A child is crying as James Smith walks into his house. He goes into the living room where he knows his wife will be. Sure enough, she is on the couch with a beer bottle in her hand and ignoring their son. He sighs disgustedly and puts the beer bottle down on the table. He makes his way down the hall of the trailor which is old and in bad shape and smells like sour milk. He makes his way into a room filled with boxes and beer bottles. In the center of the room is a small bed. James walks over to the bed and picks his three year old up in his arms. The boy immediatley stops crying and holds onto his father tightly. "I can't take it anymore," he tells himself and his son. "I can't take care of you and your mother," he says, sighing. "She drinks and smokes all of my money away," he tells Alan. He pulls a rubber octopus out of his pocket and hands it to the little boy. "Here kiddo, keep this OK?" He sits him down on the bed and says, "I'm going to get some icecream, ok? Be right back," and heads out of the door. On his way down the road he decides he won't go back to that house, ever. He feels bad about his decision, for his son's sake, but he knows that if he stays in that house one more day he will go crazy. He speeds up going down the tiny roads; never looking back at his house, or his life. He is starting over, without his son, without his wife. All of this leads to an abusive life for Alan.
Thirteen years later Alan has already been abused many times by his mother. "Stop! MOM! PLEASE! NO!" he screams as his mother throws beer bottles at him. He goes into 'his room' and sits on the bed. He starts thinking about his father and how he ruined his life. 'Maybe he'll come back' he thinks but he knows it won't happen. He stands up and sneaks out of the window. "Time for school," he mutters with a laugh. At first he does head in the direction of his school but then he takes a turn towards the rich part of town. "I hate life," he mutters keeping his eyes on the ground.
Soon he finds a house that looks empty. He's done this before, lots of times. He walks up to the door, grabbing a broken crowbar out of the driveway. He hits the lock a few times before it gives way and the door swings open. He enters the house, looking at the beautiful decorations. "Whoa," he whispers to himself. He tries to keep his mind on track as he walks down the long hall. He isn't there to steal jewelry or anything, he is just hungry. He heads for the kitchen slowly, checking out everything and making sure nobody is coming. He walks further into the house and on his way to the kitchen he walks by the bathroom where there is a pile of loose change on the counter. He thinks of all the things he could buy with that change. Crackers, chips, chewing gum, toothpicks. He walks into the room slowly and picks up the money. He slides the change discretely into his pocket and then he sees a fish tank and is captivated by it. He loves fish after all. His eyes focus on the little creatures happily. Then he notices that the whole room is decorated with fish, whales, sharks, squid, eels, octopuses and rays. "Wow," he makes his into the kitchen. He opens the fridge and then he hears someone coming in. A woman screams. The pepsi he was holding falls out of his hands. Busted.
Now he is spending his time in Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility. All over a pocket full of change and a Pepsi.
Author's Note: This story seems familiar? Convinced I stole it from someone? Anyone? Sorry, I've just read Louis Sachar's "Stanley Yelnats Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake" just like everyone else who writes about CGL boys' pasts and actually knows what happened. I'm just elaborating on Louis Sachar's explanation. And in response to one review, I managed to find that story (not very easy, since that's not the author's name) and it's honestly beautiful. 6000 words more than mine, of course, but I really like it. It's better than mine, much better. Thanks for the point in the right direction.