Momma's Boy: Breaking More than Rules
Hello Again, I'm here with the next update of Momma's Boy. With my microscopic amount of readers I have as of now, I will take over the world! Mwahaha.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson
.:~*~:.
Rings of goodbye's rung in the air as the children's parents went out into the streets.
"Bye, Ma!"
"Have a good day daddy!"
When the squeaky door swung shut, the kids all exhaled a collective breath of relief and slumped to the floor. One of the boys, aged 7, got up and examined the faces of all the elderly, and reported,
"Everyone is asleep, even grandpa John." Evelyn, aged 5, tilted her head in an innocent manner that disguised her brilliance,
"But that's strange, usually he stays up for a few more hours to watch us."
"Maybe he's tired from working 'till dawn the day 'fore this," Percy said, flicking his head to clear his vision from his hair. "Let's go outside again!"
Everyone agreed and charged outside.
Percy was in the head of the group, eager to escape the restricting confines of the building. He leads his friends through the streets of his county of Lancashire, Great Britain. Their tiny feet patterned through the streets, getting mud on their pants and shorts. All the buildings were all relatively small, but they were plentiful. The pedestrians moved to the side as the children rushed past.
"You've got to move faster, slowpokes!" Joshua, a boy with shaggy blond hair and hazel eyes, aged 10, yelled as he ran ahead.
As the kids picked up the pace to match Joshua's, Percy suddenly tripped over a large rock in the mud and fell down hard. His knees and hands were scraped as he tried to break his fall.
Percy laid sprawled on the ground as he tried to figure out what happened.
His eyes suddenly widened as he realized his friends hadn't noticed he fell and were already at the end of the street.
"Wait! You're going too fast!" Percy yelled as the other kids turned a corner. He tried to get up, but yet out a yelp of pain as his knees burned.
Coming to the terms that he had been left behind, Percy slowly shifted into a sitting position, whimpering a little as he did. He looked at his knees and saw that the material of his overalls was torn and his knees had large scrapes on them, bleeding profusely. As soon as he saw this, Percy started to bawl uncontrollably, big fat tears streaming down his chubby cheeks.
All others in the general area sped their paces or moved farther away from the wailing child, not wanting to deal with a kid in poverty.
So Percy was left with no aid as he cried.
I'm lost. He thought. No one's helping, no one cares. I'm alone.
Right before he was going to make his wailing louder, he felt a soft tap on his shoulder.
He jerked his head up and came face to face with a middle-aged man.
A crisp top hat covered his balding head, only wisps of light brown hair could be seen donning his cranium. He had a potbelly and many wrinkles on his stern-looking face, with a serious case of double chin. He wore a large overcoat and held a cane in one hand.
"You alright, little man?"
Percy gaped at him.
After a few seconds of silence, the man looked miffed and crossed his suit-clad arms.
"If you aren't going to answer, I'll leave you just." He turned on his heel and was going to walk away when Percy came to his senses.
"Wait, Mister," The man turned around. "I'm lost… ah… please assist me, sir! I've lost my friends and-" Percy was interrupted as the man lifted Percy from under his armpits and held him across the chest, like how you would hold a baby to burp it.
"Up you go." The man grunted as he started to walk down the street, Percy in his arms.
Percy was very confused. Why was this stranger carrying him, and where was he taking him?
"Um...Mister," Percy tried lifting his head but the man pushed it back down to his shoulder. Percy relented as they continued. "Where are we going?"
"We are going to my work. Let's see if we can patch you up, lad."
After a few more minutes of walking, Percy started to smell a very foul odor. It smelled like the sewers and smoke. He wrinkled his tiny nose and dug his face into the man's shoulder in an attempt to block the stench.
"Awfully sorry 'bout the smell," The man grunted. He lifted Percy from his body and placed him down on his feet. Percy turned around and froze.
In front of him, was a huge factory. It had towering smokestacks that went to touch the heavens, billowing thick clouds of smoke. The stench was really concentrated here, so Percy guessed that this was the source.
There were many divisions in the buildings, and each section was varying in height and style.
Percy could hear the rumbling of wheels of the horse-drawn carriages crackled down the gravel paths around the factory. He could hear the bustling of the rich and poor men, the footsteps that were a constant background noise to the city. There was trash everywhere, so much, that Percy could spot some poor people making small alcoves within the piles. No one seemed to pay mind to them, however.
Percy coughed as he tried to clear his lungs, before turning to the pudgy man who brought him here in awe.
"Your work is in the factory?!"
The man chuckled as he began to lead Percy to the entrance.
"I don't work in the factory, no, I own the factory."
Percy gasped and stared at the man with stars in his eyes.
"You own the entire factory?! You must be very, very rich!"
The man hummed as he pushed open the swinging doors and guided Percy through the dull gray hallways. The paint was chipping away, and Percy could see a few holes in the wall. Once in a while, they would pass a door that had a nameplate on it, but Percy couldn't catch what they said because they were walking too fast.
"Oh, I suppose I don't own the whole factory, per say. I own the textiles mill sector. This factory is many types of industries all in one. The left wing has the iron smelting sector, and the main building creates parts for automobiles. Ahh, we are here."
The man stopped in front of one of the doors, pulled out a key, and unlocked the door. He opened it and Percy looked inside. There was a large work desk that was in the center of the room, stacked high with paper. There were a few small bookshelves lining the walls that were filled with board games and betting games, as well as the odd trinket here and there. There was a small light bulb hanging from the ceiling with a chord.
"Welcome to my office."
Percy looked up at the man with confusion.
"What is a off-iss?"
"An office?" The man replied, pushing Percy in and closing the door behind him. "It's the place where a boss of a company sits to do work."
Percy slowly walked around the office, carefully touching as much as he could. He was overwhelmed, he has never been inside an off-iss before.
"Why don't you take a seat, your knees must be smarting." The man said, pointing to a wooden chair behind the large desk.
Percy looked down to his scratched up knees. He had completely forgotten about the pain with all the excitement, but now that his attention was drawn back to them, he could feel the burning growing worse.
He limped to the chair and climbed on, while the man turned the bulb on with a pull of the chord. The man went to the desk and pulled open a drawer. Percy could see that there was a bunch of medical tools in there, like scalpels, medicine bottles, and needles.
The man's hand emerged from the drawer with a roll of bandages, a cotton ball, and a bottle of...something.
He poured some of the liquid in the bottle on the cotton. He held the ball up to Percy's eye level, and said,
"This is going to hurt, but it's only to get rid of the germs. Are you ready?"
Percy looked apprehensively at the soaked cotton ball.
"How much is it going to hurt?"
"Not very bad, but like it's burning."
Percy closed his eyes and gripped the arms of his chair tighter. He nodded his head sharply.
Suddenly he felt an excruciating burning sensation on his knee, and Percy cried out. Eventually, the pain faded away, and Percy opened his eyes.
The man was closing the lid of the bottle and disposing of the cotton ball. He was now unwrapping the bandages.
"What is that?" The man looked up.
"What?"
"That bottle." Percy pointed to the bottle on the table.
The man looked at it, before laughing.
"Oh, that's alcohol."
Percy stared at the bottle. He had seen many people drink alcohol, mainly the rich people. However, he also saw some of the adults in his house in possession of a flask of the stuff. His mother always told him to stay away from the liquid, but he was curious.
He started to reach his hand out to the bottle before the man grabbed his hand. He looked angry.
"What are you doing?"
Percy suddenly felt very meek.
"Can I..?"
The man looked at Percy and the alcohol, before a look of understanding emerged on his pudgy face.
"You want to… drink it?"
Percy paused, before nodding hesitantly.
The was a second of silence before the man started to laugh uncontrollably, startling Percy.
"Oh I'm sorry, lad," The man slapped Percy's back, almost knocking him out of the chair. "That's rubbing alcohol! It's for medical purposes only. It's poisonous, you can't drink it. However," the man pulled open another drawer and drew a green bottle, "This is drinking alcohol. Good ol' whiskey." He popped the bottle open and took a great gulp, and belched. He held out the bottle in front of Percy's face.
"Ye want some?"
Percy gingerly took the bottle in his small hands. He looked into the opening and stared at the slightly yellow liquid. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip.
He immediately spits it out and started to gag. It tasted really bad. Percy couldn't fathom how the man could swallow it.
The man took the bottle from Percy's hands so he wouldn't drop it on accident, and placed it on the table.
He took out the bandages and chuckled,
"It's an acquired taste. Now, lift your leg."
Still trying to get the taste out of his mouth, Percy obeyed. The man started to wrap the bandages around his knee.
"Right lad, what name have you been given?"
"Um... Percy…"
"Well, Percy, how did these scratched knees come by?"
Percy looked at his fingers and the man started to wrap his other knee.
"I was running with my mates but I accidentally tripped."
"But where are they?"
Percy looked away from the man and to the trinkets on the shelves.
"I.. I don't know…" Percy felt tears come to his eyes, as the weight of his situation finally hit him. He was lost and hurt and he didn't know how to get home.
"Awww, don't go crying now. Wipe your tears, they have no place on a man."
Percy drew in a shaky breath and rubbed his eyes with his small fist.
The man finished wrapping the bandages and put the supplies back in the drawer. He stood up and gestured for Percy to do the same.
When Percy stood his knees almost gave out on him, but he held on to the desk at the last minute. The man was already out the door. Percy mustered his strength and started to limp to the door.
As the child and the old chap walked side by side, the man inquired,
"You want to get back to your family, but you don't know the way," Percy looked up, "I will help you get back to your family, but you've got to help me with something else first. Is that fine with you?"
"What do I have to do?"
"As you know, I am the head of the textile mill of this factory. We make clothing for the people of Lancashire, at a fast pace no one has seen before, using hundreds of these remarkable machines called 'Power Looms'. However, I can't run all the machines by myself can I?" Percy shook his head. "Right, so I hire people to help me. Do you know what hiring means?"
Percy thought about it for a few seconds. He had heard the term before, but never really thought much about what it meant.
"Um.. perhaps to distribute food?"
"Not quite. You see, when I hire people, I request for them to help me, and I give money to them in return."
The word, 'money' got Percy's attention. Money was very hard to come by, and if this rich man was giving out money, then he wanted in.
"I'm a little short on hands at the moment, and I was wondering if you could help me with my machines." Percy's eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. He started to bounce on the ball of his feet, clinging to the man's arm.
"You gonna hire me?! You gonna give me money?!" Percy observed a strange glint going across the man's eyes, but it was gone before he could think further on it.
"You didn't have to, but now that you insist…" The man trailed off, and Percy nodded his head wildly.
"Yes! Yes, hire me, please! I will help a lot!"
"That's great," The man beamed. "And as promised, I will help you find your mother after today's work."
Percy's smile lost some of its juice.
"Wait, you're hiring me right now?"
"Well yes, right now!" The man quickened his pace and gripped Percy's arm tight, dragging him along. Percy was startled for a second, before increasing his pace as well.
"After the sun sets today, I will find your mother. But you must agree to work for me for the rest of this year in order to secure that promise."
Percy was becoming scared of the man's sudden mood change.
"B-but-"
"Agree to it!"
"But why-"
"Now!"
"I- okay! Okay!" Percy choked out, as apprehension started to cloud his head.
"Hurry up." The man grunted as he turned a corner.
"Wait, but what am I supposed to do? What do I help with?"
"The kids will explain it to you."
Percy's man drew a blank. The kids?
Suddenly the man stopped in front of a door with a rusted knob. He opened it and shoved Percy inside.
Immediately loud whirring noises and squeaking sounds assaulted Percy's ears. Percy looked around and saw a very large room filled to the brim with hundreds of rows of huge machines that looked like monsters. The floor was very dusty and filled with trash, and Percy found the air to be stuffy and sour. But what shocked Percy the most were the kids.
There were about twenty kids, all under the age of 11, who were manning the machines. They all were extremely skinny and dirty and wore the rattiest clothes. But the thing that surprised Percy the most were the scars. Every single child in that room had a wide assortment of scars covering their body, large and small, shallow and deep, fresh and old. Some even had missing toes or fingers.
"Hey you scum," Percy realized that the man was addressing the kids. "You're all getting a new co-worker with you. Treat him well." The man bared yellow teeth in a cruel looking smile and started to walk out the door.
Percy felt a wave of shame go over him. He had broken all of his mother's rules! The talked to a stranger, drank the alcohol, and had taken suspicious work! How could he disrespect his mother so? And the man who had caused him so much trouble was walking away before he could question him about anything.
That thought, Percy jerked to attention and called out,
"Wait!"
The man stilled in the doorway.
Percy had a thousand questions he wanted to ask at that moment, but all that came out was,
"What's your name?"
The man slowly turned around slowly, and a creepy smile started to stretch across his wrinkled face. The man's eyes glinted with a deep-seated evil, and for the first time in his life, Percy felt true fear.
"My name?" The man chuckled.
"My name is Gabriel Ugliano." And as the man turned around to exit, Percy heard his last words.
"But you can call me Gabe."
.:~*~:.
Boom.
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