The orphanage had changed. When Principal Andrew Bine had taken charge of the place he wanted to create something liveable, a place where orphaned children would grow to be valuable additions to society.

The former lawyer's idealized views were quickly brought down to earth. He was blamed to waste money on 'unnecessary luxuries' such as own psychiatrist and single rooms where difficult children would be placed until they adjusted.

The rooms he was ready to part with. All he meant by creating them was to place in them children with nightmares and other issues, mainly to protect the others who were more or less 'adjusted' to the orphanage. Those were dropped two months after Peter's arrival.

But the psychiatrist? It was enough the place did not have a doctor, only two nurses. The psychiatrist was a treasure the Principal fought for long and hard. A professional with medical degree was not only to give shifts in the clinic, but also take care of the orphans' shaken emotional state. In vain. He was forced to sack a quarter of his staff and cut Dr Wolly's salary by 20% and unsurprisingly she left only a month later.

Now Pineridge had to put up with students and interns, most of whom barely distinguished depression from bad mood. The single rooms had been connected to the dormitories and as for the supervisors that were to watch over the discipline, three of them were prisoners on probation –the only people who had agreed to work at the orphanage practically for charity.

The broad park was different, too. The pond which was not to be maintained anymore was left to snow and rain take care of its content. The eastern corner had been leased to a nearby private owner. A great deal of the grass area had been turned into an outdoor playground since the small gym had to be closed. Many of the trees, mostly those fit for climbing, had to become fire wood, an emergency decision during one particularly bitter winter which had arrived only weeks after the first series of budget cuts.

Bine drew a deep breath and locked himself in his office. At least the new cuts came in spring.

X

Some say that half a year is a long time, others – that is passes in the blink of the eye. To Peter Caine it was both. On the one hand time seemed to drag itself at least only to protrude his suffering. On the other it was like yesterday when Pink Hai's student had escorted him to Sloanville. The teen was still angry at himself for not hiding better when he had the chance. He could have been on his way to China by now…

During that seemingly short time Peter never noticed the drastic changes in his temper. The realisation that everything his father had taught him was a lie hit him the second time he tried to talk a young delinquent out of harassing the little ones. The rascal did not listen at first and a day later got such a beating that he could not breathe properly for a week. Then he listened.

And so young Peter Caine discovered that it was not the palm of kung fu that gets to be respected, it was the fist.

He buried the pain. To fit, to sleep, and simply to survive, he buried it under a thick veil of growing anger. At present he was even grateful for being in the orphanage because after his second escape, on a Sunday afternoon when he had been taken forcefully to that boring Catholic church, he had to admit he was completely unprepared for life on the outside... or for life in general. And all was his fault, his, his…

Max and Kyle were his best pals now. The two boys had eventually buried the hatchet. Max had mellowed even more, while Kyle had opened up significantly, to a point that after a few kung fu lessons he got the confidence to start defending the weak himself.

The three boys were in their usual hideout by the fence.

'Good stuff,' smacked Peter as he drew a puff and handed the cigarette to Max.

'Not too bad to have connections, eh' grinned the bulky boy and passed the nicotine-stuffed paper roll to Kyle.

'Better than the last ones.'

'Hey, cut me some slack, will ya,' defended himself Max. 'You think it's easy to get these in here? It's not.'

'Ok, man, relax. Jeez…'

'Still, the once I brought you last month were the best,' remarked Peter. During his most recent escape he had managed three days on the streets, and was proud with his first robbery – two packs of cigarettes and one beer.

'Good hand,' puffed Max. 'Next time you ditch here aim for Marlboro, they are the best.

'I'll try,' promised the teen.

Peter was more quiet than usual. He was too busy reflecting on his situation even to greet 14-year-old Frankie J. who just joined them. The teen was wondering what his father would think if he could see him smoke cigarettes and drink. But then again, his father lied to him, so who cared…

'Hey, earth to Peter...'

'AWha'.. Thanks.' He gladly finished the fag and took a second one.

'Another one?'

'Why not?'

'We've got only 10 left,' noticed Kyle.

'Max, what do you think?'

'I'll have a delivery in ten days. If you can wait…'

'Gimme, gimme,' insisted Frankie and lit the new cigarette.

Peter looked at his friends. Max had a file, Frankie was from a family of drug dealers and had been caught stealing from a bakery back in the days when he was living in the streets. The young Caine was actually proud that he also had done something naughty, it helped him fit in.

On the evening of his 13th birthday he and Max stood past bed time and drunk what was Peter's first beer in his life. Peter shared how odd it felt that so many of the children here had broken the law in one way or another. Max laughed patronisingly and informed him that it was supposed to be so since they sent only the delinquents to Pineridge.

Was he a delinquent? He had not done anything wrong in his short life, to anyone. Why here? Because he escaped? At least now that he was officially a criminal Peter felt he deserved to be at Pineridge. At least now it no longer felt wrong that he was here. Now he too was a delinquent.

X

One week later was Captain Paul Blaisdell's first talk at Pineridge. Though many things were gone Principal Bine's programme stayed on. The visits of fire chief Willis were a huge success. It seemed the police captain enjoyed similar if not greater popularity.

The room was crowded. Involuntarily Paul sought the known tall boy with dark hair but did not see him. Slightly disappointed he gave his talk. It was going to be only introductory since he was supposed to come once every two months or so. He spoke of the Police Academy, how the local one was considered one of the toughest and most prestigious in the country, and how 15% of the candidates did not manage to graduate because it was just too difficult.

It worked. The audience felt intrigued, challenged even. Inevitably they asked what was so special about the training, and Paul promised to find time and organise a day out where they could have a taste of it. The kids were ecstatic.

The talk took less than an hour; the Captain did not want to bore his young audience from the first day. And he did well, because the questions he was showered with afterwards took another half hour.

X

'I don't know, I expected more… people…'

'Are you kidding me? Paul, it was amazing! The talks have never been so successful!'

Back in Bine's office the two men were sipping coffee, and Paul's eyes were checking the landscape outside way too often.

'Are you in a hurry?'

'Nah, just coming from the mayor's office, I'm in no hurry to get back in the mess of my precinct.'

'I hear you did wonders with that place.'

'There's still a lot to do. It's enough I made it to Captain without having been to the Academy…'

'Don't worry, I'll make sure my wards never hear of this.'

They smiled.

'How are Anny and the girls?'

'Great, great… She still hates it when I get a call but there's nothing I can do about it…'

'Is anyone staying with them when you're away?'

'Annie's sister usually comes over. I can't dump it all in Carol's hands.'

'How old is the little angel, 10?'

'Turned 11 this year. Man, when did time go by?'

'Yeah…'

'So, anything new around here? Any more cuts?'

'Thank God, no. What else… More kids come in than go out, but that's how it is.

'Not many interested?'

'Nope! We had two adoptions, both kids under 10. Fostering is more often but you know how those usually go.'

'Sadly, I do.'

Bine inspected his friend. The eyes were still wandering outside.

'No gym classes today, I'm afraid.'

'I noticed.'

The principal smiled.

'And you know, your old acquaintance Resnoff… he turned out to be innocent.'

Finally he had Paul's full attention.

'He did?'

'I had a couple of wardens watch over the two suspects. They caught the rascals the moment they were trying to buy beer from the outside. We broke a whole chain that was trading stuff with the orphanage, and I don't mean only beer.'

'You don't say…'

'Man, I hate it when the kid is right.'

'What kid?' Paul pretended he did not understand who they were talking about.

'Peter, of course.'

'Oh, yes, I remember him. Has he messed in another trouble?'

'Well, let me see… I caught him smoking but that's nothing new. He fought a couple more times... Nope, nothing out of the ordinary.'

'Right. Well, I have to go.'

'Glad we had time for a chat.'

'Yeah, me too, lots to catch up.'

'See you in May?'

'See you then.'

XXX