A/N Wow guys! Thanks for all of the reviews! I was not expecting the first chapter to get that response, and it already has several favorites and alerts! YAY!
Mr. Garcia had to push Carlos into the ornate foyer of Harlem's Hebrew Orphanage. He stumbled inside, onto the blue and black marble flooring.
"Papa, why is the floor wet?" Carlos asked, scuffing his toe along the marble.
"It's not wet, it's marble, mijo. Don't scuff it. It's very expensive. See, isn't this place nice?" Mr. Garcia asked.
Carlos avoided the tall man in front of him and glanced nervously around the grand entrance of the orphanage. There was a great big grandfather clock and giant wooden shelves filled with books. It did look awfully nice, but Carlos felt something off about this place. Maybe it was just the fact that, no matter how nice this orphanage was, it would never feel like home without his mami and papi.
"Papi, please don't make me stay here!" Carlos exclaimed, hugging his father's leg. Mr. Garcia had to pry the boy off his leg.
"I'm sorry, mijo. I'm so sorry," Mr. Garcia said. "The papers are already signed. You have a bed and a desk for school. You have a place to live, people to care for you! In Venezuela, you would not have even a bed to lay in, only dangers around every corner. Mijo, you are safe here! This is your knapsack, everything you need is inside. Mami and Papi will be back as soon as we can."
"All I need is you, Papi! Don't make me stay here! I'll be good, Papi I swear!" Carlos cried, throwing his knapsack on the floor. He did not care about clothes, or beds, or a desk for school or even safety. He needed his parents! Why couldn't they see that?
"Now, now, son. Come along," The tall man said, rubbing the scruff on his sharp jaw. Suddenly, the man leant over and grabbed Carlos in his long arms. Carlos let out a shriek and kicked his legs in a tantrum. Why was this gross man taking him away from his Mami and Papi?
"No! Mama! Papa! Please!" Carlos cried, reaching for his parents. His mother let out a sob and kissed his tear-streaked cheeks lovingly.
"We'll be back mijo! Ti amo!" Mrs. Garcia said.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia. He's ours now," The tall man said with doom as he practically pushed Carlos' parents out the door, closing it with a loud thud.
"No!" Carlos screamed. He couldn't believe this. He felt panic begin to take over him. His heart was pounding and it hurt to breathe. This couldn't be happening! He felt like a scared three year old again, but he didn't care. He just wanted his parents.
"Follow me," The man ordered, setting Carlos back on his feet. But the little boy was too traumatized to listen. Instead, he crumpled to the shiny marble and curled into a ball, tears spilling onto the floor as his body wracked with sobs. He called out for his mama, but instead the tall man kept barking orders at him, any trace of the smile he had on a bit ago erased from his leathery face. When Carlos did not obey him and get off the floor, he resorted to using his most booming, frightening voice to scare the child back to reality.
"Carlos! Look at me!"
Carlos gasped and lifted his flushed, swollen face off the floor. The man's voice scared him. He wasn't used to being yelled at.
"Papa!" Carlos wailed. He did not like this man one bit. He needed to be soothed and yelled, yet here this intimidating man stood, scolding him!
"I am not your papa. I am Headmaster Samuel. I'll be taking place as your new father, but you'll refer to me as 'sir.' Understand me?"
Carlos just stared up at him, wide eyed and unblinking, trying to hold back another set of sobs.
Samuel almost scolded the boy for not responding with "yes, sir" but decided against it. He would give him another chance, but he liked his boys who stayed here to be obedient and was prone to being unusually strict and even cruel to insure they stayed well behaved, so when Carlos continued to tremble on the floor after being ordered once again to stand up, he brought his hand back, gearing to slap the child's cheek. To his surprise, Carlos did not stand up right away. He just kept staring, confused. With a force that should never be used on a small child, he back handed Carlos' cheek, sending him backwards.
Carlos was stunned that an adult would actually hurt him like that. His lip quivered as he touched his cheek, and he began to cry when just his fingertips pained the now tender, red area. But something told him he should start listening to this man, so he got to his feet and trudged behind the tall man as he gave him the tour of the home. He showed Carlos his school room, the floor his age group slept on, the dining hall, and lastly, the nurse's station, all while he spoke to him about the boy's room.
"I may be strict, but I provide for my boys. Here, you will have a bed and three meals today plus a good education. I do not tolerate any tomfoolery-"
"What's tomfoolery?" Carlos blurted, curious of the silly word. Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say, because the tall man froze, turning to glare stonily at Carlos. The Hispanic boy thought of something suddenly.
"Sir, what does tomfoolery mean?" Carlos asked. The tall man's glare at the innocent child suddenly didn't seem so stony anymore. He thought a moment, than leaned down to look at Carlos in the eyes. He was so close to Carlos' face, it made him a little uncomfortable.
"It means, little Carlos Garcia, that if my boys ever disobey, they will reap the consequences. Meaning they will be punished."
Carlos' eyebrows rose in fear. One time when he was 6, his parents took away his toys because he refused to clean his room for an entire day! He was sure this guy's punishment would be much, much worse than that, and he didn't want to find out.
The tall man brought him around to the nurse's room. The nurse's name was Catherine, and she had pretty blonde hair that reminded Carlos of his nanny. He missed her already. Even though the nurse was nice, she would never be as amazing as his nanny.
For some reason, Carlos was given a check up and asked if he ever had certain illness', like scarlet fever or mumps. He shrugged through them all since he didn't really know.
After his check-up, his nurse began to strip him down.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Carlos asked as she pulled down his britches. He tried to cover up his skivvies, but she pulled those right off, too! Carlos' cheeks turned bright pink.
"They have a uniform to wear here, dear," Nurse Catherine said as she promptly dressed him in blue boxers, brown knickers, a white button up shirt with a collar and black suspenders and a brown cap. The clothes were probably two sizes too big. She had to cuff up the wrists and shorten the suspenders to the smallest setting, but they still tried to fall off his shoulders.
"During school and dinner you are required to wear this jacket," Nurse Catherine said, holding up a gray tweed jacket. "However, it's free time right now, so you won't need to wear it. I will put your things at your bed. Headmaster Samuel will show you to the courtyard where the rest of the children play."
Carlos gave the nurse a little nod and followed the tall man-from a distance, because he really didn't like him, to a very large, grassy courtyard, where he was shoved outside and had the door close shut behind him. Dozens of boys, most of whom much larger than him, ran around playing baseball and tetherball and tag. Carlos felt very alone and vulnerable, like he was just thrown into a pit of lions with no escape, but the heaps of children hardly noticed he was there. That was fine by Carlos. He didn't feel much like playing, anyway.
Just as Carlos was about to sit down against some vines growing across the stone building, a ball landed at his toes.
"Hey, be a pal and throw it over here, will ya?" A boy neat, flowing auburn hair called. His cheeks were rosy and his face was perfect-he didn't look misshapen or dirty like other young boys did. He was much taller than Carlos, but he didn't look very scary. In fact, he was smiling. But Carlos was not smiling. Nothing right now was happy. He was angry at everything for making him live in this unfamiliar place. He balled his fists up and, with a tiny "humph!" kicked the ball with all his strength, sending it flying across the courtyard. It almost landed on the roof! But it bounced off the gutters and fell to the grass with a light thump.
Every boy in the courtyard was silent, except for a couple of boys, who just said "Whoa." They stared at Carlos for a moment and he just seethed. He wanted to kick some more stuff, but nothing was around except for children, and he did not want to kick a person. So he just sat on the grass and crossed his arms, and the other kids went back to playing ball like nothing ever happened.
But a few seconds later, a shadow of a lanky boy loomed over Carlos. He didn't bother to look who it was because he was too upset, but he did say "hi," because he was taught to never be rude to another human being.
"Hi!" The shadow said, plopping down in front of Carlos in the grass. "Who are you?"
The voice sounded awfully sweet, so Carlos decided to see who was speaking. It was the same boy who asked him to throw the ball back.
"I'm Carlos," he said.
"Oh, hi Carlos. Nice to meet you! You have an awfully good kick. I was wonderin' if you might be on my soccer team?"
"Maybe some other time," Carlos said, politely declining. "Thank you."
"Oh, okay," the boy said, shielding his hazel eyes from the sun. "I understand, first day's always the hardest. But a lot of us boys around here are friendly enough. I can protect you from the bullies if you want."
"Okay," Carlos said, his eyes jotting around nervously. He didn't know there would be bullies here.
"Did the tall man get you?"
Carlos blinked. "Who?"
"The tall man, headmaster Samuel! That's what we call him."
"Really? I do too. I don't know why."
"Probably because he reminds you of the character in that horror book, The Tall Man! All dressed in black and looking like he steals the soul's right out of babies!"
Carlos thought Samuel had seemed familiar. Did he really steal souls though? He wasn't very nice.
"Oh. Yeah, how'd you know it was him?"
"'Cause he got me my first day too, for sassing back!" The auburn haired boy said.
"He's awful," Carlos whispered.
"Yeah, but if you follow his rules he ain't so bad. Anyway, you need a buddy here, or you'll never survive here. This place isn't as horrible when you have a buddy, really."
For some reason, Carlos thought this boy was lying. Even the kids playing sports did not look as cheerful and rambunctious as most other little boys. They kind of seemed miserable, if Carlos was honest.
"I'll be your buddy," Carlos agreed. Even though he was still angry and frightened, this boy gave off a certain warmth. He knew he wanted him for a friend right away.
"Great!" The boy said, shaking his long bangs out of his eyes and outstretching his hand to grasp Carlos'. "My name is James Diamond. Nice to meet you, new pal!"
A/N Yay for quick updates! Expect another one soon! Xoxoxo! Let me know what you think so far of this wicked orphanage!