal since I was so behind. It was depressing to think about.

That night I got the bed, and as a result Lance seemed extra cranky the next morning. I told him to go back to bed, because he kept barking at me as we were brushing our teeth and then he mumbled something about this being all my idea as he went back in the room and locked the door. I just shook my head and went downstairs. Any kind of food from this place sounded really good right now.

Melissa came down behind me but was a little faster, and as a result she saw the man sitting on the couch next to Jolene before I did.

“Dad?” she asked in shock. “What are you doing home?”

He gave her a smile. “Am I not allowed to be home on a Sun-day? I know I work a lot, but today you and I are going to spend the day together.”

She gave him a look that made me think she had no interest in going.

“Last time we tried that you got a call at work and it was cut short.”

“I know, but I’m not even going to bring my cell phone with me. If there’s an emergency while I’m gone, they’ll just have to deal with it without me.”

74

Chapter Five “What will we even do? I don’t think you and I like the same things.”

“We’ll figure something out. There are endless possibilities.”

Melissa looked to her mother, hoping she would stand up for her, but she just gave her a smile. “You have got to be kidding me,” she mumbled.

“You’ll have fun,” Jolene told her, but she didn’t look con-vinced.

“Get ready,” her father told her. “We’ll leave in a couple minutes.”

Melissa was mumbling something under her breath as she went upstairs.

Jolene turned to her husband. “If you spent more time with her this wouldn’t happen.”

“She’s a teenage girl. Of course this would happen.”

She shook her head and then turned to me. “Hello, Marcus,” she said with her usual smile. It was beginning to creep me out. As it was true I didn’t get to see a smile on anyone very often, she was overdoing it a bit.

“Once they leave I’m going to talk to you and Lance. We can finally get things settled.”

Now I was worried. Would I have to lie? Would she even believe me if I attempted to tell the truth? I was getting to the point where I didn’t want to listen to Lance anymore because he obviously didn’t know what he was talking about fully, but I was worried just as much as he was about telling her “the truth.”

I nodded, not sure what to say, as Melissa came back down looking like someone had just told her she would have to spend a day cleaning or something. Her mother gave her a smile, but she didn’t return it as she followed her dad outside. “We’re going to have lots of fun today,” I heard him say as they went outside.

“Why don’t you go and get Lance,” Jolene said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Now I was sure I looked like I would rather be doing anything else, but I obeyed and went upstairs, knowing perfectly well Lance was going to be difficult.

“What do we have to talk about?” Lance asked. “’Oh, you should just admit you’re being abused so things can get better. No one will hurt you again. Who were your parents? Just admit it.’ Uh, I can’t stand social workers. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Lance, I don’t see a way out of this. She’s just trying to help. I’m sure this is part of her job. And like I said before, why do you care where you end up just as long as you don’t end up back with your dad? You’ve already given her your full name. She’s going to figure out who you are with or without your help, and finding us in the desert is enough reason to believe we were abused regardless of whether or not we admit it.”

He gave me a stare down. “Since when did you get so smart?”

75

Escape I gave him a glare. “Just because I didn’t go to school doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” I snapped. Then I headed downstairs. If he cared about anything he would follow me, and if he didn’t that was his problem.

Luckily, I saw him come down with that look on his face after I came in the living room. She gave us a both a smile, most likely thinking he was going to be difficult as well. “I hope you boys know I’m here to help you, and it’s important you tell me everything. Hiding things to protect someone will accomplish nothing, and lying for someone is bad all in itself.” I gave Lance a look, and he pretended like he didn’t see it.

“Do you boys want to sit down?” she asked.

Both Lance and I looked nervous, but we slowly sat down as she gave us another smile. I didn’t like this smiling anymore. “Do you guys want to describe your parents to me? Who were you before you were in that desert?”

I swallowed. Lying suddenly seemed like a good alternative right now.

Lance could tell them the truth, but I couldn’t. Would they even believe me?

Luckily, she looked at Lance first, so I had the chance to figure things out. “It doesn’t matter,” he replied. A typical response. I was expecting it.

She sighed. “Nothing will get better or figured out if you don’t talk to me, Lance. I want to help you. Maybe I have my facts all wrong, or maybe it’s worse than I thought. I will never know unless you tell me.”

Lance stared her down. “I have parents, just like every normal kid, and they’re still alive. What more do you need to know?”

“Why were you out in that desert? What type of people were they and where are they now?”

“My parents didn’t put me out there if that’s what you’re as-suming.

And how am I supposed to know that kind of information?”

She gave him a strange look. I desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. Then I got nervous as she turned to me. What was I supposed to tell her? “And what about you, Marcus. What type of life did you live before you came here? Were your parents good to you?”

I looked down. What was I supposed to tell her? “I don’t have any parents,” I whispered.

She looked at me in concern. “Were you a ward of the state?”

I gave her a confused look. “What’s a ward of the state?”

“Yes,” Lance said quickly. “He was a ward of the state and that’s how we met. I ran into him one day.”

“Then how did you guys end up in the desert?” she challenged.

“People can wander off into the strangest of places, you know.” I could tell by the look on her face she didn’t believe a word he had said.

“Lance, who were your parents? Are you a ward of the state too but too embarrassed to admit it?”

76

Chapter Five “No. I told you I had parents and they were alive. But that’s all I’m going to say.”

She shook her head and then wrote something down on the clipboard she was holding. I leaned over to see what she was writing, but she pulled it away. “It’s confidential information, Marcus.” I leaned back, a little frustrated. It was about us, so didn’t we have the right to know? Lance seemed to sense this and smiled evilly, probably thinking I was going to go to his side soon.

“You boys should know I have ways of figuring things about whether you tell me or not, so telling me would just make every-thing so much easier.” We both just stared at her. I highly doubted that, since no one knew about the camp or it wouldn’t exist, but Lance looked a little nervous. I figured it wouldn’t be hard to track where his father was, and going back to him was exactly what he didn’t want.

She made sure to add in another smile before getting up, probably to call someone or do something. I just sat back, wondering if this was such a great idea after all. What did she know? She didn’t know anything about me. No one did. Marcus had reason to worry because he had a life and an identity before he went to that camp. I had nothing, and I still had nothing.

I turned to Lance. “What’s a ward of the state?” I asked.

He smiled. “The lie that’s going to sound believable,” he ex-plained. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Since you have no past and no one to look for you, it’s the only possible lie we can come up with that will make them believe us.” I gave him a look. That hasn’t answered my question. “It basically means you don’t have any parents and you’re the state’s responsibility. Most of the time kids like that end up in foster homes, but sometimes they live in the street because the state doesn’t bother to do anything about it. If we stick to that story we can let them fill in the rest of the blanks. It’s genius! Sadly, I can’t think of a good lie for myself, since a little searching will most likely lead them to my father, but for now we at least have something.”

I nodded and then stared at the TV. I wondered what she was doing right now and what information she could possibly dig up. If entertainment could come out of a box, anything was possible.

When I snuck upstairs later that day to see what she was up to I saw her sitting in their computer room, and she looked a bit stressed. “How is this possible? Are people really that heartless?” I heard her ask herself. I carefully snuck around the door as not to be seen and went into the guest room. I sat on the bed and sighed. This was everything I had ever wanted, but the camp was everything I had ever known. What was I reduced to? I wanted a family more than anything, but just like the other boys at the camp I had no one. It just didn’t seem fair.

77

Escape The next thing I knew I just woke up, not even realizing I had fallen asleep. Sleeping in the middle of the day? I must have been dreaming.

Soon I would wake up and one of the bosses would be doing roll call. I hoped I was wrong of course, but I got up and headed downstairs, wondering what Lance was up to. I sat on the stairs when I saw Jolene talking to him, and I wanted to hear what they were saying without them realizing I was there.

“I know about your father. I also know about you running away. Why did you do it? Was your father hurting you?”

“That’s always the assumption, isn’t it?” Lance said bitterly. “No, my father didn’t hurt me. I ran away because he wasn’t paying any attention to me.”

“Then where have you been for the past four years? A child doesn’t just disappear for years and then suddenly come back unless there was fowl play involved. Have you seen your father since you ran away?”

“That’s none of your business! The joke’s on you, because you’ll never figure this out without my help. This isn’t one of those abuse cases where you can just take the child away and everything is solved. Just be assured my father had nothing to do with it and he doesn’t even know where I am right now.”

She stared at him. “If you work with me I can make sure you see your father again.”

He shook his head. “Now you’re trying to bribe me? What part of, ‘I ran away,’ don’t you understand? Like I care if I don’t see my father again.”

She sighed and then wrote something down on her clipboard. He looked at her in annoyance. “You know; if you write something about someone on a clip board you should at least have the guts to say it to their face rather than just talk to your little people.”

She gave him a look. I had to keep from laughing, because this was certainly the opposite of the smiling thing she did all the time. “I’m sorry, but this is confidential information. Don’t worry; I would never say anything bad about you. These are just my notes so we can decide what to do. Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t seem to like that answer, but he sat back in defeat.

She stood up; looking about ready to pull her hair out, as I quickly ran back to the room so I wouldn’t be seen.

Lance soon followed me upstairs, looking like he was ready to kick something. “The nerve of her!” he shouted to me. “She thinks she can bribe me into talking to her? What has this world been reduced to? She probably just said that so I would tell her something and then she wouldn’t keep her promise because she would think he played a part in it somehow I needed to be taken away, just like my brother was. In fact, I 78

Chapter Five wouldn’t be surprised if she were on the exact same case my brother was taken from my father and she’s the one who did it. That wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

I shook my head. “Stop coming up with random stories, Lance. I highly doubt that’s true. Don’t you want to see your father even a little bit? Don’t you think he cared that you disappeared for four years?”

Lance looked down. “She showed me a picture of my missing poster.

He was offering a lot of money, so I guessed he cared even a little if he was willing to offer that much to get me back. But he had a lot of money just to give away, and he could have just put the sign up as to not make people suspect he did anything. I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

I felt bad for him. I might not have had a family, but he had one he wasn’t even sure cared about him. That had to be just as hard if not harder to deal with. For all I know my parents could have died or left me somewhere, while he had parents but they may or may not have cared about him.

I heard the door open downstairs and I assumed Melissa and William were home. Lance sat on the bed, looking like his head was buzzing with a million things, as I found a spot on the floor to stare at. “Did she say anything about me? Maybe she found a picture of someone that looked like me? There are more than just parents that you can call your family, right? Do you think anyone out there is looking for me, even if I was just little?”

Lance shook his head. “She didn’t say anything about you. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to say. The camp takes their children from different places with close to the same situations. For all you know your parents could have handed you over to them for cash or something.”

I shook my head and tried not to think about that. Of course my past couldn’t have been that horrible. But he was right about the same situation thing. Most of the boys at the camp came from hard pasts with parents that either didn’t care about them or weren’t there. They were all taken without a place in this world. Lance seemed to be one of the exceptions to that, although he didn’t have a very good past life either. I would have liked to imagine my parents did care about me and maybe what happened was all just one big mistake, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to believe anymore either.

I went downstairs and Lance gave me a look. “Did you eaves-drop on the bosses a lot? You seem to be a lot better at it than I am.”

“I’m not going to comment on that,” I told him as I went out of the room.

I heard Melissa, Jolene, and William talking to each other in the kitchen. “This is just one big headache,” Jolene told them. “Do you remember one of the first cases I was put on after I got my license five 79

Escape years ago?” I couldn’t see their faces, but I could tell she was talking to William.

“The one with that boy that was taken from that guy and then months later his other son ran away and was never seen again?”

“Yes. They all suspected foul play, and I wasn’t sure what to think. It seemed absurd a man who had not only lost his wife but also his son would want to hurt the only son he had left. I was even convinced before everyone else was that the man was innocent, and I was one of the only people that were happy when he wasn’t charge with his son’s disappearance.”

“Well, what about him?”

“The boy that disappeared... is Lance.” I didn’t need to see their faces to know they were in shock.

“Lance disappeared four years ago and is now back?” Melissa asked in shock.

“It’s crazy; I know,” Jolene said, sounding like she was having issues breathing. “I was literally on the phone with Wanda for an hour. She asked me a million questions, like what did he look like, what had he told me, and where I had found him. She was in complete shock and she told me she wanted me to bring them over first thing tomorrow morning so we could figure this out. I just don’t understand why a boy would disappear for four years and then turn up in the middle of the desert with a boy with no identity.”

I looked down. So she had searched for me.

“There was definitely something more than abuse here,” William said.

“What do you think is the deal with Marcus? You said he told you he was a ward of the state with no parents, but why would he end up with a boy that had been missing for four years.”

“I couldn’t find anything on him. For all I know he could have been gone for just as long or even longer. But I have a theory.” I listened close.

I had to hear this. “I think someone lost him or didn’t want to deal with him anymore, so to cover their tracks they deleted all his records and made it seem as if he never existed. It’s very possible, especially if you’re in high enough authority to do it. Even I could delete any record of Lance if I really wanted to. Of course I would never do that, but it would make sense if that’s what happened to Marcus. Think about it. He’s this little boy with no family and no life, and someone get sick of dealing with him so they erase all his records and send him out on the street. Then I’m assuming fowl play was in here somewhere, so maybe he was kidnapped or someone tried to get rid of him by putting him in the desert. Lance had to be involved in this somehow, and maybe they were both taken by the same person or something, and then their paths crossed and that’s how they met. They don’t seem to me like they’ve known each other for long. I 80

Chapter Five just don’t understand what a kidnapper or anyone for that matter would want with a rich boy and a poor boy with no identity. I would make sense they would want Lance so they could get some ransom money, but why would they keep him for this long without even calling his father, and what would they want with Marcus? It makes no sense to me.”

“Rich boy?” Melissa asked. “Lance was rich?”

“Before he was taken, yes. His father had a lot of money. But why would they want him if they didn’t want ransom money?”

“The same reason they wanted Anthony,” William mumbled.

I heard her sigh. “You don’t know this has anything to do with Anthony, so don’t give your hopes up.”

“Mom, this might be what we’re looking for,” Melissa said. “There are similarities to the two kidnappings. And if they took Lance but didn’t do anything with him maybe we can say the same thing for Anthony.”

“Anthony was a baby,” Jolene snapped; “Lance was much older. Even if they didn’t do anything to him personally, there are a ton of things that could have gone wrong that would make it so he wasn’t around.”

William sighed and then Melissa mumbled, “if you think about it, even if Anthony was still alive he wouldn’t know what to do. It’s not like Lance where he could talk to his father again and tell someone what his name was and who his parents were. He wouldn’t know.”

I felt my heart start to race. What were they talking about? Did they know someone from that camp? Who was Anthony? I made a mental note to ask Melissa about him later.

“Let’s not bring up Anthony again,” Jolene told them. I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. “Let’s just focus on the case we have. I’m hesitant to bring him back to his father because if he wasn’t kidnapped, the only other explanation was that his father was involved somehow. I know I believed him four years ago, but the facts just aren’t adding up, and parents have been known to hurt their own children before.”

“We could figure this out if they would talk,” Melissa pointed out.

“I know, but both of them aren’t working with me very well. Lance just told me I wouldn’t be able to figure anything more out without him, and that frustrated me because he had only told me that to make me upset.”

“Well, we all know Lance isn’t going to tell anybody anything,” Melissa said. “I don’t know why, because you would think he would want someone to help him with what happened and would want the people who did this behind bars. But maybe you should try Marcus. Even though he’s not showing up on any records, he has to have a past, and he’s had to have been somewhere all his life. Maybe Lance and Marcus were at the same place and that’s how they met. It seems unlikely they just met on the road.”

81

Escape “I know they were at the same place,” she whispered. Then she added, “last night I found some marks on their backs. They were exactly identical. They both had long bruises that lined their backs. I couldn’t tell what they were from, but I don’t think either one of them are willing to tell me anything. Lance seems like he just hates me, and I have a feeling why that is, while Marcus seems he might be under threat.”

“Bruises in the shape of lines?” William asked. “This doesn’t sound like just an abuse case. And if Marcus is just under threat I’m sure we can get him to talk eventually. He just needs to know whoever threatened him won’t be coming back and can’t hurt him.”

I shuttered. I wasn’t under threat, but they very much could come back and hurt me. But at least now I knew they might believe me. But I didn’t think Lance would be too happy if I told them anything.

“I’ve been in social work for years, William,” Jolene said. “You don’t understand. Children don’t like to say things when someone tells them not to. They are very easily manipulated, and if this boy has never had a family and has been a ward of the state for who knows how long, he most likely will be very afraid to tell us anything. Lance, on the other hand, just needs to let go of his stubbornness, and I think I know a way.”

“And what way is that, mom?” Melissa asked. “Lance seemed pretty still on where he stands.”

“His older brother,” she mumbled. “Last year his father got him back, and I think he would be happy to know that. Even if him and his father weren’t close, there had to be a bond with his brother, especially if he hates me because of what happened years ago.”

“You would really bribe him with that? Is that really right?”

“This isn’t a matter of what is right and what isn’t, it’s a matter of I need to figure out where these two boys came from, because there’s probably a bigger picture we’re missing here, and without them saying anything we’ll never figure it out.” I could tell from her tone of voice she was lying. The reason she wanted to bribe him was because she was convinced this had something to do with this Anthony person. She thinks if we would tell her what we know she would somehow find him since the two cases were related.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking this, because then I heard William say, “Jolene, I know you miss Anthony. We all do. But like you said, even if this was related to him, what makes you think he’s even still alive?”

“If he’s not at least I’ll know what happened to him,” she snapped as I heard her go to the other end of the kitchen and start pulling out pots and pans.

“Alright,” William said, sounding a little scared as if he were afraid she was going to throw something at him.

82

Chapter Five “We are having dinner as a family tonight,” she told them.

“Fine,” William said. “I told you I was going to be home all day.”

“That’s fine,” Melissa echoed, afraid she might upset her. Then I heard them both head out of the kitchen and I quickly ran upstairs and closed the door of the guest room behind me.

“News?” Lance asked as he sat up from the bed.

I hesitated. I certainly didn’t plan to tell him about his brother and Jolene, but I figured telling him the rest was harmless. “She knows about your father, and she says after you ran away he was blamed for what happened but then got off because there wasn’t enough evidence. Then she said she had to get us to talk because there was a bigger picture. She thinks someone kidnapped us and we somehow ended up in the desert.

She knows about the marks on our backs, though. She saw them when we were asleep.”

“What?” he asked in outrage. “Doesn’t she know you shouldn’t do things like that when someone was sleeping? That should be an invasion of privacy. And they blamed my dad? Of course. Since they had no leads and they thought he had done something like that to my brother they would have no choice but to blame him, because they had to figure out something so it didn’t look like they had no clue what happened. Good to know he got off, though.”

I smiled. “So somewhere deep down you do care about him.”

“I didn’t say that,” Lance said as he folded his arms. He was such a terrible liar. But I worried about what would happen when she tried to get him to talk. Would he lash out?

“How about I teach you a card game?” Lance said with a smile.

“Keep in mind I can’t read.”

“That’s a problem, huh?” he seemed to mumble to himself. “Well, fine. What to you propose we do?”

“You can start to teach me the basics of reading,” I said with hope in my eyes. The longer I waited the stupider I felt, and now that I finally had the chance to learn I wanted to start as quickly as possible.

“I didn’t like school, so what makes you think I want to teach you?”

“Because you’re a nice guy and you know it would mean a lot to me,” I said with that look in my eyes.

He gave me a look and then pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket. “Where did you get those?” I asked.

“My business,” he told me as he opened them.

“Stealing from people isn’t right,” I mumbled.

“I asked Melissa if they had any cards lying around and she pointed me to an entire shelf full of them, so relax.”

I felt better. I was afraid for a minute.

83

Escape He pulled the first one out. “This is a nine,” he showed me. I looked at the odd shaped number, wondering how hard reading could possibly be. It just looked like scribbles to me, but I tried to concentrate on it and hoped I would get it down.

He went through a few more letters with me and then I had the brilliant idea of writing them down so I could study them later. But after I realized there was no paper lying around here I figured I would just have to use the cards. He handed them to me and said, “go nuts,” and then headed downstairs.

I sat there for the next hour reading them up until I heard someone knock. I figured it wasn’t Lance since he wouldn’t bother knocking, so I said rather quiet, “come in.”

I saw Melissa step in with that same smile that her mother always wore. I could tell they were related. “Are you hungry, Marcus?” she asked.

Actually, I was starving, but I just gave a little nod.

“Well, come down and eat. My mother made a three course meal for all of us.”

I took the opportunity as we were in the hallway to ask about Anthony. “Who’s Anthony?” I asked. She gave me a surprised look. “I’m just curious,” I added quickly, afraid she might get mad.

She sighed. “Well, eavesdropper,” she said with a look, “if you must know, Anthony was my younger brother. He was stolen when he was only a baby, and we haven’t heard word about him since. They never found his body or anything.”

“So you think what happened to me and Lance has something to do with what happened to him?”

“Maybe,” she replied. “My mother is hoping. But we won’t figure anything out until you tell us what you know.”

I just nodded, and she sighed, hoping that I would say something. I was thinking. I knew that the boys at the camp all had hard past lives.

None of them were stolen from a good home. Then again, they all had memories and skills that I didn’t have. I was the youngest ever to come to the camp. What’s to say my story isn’t different? Just for a minute I had a thought, but then I suppressed it just as quickly as it came. No, that was impossible. What were the odds I was that boy and was the only person at camp that actually had a family out there waiting for me?

I felt weird impending on their family dinner, especially since it sounded like they didn’t have it very often, but a three course meal sounded like heaven right now.

Everyone, including Lance, was gathered around the dinner table.

Lance kept eying the meat, looking like he wanted a big piece right now.

Lance had always liked meat. I remember he would offer to carry someone’s bag when we were hiking in exchanged for the meat in their 84

Chapter Five soup. Of course food sucked period back at the camp and everything was canned mush, but it was still meat regardless. I’m sure he missed real meat and now he finally had the chance to not only have it but also to have a lot of it. Although I wasn’t sure how nice Jolene would be about him eating all of her food. I took a seat the farthest away from the two adults, in between Lance and Melissa. This didn’t seem to bother Jolene, and she sat down with another one of her famous smiles.

“I hope you’re all hungry,” she said. Melissa was staring at her as if she were trying to decide if she knew her or not. I figured she didn’t normally act like this. Anyone who smiled this much couldn’t possibly be normal.

She dished mine first, which I assumed was because I was the youngest. I only wanted a little bit, and for some reason this seemed to bother her. Maybe while she was looking at those marks she saw how small I was. None of them were really heavy set, but compared to me they were huge. But that was because I was used to working all day with only enough food to keep me alive. I figured I would gain some weight while here, since I was not only sitting around all day as compared to always doing excruciating work before, but I was also eating much more than just enough food to keep me alive.

She dished Lance’s next, and she seemed happy when he said he wanted a lot of turkey and to pile his plate high with mashed potatoes. I couldn’t help but smile, and I saw Melissa smiling as well. Lance normally bugged the heck out of her, so I supposed this was a good thing.

Melissa insisted on getting her own food even though Jolene didn’t seem to like that idea, while she and William dished themselves some, and then everyone started eating. It felt kind of awkward and everyone was afraid to talk. I wasn’t sure if it was just because they didn’t sit together for dinner as a family very often or because Lance and I were here, but either way, no one looked up and everyone just stared down at their food.

Melissa finally broke the silence. “So, Marcus, how old are you?”

I had a feeling this was going to turn into a tell ‘tell me what you know’ without me realizing it conversation. But I had to keep my ground if I didn’t want Lance to get mad. He was teaching me how to read. This was the least I owed him. “Nine,” I replied.

All three of them seemed to look up in surprise then back down as if they were embarrassed. I assumed they were just sur-prised since all of them thought I was eight.

“And when is your birthday?” she asked casually.

I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, and I also wasn’t sure how to answer her question. I knew what a birthday was of course, but all of the boys in the camp just kind of decided my birthday was in April. I had no idea when it actually was, and I assumed the boys had it pretty close, since they could guess how old I was when I first came to the camp. Of 85

Escape course birthdays weren’t anything special at the camp. Half the time I didn’t even know what day of the month it was. No one celebrated their birthday unless they honestly tracked it, and even then all they got was a simple, ‘happy birthday’ if they were lucky. I had no idea when my actual birthday was, so I just decided to play it safe and tell her the estimate.

“April,” I replied.

She nodded, looking a bit disappointed. I wasn’t sure what the deal was, but I continued to eat my mashed potatoes. They were actually pretty good. It was mush just like we got at camp, but this was actually good mush.

“What do you normally do for your birthday?” Jolene asked. I could tell this was her way of getting some information about my past, and I wasn’t sure how to avoid the question.

“Nothing,” I replied. “It just means that I’m another year older.”

“So your parents never did anything?” Melissa asked. Once again, trying to gather information. Luckily, Lance saved me.

“He’s a ward of the state, remember,” Lance told them. “Why would he ever do anything for his birthday?”

Jolene shook her head. I could tell she didn’t know what to think anymore. Did she really still believe I was a ward of the state after all that research? I wasn’t sure.

“You should be nicer, Lance,” Melissa barked. “How would you feel is someone kept bringing something like that about you up all the time?”

I smiled. Finally someone understood. I didn’t like to be re-minded of my depressing life.

Lance put his hands up in defense. “You’re the one that asked about his birthday. Do you think he likes to be reminded he’s never celebrated it?”

I put my head down. I didn’t need this right now.

“I’m sorry, Marcus,” Jolene said. “I’ll try to be more sensitive.”

Melissa just seemed to shake her head as she glared at Lance. He gave her an evil smile back. Sometimes their rivalry was funny, other times it was just annoying.

“Well, just so you know, Marcus,” Melissa said, “Ryan said he would help you with reading. He’s actually really smart, and I think he would make a good teacher.” I could tell she was looking at her father as she said it.

“What did you have to promise for him to do that?”

She gave him a look, and Lance had to stop himself from laughing.

“Ryan is a good guy who wants to help,” she explained. “I didn’t have to promise him anything; he offered.”

He was giving her a stare down as I played with my potatoes. I would rather have Lance help me, because I would be afraid this would turn into 86

Chapter Five ‘tell me what you know’ moment with Ryan. Everyone wanted to hear where I came from, so I was kind of worried.

“I still don’t believe it,” William mumbled. She looked back down to her potatoes, most likely thinking something in her head.

Lance finished his plate and then asked for seconds. William just seemed to give him a look, while Jolene smiled happily and gave him what he asked. I was still on the little bit she had given me at first. I had always been a slow eater, and back at camp that was certainly a good thing so I could make the most out of the little bit of food they gave us. But then it also sucked because all of the older boys like to pick on me and either ask or take some of my food. Sometimes they would give it back when one of the other boys would yell at them, other times they would just smile happily and walk off, leaving me with even less food than I had before.

But my stomach wasn’t accepting all this food very well, and I had no idea how Lance was pulling it off.

“So, did you get fed a lot where you came from?” Jolene asked.

Surprisingly Lance actually fell for it, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“No. We got a little bowl of oatmeal and a piece of rock hard toast for breakfast, a can of soup for lunch, and beans and rock hard bread for dinner. Now this is real food.”

They all stared at him and I wondered how long it would take for him to realize what he said. Luckily, it didn’t take long, and then he looked embarrassed. “You know how I like to make up stories. How do you even know I was telling the truth?”

Melissa laughed. “Because you did it on accident,” she replied.

He gave her a glare and she just smiled back. “Were you being serious?” Jolene asked in concern. They fed you that type of food every day? And who exactly were the ones who fed you?”

He looked down, clearly mad at himself. “You shouldn’t believe what I say. You don’t know if anything is true.”

“I’m pretty confident what you said was true,” she told him. He put another bite of potato in his mouth, refusing to answer her question.

She sighed and then took another bite of her food. I was finally done, and I couldn’t have been more thankful. A couple more minutes and I probably would have slipped as well. I got up and Jolene looked at me.

“Done already, Marcus? Are you sure you don’t want anymore. I made plenty. And if they really didn’t feed you much I would feel much better if you ate more.”

“I’m fine,” I told her as I put my plate in the sink. I needed to clear my head, so I headed upstairs.

I must have been really lazy today, because I fell asleep again and when I woke up I wasn’t sure what time it was. Since there was no clock in here I had no idea, so I came downstairs and saw Lance talking to Jolene and 87

Escape William. I wasn’t sure where Melissa was, but I figured it wasn’t that late if they were all still up.

“Listen, Lance, I understand you’re scared,” Jolene told him. “You just got back from this horrible place after being kidnapped and taken for four years and now you’re with a social worker, whom you don’t like because of the incident with your older brother.” He flinched and looked down.

Since they were in the living room I had to be extra careful not to be seen, but they didn’t seem like they would be looking toward the stairs anytime soon. “But if you let me I can help both you and Marcus. Maybe you don’t want to see your dad again, but I bet you want to see your brother.”

He looked up. “Where is he? Do you know?”

She sighed. “Lance, your father got custody of him last year. You guys can be a family again soon. I know things haven’t always been easy and you’ve been through a lot, but now you have the chance to make everything right again. You just have to trust me.”

He looked away. “I’m sure they’ve been just fine without me. Now that my dad has my older brother back, what does he need me for? My brother trusted a social worker, and look where that got him. For the record, my dad never abused him, but because of a social worker he trusted he got taken away and now he finally got back after years of going to different homes and our family being broken apart.”

She looked at him with a sad look. “You shouldn’t say that. Your father obviously cares about you, and I know your brother was never abused, but social workers aren’t perfect, and I’m sure whoever took him away really thought he was being hurt and only had his best interests in mind. I’m not here to take your away from your family; I’m here to reunite you with them. But until we know all the facts we can’t do anything. I can only imagine what you and Marcus have been through, and I want to help, but if I don’t know anything I can’t help you.”

Lance shook his head. “What else is there to know? Yeah, I was kidnapped. I’m not sure about Marcus, though, because we just barely met up earlier this year. The guy didn’t want any money.”

She and William seemed to be listening intently, disap-pointed that that was all he said. “How were you kidnapped, and what did the guy want? And how did you and Marcus escape from him?”

He looked down, frustrated. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I’m a social worker,” she told him. “I’ve heard some pretty wild stories before. And you never know unless you try.”

“I ran away and was taken while running through the city. Nothing weird about that. I didn’t know what he wanted. He was very into labor so that’s what he did with us, and when we stepped out of line we were whipped, hence the reason for the marks on our backs.” I could see the 88

Chapter Five look in her eyes as he said it, although I was trying not to lean too far over so they could spot me.

“You were whipped?” she asked in shock. I noticed she had the clipboard in her hands but she wasn’t writing anything down. This was probably a lot to take in. “How did you and Marcus meet, and how did you get away and end up in the desert?”

I could tell he was only giving them limited information. I hoped that didn’t mean they would turn to me for the rest. Lance had the easy part.

“We were both kidnapped by the same person, although Marcus was a lot younger than me. We just met by having to go through the same things.

The main place is kind of located in the desert, so that no one would find it, and we managed to get away.”

She stared at him. And this would be the part where she was trying to decide if she believed him or not.

“Told you that you wouldn’t believe me,” he mumbled.

She snapped out of it. “Of course I believe you, honey. You just have to understand this is all a little crazy, and I wasn’t prepared for everything.

But I’m glad you’re being honest. Like I said, you need to trust me.”

William looked over and I ducked behind the wall, but I was sure he had already spotted me. “Marcus, there’s no need to eavesdrop. If you want to know what we’re saying, come down here and join us.”

I got really nervous. Were they mad? Would I get punished? I slowly came down, looking at the ground as I walked and then stood by the couch. “There’s no need to be worried,” Jolene said with a smile. “We won’t hurt you.”

I sat on the other end of the couch, preparing for her to ask me some questions next. I was right. “Marcus, Lance already told us about where you came from, but how did you end up with him? Lance said you had been there longer than him.”

I looked down. Leave it to Lance to put me in a tight spot. “I don’t know,” I replied.

They gave me a look. “Like I told Lance; I’m here to help you, and if you don’t trust me I can’t help you. I need to know the truth.”

“That was the truth,” I said bitterly. “I don’t know how I got there.

I’ve been there for as long as I can remember. I have no family and no last name. Jones was just something that was made up. I don’t even know if Marcus is real or if April is my birthday, because I can’t remember anything. The little bit of identity I have was given to me by that camp, and I don’t know what or who I was before that.”

They both stared at me. “A camp? I thought you were taken by a guy?

And, honey, I’m so sorry. But we’ll figure this out. No one is lost in this world.”

89

Escape “There were many boys there,” Lance mumbled. “It was like a summer and DT camp combined times ten.”

“Other boys were there?” William asked. He and Jolene ex-changed glances. Jolene sat back, still not writing anything on her clipboard, as William stared off into space.

“I don’t understand,” Jolene said. “Why were you boys there? What did they want from you and all the other boys? And how many other boys are we talking about? Were they all the same age? Was there a pattern?”

“We didn’t know,” Lance replied. “They never told us any-thing. They just bossed us around and told us to stay in line without any explanation to what would happen next. There were tons of boys there, but only some of them stayed around. They were very brutal and didn’t take human life as very significant. We were all different ages, and I don’t think there was a pattern, because we were all different with different histories.”

They both stared at the floor. I had a feeling of what they were thinking. They had to be thinking about their son. It would only make sense, and of course they would put two and two together. I hope she was telling the truth and she would help Lance and I, rather than just telling us what we wanted to hear so we would tell her where we came from. People had been horrible to me all my life. I had reason not to trust anyone, but I just had to trust these people. I wanted a real family more than anything, and I would tell these people anything they wanted to know if they could get me one.

90

6 I was sitting in Jolene’s and William’s front yard, watching all the leaves swirl around. I saw people laughing in the street. That was something that didn’t happen very often. I smiled and then lied down on the grass, enjoying the feeling of it between my toes. I wanted to stay like this forever. This certainly beat the camp.

I suddenly saw a man in the distance, and the closer he got the more nervous I became. I tried to run back to the house, but my feet wouldn’t work with me. He suddenly was in the front yard. I would recognize that face from anywhere. It was boss number seven.

I gulped and tried to run again, but my feet once again wouldn’t move. I tried to call out to Jolene, William, Melissa, or even Lance, but my voice wouldn’t work either.

I started to cry and the guy gave me an evil look. “Crying is never acceptable!” I heard him shout as he pulled out his whip. I could feel its bitter sting on my back as I cried some more. It hurt, but I was more scared than in pain at this point. “You were told you would never leave that camp,” he told me. “Why didn’t you listen? You will never leave. Don’t you understand that?”

I was still crying as the scene started to fade.

When I woke up I could feel a hand on my forehead, and I slowly opened my eyes to see Jolene. “Marcus, are you alright?” she asked in concern. “Did you have a bad dream? You look pretty shaken up and you’ve been crying.”

I continued to cry as she smiled and brushed some hair from my face.

“What was your dream about?” she asked as she came a little closer.

“They’re going to come back for me,” I said through tears.

She stared at me. “The men from that place? No, they’re not. You’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you, and they won’t take you again.”

I didn’t believe her and continued to cry. She picked me up and let me snuggle with her. She was so warm, and I was so tired. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. It felt good to cry and not have to worry about someone getting mad at me for it. I never thought it could happen.

I was woken up bright and early the next morning by Lance. “Wake up,” he told me. “We have to go to her work today so they can accuse us of lying and make promises that they might not keep.”

I slowly opened my eyes. Did last night really happen, or was it just a dream? I couldn’t let myself get too attached to anyone here. Like Lance had said; she was just doing her job and this was only temporary. If I got

Escape attached to anyone I would be in for a rude awakening when I had to leave. I was mad at myself for crying over a stupid bad dream. Jolene wasn’t my mother, and she never will be. The word mother was bitter to me, and I was mad at myself for even thinking it. It was a word I should just avoid.

“Come on,” he said impatiently. “The sooner we get this over with the better.”

William must have already been gone by the time I got downstairs, because I didn’t see any sign of him. Melissa seemed to be in a hurry as she grabbed a slice of toast.

“Are those auditions today?” Jolene asked her.

“Yes,” she replied. “’I’m so nervous.”

“You’ll do fine. Break a leg. I know you have the talent; you just need the confidence.”

I stared at her blankly, wondering what she was talking about and why she was nervous. I wondered if she was nervous because of something like our WP tests. Those always made me nervous, so I knew where she was coming from.

“I’m trying out for a play,” she explained when she saw the look on my face. “I’m not the best actor despite what my mother says, but my teacher told me he would get me extra credit just for trying out, and I could really use it.”

“And then you’ll surprise yourself when you get a part,” Jolene said with a smile.

“The lead has to kiss a boy, and I don’t think Ryan would like that.”

“It’s acting,” Lance said. “He’ll get over it.”

She laughed and then grabbed her backpack. That was one common object I could thankfully say I knew what it did. Of course we used backpacks all the time, and they were much better than having to carry everything.

I suddenly grew envious of Melissa. It sounded like she was going to school, and I would do anything to go with her. I watched her walk out the door and then a car started. She even had a car she could take so she didn’t have to walk. It just seemed so unfair.

Jolene seemed to be getting some things together as her phone rang.

She motioned for us to follow her and then answered it. “I’m on my way right now,” she told the person on the other end. “Did you ever figure out that case with that girl?”

“Well, I feel bad postponing it for this. We should stick to schedules and who came first.”

“Alright,” she sighed as we got in the car. Lance and I both got in the back seat, and we kind of just stared at each other, wondering what would happen next. I knew we would be separated, but the question was: when?

92

Chapter Six Would we at least get a goodbye? I tried not to think about it as she pulled out of the driveway.

“Can we talk when I actually get there?” she asked the person on the other end of the phone.

“Because you know how I feel about talking and driving.”

“Goodbye.” Then she hung up and focused on the road. This was only my third time being in something that moved like this, and my stomach wasn’t reacting very well to it. My head was spinning and I was trying to pretend like I wasn’t really moving.

“Are you alright, Marcus?” Jolene asked in concern.

“I’m fine,” I lied. I couldn’t show any weakness.

“Marcus doesn’t do well with cars,” Lance told her. “He’s not used to them.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. “Well, I suppose they didn’t have many cars where you came from. That’s perfectly fine. We’re almost there, so don’t worry about it.”

I was thankful she wasn’t mad that I was being a baby about it, but I still refused to let myself show any weakness. I was stronger than that, and I didn’t escape that terrible place, putting myself in complete danger, just to act like a wimp once I got to enjoy the easy life. There was no way that was happening, and I was already letting myself slip.

I decided to take my mind off my head and stomach, and this stupid car. “Are we ever going to get the chance to go to school?” I asked casually.

Lance didn’t seem to like this question, and it seemed to take her by surprise. “Of course you will eventually,” she replied. “Things are just a little crazy right now. Once I get everything figured out we can look into that, because I certainly wouldn’t want you guys to miss anymore school than you already have. At least for Lance. You might be a little bit more difficult.”

I looked down. Lance had warned me, but I was hoping he was wrong.

I would forever be different and lower than everyone else. It really sucked to think about.

We pulled up in front of a huge building. I couldn’t stop staring. I wondered how much hiking we would have to do to get to the top. I tried not to think about it as we got out and followed her inside.

I couldn’t stop looking around. This place was amazing! I saw people everywhere along with desks and other things. I was lagging behind and Lance had to keep looking back, motioning for me to speed up. I decided getting lost in this place wasn’t the best idea, so I sped up and followed her to a shiny wall. But I was in shock when the wall opened, and there was a hollow compartment with people inside. They all got out as she headed in. I was a bit nervous getting inside a wall, but I decided to trust 93

Escape this was just another one of those common things I had no idea what it did.

We went inside and I got nervous as the doors closed. Would we be trapped in here forever? She then pushed some buttons on the side and I started to freak out when I felt we were moving.

Lance started to laugh, and then he suddenly got a mischievous smile on his face. “We’re all going to die!” he shouted. “What’s wrong with this thing?”

Of course I started to panic, thinking something was wrong, and sat on the floor not knowing what to do. Jolene shook her head and gave Lance a look. “Have you ever seen an elevator before, Marcus? It will just take us to the next floor.”

“I’m just pulling your leg,” Lance said with a laugh. “It’s supposed to do this.”

I gave him a glare, mad at him for making me look like an idiot, and then got back up and stood against the wall. She sighed and then started to pull some papers out. I’m sure having to deal with an idiotic kid that didn’t know anything probably wasn’t what she was planning to do with her day… or week.

Luckily it stopped and the walls opened again. I quickly got out, thankful to be in one piece. Lance gave another laugh as a lady came up to us. “Why hello there,” she said with the same smile Jolene always used. So it was just part of the job description. “How are you boys today? We have a lot to do and so little time to do it. I would love to hear your story.”

Lance and I exchanged glances. It sounded like we would be telling this a lot, and we might not get off as easy as we did with Jolene.

“Won’t you boys sit down? Jolene has a lot of work to do outside of you guys I’m afraid, but I’m available.” Jolene shook her head and then nodded.

“I’ll see you later, boys. She’s right about me having a lot of work. Just tell her everything you told me.”

I watched her leave and got even more nervous. What would she ask?

I was finally starting to get comfortable around Jolene, and now she was suddenly leaving us with this stranger?

She gave us another smile, and I was suddenly angry. What was with all the smiling? Once you smiled at someone everything was suddenly alright? “How are you boys today?” she asked.

Neither one of us replied, rather just stared at her. She seemed to sense the awkwardness in the air and tried to calm it with another smile.

“I just want to ask you some questions. I underst-and you’ve probably been through a lot, but Jolene and I are here to help, and in order to do that we need answers. Everything will work itself out in the end.”

94

Chapter Six She sounded just like Jolene. That nagging voice in the back of my head and also Lance’s words seemed to come back to me. Was she just putting on a show?

“So, let’s get started. Jolene told me you guys told her about this camp that had many other boys in it along with you and you somehow managed to get away from it and now you’re here.” I could tell by the look on her face she was having a hard time believing it, and she was most likely questioning Jolene’s skills by the way she was looking at the paper. “I hope you boys know no one here will hurt you, and if you’re under threat in anyway we’re here to help and we won’t let them even come near you. I assume this has something to do with a kidnapping, being Lance has been missing for years, but there’s no need for you boys to make up insane stories. What did your kidnapper look like?”

We both gave her the death look, and she didn’t seem to appreciate it.

“Like I said, don’t be afraid to tell me.”

“Everything we told Jolene was true,” Lance mumbled. “We’ve been suffering for years at that place and finally two of us out of the hundreds that were there managed to get away, and now we’re being told we’re making up insane stories? Until you’ve gone through what we had to go through, don’t pretend like you know everything. We’re not making anything up, and this is a serious problem. I’ve been there for four years, and Marcus has been there even longer. I knew telling this to anyone was a bad idea, but I did anyway. I just want to see my family. Is that too much to ask?”

She gave him a look. “Listen, I’ve been at this business for many years, and I know a thing or two about children. They’re easily manipulated, and we have no proof you’re telling the truth. Relying solely on a young child’s testimony is a stupid idea. In time you’ll see your father, but not right now. We still have to piece things together, and for all we know he could have played a role in this.”

“My father had nothing to do with this. I ran away, and he couldn’t prevent anything nor did he know about anything that happened. He probably wasn’t even sure if I’ve been alive all these years. How could you pretend he had anything to do with it?”

She shook her head. “Let’s just get off of this. What did the kidnapper look like?”

“There was more than one, and they were all dressed in military uniform.”

She gave him another look, mumbled something under her breath, and then wrote something down on her clipboard. “Where have you been these past four years, Lance?”

“I told you; at a cruel camp that I managed to get away from.” She looked like she was done talking to him, so of course she turned to me.

95

Escape “Who are you and where did you come from? Do you have parents?

The more you tell us the more we can help you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know where I came from. I’ve been at that camp for as long as I can remember. No, I don’t have parents. I never have. I don’t even know what my last name is. That’s all I can tell you.

Lance and I escaped together and I had been there for much longer than him when we left.”

She shook her head again and then sighed. She wrote one last thing down on her clipboard and then got up, telling us to stay there. Of course we obeyed and she disappeared somewhere.

“You were right,” I told him. He gave me a confused look. “You were right about everything. Jolene seems to be putting on a show, although she’s more decent than she was, and that woman didn’t believe a word we just said. She thinks we’re just a bunch of children making up stories.”

Lance smiled, and then frowned again. “I just want everything to go back to the way it was before I went to that terrible camp. Most of the boys there didn’t have anyone, and that’s how they ended up in that camp.

I had someone, but I didn’t appreciate what I had enough. Now I’m just mad at myself and I want more than anything to see my dad again. My brother’s back with him. He had to have changed. At least with him I had a family and a life. I would give anything to get that back. And if that means kissing up to these horrible social workers, then so be it.”

I looked down. I was beginning to get jealous of Lance. He had everything I could only dream of having. He not only had memories and a past life, but he also had a family and even a brother. I would give anything just to have one of those things. “What about me? What reason do I have to suck up to these people? What if they just stick me in some foster home and pretend everything’s okay? I’m sure anything would be better than the camp, but that doesn’t mean I would want to settle for a family that doesn’t really care about me.”

“Marcus, you’ll get your family someday. It might take a few foster families for someone to finally accept you, but it will happen eventually.

You’re a very nice kid that finds the best in anyone. Heck, I wish I could do that. I’m just the rude one that no one would want unless they were actually related to me, and even then I have my doubts.”

I nodded and smiled. Lance was really nice when he wanted to be. I knew every boy at that camp pretended to be tough because they had that drilled into their head, but most of them were a completely different person deep down. Even the boys that would steal my food had a good side to them, and people stood up for me all the time and told someone not to pick on someone smaller than them. They would never say this when the bosses were around for fear of getting beat because that was showing weakness, but even the hardest of people had a soft spot. I had 96

Chapter Six certainly learned that growing up at the camp. The older boys had practically taken me in since I was so young when I went there, and for that I could never thank them enough. I may have not gotten a real childhood or a family for that matter, but I had something. It made me sad to think they were still at the camp and probably getting the wrath of the guards since we had escaped. But maybe now that they knew someone had actually escaped they might get more hope than they had before. I could only hope.

We stayed in that room for the next couple hours just staring at the ceiling and talking amongst each other. Lance kept mumbling about stupid social workers and how they obviously didn’t care since they weren’t here and then started to talk about his father.

“Did he ever actually talk to you, or did he write you off completely as his son?” I asked.

Lance looked down. “It wasn’t like he told me he didn’t care about me. He never once said that. He just put me in the care of that nanny and then never really talked to me. Sometimes we would see each other around the house, but he never even made eye contact with me. My brother and I talked, though. He’s the one who told me my mom had died in childbirth and my dad was bitter about it. I always got what I needed. I always had food, and if I ever wanted anything all I would have to do was ask. But I was miserable because I felt unwanted. My nanny told me my dad cared about me but he was busy, but I never believed her.

As I got older she realized that wouldn’t work anymore and she resorted to telling me my dad loved me but he had a hard time showing it. She told me if he didn’t love me he wouldn’t make sure I was taken care of, and he certainly wouldn’t have kept me. I wasn’t sure if I believed that either. My brother told me the same thing. He said my dad loved me but because of his issues he wouldn’t show it, but the fact I was always taken care of proven that.

“Once my brother left, things got even worse than they were before.

My dad was even more bitter, and as a result he made me stay up in my room all the time. By then I was a bit older, and my nanny didn’t come as often. It really sucked, because at that point he was practically buying my love. I could have anything I wanted with a snap of my fingers, but I was so miserable. I wouldn’t care if we lived in a dump just as long as I actually had someone that cared about me. I started to get bullied at school because I was kind of shy and everyone knew I didn’t have the best home life.”

I stared at him. Lance, shy? I wasn’t seeing it. But then again, people changed when they came into the camp.

“I finally just couldn’t take it anymore, and one day I just left. I went around the city for a little while until I was picked up by a guard. He 97

Escape promised me he would help me and things would get better. But of course he lied, just like he had to all the other boys in that camp. I was never really good when I was alone. People called the cops more than once either because they thought I was going to steal their stuff or they were concerned a boy was running around the street. More toward the end of the week people started to follow me everywhere and I constantly had to run. I assumed it was because word had gotten out that I was missing, and my dad wasn’t heartless enough to not tell anyone about it. I know, I’m just some idiot that always puts on a show. You can say it.”

I smiled. “Lance, we all put on a show sometimes. I know what it’s like to think life sucks and people will only accept you if you’re someone you’re not, but what does that accomplish? Now that your older brother’s back you won’t be alone, even if your father doesn’t come through. And you never know. People change. Maybe after you ran away and he didn’t see you for four years he finally realized how much he cared about you and he’ll be happy for you to be back in his life.”

“He has my older brother now and he doesn’t have to worry about me. What reason would he have to want me back in his life?”

“I’m sure he will. Don’t assume.”

We both kind of stared at the floor and then Lance stood up. “Well, I for one am not going to sit here while they talk about who knows what. I want to know what’s going on, and it’s mean of them to leave us here, sitting in the dark.”

I nodded. “And what do you plan to do about it?”

“I’m going to go see what’s going on.”

I had a feeling this had bad idea written all over it, but I decided to follow him regardless. What was the worst thing they could do if they caught us out of this room? It was clear the other girl hated us, but I highly doubted Jolene even had a mean word in her vocabulary.

We came out of the room and saw many people walking around. We kind of just blended in with the crowd. We saw that same lady that had talked to us heading in the opposite direction, and so we both decided to follow her. She led us down a deserted hallway and then at the end of it there was a room. She went inside as we held back, hoping she didn’t see us. Once we were sure she wasn’t going to come back out I headed over there. Opening the door would be a bad idea, and I had never tried eavesdropping through a door before. But I figured it wouldn’t be that hard and I pressed my ear against it, hoping no one would come out at the wrong time.

“What are they saying?” Lance asked. I could see the excitement on his face. It was more likely they were talking about him then me, so he had more reason to be excited.

98

Chapter Six “The lady is telling someone that they’re obviously making it up and they have us under threat. She says she knows it was them who did it and they should just confess now and take a plea bargain.”

“Who is she talking to?”

“I don’t know. Wait, a guy’s talking.” Lance got bright eyes, and I’m sure he was wondering the same thing I was. I started to just tell him word-for-word, because the paraphrasing was getting stupid. “The guy says, ‘I love my son very much and I would never do anything to hurt him. You people have no proof I did anything, so stop bringing up past things that have already been settled. I just want my life to be peaceful again, and you people are taking my miracle I waited years for away from me.’”

Lance suddenly came right beside me and put his ear to the door. “It’s my dad,” he said as he moved in closer. I continued to listen, although there was no need for me to say things to him.

I heard Jolene start talking. “We would never take Lance away from you. We just need to figure some things out before we let you take him.

You can’t blame us for being concerned. I’m very happy for you and I’m sure you’re very excited to see your son again after four years, but we’re still a little worried about fowl play here.”

“Those boys made up the wildest story ever,” the lady told him. “You can’t honestly expect us to believe something like that.”

“For the last time, I had nothing to do with this. I don’t even know what they said or what made it wild. If they’re under threat, it has nothing to do with me. Lance ran away and I never saw him again. That’s the extent of what I know, and I have no idea where he’s been all these years.

I never thought I’d see him again, but now he’s back and you people are keeping him from me because you’re convinced I would try and hurt my own son. I haven’t seen him in four years, and in those four years I didn’t even know if he was alive or not. Are you people honestly that heartless?”

“I understand,” Jolene said.

“No, you don’t,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Well, thank you for your time, but we have many other things to do today,” the lady said.

“Oh, no you don’t,” his father practically shouted. “Where is my son?

You can’t play this game. If you want a DNA test I can get you one. I’m not going to stand here while some social workers tell me what they plan to do with my son. I already lost one son for three years, and then I lost another one for four. I don’t want to lose him even longer. I will put up a fight if you people try to take him away from me again.”

“We’re not going to take him away from you,” Jolene said calmly. “I know I don’t have any plans to, and since I’m the one who found the boys, I get a lot of the say. Don’t worry about it. We just need to figure 99

Escape some things out, and in the meantime your son will be safe with me. He’s been staying with me for the week, and I can assure you he’s perfectly fine. Neither me nor my husband would let anything happen to him.”

He didn’t seem to like that answer, because I heard him mumble more things under his breath. Lance and I knew they would be coming out soon, so we both booked it down the hallway and back into the maze of people.

“Told you your dad cared about you,” I told him.

He smiled and then frowned again. “But these people are being difficult about it. They honestly think he had something to do with this?

And of course they won’t believe our story. They would rather just blame innocent people and split apart families.”

I shook my head. I wished he wasn’t right.

He suddenly smiled. “He said me coming back was his miracle. It means a lot. Maybe he has changed. I wonder if he’ll eventually just go back to the way he was before, though.”

“I’m sure he won’t. From the sound of it he obviously wanted things to change from when you ran away. And I can tell you guys are related.

You act a lot like.”

He smiled. “And you just figured that out from a room conversation?”

“Yep,” I replied with a smile.

We both headed back to that room and heard them coming. We both pretended like we were bored out of our minds and we didn’t just hear everything that had happened. “Hello, boys,” Jolene said with a smile.

“Would you guys like some lunch?”

Actually, eating was the last thing on my mind right now. But I had a feeling she wasn’t really going to give us a choice, so we both nodded and then followed her out of the room. At least we finally got permission to get out of this small room.

I could tell Lance was looking for his father as we walked through the halls. Maybe he was hoping he would catch him on his way out. I couldn’t help but think even though is life wasn’t perfect he had it made, because now he could no longer say he had a father that didn’t care about him. I didn’t even know who I was, let alone know someone in this world that cared about me.

We were in the car again, and then we came into another building. I was trying not to look around too much, but everything was fascinating to me. There were tables and people everywhere, much like the lunchroom back at camp. But this was so much cleaner, and I had a feeling the food was better. I thought Lance had said we were in a completely different world than at camp. If that was true, why did they have a lunchroom?

I wasn’t stupid enough to ask him or anyone else this, but I couldn’t help but stare at all the lights coming from the front of the place. Within 100

Chapter Six them were pictures of all sorts of food, mostly sandwiches, and even some drinks. Why did they need to show pictures?

“Do you two want a kid’s meal, or have you grown out of those?”

“I don’t want a kid’s meal,” Lance stated. “I want a chicken sandwich.

Kid’s meals aren’t enough for me.”

She smiled at him and then turned to me. Since when did you get to decide on what you ate? I decided to play it smart and just nodded my head. I didn’t know what a kid’s meal was, but I figured it would be good enough.

She told the lady what we wanted and then handed her some money. I suddenly wondered how much she had been spending on us since we were here. Melissa had said they had a lot of money, but why waste it on us?

Jolene and the other lady talked to each other while Lance and I kind of just stared at each other. We were afraid to talk to each other because something we overheard might slip, and with them right next to us we couldn’t take the chance. They weren’t really talking about anything interesting now that they knew we were right there, but I still had my habit of listening regardless.

“William’s a busy man,” Jolene sighed. “Sometimes I feel he doesn’t want to be home or he uses work to get away from his problems in life.

He claims he doesn’t, but I can’t think of another reason he never wants to be home. I understand he’s a CEO and working long hours was in the job description, but he doesn’t come home until midnight most nights. I think there’s something wrong there. We finally had a family dinner for the first time in forever yesterday, but I think he was just home to get me to calm down because I blew up on him the other night.”

“You shouldn’t let it bother you too much. I understand family time is family time and of course you want your husband home, but your daughter is already sixteen. She’s not exactly a child anymore, so you can work long hours without feeling guilty.”

“Melissa very much needs her father. She was always daddy’s little girl, and then he started working these insane hours and now it’s like pulling teeth to get them to even talk to each other. And she’s majorly been acting up lately. I got a call from the school last week, and apparently she got a detention. I haven’t even mentioned it to William, because every time I talk to him about her he barely listens and then tells me he has something to do. It’s only when he sees something himself that he actually takes action as her father, but he’s never home to see anything. She’s been spending all her time with Ryan lately, and then she complains about spending time with me. She came home on a motorcycle earlier this week that Ryan had bought, and I wasn’t happy about it one bit. Luckily, after 101

Escape the reaction I made he started to use his car again, but I can’t believe she would even consider riding with him on one of those things.”

The lady laughed. “Motorcycles are scary things for a mother. And perhaps you’re right, but teenagers will want to have their own lives, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do to stop it. I have a teenager of my own and most days she drives me crazy, but I realize I need to give her space.”

Jolene shook her head, clearly not satisfied with that answer, and then she continued to eat her salad.

I kind of just stared off into space. Melissa didn’t strike me as the type of person to get in trouble. But then again, I got in trouble all the time back at camp, and I was considered one of the better ones when it came to not doing anything wrong in the bosses’ eyes. I desperately wanted to know what a motorcycle was and why it was so bad, though. And I wondered why anyone wouldn’t want to spend time with their parents. I would give anything to have parents, so why did she take hers for granted?

Lance was staring at the playground behind us. I didn’t think much of it. It reminded me of some of the stuff we used to do at camp, except it was so much friendlier looking. But there would be no way I would go in it. How could kids find something like that fun?

Once we were done eating Jolene took us back to the office and once again told us to stay somewhere while she went to go do something. It was pretty boring, and we thought it wise not to wander again. It would be pointless anyway. We knew his father already left, and my parents were completely out of the question.

Lance and I played I Spy for a while, a game we used to play at the camp to pass the time away, and then Jolene finally came back later that night. She was doing her usual smiling thing and told us we were going now. Lance and I couldn’t have been more grateful as we followed her home.

William hadn’t come home yet, and Melissa, Lance, and I all had dinner together. Jolene was off doing something, and this seemed to bother Melissa.

Today’s dinner was some kind of meat, and I was completely in love with it. I ate it really fast and Melissa was in shock when I even asked for seconds.

“Do you like chicken?” she asked me. I had no idea what that was, but I found myself smiling and nodding. If this was chicken, then it was the most amazing stuff in the world.

“My mom likes chicken too,” she said with a smile. “Every time we go anywhere she always gets something with chicken. My dad thought it was okay before he married her, and now he hates it because we have it all the 102

Chapter Six time. It’s kind of funny. I think it’s okay as well, but if you say the word okay about chicken around mom she’ll go on a rant about how it’s much more than just okay.”

I smiled. If she liked chicken, she certainly had great taste.

The doorbell rang and Melissa went to go answer it while I snuck a couple more pieces of chicken and Lance shook his head at me. I looked over and saw Ryan, standing there with some flowers in his hands.

“Oh, are those for me?” Melissa asked.

“Actually, I was thinking about giving these to your mother,” he said with a sarcastic smile. “I’m sure she would appreciate them more.”

“You are not funny,” she said as she playfully pushed him. He handed her the flowers and she gave him a smile. “Did you come all the way here just to give me flowers?” she asked, feeling really special.

He laughed. “No. I actually came to start Marcus with his reading. I always keep true to what I say.”

She smiled and then ushered him in. He came inside and then came into the kitchen, smiling at me. “Are you done eating, Marcus? The pro is going to show you the basics of reading. Maybe writing eventually, but for now we’ll just stick with reading.”

I nodded eagerly, snuck one last piece of chicken in my mouth, and then stood up. Melissa handed him some paper and then he sat down as I sat down with him. I was so excited. Melissa could tell, and she just gave me a weird look. “I’ve never met a kid who enjoys learning,” she said as she went into the living room. She didn’t understand because she had been to school all her life. But at least now I was getting something.

Ryan was actually a pretty good teacher, and he was very patient. What he said was making more sense than what Lance was saying. The only downside was he kept getting distracted by Melissa the entire time, and I could tell he wasn’t completely into it, since he was technically just doing it to impress her dad.

An hour into their lesson I heard the door open and I turned around to see William walk in. He gave Ryan a look and Ryan gave him a smile back, motioning toward the paper. William didn’t seem impressed as he stared at the empty plate on the table.

“Jolene!” he called upstairs. “Did you make dinner?”

Jolene came down and stared at the empty plate in surprise. “Well, of course I made dinner. I made chicken. I made plenty, so where did it all go?” I tried not to look guilty, but I was feeling very guilty right now.

Stupid, delicious chicken.

“I think Marcus likes chicken just as much as you do,” Melissa said with a smile.

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Escape She stared at me, and now I was completely embarrassed. But her next reaction wasn’t what I was expecting. “That’s great, Marcus. At this rate you’ll gain some weight in no time at all.”

“You made chicken?” William asked. “What a shame I didn’t get any.”

I could tell by his tone he was lying.

She smiled at him. “That’s your fault for coming home so late. You can make your own food.”

“Fine,” he said as he pretended like it bothered him. She went back upstairs and he went toward the fridge with a smile on his face. Melissa shook her head.

Ryan suddenly started to raise his voice and overdo some things to impress her dad. It was getting rather annoying. He was supposed to be helping me.

William made some sort of food that came in a box and warmed it up in another box. I was quite confused, but once again I didn’t ask any questions and tried to focus on Ryan, as annoying as he was being currently. “An H makes the huu sound, kind of like ha,” he said. I nodded. We had been through this already. I wasn’t that stupid.

Ryan finally left around nine, and I couldn’t have been more thankful.

Wasn’t there someone else that could help me but him? At least when William was home. He was fine before then.

I kind of just sat on the table. Lance went upstairs and Melissa was in the living room after saying goodbye to Ryan. William looked up and gave me a smile. In all honesty I wasn’t sure if he knew how to smile. But after Jolene’s fake smiles I wasn’t sure if I believed it. At least Melissa’s seemed real.

“So, were there a lot of other kids around your age there?” William asked me.

I was so done with these questions, but I decided to humor him. “A few, but not a lot,” I mumbled.

He nodded, clearly wanting to hear more. I was jealous of their son already. At least he had someone who cared about him, even if he did turn out to be in that camp. The little voice in the back of my head that I had been ignoring was still there, but I refused to believe it. It seemed I would be forever alone in this world.

He began to study me, and I started to get a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why or what he was thinking, but I really wanted to know.

Luckily, Melissa came in and saved me. “I think you should give Ryan a chance,” Melissa told her dad.

“I gave him a chance already,” William said with that look in his eyes.

“You can do so much better. You’re only in high school so you think you know what you want, but you don’t.”

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Chapter Six Melissa shook her head. “Even if it is just puppy love, it’s not going to end anytime soon, so you should just learn to accept him. He really is trying. He brought me flowers today.”

William shook his head. “I can count on one hand how many high school marriages I’ve heard of that have lasted for more than ten years.

You don’t even know yourself yet, so what makes you think you’ll know him?”

“Who says I’m getting married?” Melissa said in outrage. “I have no plans to get married to anyone anytime soon. Ryan and I are just dating.

Neither one of us even plan to think about that until many years down the road, and if we’re still together by then and thinking of marriage we would certainly know both ourselves and each other.”

“If you want to be with him I would imagine marriage is at least on your mind,” William said as he took a class of water.

She gave him a look as she stomped upstairs. I had no idea why she took that so offensively, but maybe there was something I was missing here. It really bothered me how much I didn’t know.

I got up as I saw him staring at me again. He looked down at his food when I noticed, and I just headed upstairs. I really needed to get some sleep. Sadly, it was Lance’s turn for the bed tonight, so I didn’t know how much sleep I would actually get. I just wondered where I would go from here and how soon it would happen. In all honesty I would miss Melissa.

She was a sweet girl, and since this was the first family I had meant in my life, they would always mean something to me. But I knew I didn’t mean anything to them, so what was the point? This was just her job. Maybe she did like making people happy, but I didn’t understand how taking away Lance’s brother and then making Lance stay here because they were convinced something was going on was making anyone happy.

Two days passed, and Jolene hired a babysitter for me and Lance while she was doing stuff at work. The lady was nice enough, but she didn’t really seem to connect with us very well. I didn’t think I really needed a babysitter. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

Later that night I was sitting up in our temporary room after dinner and Lance came in with this big grin on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“I just got back from overhearing a conversation between Jolene and William. My dad’s putting up a fight and making their life really difficult.

She said he had hired a lawyer and had a court date, and she’s been on phones all day trying to find a good lawyer to represent the state. I tell you, it will be no time at all before I’m back with my dad. Jolene can’t possibly win this, and then I’ll finally get out of here.”

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Escape I wasn’t sure what a court or a lawyer was, but I smiled in reply. It sounded good, since he would be seeing his dad again. But then it also sounded like Jolene didn’t like it. “She won’t get in trouble will she?” I asked.

“No,” Lance replied. “I’ll either stay here or go with my dad. She won’t get in trouble for anything. It’s no one’s fault, really.”

I nodded. If Lance did go back with his father, what would happen with me? It seemed they were making all this progress on Lance’s situation, but none on mine. I understand I didn’t have parents, but I wanted something permanent. This wouldn’t be permanent and they most likely wouldn’t even remember me.

The next week seemed endless. The case with Lance was on everyone’s minds, William was saying something about a huge company thing going on, and Melissa apparently had lots of play practice. I sat with that stupid babysitter for hours on end while Lance got to go with Jolene to all this stuff. He always came back with this grin on his face, telling me they were losing.

“They wanted me to testify against my father in the court case,” Lance said disdainfully. “I know I said I didn’t want to go back to live with my father, but that doesn’t mean I would say anything bad about him, and I certainly wouldn’t lie. They have their facts wrong, and they don’t believe me when I say I was at a camp. Jolene does, but I think the more she talks to the other women the more she doesn’t believe them. She keeps telling them they need to look into it before they accuse me of lying. I know she’s only saying that because she’s hoping to find her son, but it’s nice to know someone believes me.”

“You’re so lucky to have a father that would fight for you,” I sighed.

“Hey, don’t be that way. You and I both know someday you’ll get a family. Not all foster families are bad. Maybe one will actually want to adopt you and then you will have a family, even if it’s not biological.”

I shook my head. He was being way too optimistic.

The next morning Lance was once again taken to the office while I was stuck at the house with Melissa. It was a Saturday and she looked like she was getting sick of playing babysitter whenever she was off of school and her mother had to go into work.

“You’re smart, right, Marcus?” she asked me.

I nodded. I thought I was pretty smart. The fact that I was illiterate had nothing to do with it. I figured I would be one of the smarter ones if I only had the opportunity to learn like everyone else did.

“Good,” she said with a smile. “Here’s the thing; Ryan wanted to take me on a date today, but then my mother told me I had to babysit. My mother isn’t very nice about allowing me to get out of it, especially if 106

Chapter Six Ryan’s involved. She doesn’t hate him as much as my dad hates him, but she has her issues. So I was wondering if I could go with him and you stay here by yourself. I’ll be back before mom gets home, and you can have the entire day to do what you want. Just don’t tell my mother about this and everything will be fine.”

I looked at her nervously. I didn’t like lying. But staying here all day by myself actually sounded pretty nice. And I knew there were plenty of things I didn’t tell the bosses in order to prevent getting in trouble, so why was this any different? I found myself slowly nodding, and she smiled.

“Great. I’ll be back in no time at all. Just don’t trash the house or make it look like I wasn’t watching you. And whatever you do, don’t leave the house. The last thing I need is for you to get kidnapped or something.”

We both looked down unexpectedly, as if remembering a painful memory.

I kind of knew why she had, but I had no idea why I had. Maybe because most of the boys at the camp were practically kidnapped?

“I’ll see you,” she said with a smile as she walked out the door.

I kind of stared around the empty house. In all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever been alone anywhere. The thought was scary, yet exciting at the same time. I started to go through the house, looking at everything. It was a pretty big house with a lot of stuff in it, but nothing really interested me.

There were three floors. The first one was the basement, and there was nothing in there but a bunch of boxes I didn’t feel right going through.

The second was the main floor with the three bedrooms: the parents, Melissa’s, and the guest room that Lance and I were currently using. And the third floor had a couple more rooms that made me wonder why Lance and I had to share a bed. Upon looking in them I discovered an office, which I assumed was used by both Jolene and William; a sewing room, which I assumed was just used by Jolene; another bathroom that looked like it was never used; and a game room with not only board games, but also handheld games and other stuff I had no clue how to use.

I came back down to the main floor and sat on the couch. I looked on the bookshelf and suddenly saw a scrapbook. Alright, call it nosy all you wish, but I didn’t do all that eavesdropping just to stop here.

I pulled the scrapbook down and opened it. On the first page was a family picture of them all smiling in front of a building. Melissa looked younger, but not by much, and she certainly looked happy. I had to turn the page because I couldn’t handle it. Why couldn’t I have Melissa’s life?

The next pictures were all of Jolene’s and William’s wedding. They were both smiling and I saw lots of people in the pictures. Of course I had seen a picture before, but there were certainly a lot of them in here. I wish someone had a picture of me from when I was little. As it was true the camp had a picture of me every year since I was four, I had a feeling they burned them by now. They kept pictures for record purposes. I 107

Escape wasn’t sure what they did with them, but they seemed intent on taking our picture around the same time every year. Jolene looked so much younger in her wedding pictures, and she was smiling brighter than I had ever seen her before. Now I knew her smiles to us were just fake. This was a real smile. I didn’t understand the concept behind a girl and a boy being together. But I was a very deprived child that came from a camp of all boys, so maybe one day I would understand the concept and I too would like a girl.

The next set of pictures were of Melissa. I saw one of her when she was just born, another where he parents were holding her with smiles on their faces, one when she was a toddler playing with bubbles on the lawn, one when she was a kid with something metal on her teeth, and a bunch from when she was older. I saw one with her in a big dress and her hair all done, one with her standing in front of something and pointing, and one with her singing in front of a stage. It amazed me how many pictures they had of her. But one picture caught my eye. It was one of her when she couldn’t have been older than six, and she was holding a baby in her arms.

She was smiling like this was the best moment of her life and she was showing the baby off. I wondered if it was the same baby I saw on their family wall.

The next set of pictures proved my point. They were all of a baby boy.

Sadly, they didn’t have a ton, and none of them were past a certain age. I thought about the kidnapping and couldn’t help but feel bad for them. I knew what it was like not to have a family, and somewhere out there there was a boy that most likely didn’t think his family cared about him, but they actually did very much. That was assuming he was alive that is.

I was taken to reality when I heard a noise. It sounded like someone was trying to open the door but they didn’t have a key. I freaked out, knowing no one was supposed to be home, and went into the kitchen to get away from the sound. But the noise continued, and suddenly I heard something being snapped opened. I took a quick peek from the kitchen and almost started to scream when I saw a man with a knife trying to get through the window. I suddenly wished Melissa was here. She would know what to do.

Not knowing what to do myself, I found myself running to the opposite end of the kitchen and crawling up into a ball. What else was I supposed to do? I could hear the man still trying to get through the window, and I figured eventually he would succeed. I was right, because in only a few minutes I heard his footsteps enter the kitchen, and it didn’t take him long to spot me.

Something inside me shouted, “Run, stupid!” but my legs wouldn’t work. He cocked his gun and didn’t hesitate to fire it. Luckily, it missed, and the only thing it did was scare me into finally running.

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Chapter Six Not knowing what to do or where to go, I began to run around the house. I could hear the guy still shooting, and the only thing saving me was the fact I knew how to run after all those years of being forced to do it. Running was the number one thing we did at camp by far.

I went upstairs into the game room and locked the door. I knew a locked door wouldn’t keep out a gun, but it would buy me some time. I attempted to open the window, but then I realized it wouldn’t budge. I tried with all my might, but it was no use. I was a lot stronger than some of the boys at camp, and I was positive I was stronger than any normal boy, but not even that was enough to open it. It was really stuck.

I realized I had trapped myself and got down on my knees and started to cry. What was I supposed to do now? I was going to die, and I had no one to blame but myself. Having to go back to camp would certainly be better than death. It had to be. My life was the only thing I had in my pathetic existence.

It didn’t take the guy long to unlock the door, and then I panicked as I saw the knob turning. I started to bawl even harder as the door opened. I didn’t look up, rather just sat there and awaited the blow. But it never came. I finally looked up and saw Jolene, looking very concerned.

“Marcus, are you alright? I saw the window open with a foot-print, and when I came in I could hear a lot of noise upstairs.”

“I told you they’d come back to get me,” I told her through tears.

So, on the bright side, I wasn’t dead. I was very much alive and very thankful Jolene came home when she did. On the downside, I now knew I really was being chased and I didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t know what anyone could do about it for that matter. They were all kind of freaking out about it.

“Do you have any idea what could have happened?” Jolene shouted at Melissa as I sat in the living room with Lance, who looked like he had just seen a ghost ever since I told him.

“Mom, there was a guy with a gun trying to break it,” Melissa said.

“He would have killed me if I was home. What could I have done about it? Babysitting doesn’t include dodging a guy with a gun.”

“Hang on, Rita,” Jolene said to the lady on the other end of phone she had in her hand. “You still should have been here. Leaving a nine year old at home alone is bad all in itself, and now there’s suddenly a guy with a gun in the picture.”

“I’m a defenseless girl. What could I have done? I probably would have been in the corner of the room crying just like Marcus was.”

“Okay, forget about the gun for a minute. You went behind my back and left anyway, leaving him home alone. Even if a gun wouldn’t have been involved, something could have happened.”

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Escape “He’s a mature nine-year-old. I told you I didn’t want to babysit.”

She shook her head and then got back on the phone. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“How am I supposed to know what he looks like? Marcus was the one that saw him. I only saw the footprint and heard the commotion upstairs.”

“If I hadn’t gotten here when I did something really bad would have happened. I’m so thankful I forgot that paperwork.”

“Marcus is fine; a little shaken up, but fine.”

“Of course this has something to do with the people they were with before. Now that we know someone is looking for them we have to be extra careful. This is very scary. I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“I’m more afraid for the boys than for my family. They’ll probably only shoot us if we get in the way. But if the guy had a gun and was blind shooting around the entire house trying to hit Marcus, he most likely was aiming to kill him, so I can only imagine what his plans are, and I’m so afraid for the boys.”

“No, I want them to stay with me. I can protect them a lot better than some professionals who think they can protect them.”

“Really, it’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, tomorrow. I have a ton to do tonight and we won’t figure anything else out until then. Besides, Marcus isn’t ready for questioning right now. A guy was shooting at him. Give him some time.”

“Goodbye, Rita,” she said as she rolled her eyes and hung up.

She gave Melissa another look as the front door opened. I saw William walking in, looking like he was in a hurry to get home.

“Are you alright?” he asked her as he rushed into the kitchen.

“I’m fine, William,” she said. “The guy ran when I came home. I don’t think he was looking to shoot me, otherwise he would have tried.”

“We’re in way over our heads here. I understand you want to help these boys, but don’t they have somewhere they can go where they can be protected? I don’t want my house and my family their target.”

“I want them to stay here,” she stated. “It shouldn’t be for much longer, and I would feel better if they were with me rather than with someone else who could end up turning their back on them, costing them their lives. We won’t be the target. We just have to be careful and be on our toes.” She turned to Melissa. “And by the way, the least you could have done was turned on the burglar alarm before you left.”

“I wasn’t thinking about it,” Melissa mumbled. “Turning the burglar alarm on in the middle of the day isn’t something I frequently do.”

Jolene shook her head and then sighed. She leaned against William’s chest, looking really stressed. William wrapped his arms around her and 110

Chapter Six tried to calm her down. Melissa slowly made her way into the living room, looking rather guilty. She gave me a sad look and then headed upstairs.

It was comforting to know Jolene didn’t want us to leave. Perhaps her smiles weren’t fake after all. She just had a man break into her house because of us, yet she turned her husband down when he suggested for us to go somewhere else. That had to mean something. I could tell Lance was thinking the same thing, because we exchanged glances as he gave a sigh.

“Don’t be afraid, boys,” Jolene said as she pulled herself together and came into the living room, William right behind her. “Everything will be alright.”

“Do you believe us now?” Lance asked.

“Well, I’ve always believed you, but perhaps this will be enough for the others to believe you as well. We have a lot of work to do to figure this out, but we will. In the meantime we need to figure out where you two belong. I’m afraid staying here is only temporary. You have a meeting with your father tomorrow afternoon,” she said as she looked at Lance.

Lance’s eyes seemed to light up, and he smiled. I smile at the thought of him being happy. “As for you, Marcus, we haven’t figured anything out yet. But in time we will. You will both end up happy and where you belong.”

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7 I desperately wanted to be there when Lance met his father, but it didn’t look like that would be happening. Lance looked like he had gotten an early birthday present and seemed super happy all day. I was still jealous, but I didn’t say anything. Luckily, I didn’t have to stay here alone this time, because Jolene told me I would be staying here with Melissa and William. She assured me William was a tough guy and wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

I knew I would feel awkward with just the two of them, but I didn’t see a way out of it. William didn’t seem as nice as Jolene, and I’m sure Melissa was sick of me after the incident yesterday. I sat on the couch and stared at the box they called a TV. I didn’t find much interest in it. Why would they be interested in a life other than their own? It seemed foolish to me. Although I had asked Lance and he had told me the people weren’t real, rather just actors that were there to give whoever was watching it entertainment, and that had taken me by surprise. Now I was even more confused. Not only were they watching something that wasn’t their life, but it wasn’t anyone’s life at all. What was the point? When I told this to Lance he just told me I thought too much. He didn’t realize he was actually giving me a compliment. Thinking was certainly good.

Lance came down with a big grin on his face, wearing the clothes Jolene had bought him. He had nicely combed his hair and he looked very clean. I had to smile when I saw him, because he certainly looked different from who I had always known. Sure, we had showers back at camp, but we all looked the same both clothes and hair wise, and by the end of the day no one was really clean after all that sand, even if we did shower. It was hard to picture myself looking the way he looked, but I suppose I had had major improvement since I had been here.

“We’ll see you guys,” Jolene said with a smile as she prepared to leave.

“Good luck,” William said with a smile. “I hope everything works out in the end.”

She nodded and then waved as she walked out the door. Through the blinds I stared at their car driving off, wishing more than anything they could take me with them. They both stared at me, and I thought it best to stay out of their way, so I went upstairs. After this was all over I guess I had something to look forward to. I was really curious to know what would happen with Lance, and I knew he would tell me when he got home.

Chapter Seven I lied down for a while, not really tired, and then stared at the ceiling. I suddenly saw a book lying on the edge of the bed, and I picked it up.

There was a picture of a little boy on the front being held by a lady, and they both looked really happy. It made me depressed to think about. I opened it and got frustrated when I saw it was all just words; thousands and thousands of words I couldn’t understand, even though I desperately wanted to.

I chucked the book across the room. Why was it that some people got everything in life while others had virtually nothing? It just didn’t seem fair. I suppose I should have felt grateful to get out of that awful place and come here, no matter if they cared about me or not, but I still felt out of place, and I would give anything to have what normal people had. I would give anything to have a past, even if it did turn out my parents sold me for money. At least I would know something!

I stared at the floor for a while longer and then finally decided to see what Melissa and William were up to. Being alone all the time wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I suppose I only said that because I was always used to being around someone. Being alone wasn’t something the guards encouraged, because they thought you were plotting something. And there were so many boys in a small space it’s not like you had much option to be alone anyway.

I came downstairs and saw them watching TV. “This girl is going to win,” Melissa told William. “You can see it in her eyes. She has that look of desire, like nothing can stop her from doing what she wants to do.”

William shook his head. “But that guy has the strength, and he’s amazing good at everything he tries.”

“Desire is twice as important as strength.”

“Whatever you say,” William told her.

They suddenly turned and saw me. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide this time. “Hello, Marcus,” Melissa said nicely. “You should come and watch TV with us.”

“And watch me prove Melissa wrong,” William said with a smirk.

“Other way around, actually,” she said with a smirk right back.

“What’s the point if it’s not even real?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be worried about your own life?”

William gave me a weird look. “Well, of course the people are real.

That’s the point of reality TV.” Now I was even more confused. Didn’t Lance say they weren’t real?

“But Lance told me they weren’t real.”

Melissa started to laugh, and William was still staring me down, probably wondering if I could honestly be that stupid. “Normal shows have real people but not real stories,” she explained, “while reality TV, such as what we’re watching here, have both real people and real stories.

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Escape But it’s more of a game show type thing, rather than a story about their lives or something.”

I was very thankful Melissa was patient. I had a feeling William didn’t quite fall into that category. “Now come and sit,” she said as she motioned toward the empty cushion. I felt a bit awkward, but I did so anyway and started to watch this, “reality TV,” with them.

It didn’t take me long to get into it. It was kind of interesting. People were competing against each other for who was stronger and could do the most work. I didn’t understand their reasoning behind it, because I hated doing work, and I didn’t see why you would want to do it for fun. But I watched anyway, thinking about everything they were doing wrong.

“She’s so going to win,” Melissa said to her father.

“No, he’s going to win,” William told her. “Do you want to bet on it?”

“Yeah,” she said enthusiastically. “Twenty bucks?”

“Do you even have twenty bucks?”

“I’ve been watching Marcus all week; I have plenty of money.”

He nodded and then they shook hands.

“Neither of them will win,” I told them. “That one will win,” I said as I pointed to another guy that was rather small.

“How could he win?” Melissa asked. “He’s so scrawny. He’ll be lucky if he makes it to the third round.”

“But he knows how to work his body in order to get the best results,” I explained. “Do you see the way he uses his legs to get up that wall? If he maximizes the use of his body he can do so much more than someone who doesn’t, even if he is small. Muscle is just about how much weight you lift.”

They both stared at me, looking like they didn’t believe me. “Sure, Marcus,” Melissa said as they both turned their eyes back to the TV. A half hour later they announced the winner, and of course the results didn’t surprise me. “Winston Marlow is our winner!” the announcer shouted. Melissa and William both looked shocked.

“How did he win?” Melissa asked.

“I guess Marcus was right,” William said, still staring at the TV. I smiled. Of course I was right. They didn’t call me the little worker at camp for nothing. I learned how to use my body to get the best results.

Once the show was over I found myself staying by Melissa and William, and William decided to pull out a book for Melissa to see. It contained lots of pictures of different people with words all around, although I was fairly sure it wasn’t the same type of book as the photo album I had pulled out yesterday.

“This was Earl Flinch,” my dad said as he pointed to a really dorky looking boy. “He had this thing with bursting out in random science words at any given moment.”

114

Chapter Seven “Oh, trust me,” Melissa told him, I know people like that. I moved in closer to get a better look at the picture, and I had to agree he did look pretty weird. But compared to our uniforms I didn’t see a huge problem.

Before I knew it I was right next to William, but it didn’t really seem to bother him or me. Melissa was really close as well, but at least he was her dad so she didn’t find it extremely weird.

“Where are you?” she asked as she grabbed the books from his hands.

“Hey,” William said. She turned the pages and found his name in the back, and then turned to one of the pages it said. It was a picture of him near water, wearing a very small covering. Melissa started to laugh.

“Wow,” she said. “Is that a speedo?”

“I was on the swim team,” William said as he took the book from her and closed it. “We were required to wear one.”

She shook her head. “I’ve seen way too much.”

He shook his head and put the book away. Melissa suddenly looked down at my feet. I wasn’t wearing any shoes or socks, as usual. The concept of them was something very foreign to me and it took Lance a good hour to convince me Jolene would find it weird if I didn’t wear them when we went out. They felt funny on my feet, although it was nice not to feel every little thing. I figured I would eventually get used to them and maybe my feet would soften up.

“Hey, look, dad,” Melissa said as she pointed. “Marcus has the same toes you do. His middle toe is bigger than all his other toes.”

I looked down at them. I never thought of my toes as anything significant. It’s not like I stared at the other boys toes, so I supposed to really didn’t have anything to compare them to.

“That he does,” William said as he stared down at them. I could tell Melissa was thinking about something, and I was curious what. William just kept staring. “Do you ever wear shoes, Marcus?” he asked. “Your feet look like they’ve seen better days.”

Melissa laughed, but I didn’t find it very funny. “Yes,” I lied. He didn’t need to know they didn’t provide us with shoes and I never wore them until recently. It wasn’t like my feet looked horrible, because they actually looked pretty good compared to some of the boy’s feet, but he was right about them looking like they’ve seen better days. But I could already start to see an improvement since I came here and didn’t have worry about walking on hard ground anymore. It was really nice.

I found myself bonding with them even though I wasn’t planning on it. There was something about them that I just loved. I loved how Melissa had a really amazing smile, and I loved how William loved to make jokes and he and Melissa always seemed to be betting each other for something.

And to top it all off, they never acted like I was an inconvenience to be 115

Escape there, rather tried to include me. It meant more than they would ever know.

I must have lost track of time, because before I knew it the front door opened and Jolene walked in, workbag in hand. We were in the middle of playing a game that thankfully required no reading, and Jolene looked a little surprised when she saw us.

“Well, hello, guys,” she said as she set her stuff down. She then collapsed on the couch as we all stared at her.

“Where’s Lance?” I asked.

She sighed. “Things are good,” she said with a smile. “He and his dad talked, and I suppose I was wrong about him. He does care about Lance, and I felt completely confident when I let Lance go home with him. Now Lance is finally back where he belongs.”

“Lance is gone?” I asked, really upset. I hadn’t even gotten a goodbye.

“Finally,” Melissa said. “Lance obviously didn’t like it here, so maybe he’ll like his dad more.”

“I hope,” Jolene said as she tried to stand up.

I was still mad, and she gave me one of her famous smiles. “Things will be alright, Marcus. I understand you and Lance were probably close, considering what you’ve been through together, but this certainly isn’t the end.” She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me. I could tell they were numbers, although I didn’t quite know them all.

“That’s his dad’s number,” she told me. “If you ever want to talk to Lance just give him a call.”

“Phones are another one of those amazing inventions that everyone loves,” Melissa told me with a smile. I wasn’t sure if she was mocking me or what, but I just nodded. This made me feel a little better, but would it be the same as talking to him face-to-face?

“What are you guys doing?” she asked.

“Playing a board game,” Melissa replied. “We had to find something simple since Marcus can’t read, but it’s fun.”

She suddenly came off the couch and sat down next to William. “Well, I don’t want to be written off as the one that doesn’t know how to have any fun,” she said as she started to make room for herself to play.

William laughed. “It’s a board game,” he told her. “You’re thinking way too far into this.”

“Are you going to make dinner?” Melissa asked.

“I’m ordering Chinese,” she mumbled as she set a piece down. William and Melissa both laughed, and I didn’t get what was so funny, or what ordering Chinese meant for that matter.

We finished up the game as Jolene talked to someone on the phone. I got depressed as I realized I would have to figure out how to use one of those things if I wanted to know what happened with Lance and if I ever 116

Chapter Seven wanted to talk to him again. I was never any good at figuring things out, and every time I tried I just seemed to make myself look stupid.

I figured out what she meant by Chinese when this guy came to their door with a bag. She paid them just as she had at that one place, and then I realized he had brought food. Well, that seemed quite convenient. It consisted of noodles, something we had at camp but they were always mushy unlike these ones, and they had some sauce over them. It was actually pretty good. Not as good as chicken though. I wondered how much longer I would have to go before she made it again. I really hoped not long. Well, that was assuming I was here for much longer…

“So dad showed me his old yearbook,” Melissa said to Jolene.

Jolene started to laugh before she even had the chance to finish.

William gave her a look. “Your father wasn’t much in high school. He would always try to impress me with these stupid comments and he always did awkward things.”

Melissa started to laugh as William shook his head. “Well, I went through his old yearbook and found a picture of him when he was on the swim team. It was not pretty.”

Jolene started to laugh even more. “He told me to come to one of his meets, and I did just to be nice. He wasn’t much in a speedo.”

William looked offended and they both started laughing. I couldn’t help but smile. I guess passed all the stress and working they knew how to have fun, and laughing very much was possible. I wasn’t sure if it actually was with Jolene. She always seemed to busy and stressed, while William always seemed to be working. It was hard for me to imagine him with a real personality.

After dinner I left them to laugh amongst each other while I went upstairs. I took out the deck of cards Lance had left and started to memorize some more numbers. I was not going to end up more behind than I already was. I was determined to eventually be able to read whatever book that had been that I threw earlier.

Around eight I came back downstairs, wondering what everyone was up to and my alone sense was starting to kick in again. It especially scared me since I knew someone was after me, so I had to be extra careful.

I didn’t see any sign of William or Melissa, but I saw Jolene in the kitchen, looking amongst some papers. I came in and she looked up, giving me a smile. “Hello, Marcus,” she said. “I hope you had fun here with Melissa and my husband. Now that this is about to end I would imagine you can finally see us as more than just prudes.”

I smiled at her. Of course I didn’t think that. More like they were always busy and stressed. But speaking of something ending…

“What’s going to happen to me?” I asked. “Marcus had a family to go to, but I don’t. How much longer will I stay here?”

117

Escape Jolene sighed. “We’re still trying to figure everything out, honey. In all honesty, I’m not sure right now. Rita is trying to look into foster families, but I don’t want to just pawn you off, so we’ll see how everything works out.”

I looked down. Well, I knew this was coming. I figured anyone had to be better than the people at camp, but would a foster family actually love and keep me? Would they actually give me a last name?

“Don’t stress about it,” she told me. “Foster families come and go, so you’ll probably have at least a couple more weeks here until Rita can find you something I’m comfortable with. I’ve been in this work for many years, so I know who will take care of you and who won’t. In the meantime, I’m going to hire a tutor to help you out. I wouldn’t want you to get more behind than you already are. And I’m sure whoever adopts you will be willing to work with the state, and they can help find you another tutor.”

Okay, that made me smile. I was finally going to learn how to read! It was a dream come true. Even if it was only temporary, at least I had something to look forward to in the next couple weeks. And it was also good to know Jolene really seemed to care about me, since she didn’t just want to pawn me off really quickly.

She gave me another smile and I went into the living room, relaxing on the couch. I didn’t want to go back up to the room. The thought of being alone scared me. I lied down on the couch and tried to think positive. I knew Jolene was doing everything she could to help me, Lance was happy and was just a phone call away, and no matter where I went my life would certainly be better than it was before. With all that, I guess I had no reason to complain, yet there was still something at the back of my head that told me I could have so much better than what I was getting.

I ignored it and continued to relax, eventually finding myself dazing off. I was having so many thoughts consuming my mind. How was Lance doing? What had his father said to them when they finally reunited? Did he finally get to see his old brother? What would happen to me? Would I end up happy? Would I ever get a last name? Would they eventually figure out who I am? And above all, where were the guards that were after Lance and I, and what was their next plan?

I woke up and could feel someone carrying me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw William. I had my head on his chest and I had to admit, I was actually quite comfortable. “Sorry, Marcus,” William said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He carried me the rest of the way upstairs and then set me on the guest bed. I closed my eyes again, and he put the blanket over me.

“Goodnight,” he said as he turned off the light and gently shut the door. I was out in only about five minutes after that.

118

Chapter Seven When I woke up the next morning I started to beat myself up again. I knew I would be leaving these people really soon, so why was I letting myself get attached to them? I felt like if I left right now I would burst into tears, since I had been with them for so long and they were all so kind. I figured Jolene was just going through the motions and maybe she did care to an extent, but not enough to worry about how she made me feel with my emotions and how I would just be another case years down the road. I really liked Melissa, and Jolene was just so kind and caring.

Until recently I never thought much of William, but now I suddenly realized he was a lot like Jolene, and he was fun to be around when he wasn’t working all the time.

I woke up and came downstairs with a smile on my face. I didn’t know where I was going to go from here, but I had confi-dence Jolene wouldn’t let me down. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew it.

“Good morning, Marcus,” Jolene greeted me with a smile. I smiled back and sat down, egger to eat some of her delicious food. Melissa had her face buried in a piece of paper, and I leaned over to see what it was. It was just a bunch of words that I couldn’t read, so I sat back in surrender, once again frustrated.

“This is like impossible,” Melissa mumbled. “I’m supposed to do the moon walk across the stage, and then somehow do it right next to the end without falling. I’m a klutz as it is. Add a ledge to the picture and you’re asking for major stitches.”

Jolene laughed. “You have one of the lead roles. You should feel very lucky.”

“There’s so much practicing involved. I feel like I live at the school.”

“It will be worth it when you perform and your father and I come to support you, videotaping it so you can always remember it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, to be honest, I’m really excited to kiss Hayden. He’s one of the cutest boys in the school, and my character gets to have a moment with him.”

Jolene shook her head. “I thought you and Ryan were close and you really liked him since you were giving things away to him.”

Melissa gave her a look. “Why must you and dad always bring that up?

It was a weak moment, okay. I do like Ryan, and we are really close, but that doesn’t mean I’m perfect. It’s not technically cheating on him since it’s acting.”

“But you want to kiss this boy, so therefore it is.”

“You don’t understand,” Melissa barked.

Jolene sighed and then put some pancakes on the table. Melissa grabbed one, still staring at the paper. Jolene went into the living room for a moment and I immediately turned to Melissa. “What’s a play?” I asked.

119

Escape She looked up from her paper and shook her head. “It’s kind of sad how much you don’t know, Marcus. But I suppose if you’re telling the truth about that camp you were shut off from the rest of the world. It’s still crazy, though.

“A play basically a short story that’s acted out, such as what you see on TV but live. Just like TV it’s not real, and the imperfects are very clear. It’s about this girl who thinks she’s too imperfect to get a man, and when a prince comes into town everyone knows he’s going to marry the princess, but then he falls for her instead. I’m not the lead, rather the other princess that’s basically a lead but not the main lead. I kiss him a few times, but not passionately like she gets to, sadly. Plus I’m pretty much the evil girl.

There’s a good reputation to uphold.”

I nodded. So they had entertainment that came from a box and live entertainment? This was all just too crazy and complicated. And what was the point in pretending to be someone you’re not just for entertainment?

Jolene came back in and sat down. “Don’t you have to go?” Melissa asked.

“I have to wait for Marcus’s tutor to get here. Thankfully she’s doubling as a babysitter, so he doesn’t have to tag along with me.”

“They’re coming today?” I said with bright eyes.

She smiled. “I’m glad you have such an ambition to learn. Keep it, because you’ll have to work extra hard if you ever want to go to a normal school and do things a normal eight-year-old would do.”

“I’m nine,” I mumbled, “and I will.”

She didn’t really seem to be paying attention as she looked at her phone. Melissa finished the last bite of her pancake and then grabbed her backpack and walked out the door. I was still eating and Jolene still looked stressed.

There was a knock at the door and she went to go answer it. I got up, egger to see if it was my tutor. A lady that looked fairly old walked in with an aging smile. I’ll admit she wasn’t what I was expecting, but I wasn’t complaining.

“Marcus, this is Mrs. Murphy,” Jolene told me as I came into the living room.

“Pleased to meet you, young man,” she said with a smile as she shook my hand. “Be assured I’ll have you reading in no time. I’m sure you’ll catch on very quickly.” I smiled and nodded, hoping she was right.

“Well, I’m off,” Jolene told her. “I have a ton to do.”

“Oh, yes, I understand. Good luck.” Jolene then grabbed her bag and walked out the door. I heard the car start a few seconds later and then it pulled out of the driveway. I turned to Mr. Murphy, who continued to smile at me.

“Well, Marcus, shall we start by seeing what you know?”

120

Chapter Seven I nodded. I didn’t know much, but I suppose because of Lance, my own studying, and Ryan I knew a little.

Okay, she was much better than Ryan. She obviously knew how to teach and she was super patient. She actually told me she was impressed with how quickly I was catching on, being that I didn’t know anything at all before. She tried to ask me things related to the camp, such as if I had ever seen words before now, and I tried to avoid the question mostly. I didn’t need more people to know my problems. The people who knew them as it was were enough. I had a feeling she knew a little, being that I was illiterate and I’m sure Jolene at least mentioned something to her about why, but I didn’t plan to fill in the gaps.

By the end of the first lesson I had the entire alphabet down, and I could write my name. Technically, Ryan had been teaching me the alphabet already, so I wasn’t too impressed, because I basically just finished it with her. But she did show me a song to go along with it. It was catchy, and music was never something I had heard before except when the boys would sing some random song I didn’t know for fun. This sounded much nicer, and the person singing it wasn’t standing in front of me, so that was kind of strange. But I liked it and I asked her if I could keep the CD so I could listen to it later. She agreed and said she thought that was actually a good idea.

“You have a very powerful mind and a great aspiration for learning.

Any tutor would love to work with you, and I’m glad I had the honor,” she told me.

I replied with a smile, happy she had said I had a powerful mind.

Maybe that meant I wasn’t stupid after all.

Jolene walked, looking better than she did yesterday by far, and smiled at the lady. “Did everything go well?” she asked.

“Very well,” the lady replied. “I hope I get the chance to work with Marcus more, and I’m very excited. At this rate he’ll be reading full novels in no time at all.”

I didn’t know what a novel was, but it sounded like a big accomplishment, so I was happy she had said that.

“That’s great,” Jolene said with a smile as she set her work stuff down.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Marcus,” she told me as she left.

“I’m happy to hear that, Marcus,” Jolene told me. “In no time at all you’ll be able to go to school. I’m sure you’re excited for that.”

I nodded excitingly. If it wasn’t obvious already, I was super excited to go to school. I didn’t understand why Lance took it for granted. When Lance crossed my mind I suddenly had an idea.

“Do you think Lance is available to be called now?” I asked her.

She smiled, although I wasn’t sure why. “Well, Marcus, I don’t know. I know he should be out of school by now, considering he actually went, 121

Escape and I’m not sure what’s going on with his father and brother. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. You’re more than welcome to use our phone.”

I tried not to show how happy I was as she grabbed her work bags and headed upstairs. After I was sure she was gone I went over to the thing I saw them all talking on, called a phone, and pick it up. It suddenly dawned on me I had no idea how to use it. I assumed the numbers on it were what I was supposed to push related to the numbers on the paper, but what happened after that? I set the phone down and figured I would wait for Jolene.

Luckily, it didn’t take her long to come back down. “How do you use this?” I asked her.

For some reason she found that funny. I supposed everyone found my stupidity funny, but I certainly didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Marcus,” she said when she saw my face. “I just found that funny. You’ll have to forgive me, because I’ve never had a case quite like yours.” She came up and picked up the phone. “You push the number combination you see on the paper in the phone,” she explained, “then when you hear a sound coming from the phone by pressing your ear up to it you know it’s ringing. Once the person answers they’ll say hello, and you respond by asking for Lance. Then it will be just like how you used to talk in person, except you can’t see his face.”

I nodded. I hope I somehow got that all right. I was happy she stayed as I did it, just in case I did anything stupid she could call me on it. I punched the numbers in exactly as I saw them and then put the phone up to my ear. My heart skipped a little when I heard it ring. Would Lance answer, or would I be talking to a complete stranger?

She gave me a smile of encouragement, probably sensing I was nervous. Then I got really nervous when I heard someone answer, certainly not Lance, with a low, “Hello.”

By some miracle I managed to say, “Can I talk to Lance?”

“Umm… yeah,” the guy said as if what I had said surprised him. At least now the worse was over. I heard some shuffling and then I waited nervously, desperately wanting to see what was going on. Being able to hear but not see? That was crazy!

After what felt like ten minutes, although I’m sure it was probably only a couple, I heard Lance’s voice answer, “Hello,” kind of nervously.

“Lance!” I practically shouted.

Jolene seemed to smile to herself and then she left. I was thankful she at least wasn’t nosy.

“Marcus?” Lance asked.

“Yep!” I said back. She was right; it was just like we were having a normal conversation except I couldn’t see his face.

“So you’ve figured out how to use a phone. Congratulations.”

122

Chapter Seven I shook my head. Yep, still the same old Lance. “What hap-pened?” I asked him. “I thought you were going to come back, but you never did. I know you’re with your dad now. How is it going?”

“Great,” he replied. “My dad has changed, and my older brother is still as awesome as I remembered him. Yesterday he told me he would have to take me snipe hunting sometime. I don’t know what that is, but I know it’s an honor to be doing it with my older brother. We’ve played basketball all day because he literally begged my dad not to make him go to school so we could spend the day together. Then I just got back from going out to eat with both of them. Let’s just say they don’t have a lot of manners while in public, and they certainly know how to have fun.

Although my brother said he hadn’t seen my dad this happy since he got back years ago, so that means he must have been depressed I was gone.

And my brother seems equally as happy. We didn’t get to bed until three last night because we were up talking, and my dad had to come in and tell us we could finish talking in the morning because it was getting way too late. I think it made him feel good to act like a parent to us, being that he hasn’t had the chance to do it with both of us for a long time. And there’s no nanny. I know I’m getting a bit too old for one, but still.”

I smiled, and then I realized he couldn’t see it. “That’s awesome, Lance,” I said. “I’m really happy for you. But what about the meeting?

How did that go?”

“Also great. My dad actually told me a lot of things I didn’t know and wasn’t expecting. He told me he had missed me all these years and he was very upset that I ran away. He admitted he was bitter towards me since my mother died giving birth to me and he loved her more than he could ever imagine loving anyone, but it was wrong of him to take it out on me since I couldn’t help what happened, and if he hadn’t done that all those years I wouldn’t have ran away and all this wouldn’t have happened. He also told me my mother loved me very much and the doctors warned her that the pregnancy would have complications and they recommended she abort it, but she refused to and he said she gave her life for mine. I’ve never heard him or my brother talk about her before, so it meant a lot.”

“Wow,” I said. I suddenly grew even more envious of him. He had so many people that cared about him, and I didn’t even have one. “That’s awesome I suppose.”

“Yeah. He also told me she had made him promise her as her health was completely failing her and she knew she was going to die that he would always take care of me and be there. I guess that explained why I always got what I needed, even if it didn’t seem like his whole heart was into it. But I can’t help but wonder if he would feel the same way if I hadn’t run away. I guess I shouldn’t really think about it and just be happy.”

123

Escape “Yeah,” I agreed. “But I’m just wondering, does he know about the marks?”

Lance sighed. “I overheard Jolene telling him before we left yesterday that I had been through a lot and he should expect the worst. She said I would have a hard time trusting because of all that happened and he had to be patient. Then we watched a movie last together last night and I was snuggled up next to my dad, and well, he kind of noticed the marks a little so he made me take off my shirt and he saw them all. I’ve never seen him cry before, but he very much was crying. And my brother was just standing there as if he had seen a ghost. It was horrible. I can tell he’s trying not to press for details on where I’ve been, because Jolene had told him I had been through a lot and he probably figures I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m kind of glad, because I don’t think he would believe me if I told the truth. Although the marks give a pretty good idea I was at a really horrible place.”

“I’m sorry, Lance. But if he was crying that has to mean he really cares about you and your wellbeing. And you never know if he’ll believe you.

But it’s good he’s not pushing anything.”

“Well, my brother asked me last night where I was, and I kind of kept avoiding the question. I have a feeling he’s not going to give up, because he seems really curious.”

“He’ll probably figure it out eventually.”

I heard someone in the background say something, although I couldn’t make out what it was. “Just a friend,” I heard Lance say to whoever they were. “Alright,” he said happily.

“Hey, I have to go,” he told me. “My brother wants to play rummy with me, whatever that is.”

I smiled. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one that didn’t know what something was. “Alright, Lance,” I told him. “Have fun. And please call me next time.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t suggest being afraid of phones. There’s used a lot in our society.”

“I’m not afraid of them,” I lied. “I’m just not used to them yet.”

‘Whatever you say. Well, goodbye.”

“Wait, how do I end the call?”

Of course he started to laugh again. “You hang the phone back up, meaning you put it exactly how you found it.”

I nodded and then did what he said. I got all nervous and picked it back up again, but I didn’t hear his voice, so I figured I did it right.

I then went into the living room and sat on the couch. I wanted to get used to all this stuff, so I found myself turning on the TV and watching whatever happened to be on. It was some show with a lady and some 124

Chapter Seven other people. I had no idea what was going on, but I kept watching regardless.

125

8 I was still watching TV when I saw Melissa walk in. She didn’t look like she was in a good mood, being that she was mumbling under her breath. “You obviously don’t practice enough,” she said in a mocking voice. “Do you want to bring the entire cast down, being that you’re a main character? I practice every day!” she shouted in a normal voice.

I just stared at her, and she just looked at me. “What are you watching?” she asked me as she looked at the TV. “Friends?” she asked.

“Why are you watching Friends? Do you even know what’s going on?”

“Yes,” I said defensively, although I honestly I had no clue.

She just shook her head and headed upstairs. Jolene caught her on the stairwell and gave her a smile. “Is everything alright, honey?” she asked.

“My stupid drama teacher accused me of not practicing enough, and he tells me every waking minute I’m not good enough. Why did I want to do this stupid play again?”

“Just ignore him and prove him wrong. We both know you’re an amazing actor, and you’ve loved it since you were little.”

“Yeah, well, things have changed since then.”

Jolene sighed as Melissa headed upstairs. Did school really last this long? It was nearly five o’clock. Not that I was complaining, but if that was true maybe that’s why Lance had said he didn’t really like it.

I saw Jolene come over and stare at my TV show with a weird look. I guess everyone thought it was weird I was watching this particular one, although since I had no idea what was going on I wondered why. She then went in the kitchen without saying anything. The guys started talking to one of the girls, saying weird things. The thought of a love between a man and a woman suddenly struck me again. It was one of those things I wanted to ask Jolene about but I would be afraid for her reaction. I’m sure it would be a weird question.

I finally turned off the TV and relaxed on the couch. I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen to me next. Being in the dark made me upset.

The door opened and I was taken by surprise when I saw William.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one, because Jolene came out of the kitchen looking completely taken back. “William?” she asked. “Well, look whose home early. What’s the occasion?”

Chapter Eight “No occasion,” William said, looking a little hurt. “Is it wrong to want to come home early every now and again? I want to have one of your delicious dinners.”

She smiled and then went back in the kitchen. I was still sitting on the couch and he gave me a smile as he went upstairs to his room. What was with all the smiles? They gave them away too easily. But maybe that was just how I felt because I never smiled much and if I did it was far from a giveaway.

Twenty minutes later we were all sitting around the table, and I felt kind of awkward. It was one thing to sit with them while Lance was there, but now that he wasn’t I just felt like a bother—an extra to what they wanted and needed. Of course they never made me feel like that, but sometimes I wondered if that was what they thought. At least Lance had a place now. I was still out of place.

Today’s dinner was some kind of meat, but it was one big piece rather than the mush we got at camp. It was alright, although it certainly wasn’t as good as chicken. I ate it slowly like I always did at camp as I listened to them talk.

“I’ve showed up to all his practices and today he threatened to cut me,” Melissa complained. “I just don’t know how to please him anymore.”

“When is the play?” William asked.

“In two weeks,” she replied. “Can you believe he wants to cut me two weeks before the show? My friend told me he’s all talk and just wants to scare me, but what if she’s wrong? He does have an understudy, and according to him we would do about the same if we had to perform.

Which let me remind you that that is a major insult to me, because in my opinion she sucks. Her voice is horrible, she shows no emotion, and she never shows up to practice. I can’t believe he would compare me to her.”

“Hey, if he’s stupid enough to cut you for her, it’s his lose,” William said. “Don’t let him get to you.”

“But I’ve put hours into this play. This very much is bothering me.”

“Honey, people will be people and you can’t change that, but you can watch it blow up in his face if he decides to cut you,” Jolene told her.

“Was that supposed to make me feel better?” she mumbled.

“Yes,” Jolene said with a smile.

“Well, it didn’t work.”

Jolene sighed as they continued to eat their food. I tried to speed up so I would be finished soon so they could talk without me, but when I ate fast I felt a little sick, since I never really did it before, so I slowed down.

By time my steak and noodles were finally gone I was ready to go, but Jolene didn’t have the same idea.

127

Escape “Are you done already, Marcus?” she asked. “Well, don’t be in such a hurry to go. Do you want some candied yams?”

I had no idea what those were, but I found myself nodding. I didn’t want to offend her.

She pulled out a pan of some brown, mushy substance. I was suddenly reminded of what we ate back at camp, and I wished I hadn’t agreed to eat it. But I found no way out of it now and I let her put some of it on my plate. Luckily it wasn’t much, but just to see her pull it out made me gag.

“I want some candied yams,” Melissa said as she held out her plate.

“Those things are to die for.”

Jolene smiled and gave her some. I watched Melissa take a bite first, smiling when she put it in her mouth. I figured I should at least try them, so I slowly took a spoonful and put it in my mouth.

Well, it wasn’t like the stuff we had at camp, but it was disgusting regardless. I literally spit it right back out. I wasn’t a picky eater at all, and all through camp I would eat things that would make me gag without spitting it back out. But that… well, that was just horrible. Not even I could handle that.

For some reason they all thought it was funny and started to laugh.

“You don’t have to finish all those if you don’t like them, Marcus,” Jolene told me.

“Oh, I think he much more than just doesn’t like them,” Melissa said as she took another bite. “He must have really hated them.”

I wasn’t really listening; I was too busy chugging down water. I had to get that nasty stuff out of my mouth. It tasted really sweet. Personally, I hated sweet foods. One of the boys managed to steal some candy once from someone’s cabin and they all ate it like it was the best stuff in the world. Except for me. I ate one piece and told them I didn’t want anymore. They were really surprised and told me something was wrong with me. That stuff tasted like sweetness to the max. It was horrible.

“Well, not everyone can like everything,” Melissa said. I got up and put my plate in the sink, the stuff still covering it, and then headed to the guest room. I couldn’t get that stupid taste out of my mouth. I could still hear them laughing at me as I went upstairs. I didn’t get what was so funny.

I left them to themselves as I sat in the guest room. I stared at its emptiness, wondering what there was to do. It suddenly dawned on me I was bored. Was that even a word? I couldn’t ever remember feeling bored before. There was always something to do. I was always working the day away, and when I did get a break I listened to the other boys and cleared my head from a long day’s work. Now I was sitting here, Lance long gone, with nothing to do, and it was rather boring. Working was all I had known all my life. Life seemed too easy and without a purpose now.

128

Chapter Eight I don’t know what happened, but I suddenly woke up and looked around me. Had I really fallen asleep? I sat up, wondering what time it was and if I would be able to sleep for the rest of the night. Since there was no clock in here I decided to take my chances outside. I opened the door and the first thing I heard was Jolene and William talking downstairs.

I assumed it was pretty late, being that they were whispering and I didn’t see or hear any sign of Melissa.

“Then he asked me who I thought the prettiest model out there was, and do you want to hear what I said?” William said to Jolene.

“What did you say?” Jolene asked.

“I said my beautiful wife. He didn’t seem to appreciate it since he didn’t count you as a model, but I think you’re prettier than a model.”

“You are so cheesy,” she said. I couldn’t see any of their facial reactions, and I didn’t want to step on the stairs and give myself away. I figured this wasn’t something I should have been listening to, but hey, I had nothing to do but listen in to what the guards and the other boys were saying all my life. I didn’t plan to change that now.

“It was a compliment,” he told her. Then it was silent for a moment. I wondered what was going on, but I figured it didn’t matter.

“It’s been months since we’ve kissed,” Jolene sighed. “You’re never home.”

“I’m trying to get better,” William said in defense. “For the record I told Bill to take over today when I left early, and then I refused to answer my phone more than a couple times when he called me with all these problems.”

“You’re still not doing good enough. I understand you’re a CEO and your schedule is rough, but that doesn’t mean you have to be home for a total of two hours every day.”

“I’m home more than that.”

“Sure you are,” she said bitterly, “From this point on I’ll get better. I’ve been thinking about what you said about Melissa, and you’re completely right. A father is very important in a daughter’s life, and I haven’t been there as much as I should. She needs the confidence to finish this play, and I can certainly help with that.”

“Good,” Jolene said. Then I heard her start to giggle. “In your arms is my favorite place to be, William,” she sighed.

This was starting to get too weird for me, so I started to head back to my room when my ears suddenly started to burn.

“What are you planning on doing with Marcus?” William asked. “He’s been here for weeks, and now Lance is situated. I think he’s a good kid, but he can’t stay here forever.”

129

Escape “I know,” she sighed. “I’m afraid to just shove him in some foster home. Rita found a couple today, but I turned both of them down. I think she’s starting to get frustrated because we have many more cases and this one is just a number in the pile. But I’ve never dealt with a case like this before. I’m afraid if I just shove him in a foster home he’ll never learn to trust and he’ll go through life thinking adults are evil. If I did that I wouldn’t blame him for feeling that way. I’ve had to pull too many children out of foster home from more foster homes to know it will happen. I guess I’m just waiting for the right family to come along.”

“If he stays here any longer you’re going to grow too much of an attachment and then you won’t let him go.”

“I’m aware,” she mumbled. “It shouldn’t be for much longer. I just want to give him a much better life, considering all he’s been through. In all my years of doing this work, I’ve never once come across marks that bad. I’m not sure how he got them, but it looked like they were so bad some of them were either scars or would be turning into scars. It was painful to look at.”

“Wow,” William said. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” she said. Then there was more silence. I figured I should leave now, and I went back up into the guest room. Luckily I was tired again and was out pretty easily.

When I woke up I ached all over. And I don’t mean I was tired, I mean I felt like I couldn’t get out of bed. I became mad at myself, telling myself I had been though worse than this before and I should at least feel thankful I didn’t have to work today. But when I tried to get up the problem seemed to persist. I finally felt so horrible I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore, and I curled up in the blanket and feel back to sleep.

What felt like just minutes later I was woken up by gentle shaking.

“Marcus, are you still asleep?” I heard Jolene ask in a quiet voice. I opened my eyes and somehow turned to her. She gave me a smile, and then suddenly she looked concerned. “You don’t look too good,” she said as she put a hand to my forehead. I wasn’t sure what that accomplished, but I didn’t mind. “Are you feeling alright?”

“No,” I replied. Yes, I was completely showing weakness, but I figured there was nothing she would do that could do or say that could possibly even come close to the beatings at the camp. Not that I was worried. I couldn’t picture Jolene even raising her voice.

She left for a few minutes while I tried to keep from falling back asleep, and then she came back with this stick-like thing with red liquid inside it. I stared at it, not sure what it did as she gave me a smile. “I just want to check your temperature,” she explained.

I had no idea what that meant, but she placed the stick in my mouth and let it sit there. Things were just getting weirder and weirder. It sat 130

Chapter Eight there for a couple minutes and then she pulled it out. “Yeah, you have a fever,” she said with concern.

She then went out of the room again and I heard her call someone on the phone. “Rita, I’m going to have to call in today,” she told her.

“Because Marcus doesn’t look too good and I don’t want to leave him with some babysitter that has to take care of him.”

“I know he’s not my son,” she said in annoyance, “but for the time being I’m taking care of him and I don’t just want to leave him with someone when he’s sick.”

“I have faith you guys can take care of things without me for a day. I haven’t taken a day off in over a year.”

“Yes, it’s been that long. Now give me a break. He looks really sick and he has a fever.”

“I’ll be back first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Rita.” Then she hung up with a sigh.

“You don’t have to stay home for me,” I mumbled. It seemed as if I was enough of a burden to her already. I show up at her house, eat her food, sleep in her guest room, have to have her explain simple things to me, have her hire a tutor to help me with reading, and now she has to miss a day of work to take care of me. It just seemed as if she had done enough.

“Of course I want to stay home for you,” she told me. “I would never turn someone down when they were sick.”

“I’m fine,” I said as I attempted to get up. But that was a bad idea. I literally felt stomach contents working their way up, and in a matter of seconds they were on the ground. Now I knew she was going to yell, even if I had never heard her before.

She seemed to look down at them in disgust, and then she pulled herself together. “I’m sorry,” I said as I lied back down. I wasn’t going to try that again.

“It’s alright, Marcus,” she said. Although at this point I was pretty sure she didn’t mean it. I was sure she wanted to yell. “Let me just get something to clean this up,” she said as she left the room. I stared at the ceiling for a while, happy she at least didn’t yell, and I knew for sure she wasn’t going to hurt me. Lance had said they weren’t allowed to do that in the real world. It was actually quite comforting.

She was back in just a little bit with a towel and some sort of spray.

She also had a bucket in which she handed to me and told me to use that if I needed to throw up again. Luckily, it didn’t take long for her to clean it up, and then she set the stuff to the side, looking relieved. Well, if she wasn’t planning on getting rid of me anytime soon before, she was now.

Either way I ended up falling asleep again, completely drained.

131

Escape When I woke up there was a bowl of soup sitting on the dresser. It was starving, so I quickly grabbed it. It was still warm, thankfully, although I would have eaten it no matter what the temperature. Well, that was another bad idea, because it was no sooner than five minutes after I ate it I felt more stomach contents working their way up. Luckily, I went for the bucket this time and made it, as not to make Jolene clean up any more of my mess. I laid back down, still starving, but I couldn’t go back to sleep. I started to wonder if my body was going through withdrawal symptoms since I hadn’t had any exercise in weeks, while I used to do vigorous exercise every day. I was sure it was probably confused. I made a mental note to go jogging tomorrow. Well, if I was feeling up to it, because I certainly couldn’t do it in this condition.

I started to feel a little better now that my stomach was empty and I decided to try to get up. I wasn’t one that liked to stay in bed all day. But then again, I never had the opportunity to stay in bed all day until now. I came downstairs and saw Jolene watching some TV. It made me feel better she at least got to relax a little on her day off.

She gave me a smile when she saw me. “Hello, Marcus,” she said. “Are you feeling any better?”

I nodded, although I still wasn’t feeling the best. She motioned for me to come over and I did, taking a seat next to her on the couch. She put her arm around me, probably trying to make me feel better, and I appreciated it. We sat like that for a couple episodes and by time the end I was feeling much better. One thing was for sure; getting sick here beat getting sick at camp by a long shot.

I must have fallen asleep again, because when I woke up I could hear William’s voice. I didn’t open my eyes or move at first, and I could hear him talking to Jolene.

“I think that it’s good you want to help him trust again, but you have to admit you’re starting to get attached to him,” he told her. “He’ll be gone in a couple weeks. You shouldn’t make the leaving harder than it has to be. And if you keep this up, it very much will be for both you and him.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I just feel so bad for him and I have a special attachment to him for some reason.

He’s such a sweet boy, and I just want to help him. But you’re right about getting attached. I don’t want to make the parting harder than it has to be.”

“Hello, Melissa,” they both said as I assumed they turned to-ward her, wherever she came from.

“If you’re referring to Marcus,” she said, “dad has an attach-ment to him as well, whether he’s willing to admit to it or not.”

“Whatever,” William said defensively.

132

Chapter Eight “It doesn’t matter,” Jolene said with a sigh. “I can’t let my emotions get in the way of my work. If I did that I would adopt every child that comes my way, and trust me, that’s a lot. It’s a bad idea for me to get too attached to anyone. There’s certainly something special about Marcus, but I just need to stay on my toes and wait for the right family to come along that can adopt him, just like with every other child that I’ve worked with.”

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Melissa said. I assumed she went upstairs after that.

“I think you’re right,” William said. “What would your work say if you suddenly wanted to adopt one of the children you were working with?

They would probably question the fact you had a license.”

“Is it true you have an attachment to him?” she asked.

“No,” he stated. “I think he’s a good kid that deserves a good family, but that doesn’t mean I want to take him in. We’re having enough trouble with Melissa as it is, and you’re in the middle of a kidnapping case right now. Neither one of us have the time or energy to take care of this kid.

Let’s face it; he’s not exactly the easiest to deal with. Yeah, he’s sweet, but he also can’t read, so we can’t just send him to school, he hardly knows anything about the outside world, he only has one friend, and he has major emotional problems because he’s been majorly abused all his life.

All that adds up to someone who is very dedicated to adopt him, and that can’t be us.”

“I worry about that,” she told him. “I can’t see many foster families actually wanting him, because the state might not be willing to help them with his reading problem. That’s why I’m afraid to send him just anywhere. Rita emailed me again today with a huge list of foster families that were interested in taking him, and none of them seemed right. I can’t just give him away. He needs someone that will be there.”

“Good luck. I don’t know if you’ll ever find the ‘perfect’ family for him. You may just have to settle and see how things work out. You’ve taken kids from foster homes before because things didn’t work out, and they eventually ended up happy with someone else. Don’t you think that will happen with Marcus?”

“No, I don’t actually. I’m very worried, and I don’t know what to do.

Those kids all had families that failed on them but they still called them their family regardless. They had visits, something Marcus will never have.

He needs a permanent family, while those kids just needed a temporary family until they were either eighteen or their parents got back on their feet. Most of them end up going back to their parents once they can, because in their eyes they’re still their parents. That isn’t the case with Marcus. If a foster family doesn’t work out by time he’s eighteen, he’ll have no one. And I’ve put children in enough foster homes to know 133

Escape people who foster children aren’t looking to keep them permanently.

People adopt babies, not older children. Sad, I know, but it’s the truth.”

“I think you just need to take a chance. Marcus has been through a lot.

Don’t you think he can handle it?”

“The fact he’s been through a lot makes me think he can’t handle it.

He’s never had a family, and I’m afraid he’s going to get his hopes up, and then he’ll never trust again once someone bails out on him.”

“You might be right, but what are our other options?”

She sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Has he been asleep all day?”

“Most of the day,” she replied. “I’m not sure he’s going to feel up to dinner because he’s been puking all day.”

“What are we having for dinner?”

“Well, William, I was thinking about making your favorite: fried chicken.”

I didn’t need to open my eyes to know what his face looked like. “Oh, yes, that’s good, but certainly not my favorite.”

She laughed. “You know you can tell me when you hate something.

I’m not stupid, regardless if you tell me or not. I know I overdo chicken just a bit.”

“A bit?” William asked.

She laughed. “Well, I was thinking tacos, but if chicken sounds better” “No, no, tacos are good.”

She laughed again and then left the room. After a couple minutes I assumed they both left and I opened my eyes. I was kind of in shock. I didn’t want to admit to myself I was starting to grow a bit of an attachment as well, but to know they all had an attachment to me but they let things get in the way was even worse. It sounded like I was just a number, and because of that Jolene didn’t want to even try. I guess I should have felt lucky she cared enough not to just stick me with any foster family, but still.

So many things had happened in these past couple of weeks. I really liked Melissa. She just seemed so down to earth and kind to everyone. She actually seemed to like me and I felt comfortable asking her anything, no matter how stupid it sounded. William was a nice guy that was actually pretty fun to be around, and I would never forget when he carried me upstairs. I had never had anyone do that before. Then Jolene; well, Jolene was amazing. She was so kind, and I’ve gotten to the point where I know her smiles aren’t fake anymore. She’s been looking out for me since I got here, and she was there when I woke up from a nightmare or when I was sick. That meant more to me than she would ever know. I don’t know that I’ll ever have a mother, but if I never do, at least Jolene gave me a 134

Chapter Eight little piece of what it would be like. And the family as a whole is amazing too. They all love to laugh and have fun together, and none of them treated me as if my presence was a pain.

I relaxed on the couch as I heard my stomach growl. I sure hoped I was feeling better by time dinner was ready. I was so hungry. But what if I threw it all back up again? I tried not to think about it as I stared up at the ceiling.

I saw Melissa come down, and I made no effort to pretend like I was asleep. “Hello, Marcus,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”

I nodded. My stomach was hurting anymore thankfully.

“That’s good. My mom’s making tacos. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had tacos.”

I shook my head. There were a lot of things I haven’t had, so why did it matter?

“Out of curiosity, do you like drawing? How about swimming? I’m sure you’ve done some swimming somewhere before.”

I gave her a weird look. What was she getting at? “I don’t know what you mean by drawing, but I’ve done some swimming before. I actually preferred it over the other things we had to do, so I suppose I like it.”

She smiled. “Good.” And with that she got up and headed into the kitchen. When I said nice and down to earth I forgot to include strange.

Yes, she was very strange. Yet, it didn’t seem to bother me. In my opinion it seemed to add to her personality more.

Thankfully, I managed to eat the tacos without throwing up. This seemed to be a relief to Jolene, and she was happy I liked the tacos. They were kind of messy, but good nonetheless.

I was slowly starting to feel less awkward around them, but I got mad at myself because I didn’t want to get too attached. I was attached enough as it was, and in only a week’s time I would be gone, so I knew I needed to stop this. I tried not to show any sign I had heard their living room conversation, but I guess I really didn’t feel guilty since I was right there and they just assumed I was asleep.

I had to hold on to this week while I could. Soon I would be in a completely different place with people that may or may not like me and weren’t like these guys. It was scary to think about.

135

9 Melissa started to get weirder with her questions. It was like every time we saw each other she had another one to ask me. And they were all questions that I didn’t understand the purpose of them being asked such as, “Do you like Brussels sprouts? Ever played any sports where you were from? What’s your favorite color? So far, what’s your favorite food? Ever tried seafood?” And sometimes she would ask really weird questions like, “Can I see your hands for a minute?” Or, “Is that your natural hair color?” How could someone change their hair color, and how could I? Not that I thought she was annoying; I just found her weird.

Jolene never mentioned anything to me about her job or a foster family, so I assumed things still weren’t working out perfectly. The tutor she hired continued to come, and I loved every minute of my time spent learning. I was slowly able to read, and now I could read small sentences out of those really small children’s books. It meant so much to me, and my tutor told me I was moving along really fast. She said she had never had a case like this before, so she wasn’t sure if it was just because I was eight and this should come as second nature to me or if I really was a super-fast learner. I couldn’t wait until we started writing. The thought of being able to actually write something down that came from my head sounded like heaven to me.

The further into the week we got the more nervous I became. Jolene always seemed to be working and on the phone, while William went back to his only getting home really late thing. But Jolene was so busy she didn’t seem to notice. Melissa was likewise always gone, I was assuming for her play, so I was basically either with that tutor/babysitter or I was home with a bunch of people that were so busy they didn’t even acknowledge my existence. I guess I was always pretty quiet before, and many people didn’t acknowledge my existence, but it still bothered me.

I came downstairs, feeling a bit depressed, and heard Jolene talking on the phone to I assumed Rita. “I know I’ve had him for a while, but I’m not just going to dump him somewhere.”

“I’m not getting attached.”

“I’m still trying to figure that out. Just relax. It’s not like it’s your money that’s paying for him, or even the state’s money: it’s mine.”

“I’m not letting my emotions get in the way. Just let me handle this.”

“Was that a threat?”

Jolene sighed. “I know, okay. Yes, I’ll do some thinking.”

Chapter Nine “Isn’t that a little soon?”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“Alright,” she said. “Now leave me alone for a couple hours.”

“Goodbye, Rita,” she said as if she just cut her off. She sighed as she looked down at the table. I suddenly got a bad feeling in my stomach.

What was going to happen to me now?

I sat on the couch and then saw William walk in. This had been the earliest he had been home all week, so I was surprised. He gave me a smile and then went into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong with you?” William asked her.

“Rita is being very difficult about this,” she mumbled. “I’m running out of options. Perhaps you’re right about me having to settle because I’m not going to be able to find the perfect foster family for him. I just have a feeling once I send him somewhere he’s just going to end up staying with us for another week when I have to find another. I have a feeling he’s going to be one of those cases we might have issues with. Rita practically threatened to have someone come over and take him away personally if I didn’t surrender him, because I was only a social worker and I have already kept him longer than we’re supposed to. She’s right, but I’m just so torn on what to do.”

“You just need to trust things will work out,” William told her.

“Standing still isn’t going to accomplish anything.”

“I know,” she sighed.

I sighed and then went upstairs. This was the end. It could be a start to a new beginning, but I had a hard time saying optimistic at this point. I still believed Lance when he said people didn’t like to take children in that weren’t their own. I was especially worried since even Jolene seemed concerned, and she knew all about foster families.

I sat on the guest bed staring at the ceiling for a while. I wasn’t sure why, but it wasn’t like I had something else to do. I was thinking. I really liked this family, and I secretly wished I would end up back here enough times Jolene would finally decide just to take me in. I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else.

After my stomach started growling I decided to go downstairs to see what was going on with dinner. I came down in the middle of a conversation between Melissa and her parents. “Just look at the facts,” she told them. “He looks a lot like you guys, he likes some of the same stuff, and you already admitted you had a bit of an attachment to him.”

“Melissa, we would all love that, but we have to face reality here.”

“I am facing reality. Don’t you think there’s a chance? He doesn’t know anything about his past, he came from that camp and claims he’s been there for as long as he can remember, and everything adds up. He could have been stolen from us and then taken to that camp, and then he 137

Escape ended up right back on our doorstep by some chance. How can you guys honestly be this oblivious?”

“He was just a baby when he was taken,” Jolene said. “Even if he did end up at that camp, what are the odds he’s still alive? I have a hard time believing anyone who left those marks on Marcus could be nurturing at all.”

“You don’t need to be nurturing to get a baby to live. Look, all I’m saying is you should consider getting a test. Don’t let him go until you know for sure. Then you can say I told you so all I want.”

Jolene sighed. “I’ll think about it,” she mumbled. “Now go get Marcus so we can have dinner.”

I dashed back into my room and pretended to be sitting on my bed. It didn’t take her long to come in, and she gave me a smile as she did.

“Dinnertime, Marcus,” she told me. I nodded and then got back out of the bed, my mind buzzing.

I could hardly eat dinner because I was thinking too much. I had a feeling what they had been talking about. Melissa was convinced I was the son they had lost so many years ago. I would love it if that happened, but what were the odds? Nothing good ever happened to me, so I couldn’t see it happening. Besides, that seemed to make life too easy. I knew life was never easy.

They didn’t have much to say either; rather they just kept staring at me. I guess I knew why, but it was getting kind of annoying. I finished the rest of my food and then headed upstairs. Jolene was still eyeing me as I left, looking deep in thought as well.

I sighed. I knew this wasn’t going to end up the way we all wanted.

And even if it did; would they even fully accept me, or would they just go through the motions since I was their son? They seemed too busy for anything like this right now. I knew that by this time tomorrow I would most likely be back at Jolene’s office as she tried to explain to me everything that would happen with my new foster family. Right now I needed a miracle, and those didn’t happen too often with me. I suppose escaping from that camp was a miracle, but this would have to be an even bigger miracle, and that was saying a lot.

I went through the motions the next day, except without my normal attitude on learning how to read like I normally had. It wasn’t that I was getting bored and was starting to agree with Lance; it was more I just had a ton on my mind and I couldn’t concentrate. She kept getting a bit frustrated, and I’m sure she thought I was starting to lose interest.

“Marcus, what sound does a W make?” she asked, having a bit of an edge to her voice.

“Wa,” I replied. She didn’t look too convinced, but she seemed satisfied.

138

Chapter Nine “And what word is this?”

I read the words in bold, but my brain didn’t comprehend what it was.

She seemed annoyed, and it wasn’t like her to lose her patience. I guess I really wasn’t paying much attention today so she was annoyed, because she knew if I was I would have been able to read it. “Ground,” she told me. I nodded as she pulled out another card. “Now, what about this word?”

I spelled it out, and I thought I had it down. “Is land,” I replied.

She gave me a look. “I land,” she corrected.

“But I thought the s made the sa sound?”

“Island’s a bit different.”

I shook my head. There were all these rules and then there were all these exceptions. I couldn’t keep them all straight. Learning how to read was making me feel stupider than ever.

I was relieved in a way when I heard Jolene come home, and my tutor looked equally as happy. “How’s it going?” Jolene asked with a smile as she set her bags down.

“Good,” my tutor said without even cracking a smile. “I’ll be going now.”

I watched as she walked out the door. “Well, I guess we all have our bad days,” I heard Jolene say. Then she gave me a smile. “William’s coming home early tonight and we’re going to do some things together.” I wasn’t stupid. By “things” she meant get that test or whatever Melissa was talking about. But for the sake of me not supposed to know, I decided it was best to play it stupid; maybe freak out a little with whatever they plan to do. Although depending on what it was I may or may not need to act.

After that elevator incident I didn’t know what to expect.

I went upstairs and kind of just sat on the floor. I didn’t feel like sitting or lying on my bed, but at the same time I wanted to be alone. Being alone actually didn’t seem so bad anymore. It gave me time to clear my head and think. After about an hour of doing that I finally got bored enough to go back downstairs, and Jolene was talking to someone on the phone.

“Just give me a couple of days.”

“Yes, just a couple of days. I understand I’ve had him for a while, but a couple more days won’t hurt anything. I can assure you he likes it here and he doesn’t have a problem with us.”

“I know, and tell them to be patient. I’m happy you finally found someone and they care enough to be mad about this for the next couple of days, but it will be alright.”

“Just because.”

“I don’t need a reason, Rita.”

139

Escape “Goodbye,” she said, sounded annoyed. She suddenly saw me standing there, and for a minute I thought she was going to start yelling because I had been eavesdropping. Luckily, she didn’t, rather she just gave me a small smile. “Are you bored, Marcus?” she asked.

I wanted to shout, “Yes!” but instead I just nodded.

“Well, I’m afraid I don’t really have much to do at my house. As it’s true we take kids in every now and again, they don’t stay long enough for me to really worry about buying them stuff to do. And we take boys and girls alike, so it would be kind of difficult to turn our guest bedroom into a combined gender child room. But if you want something to do, perhaps you should draw. I have some paper and crayons.”

I nodded, wondering what drawing meant. I’ve heard of paper, but not crayons. She looked in her bag and pulled out a box. I suddenly wondered why she had something that was supposed to be fun in her work bag. But I didn’t question it as she handed me the box. I sat on the table and pulled out some colorful sticks. I put them on the paper, causing them to put color onto the white surface. It was just a line, but I found it cool. I started to experiment with it and tried all sorts of strokes. I thought back to what she had said about drawing and realized she must have meant I could use these colors to make things other than lines.

“You know, Marcus,” Jolene said as she watched me, “I have the children I work with draw certain things for me. Drawing how you feel is a great therapy technique.”

I stared at her. How would I draw how I felt? In all honesty I had a mixture of emotions right now. When I was at the camp it was fear and sadness, now it was sadness from not having a family, jealousy of Lance and all he had that I didn’t, and more sadness knowing that once this test was done, in a few days I would be leaving the only people I ever felt an attachment to. And even if I did draw those, how would I go about doing it? How would you get a feeling into a picture? That certainly wasn’t something I was taught at camp.

“I don’t know what I feel,” I told her.

“Oh, I’m sure you do. Perhaps you just don’t recognize what you’re feeling. They have a foster family lined up for you. How does that make you feel? Excited? Nervous? Anything?”

“I don’t know,” I lied.

She sighed. “Well, if you’re telling the truth, maybe you should just try drawing. Creativity is always a good thing.”

I nodded as she got up and went into the living room. I stared down at the white paper, wondering what I could draw. I supposed sadness would be the best option, because that was what it all came down to.

Nervousness played a role, but sadness certainly overpowered it by a long shot. But how would I go about drawing it?

140

Chapter Nine I suddenly thought of something, and I went with it. On one side of the paper I drew myself in uniform back at the camp while it was raining.

It was very muddy and I didn’t look happy at all. I then drew a picture of myself in the clothes I got from Jolene, standing out in the rain outside of her house. Behind me was a pumpkin and it looked sad, soaked in the rain just as I was. People were harder to draw than I thought, but I thought I did alright being it was my first time and all. I looked back at it but didn’t smile. It was kind of depressing to look at. After I was done I went upstairs, not even bothering to take it with me. What did I want with it?

About an hour later I came out of the bathroom and heard William and Jolene talking downstairs. I didn’t know William was home, so I assumed we would be going soon and I should be ready.

“He’s obviously not happy here,” I heard her say.

“Maybe you’re just interpreting it wrong.”

“He drew himself with the same face he had back at that evil place,” she told him.

“Well, maybe we haven’t given him a reason to be happy yet. He doesn’t have a permanent place to stay right now, he has no identity, and in a few days’ time his life will change as he knows it. Well, more than it already has.”

She sighed. “Well, what do you want me to do about it? I’ve been doing my best. I’ve already gotten too attached as it is, and now I just need to back away. It would be a miracle if he was somehow Anthony.”

“Miracles don’t happen with this family,” he mumbled.

“Don’t say that. Even if he’s not Anthony, we have hope that we’ve never had before. I’m positive this camp has something to do with his disappearance, and if nothing else we can at least finally know what happened that night and what happened with Marcus. If the best happens and he’s somehow still alive, he can come and live with us again after we get that camp shut down.”

“And when will that be, exactly?”

She sighed. “This is a tough case, and I don’t know how much Marcus and Lance can help us with, being that they’re so young and may or may not be able to even lead us to it. It could take years.”

“Of course,” he mumbled.

“Go get Marcus. We’re going to get this settled once and for all.”

I went back to the guest room, the thought of miracles on my mind. I would give anything for a miracle right now. I hoped whoever had helped me to escape from that camp would be on my side now as well, and I would finally have something to call my own and someone who cared about me. I didn’t want to envy Lance anymore, and I wanted to finally be somebody. I didn’t want to leave. It just didn’t seem fair I landed in a place I liked just to be taken to another place I may or may not like. Even 141

Escape if they weren’t my parents, I thought I had to mean something to them.

But now I wasn’t so sure. This miracle was my last hope.

I went in the car yet again while they turned on a box up front and music came out. They seemed to know the songs word for word, and then they laughed at each other. I didn’t really understand it and just stared at the floor, trying to keep myself from getting sick. The fact I was moving yet standing still freaked me out just as much as before.

We soon arrived at a huge building where we all got out. I was super nervous and had butterflies in my stomach. Jolene and William didn’t seem to notice as I followed them. What were they going to do to me?

How could they accurately tell if I was related to someone?

We got in and they spent a while filling out paperwork. It looked like it was making Jolene nervous and William was trying to help her out. I just stood there, not sure what to do. I saw some other kids playing in a little room, but I thought it wise not to join them. I would probably just end up embarrassing myself.

When we finally went in I was at the height of my nervous point, and I think Jolene finally noticed because she was trying to tell me everything would be alright. She told me it would be simple and painless and there was no need to be afraid. Of course this didn’t help because I was stuck in my ways, but I tried to act better for her sake, and by time we got into the small room my mind was running with wild possibilities on what they would do to figure it out.

“This will be really quick, and then you’ll get the results back in a couple of days,” the lady told Jolene and William. I was surprised when I saw her take out a stick with a soft, white thing on the end. I was sure it wasn’t anything significant to Jolene or William, and I wondered what she would do with it.

“Open wide, honey,” the lady told me. I did so, and to my surprise all she did was swipe it on the inside of my cheek. Would it really be that easy? She did the same to Jolene and William, and then shook their hand as she escorted us all out.

Once we got back to the car I was quite confused. “Was it really that simple?” I asked them.

“Well, what did you expect?” William asked me. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but certainly something more than that. How could they figure something like that out from the liquid on your cheek?

“It’s all about biology,” Jolene explained. “What they took was a swab of your cheek cells. Cells are very tiny and can’t be seen by the eye, but they are there and they contain some important information about what you’re made up of.”

I just stared at her. Little things that your eye couldn’t see were in your cheeks? And not just that, but they had information about what I was 142

Chapter Nine made up of? That was crazy. I suddenly would never eat the same way again, knowing they were there.

When we got back to their house Melissa was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She smiled at us as we came through the door. “It’s about time you guys get home,” she told them. “I have some exciting news.”

“Ryan is moving?” William asked hopefully.

She gave him a look. “No. That wouldn’t be exciting.” He put his hands up in defense as Jolene laughed. “My play is next Tuesday, and he told me he’s for sure keeping me.” She pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to them. It had some words on it I didn’t have the time to make out along with a picture of a girl in a really poufy dress.

“That’s wonderful, honey,” Jolene said. “This is exciting. And of course your father and I will be there to support you and see our wonderful daughter perform.”

She smiled. “I probably should give you a heads up Ryan will be there too.”

“Just as long as he doesn’t sit by us, I could care less,” William said as Melissa sighed.

I looked down. I really wanted to see her perform as well, but obviously that wouldn’t be happening, because I would be gone before then. I suddenly hoped the results would take a while to come back. They could at least take long enough for me to see her play. But then again, I didn’t know if Jolene’s work would allow her to take me any longer. From the sounds of it they were ready to show up at her door at any minute and force me into a foster home. The thought scared me, but I guess I just had to trust Jolene knew what she was doing. And of course I was still waiting for my miracle. Waiting and hoping at that.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I was just thinking about too much and worried about too much. Thankfully tomorrow was Saturday, so I wouldn’t have to worry about the tutor coming over and my mind being somewhere else. When morning finally came I didn’t want to get out of bed, just because I was super tired and didn’t sleep at all. Thankfully no one really bothered me, so I stayed asleep for most of the morning.

When I finally woke up fully I was still feeling cruddy and tired, but not necessarily because I was sick. I came downstairs and saw Melissa on the couch watching TV. Jolene and William were nowhere in sight, so I decided to take a seat next to her.

“Hello, Marcus,” Melissa said. “I suppose I should be practicing right now, being my play is only a couple days away, but I’ll pass. I’m so sick of practicing, and my teacher will live if I take a little break. So what’s up?”

“The ceiling,” I replied, thinking that was a stupid question.

She laughed. “Oh, Marcus, you never fail to amaze me with how much you don’t know. No one ever used phrases like that at the camp?”

143

Escape I shook my head. I found it a strange phrase to use, but I suppose the camp was a lot different than here.

“So I don’t understand how Ryan found you out in the desert but didn’t notice anything.”

“We were far away from the camp by time he found us,” I explained.

“We had been walking for days.”

“Out in the hot desert? How did you manage to survive?”

“We learned a lot of survival skills while in the camp.”

She seemed to ponder this. “That’s interesting. I wonder what they wanted with you guys. It seems to me like they were training you for something. But what, and why young boys that were taken from homes?”

“I don’t know,” I told her. “They never told us anything.”

“Well, be assured my mother will get to the bottom of this, even if it’s not immediately. I’ve always loved a good mystery story, and now I’m suddenly living one.”

I shook my head. “You say that because you weren’t part of it.”

“Well, what did they do to you? Was it basically like basic training where you had to listen at all times and do tons of physical activity?”

“I don’t know what that is, but yes, it was very hard and we had to do lots of exercise. To top it off they didn’t feed us enough for all the work we had to do, and human life was never really important to them.”

“So how many boys were actually there? And did they ever have the chance to get away like you and Lance?”

“There was a lot. I never bothered to count. Once you turned eighteen you left the camp to go somewhere else. No one had come back to tell the tale, but everyone assumed it had to be better than camp because camp was so hard. Other than that there was no way. Lance and I were the first to escape on our own terms, and obviously the guards weren’t too happy about it.”

She nodded. “It sounds horrible.”

“It was very horrible.”

“Well, now you’re here and things will get better. I can sense a great future ahead, Marcus. Everything’s about to change.”

“I’m just going to be shoved into a foster home until they eventually give me back.”

“Don’t say that. Even if that were true, my mother would always be your social worker, so you would have one thing to look forward to, no matter how many families fail you. But personally, I don’t think that’s true. Just wait until tomorrow. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

I gave her a strange look. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about or why I should be excited, but I decided to smile at her regardless. At least someone had confidence everything would work out.

144

Chapter Nine The next day I came downstairs, feeling a little nervous. I wasn’t sure why.

Perhaps Melissa’s words still echoed in my head. I came down to see Jolene holding a big envelope, looking like she was on the verge of a panic attack. William was at her side trying to calm her down.

“Come on, mom, open it,” Melissa said.

“Don’t rush me,” Jolene said as she gave her a look. “I’m very nervous.”

“We’re all nervous,” William told her.

I just stood there, making no effort to hide myself. But they seemed so distracted they didn’t even notice. What was up with the letter? Was this was I had been nervous about? Did it have something to do with the DNA testing? I had a feeling they weren’t going to answer me, so I just stood there, waiting for what they planned to do with it.

She slowly opened the letter and pulled it out. All three of them crowded to see what it said. I suppose it didn’t matter if I saw it, because I wouldn’t be able to read it fast enough anyway.

“There is a 99.8 percent chance he’s related to us!” Jolene practically shouted. They all backed away, looking like they were in complete shock, as Jolene started to cry.

I backed up on the stairs, in shock myself. In shock and con-fused, actually. What did that number mean, and what had she just said?

“Honey, come here,” Jolene said through tears when she saw me on the stairs. I slowly came over there and she and William put their arms around me. Melissa looked like she wanted to join, but there was no room. “It’s alright,” Jolene told me through tears.

“You’re the son we lost nine years ago,” William told me, looking like he was trying to hold back tears himself. By this point I wasn’t in shock anymore, rather didn’t know what to think. Did my miracle really just happen? Did I suddenly have what I thought I could only dream? It didn’t take long for tears to come to my eyes as well and then the four of us cried together.

A couple hours later I sat on the stairs, pondering on the day’s events.

This was crazy. I was still trying to comprehend all this. I had a family?

And not just a family, but even a last name! Anthony Bevan, Anthony Bevan, Anthony Bevan. The name seemed so foreign to me, yet I loved it and was super excited to use it; to know I was someone and had a history.

Maybe it wasn’t much of a history, since I was only a baby when I was kidnapped, but it was certainly something, and it meant the world to me to have not only one, but three people in this world that cared about me and had missed me all these years.

I could still feel Jolene and William’s arms around me, telling me everything would be alright. I could still see their tears and hear their 145

Escape words. I wanted them to hold me again, because right now I didn’t know what to think. What were the odds I would run into them as the first family? What were the odds she wouldn’t send me to a foster family right away, rather keep saying they weren’t good enough? And they had certainly recognized I was their son before they even knew. It was crazy to think about, and I thought that perhaps I was finally getting what I deserved all along, and someone had to be on my side even though I had to suffer for all my life.

I could hear them talking in their room as I leaned against the banister.

I heard Jolene gently sobbing. “Just think of all he’s been through,” she told William through tears. “He’s been beaten and emotionally abused all his life. But what would one expect from someone who kidnapped little babies?”

“It’s alright, honey,” William said. “He’s with us now. No one can hurt him again. By some miracle he came right back to us, and thankfully we recognized it.”

“I just can’t believe the son we’ve wanted to find for eight years somehow ended up on our doorstep and I almost gave him away.”

“You didn’t know, so don’t beat yourself up. The important thing is we recognized it, and you didn’t give him away. Your motherly instinct had to have kicked in, whether you realized it or not.”

Jolene started to sniffle, although she wasn’t necessarily crying anymore. “I never thought I’d hold him in my arms again. After that night I sat on my bed and cried, wishing more than anything I could change back time because now I would never be able to hold him again. But I was wrong, because I’ve been holding him all month without realizing it.”

“You think it’s just you?” William asked. “I never thought I’d see him again either, and I thought it was crazy when I realized he’s been with us this entire time and I didn’t even notice. If it weren’t for Melissa I probably would have never got that DNA test and I probably would have let him go without realizing what I was doing.”

“We both might have,” she said with a sigh.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The fact is we didn’t, and now we can give him a better life along with getting our family back.”

It was silent for a moment. “I’m quitting my job,” she told him.

“Why?” William asked, sounding surprised.

“Anthony doesn’t know how to read, he doesn’t know how to write, he’s never had a real family or someone who cares about him, and he’s completely lost to the world and all it has to offer outside of that camp.

He needs me.”

“I can respect that. But what do you think Rita’s reaction to that will be?”

146

Chapter Nine “I don’t care what she says. I’ve waited years to get Anthony back, and now I’m going to be the best mother I can be. Melissa was older and less in need than Anthony is now when I first started working, so I didn’t feel completely guilty about it.”

“I agree,” he said. Then it was silent.

I curled up in a ball on the stairs, thinking about everything they had just said. Jolene, or my mother is a better word, must have really cared about me. It was comforting to know even when I was just little I had someone who cared about me and was pained when I was taken. It was also comforting to know I was taken from a loving family rather than handed over by bad parents like Lance had thought.

But I was nervous. Would these people like me? Would I be the ideal son they’ve wanted back for nine years? In my eyes I wasn’t much, and I could never imagine anyone actually liking me and wanting to be around me, so I worried these people just loved me now because I was their son that they had missed, but over time they would realize I wasn’t much and then horrible things would happen.

I looked up and saw Melissa come down. She gave me a smile, although I could tell she was wondering what I was doing on the stairs.

“Hello, Anthony,” she said. “Can I call you that? Believe me; it’s just as weird for me as it is for you.”

I smiled. “That’s fine,” I told her. I know I needed to start getting used to it, no matter how foreign it seemed. The fact it gave me an identity meant everything to me, so therefore I really wanted to start using it.

“Are you alright?” she asked me. “I understand this has been a lot to take in. It has for all of us.”

I nodded. “I’m fine. But, what if I’m not good enough? I’m really not much.”

“Oh, please,” she said as she sat down next to me on the stairs, “you think I’m good enough? I make mistakes all the time that displease my parents, and I’m really not much as a person either. The requirement to be in this family isn’t to be amazing, or even great, rather to just be a member and accept everyone for their imperfections. Look at our parents.

Dad’s a workaholic who was a complete loser in high school, while mom used to pick up already chewed gum off the sidewalk as a kid and now she’s the biggest klutz you’ll ever meet.”

I gave her a confused look. I wasn’t sure what gum was or why that was a problem, but I guess that made me feel a little better. “But you all at least know how to read and don’t act stupid all the time.”

“Anthony, you grew up in a place shielded from the outside world.

You’re not stupid. We all realize you haven’t had a lot of opportunities, and we’ve all learned to be patient. We don’t think you’re stupid.”

147

Escape I smiled at her. She could have just been saying that to make me feel better, but I decided to take it. As I sat there next to her I realized I had a sister. My dreaming in the camp always included parents, but now I even had a bonus. I got all I wanted and much, much more.

148

10 “Goodnight, honey,” my mother said as she gave me a kiss. I dreamed about my parents giving me a kiss goodnight all the time back at the camp, but nothing I imagined was as good as it actually was. My dad was standing behind her, also smiling.

“This is your room now, Anthony,” my dad told me as he pointed to the floor. “I know it’s kind of just boring and white right now, but in time it will become something you’ll like.”

I nodded. The thought of having my own room never really occurred to me. Back at camp I never imagined simple things like that. Having parents was all that I had ever wanted, so nothing else really seemed important. But I had to admit, I wasn’t complaining. Having a room to call my own sounded great.

“Well, we should get to bed,” my mother said. “We have work in the morning. I love you.”

I smiled; although I wasn’t quite to the point I could say I love you back. Maybe in time, though. She gave me a smile as her and William walked out and I turned to the other side. This could be a long night.

A couple hours later I was still wide awake. It was most likely a combination of sleeping in all morning and the day’s events. I stared up at the ceiling, wondering what would happen now. Everything was beginning to look too easy. There just had to be a catch somewhere. I supposed for a normal person they would take this as being perfect with no complaints, but I grew up in the worst of the worst situations without knowing who I really was until just today, so of course I was going to think things were going too well. I had a bad feeling something was going to blow up, and I could only hope it doesn’t take me away from my family again, and I hope I could finally have a normal life.

After I finished that thought I suddenly heard something at my window. I turned my head, wondering what it was, and got freaked out when I saw a face. My first reaction was to run and get my parents. They had to know what to do, because I certainly didn’t. At least I wasn’t alone this time.

I ran to their room, completely panicked, and started to cry. They both woke up with a start and gave me a concerned look. “Honey, what’s wrong?” my mother asked.

Escape “There was a man at my window,” I said through sobs. My father seemed to act immediately and went to go check it out as my mother tried to calm me down.

Melissa suddenly came in. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking really tired.

My father suddenly came in, looking angry. “There was someone there all right, but he ran when he saw me.”

“Someone was trying to break in?” Melissa asked.

“They weren’t trying to break in,” I said. “They were trying to get me.”

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” my father told me. “They can try all they want, but I can promise you they won’t succeed if I have anything to say about it. I don’t know who they are or what they want, but they won’t get it. I’ll bar the window if I have to.”

“Isn’t the point of baring the window to keep someone in, not out?”

Melissa asked. I was still freaked out, but that made me smile. My father didn’t seem to appreciate it as much and he gave her a look. “I’m just pointing it out is all,” she said with a smirk.

“This is a serious situation, Melissa,” William grumbled.

“Well, honey, I think you should sleep in our room tonight,” Jolene, or my mother, said. “And, Melissa, you’re more than welcome to as well.”

Melissa laughed. “Not happening. I know how to fight back in case I need to. Don’t worry about me.”

I didn’t want to burst her bubble and tell her how strong and viral those men were, but I figured they weren’t after her so it didn’t really matter. Although, I worried exactly how far they would go to get me.

Would they shoot my family? The thought worried me.

Melissa went back to bed and I snuggled in between my par-ents. It made me feel much safer and it was no time at all after that I managed to get some sleep.

When I woke up I was alone on the bed, assuming they had both gone to work. But I could hear my mother talking to someone in the hallway, sounding like she was pacing. “This is what I want,” she told the person on the other end. “I know you don’t understand, but I finally found the son I’ve only dreamed of finding for eight years, and I’m going to be the mom I never got the chance to be when he was taken from me. I only started this job because I didn’t want to be some bored housewife once Melissa started school, but now I have something to do because he’ll need a lot a help from me.”

“Oh, I’m very happy I have him back, but I have to leave.”

“It could take years to solve this case. I don’t have that kind of time. I put my two weeks’ notice in this morning and that’s my final stand. I’m sorry if you’re unhappy with my decision, but I think it’s what’s best for my family.”

150

Chapter Ten “I’m not being difficult, Rita,” she said in annoyance. “One day you’ll understand.”

“I have the DNA results if you’d like to see them. I can assure you I’m telling the truth.”

“Goodbye,” she told her as she hung up.

I sat up and looked around. I was pretty sure this was the first time I had ever been in this room. It was their room, my parents, I mean. Since this was never really my house, I didn’t go in here because I would feel like I was invading personal territory. But as I looked around I got a bit curious.

Of course it had a bed in the center, and then it had many decorations along the walls with a bathroom to the side. There were also more family portraits apart from the ones that were in the living room. To the side I saw a huge shelf full of books. I supposed one of them liked to read, because there were a lot of them. I smiled when I thought I would eventually be able to read books like those, and I hopefully wouldn’t have to deal with the tutor anymore.

She came into the room and gave me a smile. “Good morning, honey.

Would you like some breakfast?”

I nodded. Food was always good.

Once breakfast was ready my mother sat down to eat with me. She had a different glow to her than I normally saw. I couldn’t really explain it, but it was nice to know I was the cause of it. Well, either that or finally leaving her job. But I was aiming more toward finding me.

“Life has a crazy way of working itself out, doesn’t it?” she said as she gave me a smile. She then rushed over and gave me a kiss on a forehead as well as a hug. I smile back, happy to feel her kiss. “That tutor will no longer be needed, because from now on I’ll be teaching you. If you work hard enough you’ll be on the same level as children your age in no time.

You’re very smart. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Did you quit your job for me?” I asked as she pulled away.

“Well, of course I did. Don’t feel guilty about it. As much as I liked it, it was very stressful and time consuming. I was never home and it was starting to take a toll on Melissa, since your father was never home either.

But things are going to change now. I haven’t seen your father as happy as he was when he left for work this morning in years. He was even whistling when he got ready for work this morning. Trust me; no one is losing from my decision. Now we’re going to be the happy family that I’ve always wanted.”

It kind of bothered me she wanted to send me away before even though she had an attachment to me, and now that I was her son suddenly everything changed. I guess that proved she cared about me, but was it because of me personally or just because I was her son? I suppose I 151

Escape had no reason to complain, but it still made me wonder. Maybe over time they would start to like me for me.

“Can I call Lance?” I asked her. I wanted to tell him everything. I had to tell him I got the family I always wanted and Melissa was now my older sister. I know he would be happy for me, and most likely surprised since he was completely wrong. He had to know I finally got what I had always wanted all these years and what we had been talking about since we got here.

“Well, of course,” she told me. “Tell Lance he shouldn’t be a stranger.

He technically already knows us, so he should have no problem staying over every now and again. I would hope you guys would still stay friends.”

I nodded. My already now perfect life seemed to be getting even more perfect. I went over to the phone and dialed his number while my mother put the dishes away. She whistled as she did it, causing me to smile. It rang many times, but there was no answer. I finally heard a guy’s voice, but it wasn’t the original hello I was supposed to hear, rather him talking like he wasn’t actually talking to me.

“He didn’t say hello,” I said to her. She took the phone from me and then suddenly smiled.

“That’s just his answering machine. He’s probably busy. Lance should have started school by now, after all. Just call him later tonight.”

I nodded, although I didn’t think I could wait that long. I had to tell him everything that had happened. I was sure he would have a mouthful to say back.

“Well, what do you say we do some reading? I’m not sure how much you already know, so we’ll have to figure it out.”

I nodded enthusiastically and then followed her into the living room.

She picked out a simple children’s book and then we both sat on the couch, me sitting on her lap, as I read it to her. I was going really slowly, but I seemed to do alright with most words, and she didn’t have to correct me that often. I decided I loved being in her arms. It was hard for me to comprehend she held me as a baby and I grew inside her. I had never really seen a woman up until recently, and I had to say: I really liked them.

From the two—not counting Rita—that I’ve met so far, I only have nice things to say. And I couldn’t have been happier I finally had a mother, and a really awesome and caring one at that.

We read for most of the day because she told me reading was the first step to being able to learn anything else so we would have to hold off for a while. But she assured me if I kept going as fast as I was I would be to normal level in no time at all. I thought she was just trying to make me feel good, because I didn’t feel that way. But I guess as my mother, it was her job to look for the best in me.

152

Chapter Ten My father got home around six, and there was still no sign of Melissa.

I assumed it was because of her play, but she had never gone this long before.

“Welcome home, honey,” my mother said to my father as she gave him a kiss. “Now that you’re home I’m going shopping.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I have a ton of things I need to get. Anthony will be staying with us permanently now. Don’t you think he needs some more clothes and something to do?”

“I suppose. But what am I supposed to do?”

“You and Anthony should spend some time together. I have a feeling Melissa won’t be home for a while, so it’s the perfect opportunity.”

He nodded. She gave him another kiss and then left. He turned to me and gave me a smile. “Hey, Anthony, what do you say we get some icecream?”

I nodded enthusiastically. I had had ice-cream a little after I came here, and I loved it.

We both got in the car as my father backed out of the driveway. I felt a little nervous. I didn’t know him as well as I did my mother. I knew he was a nice guy from the things I had learned about him so far, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t feel a little nervous about being alone with him.

He didn’t turn on the music like they normally did, rather just focused on the road with a slight smile. By this point I was better with cars than I had been in the past, but I still wasn’t perfect, and I had to avoid looking out the window.

“So, Anthony,” he said as if saying the name made him feel on top of the world. I was still getting used to it, so every time he said it it gave me this strange feeling. “Have you enjoyed staying here these past couple weeks?”

I nodded. There was a reason I was upset I would have to leave.

“That’s good. Your mother’s really happy all this worked out. She must really love you if she’s willing to give up her job for you, because she didn’t seem like she enjoyed being a stay at home mom all that much when Melissa was little. But at the same time she didn’t really seem to like Rita that much. She always complained she was bossy and made her life difficult to the point she didn’t want to go to work some mornings. I’m sure she’ll like helping you to read more.”

I smiled. I sure hope he was right. I already felt like enough of a burden, since they had no plans to keep me up until they found out I was their son. But I suppose I should give at least my mother more credit, since she didn’t just pawn me off on a nanny or a babysitter, rather quit her job so she could be with me personally. It made me feel very special.

153

Escape “Do you like your job?” I asked him. He seemed to work a lot, but then he didn’t seem to like it, so I was always confused.

He sighed. “I don’t love it, and I certainly don’t like it more than being home. Let’s just say I’m a complete work alcoholic and I work too much even though I know I shouldn’t. But that will change. I can promise you I’m getting better, and the company will be fine with or without me being there all the time. It’s not like we ever needed the extra hours. I’ve always made plenty of money, thankfully.”

“But will you still once Jolene quits her job?” I couldn’t bring myself to say mother just yet. Well, at least not out loud. Luckily, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

He smiled. “I’m a CEO. Your mother doesn’t even need a job, and I don’t need a ton of extra hours. We only have two children. I have a feeling we’ll be fine.”

I thought back to what Lance had said about his dad having a lot of money. Was that a normal part of the world? Money was never something I thought about often, seeing as it was just a piece of paper I never used but I was told could it could get you things, but I never imagined everyone had a ton of it. Most of the boys said they came from very poor families. There was a lot I would ask if I could, but I was always too shy and thought it would sound stupid. They seemed to know everything I didn’t.

We pulled up to a small building with a picture of an ice-cream on it. I decided it was best not to read signs, because my mother had told me the words on signs could be a bit confusing since they were brand names and not normal words.

I followed William into the building and we went up to the desk.

Everything here looked so open and clean, even though people were eating together. That was something that certainly didn’t happen back at camp.

I tried to read the words on the board in the back, but I was having issues since there was so many of them and they certainly weren’t like the words I read in my children’s books. But after a few minutes my trying seemed to be embarrassing my father. I figured it was because the lady was giving him a weird look.

“Hello, Angelina,” my father said with a smile. “I’m surprised to see you here. Do you have two jobs?”

“Working minimum wage at some big shot company doesn’t exactly pay the bills, so yes,” she said bitterly.

“Well, we all have to start somewhere. I’m sure you’ll work your way up someday.”

She gave him a look and then said, “Can I take your order?”

154

Chapter Ten I continued to stare at the board, not knowing what to do because I couldn’t read fast enough or well at all just in my head. I was alright with reading out loud, though. “Well, I would like maple nut please.”

He turned to me, but I had no idea what I wanted. Why were little decisions so hard? “And Anthony here would like mint chocolate chip,” he said when he saw I wasn’t going to respond.

She gave him a confused look, and now I understood I was probably embarrassing him. I looked down, mad that I was so stupid.

“So, who’s this?” she asked after he had paid for them.

“This is my son, Anthony,” he explained. “Anthony, this is a person from my work. We don’t run into each other often, since we basically do two completely different jobs, but we very much know who each other are.”

I don’t know if he noticed, but I swore I heard her mumble, “Thank goodness.”

She began to make our ice-cream, and I watched as she mixed some things into it along with putting it in a bowl. “I didn’t know you had a son,” she said. “I’ve heard many stories of your daughter, but not a son.”

“Yeah, I have a son.”

She nodded, looking like she was deep in thought. She finally gave us our ice-cream and my dad smiled at her in which she didn’t return. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but it was clear they didn’t like each other.

We sat down and began to eat our ice-cream. For some reason he was smiling at me as I ate it. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that when you eat your ice-cream you stick your tongue out of your mouth. That’s how your mother eats it. I always found it strange, but I suppose it’s kind of interesting.”

How was it that everyone was noticing all these things about me and being related to my parents except me? First the chicken, then the feet, and now the ice-cream? I didn’t realize I was so much like them. I suddenly became self-conscious after that and tried to stop, but it was harder than I thought. It just seemed so natural.

“So, is learning how to read with your mother going well?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t read the sign,” I told him.

He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like any of this was your fault. But in time everything will return to normal.”

“They’ll never leave me alone, so it will never be normal.”

“It doesn’t matter what they do, because they won’t get any-where if I have a say in it. Besides, your mother’s work is still on the case, and in a little bit they’ll catch whoever’s responsible.”

“No one has caught them yet, so what makes you so sure? There were hundreds of boys at that camp. I was just a number.” The number kept 155

Escape flashing in my head. 1653. 1653. I would never forget it. I would never forget that or Marcus. They were both a part of my history, even if I had something better now.

“You’re not just a number, Anthony. It doesn’t matter what they told you or taught you at that place. Things have changed now. In time all those boys will be helped, but for now only so much can be done.”

I looked down. Why didn’t I believe him? I suppose I had accomplished more than any boy had ever accomplished before by escaping, but now I couldn’t just leave all the other boys there, including Lance, while I lived it up with a father that promised me he wouldn’t let them take me. It just didn’t seem fair. Those boys deserved a good life too.

I finished up my ice-cream, but he wasn’t quite done yet. I felt angry and I suddenly just wanted to go home. Those boys were still suffering there while I was here living it up. Why was I doing this? But I had a feeling if I asked my mother for help she would just tell me she didn’t work there anymore, and I already knew what Rita’s reaction would be. It made me upset.

“I know you’ve been through a lot,” he continued, “but we all have in a way. I’m not saying our suffering is equal, but I am saying we all have each other and we can take a step back from the past and look to a brighter future.”

I looked down. He didn’t understand. Maybe I had a brighter future from my horrible past, but what about all the other boys? They all took me under their wing, and this was how I repay them?

When we got home both Melissa and my mother were home, and my mother looked a bit panicked as she was talking to someone on the phone. “When did this happen?” she asked the person on the other end.

“Are you serious? Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“Oh, don’t play that way, Rita. I’m technically not off anything for another couple weeks, so don’t even bother.”

“Well, are there any leads?”

“Great, just great.”

We both gave Melissa a look, wondering what was going on. She shrugged, knowing just as much as we did. “Yes, I’m worried.”

“Because someone tried to break into our house last night as well, but they didn’t succeed.”

“Yes, it’s very concerning.”

“I have to go.”

“Yes, I’m hanging up on you. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and sighed.

“What’s going on?” my father asked. “Was someone else’s house broken into?”

156

Chapter Ten “This is bad,” she said, sounding like she was having trouble breathing.

“What’s bad?” my father asked as he came up to her and tried to calm her down.

“Lance was taken in the middle of the night last night, I’m guessing by the same men Anthony saw at his window.”

“What?” I asked in shock. No, Lance couldn’t go back to that horrible place. They would kill him for sure. I had lost too many friends to the land of the death and that stupid camp. I couldn’t lose Lance too.

“She said his father called the police but by time they got there they were long gone. Not even a trace could help them identity who he was or where he took him. His father said he heard Lance call out for help in the middle of the night but by time he got to his bedroom it had been completely deserted. He said not even his older brother that slept next door got there in enough time.”

I felt tears come to my eyes, and my mother tried to comfort me. “It’s alright, honey. We’ll figure this out. I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

“No, he won’t,” I said through tears. “No one has ever escaped that camp before; we’re the first ones. They’ll kill him for sure. They always made the punishment very clear, but we took the risk.”

My father looked down, like what I had just said bothered him. My mother also looked concerned, although she still looked like she was still in shock. “We need to calm down,” she told us. “It’s not too late. Honey, do you remember where that camp is at all? Maybe we could find it. I certainly don’t want to see anything happen to Lance, and I want all the other boys to have good lives too away from that terrible place.”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “We were walking in the desert for days before Ryan picked us up, and I didn’t really pay attention to where we went or how we got there.”

She shook her head.

“Well, I know one thing’s for sure,” my father said. “They didn’t get Anthony last night, and they never will. I won’t make the same mistake twice. They can try all they want, but I will continue to fight. I’m sure they won’t give up because they don’t want anyone to find out about what they do, but they’ll be punished and they won’t get their last one.”

My mother forced a smile, but I couldn’t bear. Now that they had Lance they would be after me next. I was scared. I believed my father in what he said, but I couldn’t help but worry something’s were just out of his power and they would somehow get their way whether he liked it or not. I couldn’t go back to that place. Now that I knew something better I couldn’t bear to go back to the torture they gave me. I didn’t want to feel one of their beatings again, or climb another tall mountain without shoes.

I didn’t want to run off six hours of sleep and a little bit of food every mealtime while doing vigorous exercise. I wanted to stay here with what I 157

Escape finally got as my dream. I hoped more than anything they didn’t get me, and my father would stop at nothing to make sure that happened.

That night at dinner I had a ton on my mind. I couldn’t eat, and I resorted just to picking at my food while my mother tried to lighten the mood.

“So, how did your ice-cream trip go?” she asked.

I chose not to reply. The ice-cream trip was the last thing on my mind right now.

“We ran into Angelina,” my father said bitterly.

Melissa and my mother both started to laugh, and I suddenly remembered the lady he didn’t seem to like. “Who was she?” I asked.

“A girl dad has a huge history with,” Melissa replied.

My father just took another bite of his food, looking like it was a bad memory.

“What kind of history?” I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

“Your father was dating this girl while he was in college,” my mother explained. “They dated for years and then he graduated and got a high up job at a very important company. She dropped out of college and got a job through some connections with him, but it was a very low pay one.

She was convinced she wouldn’t need a high pay one because she would marry him and he would take care of her.”

“Then he dumped her on Valentine’s Day,” Melissa said, “and she wasn’t happy about it.”

“It was not on Valentine’s Day,” my father said defensively. “She told everyone that to make me look like the bad guy. It was on the fifteenth.”

“Which changes everything,” Melissa said sarcastically.

“Hey, I bought her some chocolate. It wasn’t like I tried to get out of the holiday or anything.”

They both started to laugh. I had no idea what Valentine’s Day was or why it was so significant, but I decided to smile just so I wouldn’t look stupid.

“She was very clingy, and I never told her I was going to marry her.

She seemed to assume that and then she told everyone that, causing me to freak out a little. Sure, we were dating, but I was only in college and I didn’t know what I wanted, nor did I want to get married anytime soon.

She chose to drop out of college and I even tried to talk her out of it. I felt bad so that’s why I got her the job, but I certainly didn’t want to marry her—so I saved us both the pain and broke up with her, then she went crazy.”

“She left him all these hate letters after he married mom,” Melissa said.

“I remember as a little girl I would find one and ask dad what it said and he would get all defensive and throw it away, telling me it wasn’t important.”

158

Chapter Ten “She came to our wedding just to stand up and give this big, long speech about how I didn’t really love him and we would be divorced in no time at all right before the preacher declared us man and wife,” my mother explained.

“I still find that funny,” Melissa said. “I really wish I could have been there. But seeing the video Uncle Dalton recorded was pretty good. She truly was crazy.”

“It was embarrassing, and believe me I was mad. She almost ruined my wedding. Your father had to hold me back from throwing a shoe at her.”

“She almost did,” my father said. “As tempting as it was to watch her do it, it probably wasn’t the best idea.”

“Then dad started to get really high up in his company, causing her and a lot of the other employees to get jealous of his success,” Melissa continued. “She blamed dad for her problems, claiming he was the reason she had this low job and she couldn’t make her bills. She blamed him for never getting married because she had such bad trust issues she could never trust a man again.”

“Like I said, crazy,” he said. I found myself smiling. This was actually a pretty interesting story. She did sound crazy.

“Then she crossed the line one day. After you got kidnapped dad started to blame the people at his work, since they all didn’t like him and were jealous of his success,” Melissa continued. I was egger to hear this now. I was a part of this?

“I would hear them talk all the time about how my life was perfect and I didn’t understand what it was like to have a trial,” my dad said. “I was sure one of them plotted it and either wanted money or just wanted to teach me a lesson, but, yes, I’ll admit I blamed it on them.”

“Well, she wasn’t very nice about it,” my mother said. “She told your father there was finally something imperfect with his perfect life and it served him right. He blew up on her and pretty much told her one day he would get the chance to fire her, and he couldn’t wait for that day to come.”

“For the record, I didn’t. It was completely an in the heat of the moment thing. Once I actually got up high enough I could fire her, I didn’t. Sadly, she never bothered to go back to school or even find another job, so now I’m stuck seeing her every day.”

“I bet she was mad when she saw Anthony,” Melissa laughed. “Now she’ll just go back to thinking your life is perfect.”

“My life is far from perfect,” he mumbled.

I smiled, and then I suddenly remembered my little problem earlier today. I guess that story at least got it off my mind for a little while.

Once nighttime came around my father told me I should sleep in their room tonight because he didn’t want to take any chances. “Whoever they 159

Escape were they’re most likely coming back, and be assured I know how to handle them if they did.”

I didn’t object. Sleeping with them wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t like either one of them snored, and I quite liked falling asleep in my mother’s arms.

160

11 My mother had to go to work the next day, so I was stuck with the tutor again. She explained to me she put in her two weeks’ notice which meant she only had to go for a little bit longer and then she could stay with me all the time. It wasn’t like I was a complete baby that had to have her around, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want her around. I liked spending time with her.

But at least I had something to look forward to today. Melissa’s play started today and my mother said the entire family was going. I was upset about not being able to go before, but now that I’m a family member I not only could go, but I should go. It was nice to know. The only thing I knew about plays was that you didn’t act like yourself in them, rather someone else. It was something I wanted to do now that I could live a normal life.

But in the meantime, I had to deal with the tutor. She looked just about as happy to be back as I did. I supposed since she thought these were her last couple weeks anyway she didn’t have to have patience, and it showed.

“Marcus, what does T-H-R-O-U-G-H spell?”

“My name’s Anthony,” I mumbled.

She rolled her eyes. “Just answer the question.”

“Through,” I told her. Weren’t we passed this by now?

We both turned around when someone walked in the door. I was in shock a bit when I saw it was my father. Sure, he had been known to come home early occasionally, but not this early, and never before my mother. It was only three o’clock. But I was very thankful he would save me from having to do anymore of this pointless work.

“Oh, don’t let me interrupt you guys,” he said with a smile. “I’ll just be upstairs.”

My hope was shattered as he walked upstairs and I turned back to the tutor. She started on more simple words. I was long passed all this with my mother.

Once four o’clock rolled around she didn’t hesitate to stop the lesson, since my father was home. I was super happy as I pretended to wave goodbye and then headed upstairs. I went toward my father’s room, but I didn’t hear anything. I wondered what he was doing in there and why he had come home so early for that matter. I brushed it off and then headed

Escape to my own room, smiling as I walked in. I took in the smell. It felt amazing to have a room I could call my own.

I went over to the closet and noticed all the clothes that had been neatly hung up. That was something my mother did last night. I was a little overwhelmed by all the choices of what I could wear this morning, and in the end I closed my eyes and picked one at random. I had always worn the same thing all my life. This was all so much to take in.

I stared down at my jacket, jeans, and sneakers. I couldn’t believe I was actually looking down at myself. I was still trying to get used to the concept.

I fell on my bed and began to think. What would happen now? If they haven’t been able to find us for the past twenty or so years, what makes now any different? I know William said they would never find me, but what made him so sure? They knew where I was at, and they got Lance so easily. They got me once as well…

I tried not to think about it as I stared at the ceiling. The feeling of being alone started to come over me again, so I headed downstairs. I hated the feeling.

I came downstairs and considered watching some TV when I heard someone in the kitchen. I came over to see who it was and then watched as William stepped back, looking like I had scared him.

“Anthony?” he said when he realized it had been me. “You scared me.

I thought your mother had come home.”

I gave him a curious look. What was he trying to hide from her?

“Your mother is crazy about things you can build in bottles,” he explained. “I used to make them when I was a kid and I gave one of them to your mother when we were dating. She still has it to this day, and she loves it when I make a new one. I know things have been really crazy these past couple weeks, but it’s our anniversary tomorrow and I wanted to make it extra special this year.” He pointed toward a ship looking thing in a glass bottle. I stared at it, wondering how he got it in there. “I know she’ll love it, but in the meantime let’s hope she doesn’t come home early so the surprise will be ruined.” I watched him pull out some glue and put it around the edges.

“How did the ship get in there?” I asked.

He laughed. “That’s the point of the project. I put the ship in there one piece at a time. It’s not easy, but the final result is very worth it, and I certainly enjoy the process.”

I nodded. That seemed kind of interesting.

“Maybe one of these times we’ll have to do one together. I think it’s a great father-son project.”

I smiled. I just hoped I was here for that long. But something else had been bothering me. “What’s an anniversary?” I asked.

162

Chapter Eleven He gave me a troubled look and the stupid feeling came back. I knew he wasn’t trying to make me feel stupid; he was probably just a little concerned I didn’t know something as simple as that.

“It’s the date of the day we got married,” he explained. “So eighteen years ago tomorrow we were married, and we celebrate that date every year.”

I nodded in understanding. That seemed a little strange. Why bother to keep repeating something? Then again, it was the same concept with a birthday. Well, I never celebrated my birthday, but if I did I’m sure it would be a lot like an anniversary.

“You shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions, Anthony. I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised to how much you don’t know, but don’t think we won’t answer them if you want to know something. You can’t learn anything by not asking questions.”

He must have read my face. I could never act like Melissa could. I would give things away, no matter how hard I tried.

He picked the bottle up and slowly took it upstairs. I watched him as he walked upstairs and carefully opened the door, as if he had something really important and fragile in his hands. I sat down on the couch and just stared down at the floor. I had everything I had ever wanted, yet I still wasn’t happy. I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because there was still that little voice at the back of my head that said this wouldn’t last long, and then there was another little voice that said they didn’t like me for me; they just liked me because I was their son. I wanted more than anything for someone to like me for me, but that seemed impossible.

The bosses liked me because I never complained and I knew how to work my body to its max, the boys at the camp liked me because I never stood up for myself so they were able to walk all over me, Lance liked me because I willing to help him escape from that horrible place, and now my family likes me solely for the fact I’m their son. None of these things were my personality. But then as I thought about it, did I even have a personality? Of course I knew everyone had a personality, but I was just the shy kid that always went with what people told me to do. Could I ever think for myself?

I sat back on the couch and closed my eyes, wondering what would happen from here. The door suddenly opened and I didn’t need to look up to know it was my mother.

“Hello, Anthony,” she said with a smile as I looked over at her. “We’re going to your sister’s play soon. I bet you’re exited. I know I am. I think she has many talents, even those that she might not think we’re there. She didn’t think that she would get the part, and now she’s performing on stage as one of the main characters.”

163

Escape I tried to smile, even though I really didn’t feel like it. I wish I had lots of talents, but since I spent most of my life doing vigorous activity, I was already behind. I remembered how Melissa had said she wasn’t amazing either and wondered if she had just been trying to make me feel better.

She sure sounded amazing to me.

When my father came back down both of my parents seem excited.

“This will be fun,” my mother told me. “This will be our first official family outing, even though your sister won’t technically be with us.” She came over and put a coat on me. It was black and looked really warm, but I wondered why she thought I needed it. I was just fine with a simple jacket, let alone a coat. And I didn’t remember seeing it hanging up in my closet.

We got in the car and started to drive somewhere. At least I knew the men wouldn’t know to look for me wherever we were going. Just for the next couple hours, I was guaranteed to be safe. That made me feel much better.

We pulled up in front of a building. It had nice grass, as every building around here seemed to have, and steps that led up to double doors. I tried to make out the words on the sign. “Seacrest High School,” I read out loud. I didn’t read it super-fast, but I didn’t take an hour to read it either, so I was satisfied.

“See, Anthony,” my mother said with a smile. “You’re getting better at reading already. This is where you’ll be going someday.”

I smiled at the thought, and then I realized I was on school grounds. I had to savor this moment. I know Lance said school sucked, but that was his opinion. Someday seemed like so far away, especially with how stupid I seemed to be. It just didn’t seem fair.

I walked up the steps and imagined walking up them with a backpack on. Someday I would get there. I supposed if my mother had that kind of confidence I should too, but she seemed so nice sometimes I wondered if she said stuff like that just to spare my feelings.

When we got inside I immediately saw tons of teenagers all over the place. Some were talking to each other, some were on their way somewhere carrying something, some were sitting at a table with a metal box in front of them, and others were just standing around like they were waiting for something.

I looked around as far as I could see, taking it all in. I saw a room on the other side and I desperately wanted to go inside it. What did a classroom even look like? Lance had described a board thing that you could write on in the front and individual seats with something to write on them for students. Someday I would be in a classroom.

164

Chapter Eleven My parents came up to one of the teenagers sitting next to the metal box and handed them some money. The girl smiled at them and then handed them three tickets. We all went in.

I was now standing in a giant room packed with seats of all sorts.

There were many more seats than there were people, and I wondered why. There was a curtain in the front that was closed, and I figured whatever was behind it was what we came to see. I also figured Melissa was behind it. I couldn’t wait to see her.

“Where do you want to sit, honey?” my mother asked me.

I shrugged. As if I cared. I could see from anywhere. Leaving any type of decision up to me was a bad idea. She smiled and then her and my father ended up choosing somewhere in the middle. I was fine with that.

I didn’t really get a choice on where I wanted to sit, because my mother motioned toward me to come and sit by her, and then my father sat on the other side so I was in the middle. I guess this all came back to they hadn’t seen me since I was a baby and they wanted to get some good bonding time in.

I looked over and suddenly saw Ryan coming up the walkway. I got nervous, wondering if my dad would start anything. “Hey, Anthony,” Ryan said with a smile, “catch!” He threw a small bag at me and I caught it quite easily. I stared at it and read that it was a bag of something called Skittles.

“Why don’t you come and sit by us, Ryan?” my father asked with a smile.

He gave him a frightened, wondering what he was trying to pull. “I’m sure it would make it easier for Melissa to find us if we were all together.”

Ryan sluggishly made his way over and slowly sat down one seat away from my father. He looked like my father was going to lash out on him at any minute.

“I think I was wrong about you, Ryan,” my father said with a smile.

“After all, we have a lot to thank you for.”

Ryan suddenly smiled, and then it dawned on me. Ryan had been the one that found me and Lance! Of course he had a lot to thank him for. I smiled at the thought. I finally got my father to like Melissa’s boyfriend.

“Well, glad I could be of assistance, Mr. Bevan,” Ryan said, attempting to smile as well. “I guess things in life just end up working themselves out, whether you want them to or not. But does this mean you’ll start letting Melissa come over to my house after school?”

“Don’t push it,” my father said as my mother laughed. Ryan sat back, seeming to know what was good for him.

I opened the bag of Skittles and ate one. I immediately spit it out, not liking all the sugar I tasted. “I take it you don’t like Skittles, Anthony?” my mother asked with a smile.

165

Escape “What kid doesn’t like Skittles?” Ryan asked. “That’s like a sin.” His words meant nothing to me, because I was far from normal and most likely would never be normal.

“Well, if he doesn’t want them I’ll gladly take them,” my father said as he took the bag from me. My mother shook her head.

“You are such a kid, William,” she told him.

“Hey, why let good Skittles go to waste? Besides, you’re never too old for Skittles.”

We waited there for about another five minutes before the show began. I stared at it the entire time, moved by every word.

A girl came out and seemed to stare off into the crowd. “My life seems so boring,” she told the crowd. Or at least I thought she was telling the crowd. She was looking at us. She was standing by a stone thing. It was hard to watch a play when you knew almost nothing. I lived out in the middle of a desert in a tent. I didn’t know what a lot of this stuff was.

“Every day seems the same. But perhaps one day I can find what I’m looking for.”

Ryan made a sound that sounded like a chuckle, but he pre-tended to be watching intently when my father looked over. I didn’t get it, but I continued to watch.

The girl started to sing, and she actually had a really nice voice. The scene suddenly turned and I got excited when I saw Melissa. She was wearing a really pretty dress and a crown. She was standing next to this boy. They started to talk about marriage plans, and he didn’t seem very excited.

Here are the basics of the story: the guy doesn’t really like her and wants to marry the other girl, but he can’t because one’s a princess and the other isn’t. The guy seemed to try everything to change this, but with no luck. Then the other girl was on her way to meet the guy when Melissa came up, still wearing a dress, and came close to him. “Someday you’ll realize you have no choice but to like me,” Melissa told her. I noticed her voice sounded different. I supposed that was just part of acting. “And with that day comes I’ll still be standing here. I still can’t believe you honestly don’t see that I’m the best for you and she’s just some stupid peasant, but let me know when the day finally comes.”

“It will never come,” he told her with confidence. “I love her, and someday we’re going to marry.”

Melissa shook her head. “We shall see.” And then I was taken by surprise when she suddenly kissed him. He seemed taken by surprise as well, although I wasn’t sure if that was just part of the whole acting thing.

She then released him with a smirk and walked away, leaving him to stand there like he had just seen a ghost.

166

Chapter Eleven I looked over at Ryan and he didn’t look very happy. He seemed to be eying the guy and then he shifted around in his seat a little. My father didn’t look much better. I wondered if I would ever kiss a girl. The thought seemed absurd to me, being that I’ve lived with boys all my life, but maybe someday. I was in a completely different world now, as Lance had said. I had to look to the brighter side of things.

The other girl seemed upset Melissa had kissed him, and the boy tried to explain to her that he didn’t really like Melissa. The girl didn’t seem to take this and she wasn’t very happy with him.

Everyone else looked rather bored by the end of it, but I had been watching intently the entire time. This was rather interesting. “And now we await our lives together,” the guy told the other girl. He seemed to have written Melissa off. “And now we have our happy ending.”

The curtain was drawn and everyone began to clap. The people came back out and bowed, in which everyone clapped louder. Ryan and my mother were practically out of their seats and cheering Melissa’s name when she bowed, but my father and I were just clapping normally. I didn’t see the point, and I’m not sure what his excuse was.

We met Melissa backstage after the play. “Who writes these things?” my father asked her. She was still in her dress, and she looked tired. “That was the corniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“William,” my mother scolded. “Your daughter was in it.”

“That just means she can do anything, not that it’s not corny.”

She sighed as Melissa shook her head. “I have to admit it was pretty corny, but it was cute, and I liked it.”

“Yeah,” William mumbled.

Ryan came up to her and gave her some flowers. “You did a wonderful job,” he told her.

“Aw, how sweet,” she said. “See, guys, Ryan gave me flowers.”

“That was nice of him,” Jolene said with a smile. William didn’t comment, and this seemed to bother Melissa.

I saw the girl that had been playing the other girl come up. “Wasn’t that great?” she asked with a smile. “I loved it, and I’m very proud of it.”

“It was terrific,” Jolene told her with a smile.

She seemed to stare at me. “And who’s this?”

“This is my brother,” Melissa proudly said as she motioned toward me.

The girl gave her a strange look. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Yep. Life is crazy, heh?”

She seemed to study her, and I figured Melissa didn’t want her asking questions. I got the vibe they didn’t want me to go around and tell people I had come from a camp and now I was with them. That was alright, 167

Escape though, because I didn’t want to go around and tell people that either.

That wouldn’t make people see me as normal.

“How old is he?” she asked.

“Nine,” Melissa replied. The girl nodded, still staring me down.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked my mother.

“Over on the other side of the hallway,” she told me.

“Do you need me to go with you, Marcus?” William asked.

I was rather embarrassed. “No, I can go by myself.” As if I needed help doing something simple as going to the bathroom.

He looked embarrassed as well, and I could tell Melissa was trying to keep from laughing. “Yes, go on then.”

It didn’t take me long to find the bathroom. Once I was done I went to go wash my hands, enjoying the warm, running water. We had running water back at the camp; where it came from beat me, but it wasn’t warm, rather cold. But it wasn’t all that bad, because it got so hot there during the summer that cold water was nice. But it sucked during the winter.

Everything sucked during the winter. It was cold and miserable, no one having any shoes or a jacket. Given, summer wasn’t much better. People might not be in danger of freezing to death, but a lot of people passed out from heat exhaustion. I did once, and it’s not a feeling I want to repeat.

On my way out I almost ran into someone, and I seemed to startle him. I recognized Ryan. “Anthony?” he asked. “You scared me. It’s not every day you run into someone when going to the bathroom.” If that was supposed to be a joke, I didn’t find it funny.

“Have you and Melissa been together for a while?” I asked him. I wanted to know more about this feeling between a boy and a girl that I saw everywhere.

“Well, I suppose,” he said rather hesitantly. “We’ve been to-gether for almost a year.”

“And how did you guys figure out you liked each other?”

He gave me a strange look, probably wondering why I wanted to know. Then he suddenly sighed. “Listen, Anthony; your sister is such an amazing person. I never felt up to her standards, and in reality I never actually was. When we first met I was the loser that had a battle daily just to find a lunch table to sit at, while she was the girl that always seemed to have tons of people around her. My dad took off when I was a kid, so I was raised by my single mother, and money was never something I had a lot of. I liked her, but I never saw hope in getting her to even acknowledge my existence. After all, her father was a CEO, and she was the type of person that never wore the same outfit twice.

“We ran into each other one night when she was walking alone. I asked her where she was headed and she was freaking out, telling me she couldn’t go home. When I asked her why she told me her parents would 168

Chapter Eleven murder her if they found out she had been drinking, and her dad would surely know. In an effort to seize my chance I told her she could stay with me for the night and then go home tomorrow when she was completely sober. She liked that idea and slept on my couch. Thankfully my mother wasn’t home or she would have murdered me. Having girls stay the night wasn’t exactly on her ‘what she wanted her son to do with his life’ list.

“She went home the next morning without saying much to me, and then she took me away privately at school and thanked me for helping her out. She told me her parents were pretty mad she hadn’t called and told them where she was, but at least they didn’t know she had been drinking.

She then told me she would see me around, and I liked the idea.

“Then it was all uphill from there. She started to acknowledge my presence, and it wasn’t long before I could call her a friend. Then it really started to heat up and I think the whole school was a little surprised when she admitted we were dating. I still didn’t feel worthy of her, though, and I tried to impress her by getting a job and buying all these things that wouldn’t make me look like some kid with a single mother. I bought myself an old motorcycle and fixed it up so she wouldn’t notice it was old and then in time bought a car with some help from my uncle. She really started to like me, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“Your father didn’t really like me from the first time we met. He kind of gawked at my used clothes and later told Melissa I was trying too hard.

I was frustrated and tried everything to get him to like me, but my supply of money was running low and I had a car payment to worry about, since the car I bought wasn’t cheap. But Melissa never seemed to care what he thought, and our relationship was better than ever, causing their relationship to go downhill since he kept telling her she could do so much better.

“Then I messed up big time, and after that he completely hated me. I got plenty of threats from him since the moment he found out, and then he told me he didn’t want to see me back here again. I was seriously afraid for my life, but Melissa didn’t seem worried. She told me he was all talk and he wouldn’t do anything so I should just come over anyway. She was right about him not doing anything, but he still scared me, and being in the same room as him was the worst feeling in the world. I tried to avoid him whenever possible. Luckily, her mother was so much nicer. She wasn’t too fond of me after the incident either, but she was bearable, unlike him. She was always nice to me although I’m pretty sure she agreed with her husband since day one.

“I thought the only possible way I could fix everything was if I somehow did something they would all love me for. Then Melissa told me the story about how she had a little brother but he was kidnapped as a baby and as far as she knew he was dead some-where. I was sure that was 169

Escape my chance. I figured you were dead as well, but your body had never been found and if I could somehow find it so they could have a proper funeral I knew they had to like me. Melissa found it rather creepy when she found out my intentions, although she tried to be nice and not show it. I never thought when I picked up two boys in the middle of the desert and almost heeded your requests to be dropped off in the city I had actually just found what I needed all along. It’s good you’re back with your family.

You have no idea how happy Melissa has been.”

I stared at him. First of all, not everyone was rich. Ryan had just confirmed it. He didn’t have a lot of money. It seemed to me my parents were special because he had said lots of boys liked her and she was popular. Second, this meant Melissa was amazing, just as I thought she was, and she had been lying when she said she wasn’t. Or maybe she didn’t feel like she was. Either way, how could I live up the reputation of them all? And the third was what troubled me the most. They looked down on Ryan because he didn’t have as much as them? That didn’t seem very nice. I came from a place where I got virtually nothing. I suddenly remembered when I first saw William standing out on the driveway. He hadn’t sounded very enthusiastic about helping out me and Lance. I knew Jolene had to have some potential, since she was social worker and I highly doubted most of the families that abused children had a lot of money, but even she seemed to look down on people. Was I really sent to the right family? Had there been a mistake in the DNA matching?

“I hope I didn’t say anything to make you think less of them,” he said, looking a little worried. “I mean, they are your family, after all.”

I shook my head. “I know,” I said rather low. I then walked off, leaving him to just sit there and stare at me as I went.

“There you are, Anthony,” my mother said as I met up with them all.

Melissa was in a pair of jeans now.

“Took you long enough to do something as simple as go to the bathroom,” she said with a smirk.

I didn’t smile back. I really didn’t feel like it.

“Let’s go home,” my mother said. “I for one am ready for a good night’s rest.”

“Same here,” Melissa said, looking completely drained.

My mind kept wandering as we drove home. This car was very nice. It was shiny and it ran smoothly. I highly doubted Ryan had a car like this. I stared at the leather on the seats, wondering how new it actually was and how many cars they had gone through. Surely they weren’t cheap.

“Is everything alright, honey?” my mother asked, noting my expression.

I nodded. As far as she knew everything was alright.

170

Chapter Eleven I stared out the window. It was rain. It was a luxury in the summer back at camp, but horrid snow during the winter. It didn’t look very warm today, but luckily I didn’t have to be in it. I had a coat now. The coat looked pretty nice too. I suddenly grew self-conscious of everything I had since I got here. Was it all rich person stuff?

I expected the rain to be bitter cold when we got out, but be-cause of the coat I realized I was protected. Instead of being happy, I was rather angry, and I wanted to throw it off and let the rain touch my skin like it always did before. I wasn’t sure why. This was everything I had always wanted. Why was I being so ungrateful?

We got inside and I could immediately feel the heater. Well, I had to admit, being in a house rather than a tent was something I really liked. It was certainly warmer. My mother came over and smiled at me, then touched her hand to my face. “You’re freezing,” she told me. I didn’t feel cold. Then again, this was like a sauna compared to this time of the year back at camp. I didn’t think I could handle going back now that I had been here for so long, even though that’s what I did all my life. Her hands were very warm. I couldn’t tell for sure, but I was sure mine were very cold. They were always cold.

I wanted to sleep in my own bed that night, but they wouldn’t hear of it. “Honey, we just want to make sure you’re safe,” my mother had told me. “Lance was taken just like that, and they didn’t even get a chance to react. If you’re asleep and they come in you’ll be gone before we even realize what’s going on, just like what happened when you were a baby.”

“But it could take years to find them,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but its better safe than sorry. Besides, they’re working on the case right now. They’re further than you think they are.”

I highly doubted that, but I guessed there was no way I could win. At this point they seemed to think I was helpless and needed all the help I could get. In a way they were right, but they seriously underestimated me.

Just because I grew up in that camp and never learned to read or write didn’t mean I was stupid and I couldn’t think for myself. I was far from stupid.

I was getting dressed for bed in my room, in which I couldn’t sleep in let me remind you, when someone opened the door unexpectedly. I wasn’t freaking out too bad, since all I had off was my shirt, but my back was turned to them and whoever they were I had a feeling it was a sight they didn’t want to see. I was right, because William stared for a minute as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing. He suddenly came over to me.

“Did you get those marks from that place?” he asked me, sounding like he was trying to hold back emotions.

“Yes,” I replied as if they were nothing.

171

Escape He looked like he was on the verge of tears. I didn’t think they were that bad. Then again, I wasn’t sure what a normal back was supposed to look like, since all the boys at the camp had the same marks as I did, maybe even worse since I tried to stay out of trouble as much as a possible and wasn’t beaten all that much. I wanted to say something to make him feel better, but I couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t a lie. I had never actually seen my own back, though. I could feel the marks, and I knew they were bad from what others had seen, but unless I could somehow get a mirror to show me I had never looked at it through one.

I fell asleep quite easily that night. This time it was my father that was holding me close rather than my mother. That was quite a change for me, but I didn’t mind.

I woke up sometime later to the sound of voices. I had always been a very light sleeper. It came in handy back at the camp, be-cause you never knew what could come your way in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night. Noise was never really an issue, because with the guards only allowing us eight hours of sleep a night for all the work we did, by time we were allowed to sleep every boy took full advantage of it. The only time someone was up past the time they were allowed to sleep was when they were new, and they learned real fast. That was one rule the guards never had to enforce, because everyone followed it without question.

I was still snuggled up next to my dad, but after I woke up fully I realized he was talking to my mother. I wouldn’t be able to sleep with them talking, and if they really didn’t want me to eavesdrop they shouldn’t have made me sleep with them.

“Those marks are pretty bad,” my father said sadly.

“I warned you,” my mother told me.

“Well, I didn’t think they were that bad. What in the same heck was he hit with? Those marks couldn’t have been from someone’s hand.”

“I don’t know. I wish I did. But then again, I’m not sure I want to know.” No, she didn’t. She would probably start bawling and I wouldn’t know what to do or say. Lance had told her we were whipped, but that was the simple answer.

“Do you think they’ll ever heal, or will they just turn into scars that he’ll have for the rest of his life?”

“I don’t know,” she repeated. “I hope they don’t turn into scares, but there’s a good chance they will. I don’t think he’ll ever forget about that place. It took his childhood and part of his life away from him.”

“Hey, I don’t think his childhood is fully over yet. He’s only eight. He has time.”

“Perhaps. But I highly doubt he’ll use it. He doesn’t seem like he wants to act like a kid to me.”

172

Chapter Eleven “That’s because he never got the chance to, so he doesn’t know what it’s like. He’s only been away from that place for a month. There’s still time. In time he’ll figure everything out.”

“I hope so,” she sighed. “I just wish he would talk to me more. As it’s true I can get him to tell me things about his day or something when I get home, I can’t get much more out of him than that, especially when I bring up the camp. He’ll avoid the subject when I ask, and then when I try to ask yes or no questions he’ll either mumble an answer or won’t answer at all.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s not easy for him to talk about.”

“But I need him to talk about it. With Lance gone he’s now the only one that can help us with this case. Ryan could help if we really needed him, since he had been the one to find him out in the desert, but his testimony would be nothing compared to Anthony’s. I had a man come and visit me in my office the other day, and he told me he had a young child that disappeared five years back and was never seen again. He said he had lost hope, but when he heard about the boys that had suddenly returned and claimed they were from a camp he was convinced that was the answer he had been looking for. And I’m sure he’s not the only one.

Anthony told us there were lots of boys at that camp. It seems to me boys have been disappearing for years, and maybe not all of them are dead.”

“If boys have been disappearing for years, then why hasn’t anyone done anything about it? Don’t they realize something’s been going on? Do they even care?”

“Most of the boys that have gone missing haven’t had immediate families. Some of them weren’t even called in and reported missing, while others were called in by distant relatives. Rita and I have been looking into it. The facts are rather scary. Rita didn’t believe them at first and told me this was just a crazy kidnapping case, but all the facts match up with what Lance and Anthony told us. Even she believes now. All these boys have been going missing for years and professionals have all said it was some sort of serial killer, but they couldn’t find any leads whatsoever. It was like the boys just disappeared off the face of this earth and their body was never found. Don’t you remember what that guy told us when we came into his office after Anthony was kidnapped?” It was silent for a moment.

“He told us he was positive it was the same person that had taken all these other boys, and he showed us the facts, although he was surprised they had taken someone so young. Then he told us not to give our hopes up because all the other boys had been taken as dead after having seen no sign of them for over five years, and he had a feeling someone was killing them off, although he wasn’t sure what their motive was or where they stashed the body.”

173

Escape “I thought it was all crazy then, but it all adds up now,” my mother said. “They take boys that no one will look for and send them to that camp to do who knows what, and they train them as soldiers for some reason. It’s strange, but it makes sense. They don’t need to break them because they’re already broken from their troubled pasts, and then they obey their every order. I have no idea why they would do this, or what their plans were for that matter, but they’ve been doing it for a very long time. Rita told me the history of missing boys had been going on for over twenty years, and none of them had been seen again.”

“If that were true, then what did they want with Anthony? He had a family that cared about him, and he was just a baby.”

“That’s the weird thing. Everyone thought it was a serial killer because of the similar circumstances of all the boys that were kidnapped, but Anthony was different. It seemed they just took him because he was a boy and that’s what they needed. But he wasn’t the only one. There were a few, not a lot, of other cases where the child was taken from the parent’s home. That was the case with the guy that came to see me. He told me the child was taken on Christmas Eve, and he honestly wondered if he heard a noise and came down, thinking it was Santa Clause, only to be taken by whoever is taking these boys. He said it was the worst Christmas ever.”

“Wow,” my father said. “That would suck.”

“This is just all so crazy. I never wanted to get caught up in a crime investigation, but even if I quit, I’m the mother of the one person that has the information we need. And the fact that someone is after him and wants to hurt him just scares me even more.”

“They’re not going to hurt him. I’ll make him sleep with us until he’s eighteen if I have to, and even train him for gun training if it will keep him safe.”

“Do you think they made him hurt people back at the camp?” she asked quietly.

“I hope not. I couldn’t picture him hurting anyone.”

“I can’t even imagine what he’s been through, and I don’t think I want to know. And to know there are hundreds of other boys that weren’t as lucky to escape like him and Lance that are still there, and I’m not sure if we’ll ever find them.”

“Does the media know about this yet?”

“No,” she said sternly, “and they never will. The last thing we need is a bunch of reporters barging up to our house and wanting to speak with Anthony. I don’t think he could handle that. He’s been sheltered and hurt all his life, not even knowing who he was. It would be very bad if the media put their nose in it. Besides, if these people found out we were 174

Chapter Eleven onto them I’m sure they would plan accordingly, and then we would lose all hope of ever finding all those boys.”

“Good point,” my father said. “I just think it’s kind of crazy that these boys have been taken for years and they were so good at their game no one figured it out. I got up right when I heard him crying that night, and it didn’t look like anyone had been in the bedroom when I got there. The police couldn’t find any finger prints or DNA of any kind. The only confirmation he just didn’t float away was the open window. And then Anthony suddenly ends up on our doorstep, by Ryan of all people when he was out in the desert. What are the odds? None of the boys had ever returned, but Anthony did, and it was all on his own.”

“He’s a smart boy, and very tough. He had to be to survive that camp since he was only six months. I can’t even imagine who fed him and kept him alive. Babies need interaction to stay alive, so it had to be someone.”

I wish I knew, but sadly I didn’t. All I remember was the older boys when I was a toddler. I remember they would leave to go someplace that I didn’t have to go, and when they would get back they would talk to me and teach me a thing or two. Before that I remember nothing. Being in a tent with the older boys was my first memory.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” he told her. “We’ll figure this out.

Just as long as we keep on our toes and keep Anthony safe until those men stop following us we’ll be fine. We’ll be the family we always wanted.”

“I hope,” she mumbled. “I’m going to bed now. This has been a lot to take in, and some well needed rest sounds good.”

“Same here,” he said. He brought me a bit closer and I tried to pretend like I didn’t just hear any of that, because I was sure he could see my face. I couldn’t act like Melissa could, though, so I hoped I was pulling it off. I felt him give me a kiss before I dosed off.

My mother came home early the next day, and I wondered if her two weeks was up and she could finally stay home now. “Hello, honey,” she said with a smile. My tutor and I had decided to take a break, so I was just sitting in the living room.

I gave her a strange look, and she seemed to sense I was wondering what she was doing home. “I’m home early because today is a very special day,” she told me with a smile. I gave her a confused look. What was so special about today? It seemed to be just another day to me. “Your father and I were married eighteen years ago today. We welcomed Melissa into the world only a year and a half after we were married, and then we welcomed you into the world seven years later. We’re still just as in love as the day we got married, and now we have all this. Today is a special day indeed.”

175

Escape I suddenly remembered what William had told me yesterday, and I nodded. I wondered what people did for things such as an anniversary. I also wondered if I had any anniversaries of my own to celebrate. The thought of having a birthday was a great thought by far. Now that I had an actual birthdate it meant so much more to me than before, and I couldn’t wait until it came along. Trouble was, I had no idea when it was.

“When was I born exactly?” I asked her.

She sighed. “It sad to think you’ve gone for nine years without knowing your own birthday, but I guess a lot of things about your life have been sad. You were born on March 18th. I remember holding you in my arms after you were born. I have pictures if you want to see them.”

I didn’t want to tell her I had already looked through pictures before I even knew they were my family because I was nosy, so I just smiled and nodded. Looking at them again and having someone there to explain them to me certainly wouldn’t hurt anything.

She suddenly looked really serious and she sat down next to me by the couch. I wasn’t on the couch, but I was sitting on the floor with my back rested up against it. “What did they do to punish you when you got in trouble back at the camp? Under what circumstances did you get in trouble?”

Oh, great. I wanted to tell her more about the camp so she could help Lance and the other boys, but I had a feeling she wanted to know more about my personal experience there so she could get an idea of what my life had been like these past nine years. I didn’t want to tell her, because the truth was a scary thing. It was scary and sad at that. I didn’t think she wanted to know, especially since she was my mother and didn’t want to see me hurt.

I moved around a little, not sure how to tell her or what to tell her at that. “They would punish us a number of different ways. They were very nice about it obviously, but they didn’t kill us.”

She shook her head. “Honey, I know it’s hard for you to talk about, but talking about it will make you feel so much better. I’ve worked with boys with troubled pasts for years. There’s not much I haven’t heard, and I’m a really good person when it comes to talking. You’re not just a kid I’m trying to help, though, rather my son, so you need to understand you can trust me. Your father and I aren’t going to hurt you, and we just want to know a little bit about what’s been going on these past nine years.”

She didn’t understand. I was the boy that never spoke a word. I was the boy that just let people walk all over me without standing up for myself. I was the boy that never spoke out against the camp. I was the boy that knew how to work his body to the max, so the guards loved me. The thought of telling people what I was thinking was crazy. I never told anyone as much as I told Lance, and looking back now I can’t believe it.

176

Chapter Eleven Now I suddenly had a family that was interested, and it was all a little crazy to me. My head was a mess of thoughts not even I understood half the time. They were all thoughts I managed to suppress all these years.

Feelings toward the camp, my feelings toward the other boys, my desire to have a family, and so much more was always put to the back of my mind while I put on a poker face and did what was required of me. Now I had the chance to bring it all back out, but I was afraid.

“They weren’t very nice,” I mumbled. “It doesn’t matter what happened all these years. The camp was a horrible place, and I hope I never have to go back there again.”

“You won’t,” she assured me. “Your father and I won’t let that happen. We’re not going to let them take you from us again, and in time we’ll help the other boys as well. Even if I’m not on the case anymore, it won’t be ignored. There are lots of people that are on it. But how did you get those marks on your back? I remember Lance telling me that when you got out of line you were whipped. Is that true?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to talk about this just as much as I was sure she didn’t want to hear it. “Yes,” I mumbled.

“What type of whip did they use?”

“I don’t know. I just know it hurt.”

“Did they do anything else other than whip you when you needed to be punished?”

“Not really. Whipping was the main thing they did, but when someone would mess up on something we were doing sometimes they would just make us all do more pushups or take another run “Just like a basic training camp,” she seemed to say to herself. I shrugged. I still had no clue what that was.

“What would you get whipped for?”

I looked down. “A number of different things. I didn’t get whipped all that often, but when I did it was usually because I messed up by accident or I was sick and couldn’t do the work they required of me.”

She seemed concerned by this. “They punished you for being sick?

You can’t help that. Everyone gets sick.”

“They didn’t care. It was all about strength, and being sick meant you were weak.”

She put her arms around me and brought me close. I knew she didn’t want to hear it. She held me for a little bit and then gave me a kiss.

It didn’t take much longer for William to come home, and when he did I was lying on the couch. I wasn’t watching TV, rather just staring up at the ceiling like I was deep in thought about something. I was, actually, but if someone were to ask me what I was thinking about I wouldn’t have an answer for them.

He gave me a smile. “Hello, Anthony. What are you doing?”

177

Escape “Just relaxing,” I replied as if it were nothing. He nodded, seeming to be staring at me.

I saw him go into the kitchen where I knew Jolene was. “What’s wrong, honey?” William asked her. I sure hoped she wasn’t crying. I hadn’t heard her if she was.

“It’s just that,” she told him as she took a breath. Maybe she had been crying. “All these years I’ve talked to kids from abusive homes and the stories have made me upset, but over the years I’ve grown used to it and have learned to get through it. I’ve always blamed the parents, even if it wasn’t their fault directly, and I’ve taken so many of them to court to get justice for the child that was hurt. All those years I was helping other children, I never thought maybe my own son needed my help. I’m not going to be a social worker for much longer, but now I have to deal with his case, and he’s my own son. I never thought I would be working with my own son and have to deal with an abuse case this bad at that. Who’s to blame this time? I can’t say the parents.”

“That evil camp is to blame,” my father told her. “I know this is all a little crazy, but if you weren’t a social worker he would have never came to us and we might not have ever found him. This certainly happened for a reason. And the fact you have experience with other abuse cases just makes you able to help him so much better.”

She sighed. “I suppose. I just know that after this I can’t go back even if I wanted to, because I don’t know that I would be able to handle it. It’s one thing to spend all your time with other children that have been abused, but it’s another thing to help your own son cope with it and then be able to go back to the other children. I just can’t do it. There’s only so much I can handle.”

“You don’t have to do it,” he told her. “Once we get this camp shut down everything will go to the way it should be and you’ll be able to be a mother to him rather than a social worker.”

“I hope,” she sighed.

“Happy anniversary,” he said with a smile.

He must have given her something, because then she said, “Oh, it’s beautiful. You always overdo it. Just because you have a lot of money doesn’t mean you need to spoil me.”

“But I like spoiling you,” he said.

“Are we doing anything special?” she asked casually.

“I got us a reservation for La Shay.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she asked. “Yes, you’ve over-done it.”

“Oh, but the night is just beginning. You just wait. I have plans.” I assumed they started to kiss, and I just shook my head. Why did you need to spend all this money in order to have a good night?

178

Chapter Eleven

179

12 My mother gave Melissa a huge lecture before they left. “Make sure he gets dinner, spend some time with him, be responsible, and don’t leave him alone.”

“Aw, come on,” she said in defense. “How was I supposed to know something like that was going to happen? I know now, so I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. Besides, things have changed since then.

At the time I thought he was just another kid you took in for your job.”

“Either way, don’t leave him alone,” she repeated.

“Okay, I get it,” she mumbled.

They were standing by the door while I was still by the couch. The thought of being left alone with Melissa again scared me, but at least I knew she wasn’t going to leave me alone this time. Would she be able to help me if someone came for me? There was no doubt in my mind Jolene or William could, but Melissa? She seemed even weaker than the boys back at camp, and even they didn’t stand a chance against the guards.

“Have fun,” she told her with a smile. “I left some money if you guys want to do anything.”

“What’s there to do in this town?” she mumbled.

My mother gave her a smile and then shook her head. “Goodbye, Anthony,” she told me. “Have fun with Melissa and don’t be afraid to call us if something goes wrong.”

“But you won’t be home,” I said, a bit confused.

Melissa started to laugh. I seemed to be everyone’s source of entertainment.

“We have a cell phone, sweetie,” my mother explained. “We don’t need to be home for you to talk to us.”

The thought amazed me. I could talk to her without her even being home? What other wonders were there that I didn’t know about?

“Goodbye, guys,” she said one last time before her and William left.

I saw Melissa go to the blinds and I watched them pull out of the driveway. Once they were completely out of sight she turned to me.

“Well, I’m not stupid enough to leave you home alone again, but the thought of being in this house alone at night with people that have already taken Lance and are currently trying to take you scares me, so I have a plan. Rather than staying here all night we could head on over to Ryan’s house. I don’t go there very often, so whenever I get a chance like this I just can’t pass it up.”

Chapter Twelve “Will mom and dad be okay with this?” I asked.

She sighed. “Anthony, there is a time in every child’s life when they realize your parents just don’t need to know everything and a little rebellion is good. If no one rebelled against their parents everyone would be doctors and lawyers, and we certainly wouldn’t want that. Just as long as you’re not doing anything majorly stupid there’s nothing wrong with going behind their back every now and again. Just don’t let them know what you did, or it will be both of our necks.”

“Will they really cut off our necks?” I asked as I put my hands up to my neck.

She sighed. “No, they won’t. Let’s just go. I forget you take everything so literally.”

I shuttered. I knew they wouldn’t hurt me, just as my mother had said, but how would they punish me? I didn’t want to be here alone all night either, so I supposed not mentioning this to them wouldn’t be so bad.

“Alright,” I mumbled.

“There’s the spirit, Anthony,” she said with a smile. “Now let’s go.

The benefit of being sixteen is you get to drive. I love it.”

I still hated cars, although I was getting much better. I came to realize staring at the floor was much better than staring out the window. When we finally got to Ryan’s house I was surprised at what I saw. Ryan had said he didn’t have a lot of money, but I didn’t think that meant he lived in a house much smaller than ours. I didn’t think they got that small.

I followed Melissa up the old driveway and she knocked on the door.

Ryan answered and he smiled when he saw her. “Hello, Melissa,” he said with a smile. Then he turned to me and gave her a confused look.

“I’m babysitting,” she explained.

He nodded and then invited her in. I looked around. It looked even smaller from the inside. There was a small living room, a small kitchen to the other side, and a hallway that I assumed led to some bedrooms. The house itself looked kind of dirty, and Ryan kicked a shirt out of the way that was by the couch.

“Do you ever clean?” Melissa asked him with a smirk.

“Yes,” he said in defense. “I just get busy.”

“And lazy,” she added.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. She just shook her head.

I saw a lady I didn’t recognize walk into the living room, and she seemed to be surprised to see us. “Hello, Melissa,” she said with a slight smile. It certainly didn’t look like the ones Jolene gave me. “Who’s this?” she asked as she pointed to me.

“This is my brother,” she told her. “He’s just here to spend the evening with me. I hope you don’t mind.”

181

Escape She nodded. “I didn’t know you had a brother,” she seemed to mumble.

“Yep,” Melissa said with a smile. The lady still looked uneasy, but she let it go.

“Do your parents know you’re here so I won’t get a call from them later on tonight with your mother freaking out and asking if I had seen you?”

“Yes, they know I’m here,” she assured her. “Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded and then went into the kitchen. Ryan turned to her. “Do they really know you’re here?” he asked.

“Well, no,” she said rather guiltily. “But they’re out for the night, so they’ll never know.”

“What if they decided to check up on you?”

“Don’t jinx it,” she mumbled. “That would be horrible.”

He laughed. I got nervous. What would they do if they did come home and we weren’t there? Would they even think about checking up on us?

Would I get in trouble too, or would it just be Melissa? I certainly didn’t want their night ruined because of us. It sounded like an anniversary was a big deal, and if we ruined it that would certainly be horrible.

“You can watch some TV, Anthony,” Ryan said as he pointed to the remote. I didn’t get what was so great about TV, but I nodded. What else could I do other than just be a bother?

They were doing something upstairs as I fumbled through the channels on the TV. There was really nothing I could understand, so I felt frustrated. Just as I was about to give up I came to a channel that made me stop and stare. It wasn’t real people like I always saw before, rather things that looked like people but weren’t real. I couldn’t help but stare for a minute, not feeling brave enough to go upstairs and ask Melissa what the deal was. I just stared at it for a while.

The guy that seemed to show up a lot was a yellow thing with holes in it. There was also a pink thing, but I assumed the yellow thing was the most important part of the show. They were underwater for some weird reason, and I couldn’t help but feel drawn to it. It was actually a pretty funny show. They honestly weren’t very smart and their stupidity had me laughing. I wasn’t sure why. That was never something I did a lot of back at camp, let alone because someone was acting stupid.

My own laugh sounded foreign to me. When was the last time I had laughed? I remembered a couple years ago this boy from the camp stole some bread, and then one of the bosses came, so he gave everyone a piece and had us all stuff it in our mouths. The boss must have been really out of it that day, because after we all nodded without a word he left the tent.

Some of us were laughing about the incident while others were freaking out about how close we were to getting caught. I was one of the people 182

Chapter Twelve laughing, and I must have taken everyone by surprise because they were all staring at me. One of the boys told me he didn’t think I knew how to laugh, but apparently I did. That was the only time I could remember…

The fact this show made me laugh made me like it even more. Maybe if I kept watching it I could laugh more. I wanted to be normal, and I had a feeling normal people laughed a lot more often than I did. Maybe someday I could be.

I was so stuck on the TV show I was a little sad when it ended. It suddenly turned to a real life show that I didn’t really want to watch, so I turned off the TV. When I turned around I saw the lady I saw earlier coming out of the kitchen. She seemed to stare at me.

“You know, I didn’t know Melissa had a younger brother. Are you her full siblings or only half?”

“I’m her full,” I replied as if it were obvious.

She seemed to study me. “And you’ve known each other all your lives?

Well, obviously since you’re siblings, but where have you been all this time, under a rock?”

“No,” I replied. “Wouldn’t that hurt?”

She suddenly started to laugh. “I’ll have to make a note not to use metaphors around you,” she told me with a smile. I didn’t know what a metaphor was, but I didn’t plan on asking.

“Well, my son and her have been together for over a year now, and she comes over often enough I thought I would know if she had a younger brother. Your parents aren’t too fond of me, but I’ve seen them plenty of times and no one has ever mentioned you. In fact, I could have sworn Melissa told me she was an only child when I first met her. I might have remembered it wrong, but I thought.”

I didn’t know what to tell her. I knew I lied back at the camp to get out of getting punished, even though I absolutely hated to do it, and I knew Melissa lied to get out of things with our parents, so was lying really a good idea? I also knew they probably didn’t want me to tell her. I remembered what my mother said to my father about not wanting the media to know about it. I’m not sure what the big deal is, but I don’t want to take any chances.

“No,” I told her. “I’ve always been Melissa’s brother.” That wasn’t really a lie, so I thought I found a way to avoid it.

She nodded. “Well, I just must be out of the loop,” she said with a smile. I watched her as she walked down the hallway. She didn’t seem all that bad to me. I wondered why my parents didn’t like her. The only reason I could think of was she didn’t have as much money as them, and in my opinion that was a terrible reason not to like someone. Another reason could be because of Ryan, but that was still a terrible reason not to like someone.

183

Escape I sat there for a little while, just staring at the floor. I was the master of entertaining myself with nothing. It came in handy back at the camp when I literally had nothing to entertain myself. The boys talking to each other was the best entertainment source I had. On top of that I only had myself, and since I wasn’t all that social back at camp, I learned to improvise. The boys tried to talk to me, but I never really responded back. I assumed that was why a lot of them walked all over me. Some of them were nicer than others. Lance was never mean to me, but he wasn’t all that nice either. He kind of just stared at me. He talked to me once before that day he asked me to help him.

I was sitting on my bed, staring at the floor. Two boys came in, causing me to look up. “I can do anything you ask me to,” I heard Lance to say to one of the other boys.

“You shouldn’t write me off as just some stupid kid that wants something exciting so he’s making up stories. I can go from here to the top of the mountain within two hours.

How’s that for strength for you?”

The older boy rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this. This is serious.”

“I am being serious,” he said in complete honesty. “I want to get out of here just as much as you do.”

“You’ve only been here for three years. I’ve been here for nine, and some of the other boys have been here for even longer. Don’t complain. Do your work like you’re supposed to and leave this to us. If anyone’s getting out of this horrible place it will be someone who deserves it, not some whiner that thinks he’s better than everyone else.”

“I don’t think I’m better than anyone.”

The older boy seemed done talking to him and walked out of the tent, mumbling something under his breath. “You’ll be sorry when your plan doesn’t work out,” Lance mumbled after him.

He suddenly turned to me, realizing I had been listening the whole time. “Don’t you know not to eavesdrop?” he asked.

I just stared at him.

“Oh, right, you’re the boy that never talks. Well, I’ll have you know I’m very popular around here. I talk to everyone.”

I continued to stare at him. It didn’t seem that way to me. It seemed that no one ever wanted him around them, especially the other boys that he always seemed to be bothering.

“Those boys are trying to escape, can you believe it?” he asked me. “They’re stupid.

They don’t understand that I have a plan that’s foolproof. They think I’m too young, and in the end they’ll all get in trouble. I feel bad for them. The punishment for trying to escape is the harshest there is. This can’t end well.”

I didn’t reply. I didn’t see the point. He was right, but I highly doubt his plan would be any better. No one could escape from this place. It was just stupid to even try.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I have some work to accomplish,” he said with a smirk as he walked out of the tent, leaving me alone. I sat back on my cot, which reminded 184

Chapter Twelve me of vomit, and then stood up again. That had been a bad idea. I just hoped these boys were smart about what they did, because I would hate to see them all be killed before they could leave this awful place.

The next week there was a rumor going all around the camp that a group of the older boys had tried to escape but their plan had badly failed. Apparently no one had seen them since. I cringed at the thought. People disappearing around here was very common, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I thought of all those boys that would be gone forever and the personality they could have had. Everyone had something to add to this world. I sighed and then ran into Lance again.

“I told you their plan wouldn’t work,” he said. “They had all the wrong strategy. If only they would have listened to me.”

I kind of blew him off. He was crazy. I highly doubt his plan was better than any of theirs, but I would hate to see him disap-pear. I hated to see anyone disappear.

I was taken back to reality. The memory of Lance stung. I hoped by some miracle he was still alive. I was sure they killed him on the spot, but maybe I was wrong. I hoped more than anything I was wrong. And I also hoped they didn’t find me. I was happy here, and I didn’t want to be killed or taken back to a life of misery.

I turned on the TV again, trying to get my mind somewhere else. I smiled when I found that show again. It must have come on while I was out of it. I watched it, entertained by every word. This guy was pretty funny.

I was so into my show I didn’t even notice Melissa and Ryan come down. Melissa came over and looked at the TV from behind the couch.

“SpongeBob?” she asked. “It’s about time you watch some normal kid cartoons.”

I gave her a strange look.

“SpongeBob is what normal kids watch,” she explained. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

The thought of being normal was strange. It wasn’t like I was completely against it, but I wasn’t for it either. I was always different back at camp. But this was a pretty awesome show, so I didn’t care.

“Let’s go,” she told me. “If we don’t get back before mom and dad, they’ll kill us both.”

“Will they really?” I asked in concern.

She sighed. “Okay, I forget I can’t say things like that around you. No, they won’t really kill us. But we’ll get in trouble, so come on.”

I didn’t second guess her and followed. The last thing I wanted to do was to get in trouble.

I must have been tired, because I fell asleep right when I got home. I took the opportunity and slept in my own bed. I must admit, my parent’s 185

Escape bed was a bit comfier, but I had to keep in mind this bed was only meant to be a guest bed. Perhaps Melissa’s bed is more comfortable.

When I woke up I was surprised to see that I was still in my bed. I wondered if my parents were even home yet. I got up and opened the door. When I didn’t see anyone I headed downstairs, where I walked in on the middle of a conversation between my mother and Melissa.

“I know you went to Ryan’s house last night,” she said plainly.

“Who told you?” Melissa asked in shock.

“I’m your mother; I know everything,” she replied while Melissa just rolled her eyes.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. We didn’t do anything bad. I don’t see what the big deal was. Ryan’s mother was there and so was Anthony, so it’s not like anything happened.”

“That’s not the point,” my mother told her. “You knew I wouldn’t want you to go, so you went behind my back and went anyway. That’s the problem here, Melissa.”

“Well, you wouldn’t let me go with your permission, so I re-sorted to doing it without your permission. That’s what happens when you’re controlling.”

My mother shook her head. “You’re teaching Anthony bad habits.

Lying to your parents is never okay, and when he sees you do it he’ll end up doing it, because you’re his older sister and I’m sure he looks up to you.” She must have not realized I was there, because she wasn’t looking at me as she said it.

“Anthony grew up in an evil camp where he was beat if he did something wrong. I’m sure lying came as second nature to him. Trust me; I didn’t do much more damage.”

She was right to a point, but my mother didn’t look like she liked the comment. “Don’t talk that way, Melissa. It doesn’t matter what that camp taught him. You should be better than that. You’re going to be grounded for a long time.”

“Fine, ground me,” Melissa said as if it were nothing. “As if I care.” I took a spot on the couch as Melissa went down the hallway. My mother sighed and then was quiet. I wondered if her job was over yet. It was a Saturday, but I didn’t see any sign of my father. I assumed he was working, as usual.

I came into the kitchen and my mother gave me a smile. “Good morning, honey,” she told me. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” I replied.

She motioned for me to come over and I did. I sat on the chair next to her and she put her arm around me. “You should take what your sister says with a grain of salt,” she told me. “She a good kid, but she’s not always the best example.”

186

Chapter Twelve “I’m sorry about last night,” I told her really quickly. “I don’t like lying, but I didn’t want to stay here, and Melissa said you wouldn’t find out and no harm would be done.”

She shook her head. “Honey, I’m not mad at you; I’m mad at her.

Don’t worry about it.”

I felt like it was my fault just as much as it was Melissa’s, but for the sake of not getting punished I didn’t question it. Back at the camp when one person would mess up we would all be punished for it, with the exception of when someone was beaten. It seemed strange to get punished just for yourself, but it was nice at the same time.

She gave me another smile and then kissed me on the forehead. “I’m sorry you had to come to a family like ours, but we’re getting better. In time we’ll be the way we should be; it will just take a little work.”

“I like our family,” I said, not understanding what she meant.

She smiled. “I like our family too—I just know we have a lot of issues.

But it’s good to know you like us. If you don’t like your family you could have a problem, because you can’t get rid of family. Friends come and go, but family isn’t going anywhere.”

I wouldn’t know, being that I had never had family before. But that was good to know. That meant no matter how much I screwed up they couldn’t get rid of me.

We spent the next couple hours doing this word game. I wasn’t very good at it, and I was extremely slow. I was sure she was going easy on me.

But by the end of the game I felt accomplished because I knew a good chunk of the words and I had a pretty good score. My mother smiled in encouragement. At least playing a word game was better than staring at the ground. It was better by far.

Once the evening came around I didn’t hesitate to turn on the TV and see if I could find that show. I was delighted when I found it and then I watched it. I was surprised when it came on again, but I wasn’t complaining and I continued to watch it.

When my father finally came home I didn’t even look up. He came up to see what I was watching and then shook his head. “SpongeBob,” he said in disgust.

My mother came in and shook her head at him. “He’s nine, William,” she said. “It’s perfectly normal for a nine-year-old to like SpongeBob.” “SpongeBob is the downgrade of childhood,” he told her. “What does it teach kids? He’s twenty years old, has a best friend he does stupid things with, works at a fast food restaurant with no hope of ever having a family, and he’s a complete loser.”

“Kids like that stuff,” she told him. “Leave him be.”

William mumbled something under his breath and then headed down the hallway.

187

Escape “He was the same way with Melissa when she was your age,” she told me. “She had this show she liked to watch about this little girl, and he hated it. It took a long time for him to finally just leave it be and not mess with her shows.”

I wasn’t really listening, because I still had my eyes glued to the screen.

She sighed and then headed down the hallway after William.

It must have been an all-day thing or something, because the shows never stopped. I stopped watching enough to have dinner and then I went back to it. Melissa seemed to find it funny when I finished early.

“Someone might have a bit of a TV addition,” she said with a smirk as my father and my mother exchanged glances.

After my next show my mother came in the living room. “Perhaps you should go outside, honey,” she suggested. “You can try out that new coat I bought you and go play in the snow. It should be warm enough for another couple hours. Maybe tomorrow we could go sledding.”

“No thanks,” I told her.

She sighed and then grabbed the remote. I was a bit shocked when she turned off the TV. For a minute I was afraid she was going to start to yell.

“Go outside,” she told me. I could tell by the tone of her voice I didn’t have a choice in the matter, so I made my way upstairs to get my coat, careful not to anger her more than she already seemed to be.

I came outside and just walked around for a bit. My coat was certainly warm enough, and I came to realize the outside was a truly wonderful place when you had the right equipment. I was used to no coat and no shoes, so the fact I had closed toed shoes and a coat was a bit foreign to me. This coat was so big I was actually sweating through it. I was tempted to take it off, but I figured my mother wouldn’t like that.

I stared down at the snow, having no temptation to pick it up. Just because coats were foreign to me didn’t mean I wanted to pick it up. Back at the camp I never touched it except for when we had to go on climbs, and then I usually didn’t have a choice in the matter. Now that I was away from that place I preferred to keep my hands warm. Looking down at the snow brought me to another memory.

“Come on, weaklings!” boss number four yelled at us as we went for a midnight jog. I was very tired, but I kept going. I couldn’t show any weakness. “My mother could do better than that.” I honestly wondered if he had a mother. I wished I did. If he did he was very lucky, but I wondered if she knew what he was doing now, and whether or not she would approve of it.

Once we came to the end of the long road I sighed when I saw the mountain, and I knew he would expect us to go up it. My assumption was confirmed when he pointed to it and told us, “Up that mountain, and you better make it quick.”

188

Chapter Twelve I got about halfway up before I was completely drained and ready to just give up.

Doing so would result in a beating, but it might be worth it. I told myself I wouldn’t give in and kept going. Before I knew it I would being driven on instinct more than what my body could actually do, because I wasn’t even sure how I kept going. The other boys seemed to be stalling worse than ever, but I just kept going as if I had just started and had plenty of energy. The other boys were all staring at me, and they weren’t giving me very nice looks. I continued regardless, convinced I was on a roll, and kept going up the mountain. It was very cold and my fingers were numb from all the snow I touched.

But I was used to this. This was nothing compared to the snow we had last winter. My toes had long since stopped caring about the cold. Some of the boys had feet that had turned black, and I was always afraid to ask why. Were my toes next? They weren’t black yet, but they certainly weren’t normal. I only knew what “normal” was from the new boys that would come here. I learned most things about what was normal from them.

Before I knew it I was at the top. I couldn’t believe it. I smiled for the first time in forever, and then I slowly went back down the mountain. It was much easier than going up it; the only problem was the snow. But that was always a problem.

Once I got down the mountain and the other boys did as well, the boss had another little spill to give us. “You boys are weaklings!” he shouted to us. “It took you forever to get up that mountain. He managed to get up in twenty minutes,” he said as he pointed to me. He didn’t even use my number. He just referred to me as, “he.” That was big. The bosses always called us by our number rather than semi-address us as human beings. “I’m not impressed, and I’m tempted to make you do it again.”

They all gave him a pleading look, which was completely looked down upon, but he must have been just as tired as us, because he didn’t notice. “I expect better, and if you boys don’t start acting like it you all won’t wake up tomorrow morning.” If that was supposed to be a threat, none of the boys looked like they took it very seriously.

Once we got back to the camp they were all giving me cold looks. This hadn’t been the first time this had happened. I was convinced that was why all of them hated me.

One of the boys came up to me. “You better watch it, kid,” he told me. “You’re making the rest of us look bad. Keep in mind who runs the other side of camp. The guards may run the physical side, but the older boys run the social and emotional side.

If you don’t want bad things to happen to you, I suggest you quit while you’re ahead.

Believe me; we can do worse things to you than even the guards.”

I kind of just stared at him without an answer, and he just shook his head at me.

“What are you, mute? Well, do what you may, but that won’t change a thing.” Then he walked away.

That was a while back. Some of the boys were nice to me, others weren’t so nice. It pained me to think of a certain memory. That incident just lead to more incidents, and the boys got sick of it after a while. They kept to their word.

189

Escape I woke up one night, being shaken awake. At first I thought it was another midnight run, but when I opened my eyes and attempted to get up I saw that it was a group of boys. They were staring down at me like I had been the one to wake them up, rather than the other way around.

I gave them a strange look, wondering what they wanted so late at night.

“It’s time, Marcus,” one of them said. I didn’t like the sound of this, and I was very afraid, but I kept on a serious face and pretended like I didn’t care about what they had just said. “It’s time for us to show you what it feels like to us when you make us look bad.” I continued to stare at them, and this seemed to anger them even more.

“What, think you’re too good to talk to us? Well, we’ll teach you. Maybe we can get you to beg us.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, but I didn’t have time to think about it because I was suddenly being dragged outside. I didn’t see why they would be crazy enough to be awake this time at night right before our WP tests. That was suicidal. If you didn’t do well on those you would be whipped for weeks. They never gave midnight runs before them because we needed to have all the strength possible. We only got eight hours of sleep as it was. Why waste even an hour of it?

They dragged me to the other side of the tent. They had me cornered, so I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. “What do you want?” I asked them. I hoped hearing the sound of my voice would make them loosen up a little. I had no idea what they planned to do.

“So you do talk,” the boy said as he seemed to study me. “What else can you do?

Surely you can do much better than all of us on your WP test tomorrow. But not if I have a say in it.” I gave him a strange look. “You see, my plan is very simple, Marcus,” he said with a smirk. “We drag you out here, you get no sleep, and then tomorrow morning you won’t do so well on your tests, that way you can’t make the rest of us look bad with your scores. It’s better for all of us, really.”

I started to panic. This couldn’t be good. I couldn’t do the tests without sleep. I would surely be whipped. “No,” I told him, doing nothing to hide the concern in my eyes. “I’ll be whipped for weeks if I don’t do well. They freak out if you even do worse, let alone can’t do anything at all when I can usually do a lot.”

“That’s your problem,” he told me with another smirk. “I don’t know if anyone told you this, Marcus, but its better you worry about yourself and only yourself while you’re here. It’s the only sure way to stay alive. If you’re up in other people’s business all the time you’ll be in for real danger. It’s a fact of life, really.”

“If you keep me up all night you won’t do so well either,” I pointed out.

He seemed to smile as if I had just said something funny. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to stay out here all night with you? The boys and I have agreed to take shifts. We each get two hours, that way we won’t lose much sleep and we’ll do fine on our test tomorrow. You, on the other hand, will be sure to be awake ALL NIGHT LONG.” I looked at him in concern. Was he being serious? Was he really that heartless?

190

Chapter Twelve My answer was confirmed when he told all the boys he had the first shift and they all went back to the tent. Being that I was such a light sleeper, his job wasn’t hard. He spent most of the time talking about how much he couldn’t stand me and the fact that I seemed so perfect, and then told my parents probably didn’t want me and this would be all I was good for. When someone brought up the parents I wasn’t even sure I had I always wanted to break down and cry. But I didn’t. I just stared at him like he was a bug on the window of my life.

I was hoping they would give up before the end of the night, but they kept at it. One by one the other boys helped out, and they had even better techniques of keeping me awake. One boy used some of his precious water, one wouldn’t stop shaking me, and one wouldn’t let me go and held me really high up, telling me I was so light and this was a piece of cake. By the end of the night I wanted to break down and cry, but I didn’t want them to see that they had won. I was so tired, and I could barely keep my eyes open.

I couldn’t believe it when morning came around, and I was suddenly afraid for my life. The guards wouldn’t take excuses, even though I had a good one. I sluggishly made my way to the breakfast place. Today we got double the amount we usually got. The WP tests were stressful but not really harder than everything else just because we were spoiled during them because they wanted us to achieve our maximum potential. We got an extra hour of sleep the night before the tests, double the amount of food the day of, and unlimited water during. It was actually really nice, if you weren’t the type of person that got stressed very easily. If you did well you would get the next day off, if you did alright you would do the usual the next day, and if you did horrible you would be beat for weeks as well as having to do extra work the next day. I usually did well and got the next day off, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case today.

I was right, because all during the test I could barely do any-thing. I was tired and cranky and I just wanted to go to sleep. The guard seemed to look at me in surprise, knowing I usually did well. He wasn’t sure what to do about my problem, and he resorted to yelling at me. “Speed it up!” he shouted to me. “You’re barely doing anything.”

I tried, but didn’t have much success. It seemed my body wanted to shut down but I wouldn’t let it. I usually won over my body before, but today I didn’t think that was going to happen. It was only a matter of time before I completely collapsed. I just laid there on the ground, not knowing what to do or what would happen next.

The guard seemed to stare at me in complete shock, and then he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away. I didn’t try to fight. It was no use. All the other boys were staring, completely forgetting about their own tests. “Get a move on,” the guard told them as they came back to reality and finished what they were doing.

I would never forget the feel of the whip on my back. It was the only thing that could ever make me cry. Someone could push me up against a wall and I wouldn’t cry.

Crying was showing weakness. But everyone cried when they were getting whipped, even the older boys. I figured the guards would like someone who could get whipped without crying, but I highly doubted they had found anyone yet.

191

Escape When the tests were finally over I headed back to the tent and collapsed. I knew I was in for a rough day tomorrow, but at least now I could get some sleep. It felt so weird to be sleeping in the middle of the day, and I kept waking up. When I woke up for the fifth time I heard some of the boys arguing from outside the tent.

“You’re a jerk, Payton!” one of the boys shouted. I didn’t have to be fully awake to know he was talking to the boy I had a run-in with last night. “He’s eight! How could you do something like that to an eight year old? Does it make you feel good that you were the reason he was whipped? Do you like seeing little kids get whipped?”

“Stay out of my business,” Payton told him. “You don’t understand. The kid is younger than all of us and he can do twice as much as we can. He makes us look bad.

What I did was for all of us. Besides, you don’t need to worry about others. Remember keeping to yourself keeps you alive.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to stand here and not say anything about you doing something like this to a little kid,” he said bitterly.

“It’s nice that you’re so caring, really, but I don’t care. This camp took any heart I had and turned it black.”

It was silent after that and I assumed the boy walked away. I sighed and then went back to sleep. I had to get at least an hour of sleep before the results were said today.

Once they were said I would start the hard labor. Well, harder labor than I already had to do as it was.

I shuttered at the thought and then I suddenly wanted to go back inside. I surely had to have been out here for a while. I had a feeling she wouldn’t let me watch anymore SpongeBob, but at least I could come inside and forget about that horrible place. I headed back to the house, thinking about that night. Payton certainly wasn’t one of my favorites from the camp. He was never very nice to me after that, and I tried to keep what I was able to do to a minimum. It didn’t help me improve at all, but at least I didn’t have another horrible experience like that.

I came back to the house and my heart started to pound when I saw a shadow behind the garbage cans. My first thought was that it was one of the guards from camp coming to get me since I was so vulnerable right now. I ran toward the house and then jumped, because I was positive it was moving toward me. I landed on the roof, which in my opinion wasn’t all that high, and then stayed up there for a while, hoping that whoever they were they were gone. I listened, but still didn’t see anyone. Had it really just been my imagination? Afraid they were hiding somewhere and were waiting for me to let my guard down, I stayed up there longer.

I heard some shuffling and I got nervous, prepared to go further on the roof if I had to. I wasn’t sure if the guards could jump as high as I could, but I knew I could outrun them if I had to. I was the fastest runner at camp. That was yet another thing that seemed to bother Payton.

192

Chapter Twelve I saw someone come out, and I moved up a bit. I was a bit shocked when I saw Melissa come out. She gave me a weird look when she saw me up on the roof. “Anthony?” she asked. She suddenly started to laugh.

“What are you doing up there?”

I was kind of afraid to answer her. ‘Well, I was afraid the guards from camp were going to get me, so I came up here.’ She would probably just take it as some kind of joke.

I was about to get down and tell her all was well, but then I suddenly heard more shuffling and decided to keep my position. But I suddenly wished I had gone down, because the shuffling was my mother, and she did not look very happy.

“Anthony?” she practically shouted. “How in the heck did you get up there?”

“I jumped,” I replied simply.

Melissa was still laughing as my mother just shook her head. “Hey, you have to give him credit for being able to jump that high,” Melissa told her.

“That’s amazing.”

I looked down. It seemed all I was good for was things related to physical activity. I wanted to be worth so much more than that.

“It’s also dangerous,” she said as she gave me a look.

I didn’t want to point out that was on a very low range danger scale compared to what I did back at the camp. Jumping on a roof was no problem.

I attempted to jump down, but my mother started to freak out. “No,” she told me. “You could get hurt.”

Melissa shook her head, not laughing anymore but now having a smirk on.

“Then how am I supposed to get down?” I asked her.

She seemed to ponder this question. I seized her moment of distraction and jumped down. Melissa seemed to find this funny, while my mother started to freak out even more. “Anthony, are you crazy? You could have broken a bone.”

“I’m fine,” I told her. “It was just a little jump.”

“That was not little,” she said with a tone.

Melissa continued to smirk as she headed inside. I had a feeling I would be in trouble, although I didn’t know what my mother would do to me. She wouldn’t hit me, right?

My question was confirmed later that night. My father was home and I came down and sat on the stairwell, wondering if she was going to tell him anything.

“Anthony climbed on the roof today and then just jumped off like it was nothing.”

193

Escape He didn’t give the reaction I was expecting, because he suddenly started to laugh.

“It’s not funny,” she told him. “He could have been sent to the hospital. He didn’t even have a ladder.”

“You’re right, it was very dangerous, but it was funny regardless.”

She sighed. “You’re not helping, William.”

“I just think that it’s funny; so sue me.”

“So what do you suppose I do about it? I don’t want to have to punish him, because I’m sure he didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he did, and I can’t imagine punishing him after everything he’s been through.”

“I think you’re overreacting,” William told her. “Just explain to him it wasn’t safe and he shouldn’t do it again. If he does it again anyway, then you can punish him. You shouldn’t punish a child for something they didn’t know was wrong.”

“You’re right,” she sighed. “He just scared the daylights out of me. If I lose him after finally getting him back, I don’t think I can handle it.”

“You’re not going to lose him. Don’t worry about it.”

Well, that was a relief. She wouldn’t be punishing me because I didn’t know it was wrong. I only wished the guards had that kind of logic back at camp. I would hardly ever be punished if that was the case. I was upset I had worried her so much, but I honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. I was afraid for how much she would be crying once the camp was finally shut down and secrets came out. Jumping off roofs and being whipped weren’t the worst that had happened to me…

194

13 Well, my mother’s job is finally over and now she seems to be devoting all her time to me. It’s nice in a way, but then I feel bad for all those children she’s helped in the past, and how she’s put an end to that for me. It seems they need her more than I do. If they had to go through even a fraction of what I had to go through, then I really feel bad for them. I thought it was her job to help kids like them, up until I came along.

“I like staying home to take care of you,” she told me. “Don’t worry about my job. You mean more to me than working ever did.”

It was comforting in a way, but it still made me feel rather guilty. It just felt like after all these years of feeling so utterly alone, it was strange having someone that cared about me so much. It was strange knowing all those years, I didn’t know I had parents and even a sister that had been upset I was gone. It just didn’t seem like it was my life and someone had made a mistake. I was just waiting for the doctor to call and tell them, “We made a mistake. He isn’t really your son. Sorry.” I didn’t want that to happen, but I figured it would. I couldn’t possibly deserve all this. There were tons of boys in that camp that deserved more than me, yet they all were still there, while I was living it up here. It didn’t seem fair.

That evening I was sitting behind the couch. I know it was rather weird, but I didn’t want to be bothered and I figured that was a good place no one would think to look. I was staring at this book that I found on their self. From the cover I assumed it was about some sort of girl, but I couldn’t be sure. I was attempting to read the first chapter, but I was only two pages through and rather lost. It was a terrible feeling, and I only wished I could read like a normal person. My mother had told me not to stress myself with too big of books and not to feel down about all the things I couldn’t do, but she just didn’t understand. She didn’t live a life she hated for nine years and then come here just to be lower than everyone because of that same life. That’s what I went through daily.

I heard William come in and I continued to read, hoping he didn’t see me. After hearing him head in the kitchen I concluded he didn’t see anything. I continued to try to read the book, but it still wasn’t working very well. It was saying something about a guy walking down a road. I wasn’t sure why the road was significant, though.

Escape I heard a pound in the kitchen, as if my father had just hit the table or something. I got nervous, wondering what he just did and if my mother was alright.

“What’s the matter with you, William?” she asked.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t done anything to her. Maybe he just set something down on the table really hard.

“I’ve had some week,” he told her. “Have you been going around telling everyone Anthony’s with us? Because everyone sure seems to know about it.”

“No, I haven’t. Why does it matter if everyone knows about it? Are you ashamed of your own son?”

“Of course not, Jolene,” he told her with a look. “You said you didn’t want the media finding out about this, and they very much will if this continues. Everyone’s been asking me about him, especially those that have been there since he was kidnapped nine years ago. They’ve all asked me if it was the same son, and I don’t know what to tell them. It’s only a matter of time before the media finds out.”

“The media finding out would be horrible,” she mumbled.

“Exactly! I just don’t know what to do. How do we keep this died down without lying?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed.

I wondered who the media was and what they would do if they found out. Were they like the guards back at camp? The thought made me shutter. Lance had said this was a completely different world. So they couldn’t possibly be, right?

“Melissa was telling me the other day everyone had been asking about him at school,” she told him. “She said she didn’t know what to tell them either, because for years she’s been telling everyone she was an only child, and now she suddenly has a brother.”

“Well, this story is bound to get out eventually, right? Maybe we should just accept it and give them what they want.”

“I don’t think Anthony’s emotionally stable enough for that. If we let this out we’re going to have hundreds of reporters pounding on our door, begging to get an interview with him. What do you think his reaction to that would be?”

“Not good,” my father replied.

“Exactly! We just need to keep on our toes, and hopefully it will all work out. Rita’s keeping me updated on the case, and she keeps telling me to get as much information out of Anthony as possible. Ryan hasn’t been much help, though. When we asked him where he found them he just told us in the desert, then when we asked him where in the desert he said it was all just sand, so he had no idea.”

“Great,” my father mumbled. “At this rate will never find it.”

196

Chapter Thirteen “They had to have hidden it pretty well if no one knew where it was all these years. It has to truly be out in the middle of nowhere with no sign of civilization.”

“But how do you suppose they get their food and water?” my father asked. “The boys had to eat and drink something. And what about all their other materials? There had to be something that was coming in weekly or monthly to give them supplies. And if they were really out in the middle of the desert they had to have a ton of water, so where did they get it?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “But that’s certainly a good point.

Something has to be coming in, and we just need to find it. This isn’t just the work of one person. This is a group effort. The guards that are in the camp, the head of the camp, and the supply bringer all played a role. And there could be even more than that. It’s sad to think this wasn’t the work of just one evil person, rather many.”

“Yeah,” William mumbled.

The thought had never occurred to me. Of course I knew there were multiple people that weren’t very nice to us, but I never thought there was a supply truck somewhere and it managed to get out of the camp whenever it came. I had never seen it, but it had to exist because she was right about us needing food and water. I honestly wondered if I would ever know all the mysteries about the camp. Why did it exist? Where did the boys go after they turned eighteen? Why had I been kidnapped all those years ago when I had a home, unlike most of the other boys there?

Who had taken care of me when I was a baby if it wasn’t my mother? I hoped I would know the answers someday. It was my history, and now that I had a present and a future I wanted to figure out my past so I could know who I was. At least I had some clue about my past now, but that camp still remains a mystery.

The next day calls started to come; lots of them at that. My father seemed rather nervous as he told them he had no idea what they were talking about. I didn’t know what was going on, but I mostly kept to myself and told myself they could handle it. I assumed whatever it was it was about me, but everything seemed to be about me since the minute I got here, so I had grown used to it.

“We’re not answering any questions,” I heard my father say to someone over the phone. “This is a family matter. I don’t care if the story’s broadcasted on the news, but we’re not giving any interviews.

You’ll have to work with what you have.”

They must have taken what he said seriously, because two days later I came into the living room to see them watching something on the news.

197

Escape “Everyone is calling it the story of the century,” the lady on the TV said. “Over the past twenty years boys have gone missing left and right, never to be seen again. Everyone assumed it was a serial killer, but they didn’t leave any tracks to follow or witnesses of any kind. But only a month ago two boys by the name of Lance Marks and Anthony Bevan showed up on a Jolene and William Bevan’s doorstep, and it didn’t take long to realize Lance had been missing for four years and Anthony didn’t even exist. Lance was the first person ever to come back, and between the two of them they shot down the rumors of a serial killer, showing they were very much alive. Upon further investigation the boys admitted they had actually been sent to a camp located out in the desert and all the boys that had gone missing were there. There they were forced to do hard labor all their lives with basically no purpose and were pretty much treated like animals. What Jolene and William didn’t know was that Anthony had more to him than met the eye. They also fell victim to losing a son so many years ago to what everyone thought was a serial killer, and eight years later that same son ended up on their doorstep. They are now reunited and have kept Anthony away from the horrors he had to face while at the camp.

“Unfortunately, Lance didn’t get quite the happy ending. He was reunited with his father, but only mere weeks later his father woke up to his calling out for help in the middle of the night. By time he got there, there was no sign of him. Jolene and William also reported similar instances where they tried to take Anthony in the middle of the night, but were thankfully unsuccessful.”

“We’re clearly dealing with very dangerous people here,” the guy sitting next to her said. “Anyone who can take hundreds of boys without even leaving a clue has to smart, and they seem completely heartless. We have reason to believe not all of the boys that were taken by them are still alive to this day, and the reports of the marks across the boys’ backs are just painful for any person with a heart to look at. Had those marks been made by their parents, they would be jailed for a long time on account of child endangerment.”

“Anyone who sees anything related to whoever is taking these boys is encouraged to come forward. It’s also strongly advised to be careful, especially if you have boys in-between the ages of six to twelve, as we see that’s their star target. We’re working to get them shut down and hopefully not only get all the boys out and to good homes despite all they’ve been through, but also to get the person responsible for all this behind bars.”

William suddenly turned off the TV. “How did they get all that information?”

198

Chapter Thirteen “It’s not like they mentioned something about our personal life,” my mother told him. “They just said the very basics. They probably got all that from what’s been going around and from what I’ve told Rita. Just because I say something behind closed doors doesn’t mean it doesn’t get out when I work as a social worker.”

He nodded. “Well, I’m glad the public is aware now. This needs to stop once and for all, and stopping them from taking more boys is the first step.”

She nodded in agreement. It was good to know no other boys would have to go there, but I still felt bad for the boys that were already there.

And now Lance was back as well. I couldn’t even think about it. I didn’t want to think they had killed him. They couldn’t have. Lance was smart.

But then again, I knew for sure they had taken him, and I doubt they wanted him alive after he ran away like that. No boy who had ever tried had ever lived to tell the tale. Was Lance still alive? It was painful for me to think about. He had to be alive. I refused to believe he wasn’t.

My mother seemed to notice something was wrong. “Honey, what’s wrong?” she asked me as she came to sit by me on the couch. “Is this about that news story you just saw? You have no reason to worry. Your father and I won’t let anyone take you. You coming back to us was the best thing that ever happened to this family, and I can assure you it won’t be taken away. You’ve been through too much just to go back there now.”

“That’s what happened to Lance,” I mumbled.

She sighed. “So this is about Lance? Honey, I don’t know what to tell you to make your feel better. I’m sorry he had to be taken, but I know things will be alright. I can’t promise you he’s alright, but I know that the same force that brought you back to us will keep you with us. I’m sorry Lance didn’t get quite that happy of an ending, but everything will be alright. Even if they did do something to him, at least he had the chance to be reunited with his father and know he cared about him before something happened. And I can assure you the police are doing everything they can. They have helicopters and search teams out in the desert right now. If there’s any chance Lance is still alive, they’ll find him.

They’ll find him and all the other boys and bring them back where they belong.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” I mumbled. “You don’t know anything for sure. How do you even know I’m going to stay with you guys for much longer?”

“Don’t talk like that,” she said in shock. “I know that camp was horrible to you and you have reason to be afraid, but you’re safe now.”

“Lance was supposed to be too.”

199

Escape “Yes, he was, but things are different now that we know they’re after you.” She came over and put her arm around me. “You have nothing to be afraid of. You just have to keep your head up high and remember that your life will get so much better, starting now.” She then gave me a kiss and continued to hold me in her arms.

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to pretend like everything would be alright. But I grew up at that camp. Those boys practically raised me, and this was how I repaid them? It just didn’t seem fair. It didn’t seem fair that Lance was taken back to that place, most likely to be beaten to death for escaping with me, while I just sat here like my life was so great. I felt terrible, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Part of me wanted to just sit here and smile that my life was so much better than theirs, but another part of me said I was being selfish. But how was I to be unselfish without getting myself killed? I couldn’t do that to my family. They had lost me once, and I wasn’t going to do something stupid that made them lose me again.

I couldn’t sleep at all that night. I felt like every little sound I heard was the guards coming back for me. I kept telling myself my parents wouldn’t let anything happen to me and that was the whole reason why they were letting me sleep with them. I kept telling myself not to worry.

This was something I didn’t have to handle myself. I could let the adults handle it while I just sat around and hoped everything went alright. In a way it was nice, but at the same time it was killing me.

Once morning came around I didn’t want to get out of bed because I was so out of it. I had never really had trouble sleeping before. I was always out in the sun and working hard all day with very little food to run off of, so by time bedtime came around I fell asleep instantly. Ever since I came here I seemed to be having sleeping issues. I know I shouldn’t complain, but they kind of sucked when I couldn’t sleep all night and I was expected, but not required, to get up in the morning. Thankfully my parents didn’t seem to mind as I heard them get ready for the day, and I even felt my mother give me a kiss before she went out. I hoped that meant they would let me sleep for at least a little bit. I could really use the time to just clear my head.

I was suddenly taken from the nice comfy bed and standing on dirt. I was wearing shoes thankfully, as well as an outfit my mother had bought me. It was very cold. I could see snow just like in my other dream. I bundled up in my hoodie. I had to get out of here.

I sensed another bad dream coming on as I came up and real-ized I was fenced in.

There was a huge gate that seemed to be mocking me. “You’re still a part of the camp, Anthony,” I heard a voice say. “No matter what, you’ll always be a part of it, and it 200

Chapter Thirteen will always be on your mind. Do you think your life is great? Well, the camp will always haunt you.”

I looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. After a few minutes I finally saw a figure emerging from the distance. I got nervous, wondering if it was one of the boys that hated me back from the camp. Of course I knew this was just a dream, but I really didn’t want to have a dream like that right now.

But I was in shock when I saw Lance. He gave me a smirk as if he were about to make my life very difficult. “Hello, Marcus,” he told me with that same evil smile.

“I’m not Marcus,” I told him. “My name’s Anthony.”

“Right,” he said, still staring me down. How did he know that? I don’t remember telling him that. I seriously needed to wake up before this got ugly. But a part of me wanted to know what he had to say. “You’re now the spoiled rich kid who gets to live it up with his real parents while the rest of us suffer.”

“I’m sorry. I want to help you guys, but I don’t know how.”

“Of course you don’t. Why would you even bother? As long as you’re fine it’s all good.”

I gave him a sad look. He didn’t have any marks of any kind on him. “So are you still alive?” I asked, half hoping maybe some part of me was actually able to reach the real Lance. And even if this was just my imagination, did I honestly think he was still alive?

Instead of answering me he just seemed to stare at me. “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” were the last words I heard before I started to feel myself drift away.

When I woke up I was still on the bed. My mother was right next to me, looking concerned. “Honey, are you alright?” I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I wasn’t at the camp, and Lance wasn’t here.

That was a relief. “Did you have a bad dream?”

I nodded, although I really didn’t feel like telling her what it was about.

But of course she had to ask anyway. “What was it about?”

“Nothing,” I replied simply as I got off the bed. She sighed. I guess she was kind of upset I didn’t really tell her much. Now that she had me back she probably wanted to know everything I was feeling so she could get to know me better and understand what had been going on for the first eight years of my life. But in my defense, I had told her more than I had told anyone in my life, so she shouldn’t feel picked on.

I was still really tired, but I was in shock when I realized it was almost noon. I wondered if that bothered my mother. “Well, you didn’t get up in enough time for breakfast,” she told me with a smile as she followed me into the kitchen, “but there’s always lunch. Would you like a grilled cheese sandwich?”

I nodded. Ever since I could eat as much as I wanted I had been taking full advantage of that. Food was actually delicious when it was real and decent food, unlike the stuff we got back at the camp. I had been 201

Escape trying to get out more, but to be honest, now that I didn’t have to work I really didn’t have the desire to. Living here had been so nice and so easy.

Once Melissa came home I went to go watch some TV. I couldn’t believe being bored was a daily thing here. Life was so easy, I almost didn’t like it. I thought about watching more SpongeBob but then got bored and turned off the TV. I headed upstairs. There was still so much about the real world that I didn’t know. Maybe tomorrow I could go out and find something.

“This is just so crazy,” I heard Melissa say. I stopped on the stairway and listened. Who was she talking to? “I remember that night Anthony was stolen. Both of my parents were freaking out in the other room, which woke me up. When I came downstairs my mother was bawling while trying to talk to the police. My father didn’t sleep for two days, and when he did finally go to sleep, he pretty much just passed out because he was so tired. He took out all our life savings, convinced the kidnapper was looking for ransom money. But when we never got a call and time started to go by, they both lost hope. A lot of people asked my mother why she couldn’t just have more children, and she would always get mad at anyone who would bring it up. Losing him broke her sprit, and she couldn’t bear to have any more children. It was so real for our entire family. And then nine years later he suddenly shows up on our doorstep from this horrible camp. This just doesn’t seem real to me.”

“Maybe you’re just having issues accepting that this was all meant to happen and you finally got him back,” I heard Ryan say. So it was Ryan. I stayed on the stairs, curious to hear this. “If this camp has been taking boys for years and not a single one of them was ever heard from again then suddenly he shows up, he was brought to you guys. If he would have been sent to another family when he got back you guys would have never figured out he was Anthony. He was sent to you for a reason. And everything’s going to change now.”

“I’m just waiting for myself to wake up,” she said, sounding like she was crying. “This has been a great dream, but it’s time for me to get back to reality. When I was younger I used to fantasize about having the perfect family. They would always involve my father being home, my mother being completely happy, and Anthony sitting right next to us like he never left. But I always came back to reality and realized my parents were having issues, my brother was gone and probably wasn’t even alive, and I far from had the perfect family.”

“Well, who does have the perfect family? Just look at my family. My father hasn’t been around since I was three and I have no siblings. I used to fantasize about the same thing. I imagined my father coming home and telling me he was sorry he ever left, my mother smiling and being happy, and then maybe even having a brother or a sister. I didn’t get that, but I 202

Chapter Thirteen did come to realize even though I didn’t have the perfect family, I did have something. You could say the same thing about your life, and in the end you did get your brother back. Imperfect is the new perfect.”

“You always know just what to say, Ryan,” she told him.

I sighed. “You and me both need to wake up,” I mumbled. “This all just seems too good to be true.”

After just sitting there for a while I started to hear my parents talking from their room. I began to listen to them as well, wondering if they were thinking the same thing Melissa was thinking.

“I just think making him sit home all the time isn’t good for him.

There’s a whole world out there that he needs to see. I’ve never met a child who is as enthusiastic about learning as he is. Maybe we should think about putting him with children his own age. He’s been so depressed about Lance. I don’t know what to do. He just needs to realize the world has so much to offer and there are so many people to meet. Maybe we should consider enrolling him in school.”

I smiled as my heart jumped a little. I would love to meet children my own age. I had some back at the camp, but the guards didn’t exactly support cultivating friendships. But going to school sounded amazing.

That was what I had wanted since I first came here.

“Lance was the only thing that was a part of his past,” my father told her. “Of course he’s going to miss him and be afraid of jumping into a new life with nothing. But things will get better. I don’t know if sending him to school is such a great idea, though. He knows nothing. He still has so much to learn about the world before we just shove him in school.”

“We could just hire a private tutor like we’ve been doing. Of course he wouldn’t be able to go to a normal class like normal children, but we could figure something out. He just needs that social connection. He’s been hid from the world living in a camp all his life. I think school would be good for him.”

“But we have enough trouble with being worried about someone just coming up and taking him while he’s here. If he’s at school there won’t be that protection.”

My mother sighed. “William, I know you’re afraid of losing him again, but we need to trust this. We can’t just sit here and pretend he’s nothing but a jewel that we’re afraid of someone stealing so we never show it to anyone. Anthony’s our son, and after that camp he deserves to live a real life.”

“I’ll think about it, alright. But in the meantime, we shouldn’t do anything until after this calms down a little. Right now everyone will know his name from the news story and that camp is still on his trail. I think now’s a bad time, but maybe soon.”

203

Escape I didn’t know what her response to that was, because I didn’t hear her say anything. I sighed. I desperately wanted to go to school. But the cold truth was staring at me in the face. No matter how much I wanted to, I would never fully be normal. That camp took away eight years of my life that I would never get back, and those eight years would prevent me from ever being normal. But I couldn’t complain. I not only managed to escape that camp, but I ended up right on my parents’ doorstep. Abnormal or not, I was lucky, and I was going to keep holding on to this amazing life until I did finally wake up.

That night my mother made some kind of pasta salad for dinner. We all sat around the table, including Ryan, as we ate and talked. I smiled as I looked around at all of them. I had everything I had ever wanted. So why was I still feeling terrible? I knew the answer, but I refused to ruin a good moment by admitting it to myself.

“Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Mrs. Bevan,” Ryan said as he passed the salad to Melissa.

“Well, Ryan, you’re practically a member of the family now,” my mother said with a smile. I saw my father look down as he said that, showing he clearly still had problems with him but he was trying to put all that aside because he had found me. I thought Ryan was a good guy, and I didn’t really understand why my father didn’t like him. He had told me even my mother didn’t like him, but she seemed to do a pretty good job at hiding it, unlike my father.

“I want you all to know that although life doesn’t always go the way we expect, good things always happen to people who deserve it,” my mother said with a smile. Melissa smiled. I assumed she was referring to finding me. I began to play with my food. I wished I could be as happy as they were. I still felt like I needed to be back there with Lance. I shouldn’t be here enjoying myself while he might be being seriously injured or even dead.

“So, Ryan,” my father said casually. “I’m just curious. Do you ever speak with your father?”

Ryan looked like that question made him kind of nervous, and my mother gave my father a look for even asking it. Even so, Ryan answered.

“Well, not often,” he replied. “My father comes around every now and again to see how I’m doing, but he really isn’t a part of my life.”

My father nodded, seeming to study him. “So were your parents ever married?”

Now it was Melissa that was giving him the look. “Yes, they were,” Ryan replied with confidence. “But they divorced when I was very young and my father didn’t really try after that.”

“William, that’s the end of the conversation,” my mother barked.

204

Chapter Thirteen “I was just curious,” he said innocently. “I didn’t mean any-thing personal.”

“It’s fine,” Ryan told them. He suddenly looked nervous. “But I think there’s something I should tell you guys.”

They all stared at him, their minds running wild with all the possibilities of what this was. “Go on,” my father said, probably thinking he was going to do tell him some horrible secret that would give him a good reason to hate him.

“When I was younger I was very close to my father. He didn’t really give me the time of day much, but I was crazy about him regardless.

When my parents divorced, he left. I was in denial for months and kept convincing myself he was going to come back. But he never did. When I finally admitted to myself he had abandoned me and didn’t care I got really upset and ended up running away. I was like seven at the time, and I really didn’t understand what I was doing. I just knew I was upset, and I thought that if I came to him he would actually care. When I ran away I had the intention of finding him.

“I asked around, but no one seemed to take me seriously since I was just a little kid. Later on in the day I ran into this guy. When I told him my issue he told me he could help me find him. I was excited about an adult actually helping me, but I got this horrible feeling about not trusting him.

Thankfully, I listened, and I told him I could do it myself. But he got angry I had turned his help down and suddenly grabbed me. I shouted, struggled, and cried until I got some attention. A bunch of people gathered around him, but by some miracle he managed to get away from all of them so fast it was like he was using magic or something. The people returned me to my mother, who was obviously very worried, and I kind of just forgot about the incident.

“But when I found Anthony and Lance out in the desert I recognized the badge they were wearing on their shirts. It was a picture of a wolf with the words, “I Will Show No Weakness.” I recognized it from the guy’s shirt as well. I think that guy was trying to kidnap me just like they kidnapped Anthony. It’s kind of crazy to think how close I was to living a life like that.”

I stared at him. Was he being serious? He almost got kidnapped but was lucky enough to get away? I felt the jealously rising inside of me. Why wasn’t I lucky enough to get away? Then again, I was only a baby when I was kidnapped. There were a lot of things about my life that just wasn’t fair, and I felt I would never get compensated. But then again, I couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if he had gone to the camp. Would I know him as a friend, or would he just be another face in the hundreds that I only saw but never talked to? The thought of Ryan being one of the older boys who watched over the younger boys made me 205

Escape happy, but then again, seeing someone I cared about having to go through what that terrible camp put us through was a terrible thought. I was glad he got away. I just wish the same mercy would have been shown to me and Lance.

“You were almost kidnapped by that terrible camp?” Melissa said in shock. “Wow, Ryan. That’s crazy. I’m so glad you were lucky enough to get away.”

“You have no idea,” Ryan mumbled. “But everything happens for a reason, right? I guess I was meant to stay here.”

I shook my head. I guess that meant I wasn’t. I was meant to suffer at the horrible place until I finally got out myself and found my family. It just didn’t seem fair. It didn’t seem fair to any of us.

Both of my parents had been silent, probably in complete shock. I wondered if they were thinking the same thing I was. Were they wondering why I had to be the one to get taken by that horrible camp?

“I don’t understand,” my mother said, sounding rather angry, especially for her. “If that camp went after boys who were older and trusted them to give them something they wanted or needed, why was Anthony stolen? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Were there a lot of cases like yours back at the camp?” my father asked, looking curious as well.

I shook my head. “I was the youngest to come. All the others my age came in long after me. Everyone else had some memories. I had nothing but that camp.”

My father seemed to study me while my mother stood up like she couldn’t eat another bite. “It wasn’t fair of them to do that, but they did it to so many others boys as well. At least we got Anthony back. What about all those other mothers out there?”

“Most of them didn’t have parents,” I mumbled.

She suddenly looked at me sadly, and I wondered what she was thinking. I tried to cheer up a little. Maybe I had been taken to that horrible camp when I was just a baby, but I had something all those other boys didn’t have: I had a family. They all told me horror stories of when they came there, but always went back to they would rather live their old life than the life they had to live while there. Most of their stories were very sad. That was why I had convinced myself for the longest time I didn’t have parents who cared about me and they were so heartless they allowed to be taken as a baby. I was wrong. Even Lance was rather lucky, because although he ended up at that horrible camp he did have some family. Most people weren’t anywhere near as lucky as us. If I did manage to free them all, where would they go? Would they just have to go back to their horrible lives? Then again, anything was better than that camp. Of 206

Chapter Thirteen the hundreds of boys that came and went through those gates, that was what we had all agreed on, even if it was only silently.

“We’re looking up to a brighter future, guys,” my mother said, finally putting the smile I knew back on. “After all, we have Anthony back now and he’s learning all the things he should have learned but didn’t because of that horrible camp. We’re all happy, and despite their best efforts they still haven’t taken him from us yet, and they never will. And then Ryan managed to escape whatever horrible person has been taking all those boys. I would say someone’s watching over us.”

Once dinner was over I came into the living room, having a lot on my mind. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t go to that horrible camp? What would have happened if I would have been as lucky as Ryan and got away from that terrible guard? But I was just a baby. I couldn’t do anything for myself. I only wished I could remember. I would give anything to know what my life was like before this terrible camp went and screwed everything up.

“Did you ever tell your mother that story?” Melissa asked him from the living room.

“Yes,” Ryan nodded. “She freaked out and told me I was the only thing she had left, so no one was going to take me from her.”

“Hey, your father doesn’t know what he’s missing,” she said with a smile. “He had to be an idiot to leave the most awesome boy on the face of this planet in which he helped create.”

Ryan smiled back. “Yes, he is an idiot,” Ryan nodded in agreement.

I then watched as they put their lips together. I didn’t know what this was exactly, but I had seen my parents do it sometimes. I assumed it was a way a boy and a girl showed affection when they liked each other. I could never picture myself being with a girl, just because I had been around boys for so long and I didn’t really understand the concept of love until very recently. But I had a long time to figure that out. I was sure no one expected me to like a girl right now.

I heard someone cough behind me and I turned around to see my father giving them the evil eye. They both looked embarrassed as they pulled away. “Oh, look at the time,” my father said as he looked at his watch. “You should probably get going.”

“Dad, it was just a kiss,” Melissa told him. “Don’t get all uptight about it.”

“I’m not getting uptight. Now come on, it’s time for him to go.”

Melissa sighed as Ryan said goodbye. “Sorry, my father’s so overprotective,” she mumbled low enough that he probably didn’t hear her. But I did. I could pick up on a lot of sounds from my time at the camp.

207

Escape As he was leaving I headed back into the kitchen, not sure what to do with myself. I sighed, still thinking about what Ryan just told us. It was crazy.

I was shocked when I felt someone put their hands over my mouth. I was then grabbed by someone else. I knew this was bad. It was the camp!

They had finally found me, and this time I probably wouldn’t get away!

208

14 I thought of screaming, but I just couldn’t. If my father came in and heard me the guard would surely shoot him, and I couldn’t watch that happen. The guards were ruthless and I knew they wouldn’t spare some guy coming to save his son that had made a mockery of the camp by escaping. But then again, if I didn’t scream they would take me away just like that and then I would be the one that would probably be dead. But I made my choice without really thinking about it. I couldn’t let my family get hurt because of me. Even if I did die, at least they would be alright.

They had lived without me for eight years. I’m sure they would learn to deal with it eventually. I least we got to meet each other.

But despite that fact I was trying to act brave, I was scared for of my life. I was only eight after all, and even someone like myself still acted like an eight-year-old. Once the guards had dragged me out to the yard—in which I realized we were there much quicker than I thought possible—I began to cry. I cried with all my might. But of course the guards didn’t care about crying. They had no heart. I don’t know what happened to make them that way, but they felt nothing. It was the world I grew up in, and now I was going back.

“Stop crying,” one of the guards demanded as I was thrown into the back of a van. I had a rough landing, but I tried to shake it off. That was going to be far from the worst thing that would happen to me today.

“There will be time for that later, when you’re given a real reason to cry,” he said with somewhat of a smirk. How could he be enjoying this?

One guard went up front to drive the van while the other stayed back with me, probably to make sure I didn’t try anything. He gave me a cold look. I wondered who he was and what his story was. What happened to make him like this? What happened to make him take young boys from their lives and give them the life probably just as bad as a slave? Was it all he had ever known? Did he have a reason? Did he feel even a tiny bit of guilt for what he was doing?

“What are you doing to do with me?” I asked nervously.

“You made a mockery out of our camp,” he told me. “Control is hard once the boys start to realize there’s a way out. We’re bringing you to the head. I’m sure he’ll take care of you just fine.”

I gulped. That didn’t sound good. I had never met the head before, but that was a good thing—no one who had ever met the head had come

Escape back to tell the tale. I got lucky once, but that didn’t mean I would get lucky again.

“Do you even feel bad at all?” I asked him. I knew I was entering dangerous territory, but if I was doomed anyway I really didn’t care. I had to know what went through his mind. “Does it make you feel good to bully and torture kids and teenagers?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he told me, still giving me a cold look. “I made my choice years ago, and there’s no turning back now.”

I gave him a confused look. “You made your choice? What choice?

Did the head come up to you personally and ask you to do this?”

“No more questions,” he barked. I decided to shut my mouth after that. Maybe he wouldn’t kill me until the head got to me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t whip me or something. I’ve seen what the guards are capable of doing.

Well, I wasn’t in the car for two days like I was in the desert with Lance. Not only did he seem to know exactly where we were going, but we also had a pretty fast car. I was a bit afraid but trying not to show it. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he destroyed my hope.

I wanted him to know I would fight until they actually killed me. If this was the end for me, at least I knew I did something before I died. And who knows; maybe I would give the other boys hope. Hope is the one thing everyone needs but few have at that terrible camp.

We were back as night was falling, and I started to get even more nervous. Was I about to die? Would these be some of my last thoughts?

Was this my last day? I was suddenly regretting not screaming for my father so he could at least try to help me. At least I could have seen him one last time, even though I ate dinner with all of them and saw him just before I left.

I was once again grabbed by the guard and then I heard the other guard say something into his walkie-talkie. “We got him,” he told the person on the other end. “We’re bringing him in now.”

“Perfect,” he heard a voice say back. I was a little surprised. That didn’t sound like one of the guard’s voices. “Call all the boys to the center of the camp,” I heard the person say.

I heard the sound of the meeting bell. It wasn’t a very pleasant sound to hear. We usually went about our own business and never gathered as a whole camp. If that alarm ever happened, it was usually because the guards had something to rant to us about and someone was in serious trouble. The only two I had seen in my lifetime was when those older boys decided to try to escape and just a couple years ago when they called us all together to tell us to keep pushing ourselves, because something big was coming and we had the chance to be a part of it. I didn’t really understand what they were talking about at the time, and I certainly don’t 210

Chapter Fourteen understand now. But if they were calling the entire camp together, I wonder what they planned to do with me.

The gates opened without them pushing anything and they dragged me inside. I stared into the cold night air as the gates shut, trapping me inside and keeping my prisoner here just like it had done all these years. I sighed, realizing I was right back where I started, except this time I had memories and a death sentence waiting for me.

As they brought me to the front, everyone started to get ready loud as they stared at me. “That’s him,” I heard a boy say. “He escaped, but now he’s back.”

“Not even the perfect one could get away completely,” another boy mumbled.

“I can’t believe they caught him. This really sucks.”

They brought me to the front and shoved me on the ground. I was shaking so much I could barely stand up. This was the end. They would kill me for sure. I was trying to figure out what I wanted my last thoughts to be. I pictured my family in my mind, and although I couldn’t bring myself to smile their faces did make me feel a bit better. If nothing else, I had seen the real world and met the family I didn’t know I had. To me, that was everything. At least I could die knowing that.

I looked up, realizing I was still standing here and no one had tried anything with me yet. But then I realized they were all looking ahead, including the boys. I looked and saw a figure emerging from the distance.

I thought of Lance as my heart leapt, but then shook my head when I saw a pair of boots and realized it was just another one of the guards.

But the way the soldiers looked made me think maybe this wasn’t just a guard. The person came into view, and I saw they were wearing a camouflaged outfit, big and heavy boots, and a hat. But there was something about this person, and deep down I had a feeling on who it was. But why would they be out in front of the entire camp, not even bothering to have the guards bring me to them so we could settle this privately like they had done with all the other boys?

Suddenly they were standing two feet in front of me. All I could do was stare. I knew who this was. This was the head of the entire camp. I had never met them before, but I knew this couldn’t just be an average guard. I knew coming back here would give me a run-in with the head. I wondered how they would kill me. But there was something about them I just couldn’t put my finger on. When he looked up at me, I made a startling discovery: he was a woman.

Of all the years I imagined the head, my fantasies never included a woman. I had been around boys all my life. The guards were all boys, all the people trapped here were boys, and all the new arrivals were boys. I knew girls existed, but I had never seen one before Melissa that day she 211

Escape took us to my parent’s house. The other boys talked very highly of them and said if one of them ran the camp it would be nothing like this. And I even believed them after I met Jolene and Melissa. But here I was, standing before the head and the mastermind behind all this that was apparently a woman.

I wasn’t the only one in shock, because as I looked around I saw all the other boys staring as well. I don’t think anyone was expecting this. She had red hair and an evil smile. Her smile was nothing like the smile my mother gave me. Although it was true they had changed since she found out I was her son, even her earlier smiles were nothing like this.

“Hello, Marcus,” she told me with that same evil smile. How did she know my name? I was expecting her to use my number, just as the guards always had. Well, at least that was my name while I was here. I wanted to ask her, but my voice didn’t seem to want to work with me.

“I bet you all are wondering why I’m out here, in broad daylight, revealing to you all the truth about the mastermind behind all this,” she said to the camp, who were all standing behind me, not daring to utter a word. Of course no one answered her. They weren’t stupid. “Well, the answer is very simple. I want you all to understand there is no hope here.

You are all dogs. I’ve been at this for a long time, and I’m not about to have it all ruined by one stupid boy,” she said as she looked at me. “I want you all to learn from his mistakes. This will not happen again, unless you want your fate to be the same as his.”

I was still shaking. What would my fate be? I knew the way she worked. I would never be seen again. The only difference was the other boys would know what happened to me.

“You were a great soldier, Marcus,” she told me with a cold look.

“You were one of the best at this camp. I looked forward to the day I could finally use you. But you’ve ruined all that. Now there’s nothing left to do. You’ve left me no choice. I want you all to see his punishment,” she told the camp. “Rebelling is stupid here. You all must understand that.

Tomorrow morning you will all watch his fate. I hope it will teach you something.”

“What should we do with him for tonight?” one of the guards who brought me here asked her.

“Put him in tent number twelve,” she told them. “I don’t want him giving the others any ideas.”

The guards nodded as I was grabbed again. Just for a minute, I could have sworn I saw a look of sadness in her eyes. If she was the mastermind behind all this, why would she feel sad about what they were doing to me?

I didn’t understand it. But now I had bigger problems. I had never heard of tent number twelve. Eleven was the last one I knew of, and each tent had hundreds of boys. You could say they were really big and we were all 212

Chapter Fourteen stuffed inside them like they just needed a place to store us. The older boys were always leaving while new boys came in, each being assigned a tent of one of the boys who had left. What was tent number twelve?

As the head walked away I looked over and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Lance. He was staring at me with a look that said he had been through a lot since he was taken. Across the side of his face was a huge mark, and I knew it would soon turn into a scar. I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want to call out to him, but I did give him a look as if saying, “I’m sorry, but things will get better. I know they will.”

Instead of smiling at me or even giving me some kind of indication that we were still friends and that would never change, he just looked away. I wondered if he got to sleep with the other boys for the night.

Were they planning on killing him too? He continued to look down as they dragged me away. He looked completely miserable, and I couldn’t bear to watch it. But one thing was for sure: he was still alive. We were both still alive, and that status wouldn’t be changing at least until morning.

But for now, I had to think of a plan, and I had to think of one fast.

They shoved me into a huge tent, but it wasn’t nearly as big as the one I slept in all my life. I looked around and saw that it consisted of only a few cots. I wondered how often it was used and for what.

“I hoped you enjoyed your little fun,” one of the guards told me. “You could have been great. But you went and destroyed it all. I hope your moment in the sun was worth it.”

Yes, it very much was, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I got to meet my family, discover my identity, and spent the last couple months in my parent’s arms. To me, that was everything. And even if I was about to die, at least I could say I knew who I was and that someone out there loved me.

I heard shuffling outside and suddenly someone else was thrown in. I was in shock to see it was Lance. “Since you’re both going to be dead by morning,” one of the guards told us, “we thought it might be nice to say some goodbyes.” He said it with a smirk, as if this was somehow a bad thing rather than a good. I didn’t understand his logic. This was great. My last moments not only would involve knowing who I was, but also being able to talk to Lance. I could talk him through it. Maybe we could even strategize together. I wasn’t going to give up. I had come too far to give up now. There had to be a way out of this, and I was going to find it. I still hadn’t had the chance to go to school. I wouldn’t die without getting that experience.

I was hoping he would give us time alone, but of course my luck wasn’t that good, because one of them left while the other one stood there, his cold eyes on both of us. But I didn’t care. I was going to be killed anyway, so what more could they do?

213

Escape “Lance, are you alright?” I asked him. Thankfully the guard didn’t seem like he cared that we were talking, rather just sat there like he wasn’t even paying attention.

Instead of answering me Lance just stared at me. I got a good look of the mark across his face, and it looked even worse than before. This wasn’t the Lance I knew. This Lance looked completely miserable, and the mark on his face was almost too much.

“Are you going to answer me?” I asked. What had they done to him?

What had been going on this past little while when he was here and I was living it up with my parents?

“I’m the reason they found you,” he told me simply.

I just stared at him. “Lance, they’ve known where I was since I got here. They just got me because I gave in while trying to protect my family.”

“You don’t have a family,” he said coldly.

I blinked. Well, he couldn’t have said that harsher enough. What was going on? Was this really Lance I was talking to? Of all the times I watch him get beat, he never gave in. He was always strong where he stood and tried to convince me someday he would get out of this place even after the guards tried to take all the hope out of him. I was never like that. Up until we plotted to get out of here I never thought of a better place. Lance taught me that.

“Yes, I do,” I told him. “Things have a strange way of working themselves out. I was kidnapped as a baby but not because my parents gave me away. They loved me and were heartbroken when I was taken.

Do you remember how they said they had a baby taken awhile back? That was me. They got a DNA test and realized I was their son. And I’m talking about Jolene and William. We landed right on my parent’s doorstep. I know you said the guards didn’t take babies from houses, but they took me. I don’t understand why, but I got the chance to meet my real family. And I couldn’t have done it without you.”

What I said didn’t seem to faze him at all. I stared at him. What was going on? Why was he acting like this? I just told him the people we had been staying with for over a month turned out to be my real parents. I would assume he would find that neat and want to ask a lot of questions, but he was acting like we were just talking about the weather or something.

“They told me they wouldn’t kill me if I helped them find you. I didn’t believe them at first, but after the test came and they almost killed me I was left with no choice. But they lied. Now we’re both going to die.”

I stared at him. “How did you help them find me?”

214

Chapter Fourteen “Simple; I told them where to find you. I gave them William and Jolene’s address and everything. I told them where you would be if you weren’t at home as well.”

Something told me I should have been angry by this betrayal, but looking at Lance, I knew the reason he had betrayed me was because he had been broken. I didn’t want to think of the horrible things they did to him to get him to say anything to them, but it must have been really bad if he gave in. lance never gave in.

“Lance, we need to think of something. We can’t let this be the way it ends. We’ve come too far to give up now.”

He shook his head. “This is how it ends, Marcus,” he said as he looked down. “I have nothing left. I’m not going to fight anymore.”

“Where is the Lance I knew? You have tons left. You have your father and your brother. Do you honestly think they would just want you to give up like this? I know your father cares about you, and you know that too.

Did these last few months mean nothing to you? I’ve seen something better, and now I can’t go back. I know I had my doubts when we first met, but you helped give me hope and got me out of his camp. Now I’m going to return the favor. This isn’t the end. Somewhere out there your father is mourning over losing you again, and I know my parents are as well. We don’t have to give up.”

I thought the guard would come over and tell us to knock it off, but surprisingly he just sat there as if he were pondering what we said. But I was trying not to pay attention, because I had Lance to worry about.

“I had hope,” he said as he raised his voice a little. “I had hope everything would be fine, but that hope just landed me back in this miserable place. I’m done trying. If this is my fate, I’m going to accept it.”

I just stared at him as I watched him turn his back on me and head over to the other side of the tent. I looked down sadly. That was when I lost all my hope. Without Lance, I was nothing. I was only one person.

One person didn’t have any say in a camp this big. Tomorrow morning I would be gone. I would just be a person all the older boys would tell the younger boys. I was the first to successfully escape. Of course I would be talked about, but I would just be a thing of the past. All I could hope was I set an example for a future person who would finish what I started. But in the meantime, I was nothing more than a legend of someone who gave up everything just to eventually lose. Everyone lost in this camp. It was a truly miserable place.

I turned to the guard. “Don’t you have anything to say?” I asked him.

I was feeling really brave by this point. What did it matter anymore?

“Don’t you have a reason you would do this to innocent boys? Don’t any of these guards have a reason?”

“This is what we’ve been trained for,” he said simply.

215

Escape There was something about those eyes. There were hundreds of people around the camp, and it was rarely I recognized someone, even from my own tent, but this guy did look quite familiar. Then it hit me.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” I asked as I made a startling discovering. “She’s training us to become one of you, to become her, where we hurt innocent children just like we were hurt? Is that where people go when they leave?”

“We all go to different places,” he said simply. “It’s all in our own choosing.”

“What other thing can you choose then?” I asked in shock.

“You’ll never live to find out,” he said simply.

I was hoping for more, but it looked like he was done. I should have felt lucky for even that brief encounter. Most guards would never talk to someone directly like that. Then again, I was a dying man. He pr

216

Chapter Fourteen

obably thought of it as my last dying wish.

As I went to bed that night I decided I just needed to relax and let my last night be something that was alright and not terrible. I knew trying something tonight would be foolish because there were guards all around the tent and especially around the camp, waiting for me to try something.

I wasn’t stupid enough to actually try anything.

I wanted my last dream to be something happy. I wanted to see my family again, and I wanted them to tell me everything would be alright. I knew it wouldn’t, but at least in my dreams I could be happy the night 217

Escape before they did something to me. I tried to think about them before I went to sleep.

But my dream wasn’t even close to being about my family, or even happy for that matter. I had a dream I was surrounded by thick darkness. I couldn’t see even a few inches in front of me and I was scared senseless. I tried calling out for help, but I doubted anyone would come and help me. I was right, because I didn’t hear a sound. I suddenly started to cry. I tried to tell myself crying was weakness, but then I decided since I was going to die anyway why did I really care? I started to bawl, wondering what was happening and where this would lead.

But I was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown down, and I could feel myself falling. I started to freak out and once again began to call for help, but still had no luck. I kept falling, plummeting through the thick darkness. But I suddenly looked down and could see a light. I smiled, realizing it was my light at the end of the tunnel. Where it would take me I didn’t know, but I didn’t care right now.

Rather than falling down hard on the floor, I fell down softly. I looked around and saw that I was in a big, white room. I started to walk around. “Hello!” I called. I didn’t hear a thing. Where was I? I suddenly wondered if I was dead. But I couldn’t be, because the guards wouldn’t kill me in my sleep. They would want my death to be long and painful. But then, where was I, and what was I doing here?

“Hello, Anthony,” I heard someone say.

I turned around and saw Lance standing there. I flinched. There was no way that was actually Lance, because he didn’t know my name was Anthony yet. Or did he? I had mentioned to him I was the son they lost and he didn’t really act like he cared, but perhaps he remembered the name from something him and Melissa talked about. It seemed unlikely, but I was holding onto the fact Lance and I were somehow communicating through a dream and he was here to help me with a plan to get out of this place again.

“Lance!” I shouted happily. “I’m so glad you’re here. Did you change your mind on helping me to escape again? We did it once, and we can do it again. I know things look bad, but you’re Lance. You can do anything you set your mind to.”

He shook his head. “I can’t help you,” he told me simply. “I’m all washed up. But you can do anything you set your mind too as well.”

I stared at him. “You’re not all washed up, Lance. It was your brilliant plan that got us out of this place the first time, and you need something else that can get us out again. It doesn’t have to end this way. I was never good with making up plans. I’ve been here all my life without ever even thinking about trying to escape until you came up and offered me your plan.”

“You’re not going to be able to escape,” he told me simply. “However, you might not have to escape.”

I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean? How else would we get out of here?”

218

Chapter Fourteen “Remember that alone we’re powerless, but together we’re everything. You have to do more than just think of getting yourself out now. Think of everyone.”

“I would love to get the other boys out, but how? This is a large and powerful camp that has been going on for years. I stand no chance.”

“Maybe not alone,” he said with somewhat of a smile. Then I slowly started to levitate up again.

“Wait, are you going to help me?” I called down to him. “Are you actually Lance, or are you just some figment of my imagination telling me what I want to hear?”

Instead of answering me he just seemed to stare at me. I continued to go up, then heard the sound of a harsh voice say, “Wake up, pipsqueak!”

I woke up to see some guards standing next to me. I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute. I still had no plan. I was doomed. Here I was, about to be ended permanently, and the only thing I could think of was what Lance had said. “Alone we’re powerless, but together we’re everything.” But had Lance actually said it, or was it just my scared and tired mind running wild? Either way, I had no idea how that would help me when I was probably about to be killed and had no idea what I was going to do about it. I had seen hundreds of boys just vanish with rumors of seeing their body at the land of the dead. I knew the head was capable of killing someone, let alone someone like me who had just escaped and lived to tell the tale.

“Come along,” the guard told me. “We have plans.”

I slowly got up, wondering what I should be thinking of right before I died. At this point I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I didn’t know how I would get out of this alive. I got my happy ending once, but would I get it again? Was this really the end?

I was brought back up to the center of camp like before, except this time Lance was being dragged behind me. I wondered if they would kill us together. I wondered what Lance was thinking. Was he really just accepting this?

I was thrown over in the center of the camp as I heard the sound of boots walking against the mud. I hadn’t realized it before, but it rained last night. I must have been so preoccupied with my problems I had forgotten that rain sucked because it made sleeping hard and very cold.

“I want this to be a lesson to all of you,” the head said as she stared out into the camp. They all seemed to be staring like they didn’t know what was going on but didn’t want to be the next one beat, or worse, killed. “I do not accept plotting things here. If any of you decide to try something like this again, your fate will be even worse than theirs.”

I could see by the look on their face that they felt terrible about this. I knew they all had hearts, even the boy who had kept me up all night 219

Escape because he was jealous. Was that what Lance had meant? But these boys had lost hope long ago. How would I get it back?

But I didn’t have time to think, because I was suddenly shoved on the ground. And then I knew what was coming next. It was the whip. But if they were doing it in front of the entire camp, I knew they had bigger plans than just to whip me until I learned my lesson like they usually did.

I was right, because as I felt the sting of the whip on my back that I thought I would never have to feel again, I knew they wouldn’t stop. Ten whips later I blacked out, and now I knew I would figure out what death felt like.

220

15 Lance Lance stared down at Anthony, now blacked out, and then turned away because he couldn’t bear to see the sight. He had to do something about this. He knew he was next. He wasn’t sure if the reason he wanted to help him was because he honestly cared or just because he knew that would be his fate as well, but he was going to do something about it. That dream last night had to mean something. He couldn’t just sit here and watch his best friend be killed.

He felt braver than he actually was, and he suddenly ran from the distracted guard who was holding him. The guard dodged after him, but he was much quicker. Anthony might have been the fastest runner in the camp, but Lance wasn’t far behind. All the guards started to circle around the camp so he couldn’t escape, while the guard who was whipping Anthony was now distracted. But Lance smiled, because he wasn’t planning on escaping. He had another plan.

“How long are we going to sit here and watch people die like this?” he shouted to all the boys. They all seemed to stare at each other, shocked he was actually brave enough to talk to them. “Every day we watch people we know and care about either beat or killed, and that’s not right.”

Another guard tried to grab him, but he was still faster. “This camp has done a lot to all of us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have hope. Marcus and I had hope, and we escaped because of it. As you can see, we won’t be able to escape now, but this doesn’t have to be the end. It can be a new beginning for all of us. Alone we’re powerless, but together we’re everything. We’re not dogs. We’re human beings who can think, care, and love.”

One of the guards finally grabbed Lance as all the boys started to look around at each other, seeming to be pondering what he just said.

The head looked furious as she came up to Lance. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re words are useless. All these boys have been broken, so don’t waste your breath. But I could make your punishment twice as painful if you would like me to. I don’t tolerate people like you in my camp.”

“I’ve been here for years, and I escaped under your watch,” he said with somewhat of a smirk, feeling very brave now. “If you really broke us all, how come Marcus and I still had hope? And how come these boys all

Escape still have hope? You’re dealing with actual people here, not just something you can throw around and they won’t question you.”

“Hold your tongue,” she said in outrage. “Guards, I think he just volunteered to go early. Get rid of Marcus and we can finish him off later, after this little back talker gets what’s coming to him.”

“No!” she heard someone shout. She looked up and saw one of the boys out of line. “He’s right. We are human beings. Maybe you guys can control us by putting us against each other and making us feel worthless, but if we work together we majorly outnumber you.”

“Get back in line unless you want the same fate as them,” she said in annoyance. The boys had never acted like this before. Perhaps doing this in front of the entire camp wasn’t the best idea after all.

But he refused to move. The other boys slowly started to come up as well, all backing him up. At this point she looked a bit nervous. But she couldn’t give up yet. She had come too far to let two boys ruin this for her now.

“Don’t think I’m afraid to wipe out most of this camp,” she said, her temper starting to show. “Plenty of boys before you have been killed or have disappeared because of me. If you want that to be your fate as well, I’m not afraid. I know how to get new boys, and don’t think that anyone will miss you. You boys are here because you have no one. No one is looking for you, and no one would care if you suddenly were just gone, just as they didn’t care when you disappeared and came here.”

But they were already fired up. Some were mumbling, “Anywhere has to be better than here,” while others were saying, “At least we’ll be in the real world and not this horrible place.” Some were even saying, “My grandma would have noticed I was gone.”

And then the next thing Lance knew the guards had let go of him because they were freaking out. The head was also worried and seemed to be backing up. But there were boys on all sides of her, and they didn’t plan on letting her go.

Ten minutes later all the guards and the head were huddled against the side of the camp. Lance felt great. He just caused the entire camp to finally come together and put a stop to this madness. He not only gave himself and Anthony their lives back, but also the lives of all the boys in this camp.

But the head seemed to be smirking as if this were some kind of game to her. “What do you boys plan to do now?” she asked. “Are you going to kill me? You’re all weak, just like you were before you came here. I’ve done you a favor.”

222

Chapter Fifteen They all seemed to look at each other. “We’re going to get away from this awful place and go into the real world,” Lance told her, more confident than ever now that he had the entire camp to back him up.

“There’s nothing but desert for hundreds of miles,” she said with another smirk. “You better start walking.”

Lance grew nervous. She was right. They had been walking for days before Ryan found them, and when he did they had been driving for almost four hours to get back to the city. They couldn’t do all that on foot, and it’s not like he had a phone where he could just call his father.

He was sure there weren’t phones at this camp either. The guards didn’t seem to have anyone to call, and he was sure the head didn’t either.

Besides, how would he get something big enough to come here for all the boys? Right now they had the head and the guards but nothing to do with them. He knew none of them would kill them. That wasn’t right.

All the other boys started to grow nervous. Lance couldn’t let them lose hope again, but what would he do? They were kind of stuck.

Without warning, the sky suddenly started to become filled with the sound of the blades of helicopters. Lance smiled. He hoped this was what he thought it was. He looked up and saw a ton of helicopters suddenly up in the sky. All the other boys were staring as well, wondering what was going on. Lance didn’t know what was going on, but he had a feeling these guys weren’t here to help the head.

The men started to come down from the helicopters on ropes. Lance recognized them. They were members of the Swat Team. This was good.

In fact, this was really good. They just got their miracle, and no one had to die in the process.

“Denise Phillips,” a man in uniform said as he came up to her with two guys behind him. She stared at him while all the boys tried not to laugh. So her name was Denise. “You’re hereby placed under arrest on account of child abuse, child endangerment, unlawful business management, fraud, and kidnapping.”

Lance smiled, and he didn’t have to look back to know that the other boys were as well. “They forgot murder,” he added to a boy who was standing next to him. The boy nodded. But it didn’t matter right now.

With all those charges someone would be crazy to even let her out any time in her lifetime.

But Lance wasn’t expecting what came next, because he suddenly spotted Melissa. The other boys seemed to as well, and they all couldn’t stop staring. Lance couldn’t help but laugh, and it felt good after all these months of being stuck here, being promised death once they found Marcus.

“Lance?” Melissa asked in shock as she came up to him. She noticed his face and shook her head sadly. “Did they do that to you?”

223

Escape “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “What are you guys doing here? Did you send those guys? How did you know where to find us?”

She laughed as Ryan came up behind her. He gave all the boys a look as if saying, “Back off, she’s mine.”

“After we found out Anthony was missing my father started to freak out and called the police immediately. They didn’t offer much help, but my father’s the CEO of a major company and has connections. The Swat Team has actually been looking for this place for months, but with no luck. My father demanded they try again but this time with Ryan. They didn’t get far before they were completely lost, since it’s nothing but desert, but we didn’t gave up. We and the other helicopters searched all night. We finally saw this little spec in the distance and we raced to it to find out it was what we’ve been looking for. It looks like we’re a bit late, though. You guys seem to have it under control.”

“No, you came just in the nick of time. If it weren’t for you I’m sure the boys would have lost hope and just let her go, because we didn’t know what to do from here.”

Someone suddenly came rushing up and Lance recognized Jolene, looking panicked and out of breath. William was behind her, not looking quite as panicked but looking around at everything. “Where’s Anthony?” she asked Lance.

Lance gave her a confused look. “Who?” he asked, still knowing him

by Marcus.

“Where’s Marcus?” Melissa asked, rephrasing the question.

Lance was hesitant, but pointed over to the center of the camp where they had left him. He hadn’t thought about him, but he figured he was probably just passed out and he wasn’t exactly sure what to do about it. It wasn’t like the guards hadn’t beaten someone until they passed out before.

They just usually didn’t beat them with the intent of killing them.

The four of them came over and Jolene started to freak when she saw him. He was lying on his stomach, looking very hurt and she couldn’t even tell if he was alive.

“Is he... dead?” Melissa asked in worry.

“No,” William replied, easing both hers and Jolene’s mind. “Look, he’s breathing.” Sure enough, he was slowly breathing. William picked him up.

He was thankful he didn’t have a mark on the side of his face like Lance did, but was still nervous about what his back now looked like, being that there were already scars there and now there would be even more scars.

William came up to the head as she was being handcuffed. He had to know something before this all ended. “I just want to know something,” he told her. “Why Anthony? Why did you suddenly break your pattern of boys and take him from my house?”

224

Chapter Fifteen She shook her head. “Do you really want to know? I’ll tell you, being that I’m dead anyway. I had this vision,” she said as she stood up and look up at the sky. “I would train this army of boys that would obey my every command. I could use them for whatever I please, and I would have all this power at my command. I wanted a group of boys that defied all the odds. I wanted only the toughest of the tough, not the sick or the lean.

Taking boys and making them come to this camp and face horrid conditions seemed like the perfect option; I just had to make sure no one would come looking for them.

“But my plans changed. I started to think that maybe taking boys that already had pasts and histories wasn’t so great, because they weren’t as strong or as malleable as I would have hoped. I first saw your son when I went on a trip through town. I saw him and I suddenly have a thought, a new vision you could say. He made me realize I needed to break out of my norm and do something different.

“I suddenly had a new vision. I wanted to raise an army from scratch, not from what I could find on the street. Maybe I was just crazy, but it seemed genius. I went back to camp and told the guards to kidnap this baby. They were rather surprised, since I didn’t usually make requests for specific children, let alone for a child that had a family, but they agreed.

They did the deed just as I had asked with no problems, and soon I had that baby in my office.

“I raised him from scratch,” she said like it was a big accomplishment.

“I’m the one that fed him, changed his diapers, potty trained him, and kept him alive. He lived in my cabin and was pretty much my son for three years of his life. On his third birthday I brought him to the guard and told him to find him a tent, because it was finally time for this boy to train. He nodded, still a bit confused, and then did as I asked.

“I spent the next five years watching him. He was more than I could ever hope. Not knowing anything about the outside world he was completely submissive and willing to do whatever was asked of him. He was also strong. I watched the boys take his food, yet he was still able to do twice as much as them with even less food. He knew how to work his body, he could do more pushups than he knew how to count, and he very rarely needed to be beaten. He was the perfect soldier. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

“I never thought for a minute he was plotting anything. He was always quiet. He never told anyone anything, and he never badmouthed the camp like the other boys did. I was convinced he was perfect and no such thoughts ever went through his mind.

“But I was wrong. When I heard the alarm bells I freaked out. Those weren’t heard very often. I ran out to see what was going on and one of the guards came to me, telling me two of the boys had escaped. Of course 225

Escape I was concerned, and the first thing I wanted to know was which two they were. I was in complete shock when they told me it was him. My perfect solider had rebelled against me, and I was not happy.

“I thought there was still a chance. The fact he had escaped just proved his greatness even more, but it also proved he wasn’t as submissive as I would have hoped. I told myself I would find him and bring him back, then I would break him again and he would continue to be what I wanted him to be. But then he landed back with you, and then things got extremely complicated. When I finally managed to get him back here I knew a lot of breaking would have to be done, so that’s why I had him whipped in front of the entire camp. I was sure that would do the trick. But now he had seen the outside world, and I thought my plan would suddenly fail and he would work against me rather than for me.

And then all the boys did what I feared the most, and suddenly the entire camp was against me. I had lost everything.”

“Boys aren’t puppets you can play,” Jolene said fiercely as she stood tall and looked her in the eyes. “They have emotions and they feel pain.

They all rebelled against you because they were sick of it.”

“I’m aware,” the head mumbled. “I hope you’re happy. You have your precious little son back. I suggest putting that boy’s skills to the max. He could do great things.”

William shook his head. He had been forced to do labor all his life. He wouldn’t make him do anything.

They watched as they took her away. Jolene smiled, realizing this was finally all over and no one was going to take Anthony from her again. She watched him as he was passed out on his father’s shoulder. He looked badly beaten and very weak. She sighed, realizing this was probably what he had to go through daily when he was here before.

226

16 When I woke up I thought for sure I was dead. But instead, I felt pain, and lots of it. I thought I was still being whipped, so I let the tears flow freely. I heard a voice say, “It’s okay, honey.” It was soft and gentle, just like the one from my dream. Was I hearing it again?

I tried to open my eyes, but I just couldn’t. All it did was cause more tears. “Go back to sleep,” the voice said again. But I couldn’t go back to sleep. I had to know who they were. I forced my eyes open and saw a figure smiling down at me. It took me a moment to regain my thoughts.

Jolene, no my mother. I was lying against her chest and she gave me a kiss. “Are you alright?” she asked me.

I didn’t feel alright, so I chose not to answer her. That voice, had it been her the entire time? It’s okay, mommy’s here. I remembered the exact words. She was my mother. Had I been remembering a memory from when I was just a baby? “It’s okay,” she whispered to me. I was sure it hadn’t just been in my head. “I’m here.” Yes, she had been here the entire time. I couldn’t believe I had just realized it.

We were sitting in a noisy helicopter and my father was sitting next to her. I closed my eyes before he had the chance to say anything to me. I was not only alive, but in my families’ arms. I didn’t know how this happened, but I wasn’t going to question it right now. Right now I needed to rest. I smiled, knowing this had to be all over and Lance came through.

Either that or my family saved me. Either way, I was alive and had great people who cared about me. It was all I had ever wanted and so much more.

Epilogue As I came downstairs I felt super nervous. Why was I so nervous?

This was what I had wanted since before I could remember. I finally got the chance to be like everyone else. Melissa had insisted that you couldn’t really mess up as long as it was just elementary.

“You’ll have wonderful teachers that will be super patient with you and you’ll get to make friends your own age,” my mother had told me.

“But remember that with school comes some tough choices,” my father said. “School is great for learning and meeting people, yes, but also can have bad apples that will try to convince you to do stupid things.”

“Feel lucky you’re getting the short speech,” Melissa mumbled.

“Just remember that you won’t exactly be in normal classes, honey,” my mother had warned me. “You still have so much to learn and it’s way too early to think you’re to the grade level you should be.”

“Will I ever be?” I asked, worried I would be forever doomed to be abnormal as everyone else looked down on me because I was so stupid.

“Of course not. If you work hard enough you’ll be able to pass up even the smartest kids. You just need to want it and do a lot of work outside of the school. You’re smart; don’t let anyone tell you different.

Now that you have all the opportunities you should have had things will be changing.”

I nodded, wondering if she was telling the truth or just being optimistic because she was my mother.

It took me months to convince my parents to even consider letting me into normal school. As all the boys started to get placed and put with families, a lot of them started going to the local school. I had used this as my way to get them to even think about it. My mother was worried all this attention would be bad, and it would be even worse if I started going to a public school. But after things were finally starting to settle down she had agreed to think about it, and constantly reminding her and telling her how much it would mean to me finally got her to budge. She knew I wanted to go to school since I first came here.

I came into the kitchen, a wide smile on my face and my backpack strung proudly over my back. This was the day I had been waiting for since Lance first told me about school. He had tried to convince me not to come. “Why would anyone WANT to go to school?” he had asked. “If you can stay home all day and not have to listen to someone going off about something you don’t care about all day why would you pass that up?”

Epilogue “I’ve never been to school before,” I had told him. “Besides, aren’t you excited to see me around school now too?”

“Sure,” he joked. “But just wait a little while and I’ll finally be in middle school. That’s much better than elementary.”

“Well, then I can’t wait until I’m that old.”

He just rolled his eyes. “You have a lot to learn, Anthony.”

He had refused to let me even mention what had happened at the camp that day. I wasn’t sure what had happened fully, and my parents would only give me limited details. “The boys were finally sick of it,” my mother had told me. “They stood up for themselves and finally gave that terrible woman what she deserved.”

“But what made them rebel like that? That’s never happened.”

“We don’t know,” my mother replied. “By time we got there they already had everything under control.”

I figured something had to have happened while I was passed out.

Since I wasn’t dead I knew they had to have rebelled soon afterwards, but I had no idea why they rebelled. Lance would pretend I didn’t say anything when I even mentioned the camp. “That’s our past now, Anthony,” he told me. “We have a brighter future. We all do.”

I assumed that meant he didn’t want to talk about it, but I really wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know if he knew anything about the dream I had, and if he really was still trying to fight them during his last night there, therefore they never got rid of his spirit. I had a feeling they didn’t, but I still wasn’t for sure.

“It’s so sad,” I heard my mother say to my father.

“What’s sad?” my father asked.

My mother was reading a section in the paper with a picture of each boy and a little bit about their story. Of course they were just the boys from here. The rest of the boys were sent elsewhere. “All those boys,” she replied. “At least Anthony had us. Most of them are lucky to have extended family.”

“I’m sure their lives are so much better, so it doesn’t really matter. And I’m sure they have people that care about them. Everyone always has someone who cares about them in this world.”

She smiled and continued to look at the paper. I was curious myself to read it, and I would have to find time later tonight after I was finished with school. I still was far from good at reading. I was in the third grade, so my mother had insisted that would give me plenty of time to catch up.

After spending forever convincing her to put me in my right grade and not a grade lower, she had to spend even longer trying to convince the principal of that. I knew I would never be normal if I was put into a grade lower.

229

Escape “Hello, honey,” she said with a smile as she saw me come in. They had been babying me like crazy since I came back, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It was kind of tough to go from a camp that taught you weakness was wrong and made you do hard physical labor to a home that was kind and didn’t care if you showed even complete weakness. It took me forever to convince them to let me sleep in my own room. It was nice in a way, knowing no one was going to come and kidnap me as I slept. The head’s trial was still going on and all the guards were locked up with her. I didn’t know what was going to happen to them, but I really didn’t care. As the guard told me; they made their choice.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. I was born ready. I had never been so nervous yet so excited about something in my life. I was going to finally get the chance to be normal, and learn like every other child out there.

“We’re both going to take you,” my father told me. “This is pretty much like taking you to your first day of school since you didn’t exactly go to kindergarten.” He laughed but I didn’t get the joke and my mother seemed to be giving him a look. He eventually stopped laughing, getting the hint. “What I meant was, this is important to both of us and I took the day off work for it.”

“Dad taking the day off work is a really big honor,” Melissa said with a smirk as she came down.

He gave her a look. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“That’s where I’m headed,” she said with a smile as she walked out the door.

“Are you excited, honey?” my mother asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. “I’m ready for anything that school can throw my way.”

My mother gave me a smile and then leaned down to give me a hug. “I love you so much, honey,” she said. “Promise me you won’t let school and the real world change you. You’re a very special boy, and I want you to stay just the way you are.”

I nodded. I wanted to change, but for the better. And it was good to know my mother loved my personality and not just for the fact I was her son. That would have to be a first. No one ever liked me for my personality.

I think my mother was more excited than I was to take me to school, and that was saying a lot. She kept going off as she drove, reminding me how big of a step I was taking.

When we finally pulled up to the front of the school, I was beginning to get a little weak kneed. I stared up at the sign, and then I stared at all the people that were walking around. This was it. I was finally going to 230

Epilogue school like a normal kid. I knew enough about reading and writing, though I knew I wouldn’t be anywhere near the level the other kids were.

“Are you ready?” my mother asked me with a smile.

“Yes,” I said as I opened the door, egger to get out and get to school as quickly as possible.

My parents got out with me. I had asked them specifically not to take me inside and hold my hand as I went into the classroom. As a nine-yearold nearing ten, I didn’t need that kind of humiliation. Lance had explained everything to me about socialization and how to stay cool. My mother told me to take the social side of school with a grain of salt, but Lance told me that it was everything. I wasn’t sure who to believe. I decided it was best just to stay on the safe side, and apparently having your parents walk you to your classroom was far from the safe side.

My parents both gave me a hug. “Good luck,” my mother told me. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to call me. I’m always here.”

I nodded. I would be fine, but it was good to know she would be there waiting for me if I really needed her.

I waved goodbye to them and then headed up to the school. I felt confident with my closed toed shoes, nice jacket, and a backpack that hung over my shoulder. I was used to backpacks, but this didn’t have survival equipment and clothes like I was used to—this backpack had books, pencils, paper, and a bunch of other learning materials. I was born ready for this.

I had been in and out of the hospital for the past month. It was nothing serious, but my parents were super paranoid. My back was healing after a bunch of medications and treatments, but I was pretty sure I would always have the scars, even if my mother kept telling me she was sure that they would go away. I was luckier than most of the boys, because I had a father that could and was willing to pay for everything. All they had was the kindness of the state and all the people who were trying to help them. The city was all coming together to not only get them medical attention, but also to get them put into decent homes. My mother told me that the surrounding cities were all trying to help as well. In fact, a ton of cities and states were coming together. That was very good.

I met up with Lance in what they called the lunchroom. My mother and the principal had given me an entire tour and lecture about the school. I knew that it was set up a lot like camp had been—the lunchroom, the classrooms in which I thought of as tents, the hallway, the gym, and the principal’s office. I wasn’t sure if this was a comforting thought or not, but I did know that school had to be so much better than that camp.

“Anthony, hello,” Lance said with somewhat of a smirk. Lance was in the older grade, so therefore he would be leaving soon. He promised me 231

Escape that he would teach me all that I needed to know before he left for middle school at the end of the year, but I was still nervous. Could I really learn a lifetime of social things before he left? I guess I could always ask even when he was gone, but why would he want to hang out with a dorky fifth grader when he was in middle school?

I was in fourth grade now. It seemed strange that I was almost ten and only in fourth grade. I thought that there surely had to be some kind of mistake. I should have been in ninth grade, right? My mother had tried to explain to me that it went by age and it started at age five or six, but it still didn’t sound right to me. Four was a small number. I didn’t feel small at all.

I came down and sat by Lance. He was with some of his friends, a few which were boys from the camp. All of the boys that I had seen around had looked at me with respect. I was practically a hero to them. Not as much of a hero to them as Lance, of course, but I was still pretty big. I had friends even before I entered school, and that meant the world to me.

“Have you read the newspaper recently?” one of the boys asked as he shoved something in front of me. I focused on it and tried really hard to read the words. I could do it. I was going to school now. I knew that I was be in a special class and would most likely be slower than everyone else, but that didn’t matter to me. I was determined to read what everyone else could read. I took it line-by-line and read it very slowly.

Camp Mastermind Jailed, Boys Put into State Care Denise Phillips still awaits her court date for the horrible crime of the century in which she was the mastermind of. Many argue the death sentence, but others argue life in prison. Her fate has yet to be determined, and as of now no plea bargains will be offered. Phillips refuses to work with police or to tell them anything, though we have many witnesses that can testify as to what she did as well as many witnesses that have heard her confession first hand.

The boys have all been placed into the state’s care. Some of them have already been placed in a home, while others still await where they will go.

Anyone interested in taking some of them should contact officials immediately, as we have more boys than we know what to do with.

They’ve all been placed in places around the country, but there’s still tons more that need to be placed. There’s so much that the people of the city can do to help.

The camp was bulldozed and washed-out last week. Now it’s just open desert with a few scrap parts. The boys have all received careful medical attention. Some of them weren’t in good condition, but most of them were fine apart from bruises, marks, and mangled feet. Families have been 232

Epilogue contacted, and this solved thousands of kidnapping cases across the country.

It’s hard to tell what will happen from here, but the future looks on.

I smiled at that last sentence. It was so true. The future did in deed look on.

I heard the sound of the school bell signaling that it was time for class.

I smiled at the sound. It was truly beautiful. Lance and all them got up and I followed them. Today was going to be a good, good day.

I smiled at everyone that I passed in the halls. Some of them smiled back, while others just seemed to give me a strange look. I had heard that the size of this school had practically doubled in the past month with all the boys coming in, and as a result it was overcrowded. I didn’t mind, but my mother had told me not to worry because they were planning on building a new school next year. Next year seemed like a lifetime away to me.

I stood by the door of my classroom and took a deep breath. This was it. Whatever the future would bring, I was ready for it. And with that I stepped inside, ready to start the future.

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About the Author Nicole Bourdon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised nearby in Tooele, Utah. She’s been writing since middle school and is the author of many other young adult novels, including the Everything Happens for a Reason Series. She’s also done a few adult novels, each with different ideas and different morals.

Nicole has a strong interest in history, and this is her second novel that involves the subject in some form. Although this novel might not directly relate to history, it’s very much a modern representation of the slave trade as well as some part of the holocaust. Just like those slaves, those boys were given the worst of conditions and expected to listen to an order. The only difference was what happened then was legal, while what’s happening now is illegal. In the slave trade order was kept by appointing other slaves to watch over the slaves that might rebel. The slave owners themselves couldn’t have kept order alone, just as kings couldn’t keep order in their kingdom without their noblemen. The same principle was applied to this story: the boys that left came back to keep order, because the head couldn’t have done it alone. However, revolts did happen in slave plantations, just as a revolt happened here. Alone they were powerless, but together they were everything.

Nicole Bourdon is currently living in Logan, Utah and attending Utah State University. She’s majoring in English Education with minors in History and Librarian Studies.