The room they were shown was no marvel of architect or design, or decoration- if you could call it that. The room was bare, from wood flooring, that was easy to scrap and scuff, to walls with wallpaper not yet peeling, but old enough it probably could be with just one touch.
The only furnishing in it were a couple of bunk beds, one on each side of the room, leaving a very bare middle aside for a black metal bar along the wall. it gave them room to set things down.
They looked it around, all being able to do basic math. There was five of them, and four beds. Something wasn't adding up.
"We need anothah bed," Ace finally said as he stepped over bags of his friends things and into the center of the room.
"Maybe one ah those things that folds up, yaknow so we still got the floor for our stuff."
"Uh-Ace?" Snake asked.
"Not now, I'm tryin' to think. Ya' guys know those beds that kind of fall out?" Ace asked, as he explained farther he hadn't notice Billy crept over, curious about the metal bar on the wall. In his pacing and thinking, Ace didn't notice as Billy reached a large hand out to try and pick the bar up.
"Uh, Ace-" Snake said, raising a finger to point slightly.
"Not now. I'm tryin' to think how we're gonna make this work." The second the words left his mouth Ace's eyes got wide enough to peek out over his sunglasses as a bed came down upon him.
"Sorry Ace!" Billy said quickly, looking downward as Ace groaned and crawled from under the pull-down bed. Like the bunk bed, it was made neatly with some blue sheets and one pillow.
"Dont be, big guy-" he moaned a bit, "just pull." He gave Billy his arm and without even biting down Ace's shoulder was poped back into place, this happened a lot.
"This'll work perfect. Glad I found it." Ace nodded as he smiled, and took a few seconds to roll his shoulder forward and backwards.
Now all the boys moved forward finding a place for garbage bags full of their things under beds, a harder taste since the pull-out took up a lot of floor space and they started claiming territories. Lil Arturo and Grubber took the buttom two bunks, as Snake climbed to a top bunch. Ace had a foot up just about to claim the second top spot when the big voice made him stop.
"I wanna be up top." Billy said.
"Ssssorry, you know the rules." Snake hissed to him,
"Us oldah guys up top. Jus' the law." Ace took his place and leaned back onto the wall, his head just barely hitting the ceiling. Billy frowned.
"Phhhffff," said Grubber from his bottom bunk. He liked the feeling of a small, hole, and Billy smiled again.
"Yeah, well put Grubber." Ace nodded, as Billy climbed into the larger, pull-out bed. He didn't have to put up with someone sleeping above him, he was probably the only true smile amoung the group. He was sore and tired, and hungry, and had dealt with so much yelling, but right now he got his own bed. Every one else was tired, and sore, and hungry, but they didn't get their own beds. Everybody had just gotten comfortable, their bodies resting and refusing to move. The room fell silent for a long time, until outside the room came a monotone command;
"Boys! Hands washed! Come eat!"
And collective groan came from the beds, but the one that rsng out the loudest was a whine of
"Gah-Dam-it!" At the idea of having to move again. Before Billy even sat up Jack Wednesday stood in the doorway, he no longer wore his jacket or hat, his white sleeves were rolled up his elbow and matching a cooks apron. Yet his face was as serious and angry as it was at the arcade.