Disclaimer: (Oops, I forgot the disclaimer in the lost chapter) I do not own Dragonball
Z, unfortunately.
A/N: Yes, I'm English. I've been trying hard to put American words in (eg.mom) but I forget sometimes. Rubbish bin is trash can, and guvnor is just a word lower class people used for gentlemen in Victorian times. (I think!) Anyway on with the chapter.
Chapter 5: The workhouse!
The policeman pulled Gohan roughly to his feet. Gohan cringed, his aching back screaming at him. He hauled Gohan back down the road, towards the market.
It seemed the other policeman had given up on Will, as he came running up behind them and said,
"The other lad got away, John. We'll have to question this one."
He pointed at Gohan. The other officer nodded, and then pointed towards the man in the suit, who was walking towards them, holding his wallet.
"I got my wallet back, but the boy got away." The man stated, before gaping at the sight of Gohan.
"We caught this one but lost the other one." The policeman, holding Gohan, explained. "We'll take him down the station for questioning and then send him to the workhouse."
The man nodded, but looked sadly at Gohan, before turning and walking away.
Gohan stared after him, distraught. He was going to the workhouse! Will had told him he'd rather die than go to the workhouse.
Gohan struggled. He had to get loose! He had to escape! He didn't want to go to the workhouse! He had to find the way home, to Japan, to his mom and dad.
The other policeman grabbed him too.
"This one's a boisterous one, John." He said, wrapping his arm around Gohan's, with great difficulty.
They dragged him off to the police station.
Will finally caught up with Jack and coughed heavily.
"Jack! They got Gohan! They're taking him down the station."
Jack stared at Will in disbelief and said,
"I don't think he'll talk. He'll go straight to a workhouse now."
"Which one do you think he'll be sent to?" Will asked, anxiously.
"I'm not sure, but probably Greystones, that's the one nearest here." Jack replied. "Poor kid." He added.
Will and Jack walked, dejectedly, down the street to lie low for a couple of hours.
Gohan was pushed into a chair, in a small, what must have been an interview room. The policeman sat across the table from him and drummed his fingers on the table to get Gohan's full attention. Gohan looked up to meet the officer's eyes, and set his face neutrally, determined not to give anything away.
"What's your name, boy?" The policeman asked, gruffly.
"Gohan Son." Gohan answered, confidently, carefully masking the scared expression, threatening to creep into his eyes.
"Gohan Son. How long have you in England?" The officer carried on.
Gohan quickly formulated an explanation in his mind.
"About five years, sir." He replied, politely.
The policeman eyed Gohan, distastefully.
"Why did you leave Japan?" He asked.
Gohan looked down at the table. He hadn't expected that question.
"Well boy?" The policeman pressed.
Gohan looked up. What he really wanted to say was that he didn't want to be in this stupid country, in this stupid time line. He wanted to be home with his parents. He couldn't say this, obviously, as they'd declare him mad. Instead he put on a pained expression and said,
"I…I don't know why we left. I was only four years old. I just know we left in a boat and we went to live in Birmingham." Damn, I hate lying, he thought, thank Kami they're only white lies.
The policeman eyed Gohan some more and then said,
"Where are your parents?"
"They're…dead." Gohan lied, quickly crossing his fingers and thinking of his mom and dad.
"Why did you come to London?" The officer asked.
"I…um…I came because I was told there was more opportunities in London than in Birmingham." Gohan spurted out. Phew! He thought. That was too close.
"You're a bit smart for a nine year old." The policeman quizzed.
"I am?" Gohan asked, innocently.
The policeman cleared his throat.
"Anyway. Tell me, who were those boys you were with?" He asked, impatiently.
It was quite evident he didn't want to be here, doing this interview.
"I don't know their names." Gohan lied. "I only just met them."
The policeman snorted.
"You looked quite pally to me." He said.
Gohan shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
The policeman glared at Gohan, impatiently.
"Are you going to tell me anything or not?" He asked, getting even more agitated.
Gohan almost felt sorry for the man but shook his head.
"Fine!" The officer said. "I'll just send you straight to the workhouse."
With that, the officer stood up, grabbed Gohan by the collar, and dragged him out of the room.
The policeman hurried Gohan out of the police station and down the hard, cobbled road.
"Where are you taking me?" Gohan asked, even though he knew the answer.
"The workhouse! Where you belong!" The policeman answered, nastily.
After about 10 minutes, a large, grey building loomed in the distance. As they approached it, tall iron gates became visible in front of the building, with iron fencing either side. The metal was rusting in places and one of the bars in the fence was missing. Gohan shivered. He felt nothing but coldness from this place.
The policeman pulled open the large gate and dragged Gohan through them, into the big courtyard. He swiftly pulled Gohan up to the front door and knocked.
After about a minute, the old door creaked open and a middle aged women stepped into the doorway. She looked angry, agitated, like she was ready to bite off somebody's head, but when she saw the policeman, her expression turned into a forced smile.
"Good afternoon, officer. What can I do for you?" She asked, politely.
The policeman, respectably, removed his helmet and said,
"Mrs Broom, a good afternoon to you too. I have a new inmate for you." He gestured to Gohan, who he still had hold of by the collar.
Mrs Broom carefully eyed Gohan from head to toe.
"Is he an orphan? She inquired, sharply.
"Yes! He says he is." The policeman replied. "Can you take him?"
Gohan looked up at this remark. What was that supposed to mean? Did he mean, did they have room for him?
"Yes, we can take him." She replied, briskly. "Leave him with me. He'll be sorted."
The policeman smiled politely at Mrs Broom, gave Gohan one lat disdainful look, and walked back up through the gates.
"Come along, boy. Follow me!" She ordered, obviously in a hurry to get inside, out of the cold wind.
Gohan stumbled through the doorway. The room he was standing n was quite large. There was a bucket, holding umbrellas, in one corner, with coats hung on hooks above it. He was standing on a pale blue carpet, which looked nearly new. In fact this looked like any normal hall in a house. Gohan wouldn't have guessed that this was a workhouse, if he hadn't known.
He followed Mrs broom through another room, which only looked like some little box room, as it was tiny and virtually bare. They stopped outside a tall, sturdy looking door, and Mrs Broom knocked.
"Who is it?" A male voice questioned from within.
"It's me, dear." Mrs Broom answered. "I have a young boy with me to be registered."
"Come in." He replied, with a softer tone, knowing he was speaking to his wife.
Mrs Broom pushed open the door, smiled at her husband, pushed Gohan into the room, and then turned to leave, pushing the door shut again.
Gohan blinked at the sudden brightness of light, from the October sun, shining through the relatively large window. The room he was in, an office, judging by the desk and filing cabinet, was quite big, Compared to the box room he'd just left, that is.
Mr Broom sat in a chair behind the desk, which was at the back of the room. He had dark, greying hair, was cleanly shaven and had dark, questioning eyes, which kind of freaked Gohan out. He was wearing a grey suit, which stank of tobacco.
"Have a seat, boy." Mr Broom gestured to a small, wooden chair, facing his desk.
Gohan sat down with a quiet sigh. He hadn't sat down sine he was in the police station.
Mr Broom picked up a pen and opened a big, red book.
"What's your name?" He asked, in a bored sort of tone.
"Gohan Son." Gohan replied, equally bored.
"Gohan Son." Mr Broom echoed. "How old are you?"
"Nine and a half, sir." Gohan answered, politely.
"Bit well mannered for an orphan, aren't you?" Mr Broom commented
Gohan stared up at the man, speechless.
"Never mind." Mr Broom dismissed, bored. "Follow me, boy." He ordered.
Gohan jumped up and followed the tall man out of the room.
Gohan followed Mr Broom back into the box room and towards a different door. Mr Broom opened the door to reveal wooden stairs leading down.
"Come along. Down here." Mr Broom said, walking across the floor to the stairs.
Gohan quickly followed suit, and they descended the dimly lit stairs.
What greeted them at the bottom proved to Gohan that this was a workhouse. Two lines of boys, roughly around his age, stood respectably before them. Each one wearing identical, grey uniforms. Two burly looking men stood at one end of each line, keeping all the boys in check.
"Jim!" Mr Broom addressed one of the two men. "This is Gohan Son." He pointed at Gohan. " He is new. Please get him a uniform and show him where to sleep."
The burly man nodded, and pushed Gohan through another door.
This room didn't seem to be very big either, just a storeroom. There was a cupboard at the back of the room. Jim walked over to it and pulled out a variety of sizes of the grey uniforms. He thrust one into Gohan's hand.
"Try this one." He ordered, roughly.
Gohan looked at the uniform distastefully, and started to change into it. The shirt- sleeves were to long, as were the trousers, and the peaked, grey cap fell, half-covering, his eyes.
"That'll do." Jim said, dismissively, eying Gohan, swiftly. "Follow me, boy."
Gohan followed the big man through yet another doorway, and then came into what must be a bedroom. There were twelve beds in here, all looking as hard as you could possibly get.
"You'll be sleeping there." Jim pointed to a bed at the far end, next to the wall. Gohan nodded, despondently.
"Now follow me. You're just in time for dinner." Jim told him, smiling faintly. "Welcome to Greystones." He added.
End Chapter.
How was that then? I know there's lots of dialog in it, but I had to get all the interviews in to make it work. Anyway please r&r, and I'll update soon.
