Growth

Chapter 5: Safety

Tuesday 3rd November 1998

Everything felt new to me. My new clothes, a light blue long sleeve shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers were foreign to me. The area outside the car window I wasn't familiar with. And the car I was in was luxurious and modern, compared to my parents' car. The only thing that was familiar was the red jacket Claire gave me.

It was the only comfort I had, as Derek was driving me to the foster home. I was nervous. I didn't know exactly who I was going to meet, or how these foster homes worked. I assumed there were plenty of children, and that I had to share a room.

Before I could reflect on what the house could look like, we came to a stop. I heard Derek pull up the handbrake and stop the engine. It appeared that we had arrived at our destination. The house looked like every other house in the street, except it had a larger car pool than the other houses.

It was a one storey house, with a small front garden that just had grass and a few flowers. There was a small set of stairs leading to the entrance of the house.

"We're here Sherry. I'll open the trunk and we'll grab your bags," Derek declared.

We both got out of the car, and I quickly rushed to the back to open the trunk. Derek and his staff at the mansion had bought me a lot of new clothes and other necessities. I was surprised that most of the clothes fit me, and I was able to take them. I grabbed the lighter bags and left the heavier ones to Derek. Once we had all my bags, we headed to the front door.

I stopped before the front door, looking at Derek, who was still lagging behind me. Derek noticed that I was staring at him, and smiled.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Knock on the door."

I carefully placed my bags down and knocked on the door. Derek was able to catch up while we were waiting for whoever was inside to open the door. Derek signalled with a simple gesture and a flick of his head to pick up my bags before they answered the door.

The door suddenly opened, revealing a tall man who looked like he was in his late twenties. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He had an easily noticeable five o'clock shadow, and had bags under his eyes. He wore a pale, stained orange long sleeve shirt and washed up blue jeans that lost almost all its colour. But despite his groggy appearance, he managed to smile at me.

"Hi, you must be Sherry," He stated, then he turned his attention to Derek, "And you're Derek Simmons, one of the higher ups in the government. I never thought I would meet someone like you in person."

I was surprised. It didn't come across my mind that Derek would be working for the government, but it does explain how he was rich and why he had so much work to do.

"Well, consider yourself lucky. I'm putting a lot of faith in you and the rest of the staff to look after Sherry," Derek retorted.

"Let's talk about this inside. My co-worker would like to meet with you," the man hissed.

I felt extremely uncomfortable. I could sense the tension between the two towering men. Derek seemed unnaturally calm, while the blonde haired man was almost about to blow. I followed the man to hopefully avoid causing any confrontation.

The interior of the house was much more modest than Derek's mansion. The open hallway leads into the living room had a couch that appeared warm and homey compared to the cold looking leather seats. There was a small TV on top of a small cabinet with an open slot for the VCR with space underneath the slot that had shelved the videos. There was also a bookshelf against the wall with a variety of books, from novels to children's books.

From the room, I could also see into the kitchen, which was a rather large room from what I could see. They were even able to fit a large dining table near the bench that was able to sit at least ten people. The most interesting thing though was not the room itself, but there was a woman sitting at the bench with her back facing to us.

From what I could tell, the woman had long, dark, curly hair and wore this grey cardigan over a dark slimming dress. She seemed to be an older woman by the way she dressed.

"Hey Cindy!" the man called to her.

She turned in her seat, revealing her face. She was definitely an older woman. She had wrinkles outlining her cheekbones and her neck was puffy.

"Aw, the new child is here. She looks really cute," the woman cooed.

"She is, and her supposed guardian is here too," the man fumed.

"Now, now, we don't want to be scaring Sherry," Derek warned, looking directly at that man.

Before the man could react, Cindy responded calmly, "Harrison, maybe you should help Sherry unpack while I discuss some things with Mr. Simmons."

"Fine," Harrison responded grudgingly.

I watched Derek wordlessly hand my heavy bags to Harrison. Harrison spun around and walked quickly passed me. I followed Harrison, assuming that he would lead me to my room. We entered a hallway with a lot of rooms on both sides. I turned my head, noticing that the hallway stretched to the entrance of the house.

Soon enough, at the end of the hallway, Harrison opened the last door to the left. We entered the room, and I was surprised how small it was. It had a wardrobe with drawers at the bottom and a desk at the back of the room and a single bed on each side. That was the entire room.

Harrison placed my bags on the bed to the left. It was probably my bed, so I put my bags near my heavier ones and began unpacking them. I grabbed my folded up clothing and put them in neat piles next to my bag.

"This is your room Sherry. You'll be sharing it with Alistair. He's a quiet boy, and I guarantee he won't make any advances on you," Harrison stated.

That was a relief to hear that he was quiet and he wouldn't be attracted to me. It did make me wonder how old the boy was though. I had a good feeling he was younger than me.

"How old is he? He doesn't sound like a teenager," I responded.

"Actually, he's fourteen."

I stared at Harrison, mouthing 'what' at him. That's completely the opposite from what I heard from the kids back at Racoon Elementary that had older brothers.

"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe. He's too interested in things other than girls. When I was his age, I wanted to fuck everything that had a vagina."

I shot a glare at man, in disbelief that he just said that right in front of me. I looked back at my bag, bit my lip and composed myself. It was just words, and I'm almost a teenager myself. I would probably hear more about sex than what my parents told me about it.

"Isn't that a little bit broad to say that?"

"I guess. But you had a similar generalisation about guys? That they wanted to have sex with every girl that's old enough they meet."

"Can we talk about a different topic other than sex?"

"Fine. I keep on forgetting not every kid is comfortable talking about it. Although, the kids that stay here, with the exception of Alistair, are troublemakers and some of them do illegal things when we can't keep an eye on them."

I certainly felt unsettled about this place now. What on Earth did I get myself into? Actually, why did Derek send me here? What did I do to deserve being in a place full of lowlifes?

I wish I could turn back time, before the Racoon City Incident. My parents would still be alive; I would be going to school and talking with my friends and classmates. But I had to accept this reality, because turning back the clock a few months was impossible.

"Sorry, but that's the truth Sherry. But Alistair is a good kid, just don't provoke him into a fight and you'll get along with him fine," Harrison reassured.

I made a crooked smile at Harrison and continued unpacking and organising my clothing. Once all my clothes were out on the bed, we put them in their appropriate places in the wardrobe. The smallest bag, I put under my bed, as Harrison recommended that I keep toothbrushes, toothpaste and anything that was personal in a hidden place so the other kids can't use them.

I was surprised how quickly this was all done. I wasn't expecting to have all my clothes already in the right places in the wardrobe, but Harrison did help me with a lot of it. He must be used to it for new kids here, or that he's got much more experience than I do, or both.

"Let's head back and see what Cindy and your guardian are talking about," Harrison declared.

I followed him out of my bedroom, through the hallway and back into the kitchen, where it appeared that Derek and Cindy were pleasantly speaking to each other. It was clear that the tension in the room I felt before had subsided. I should thank Cindy for telling Harrison to help me unpack.

"Ah Sherry. How was your room?" Derek asked.

"It was good, and Harrison told me that my roommate is quiet and sensible," I marvelled.

Derek went down on one knee, and placed his hand on my head, ruffling my hair a little bit.

"That's wonderful to hear. I just explained the arrangements to Cindy here, and she understands them and will let the other staff know, so you don't need to worry about a thing.

I wish I couldn't worry about a thing. There were the children I was going to meet later today. From what Harrison told me, those other kids were in a lot of trouble. I wasn't sure why, but there had to be reasons for their behaviour.

Derek stood up and looked at the staff behind me with a serious expression. I really hoped he wouldn't cause an argument by provoking Harrison again. I tugged one of the sides of the red jacket closer to me, letting out my anxieties.

"I have to leave now. I have many pressing matters to address. I leave Sherry in your capable hands," Derek announced, then he stared at me, "Sherry, I'll be back in three weeks from now. Be a good girl until then."

I acknowledged Derek. Satisfied, he brushed his suit and began his departure. I waved, hoping Derek would turn back and notice me. But he never looked back.

I was shattered. I felt like I was left here, all alone, to deal with the new environment I was in by myself. I had to endure this, because I didn't have a choice.

"Well, that guy is a douche," Harrison stated.

"Harrison! Mind your language around the girl. We're not allowed to swear at the children!" Cindy scolded Harrison.

Then, Cindy handed one of the monthly timetables she drew up while talking to Derek, and I was told to retreat to my room while she and Harrison talked about the timetable themselves, with a spare copy she had.

I was annoyed, but perhaps they were talking about how they would tell the staff about me. Plus none of the kids were home because they were all at school, so it was probably the best thing I could do.

I sat on my bed, examining the monthly timetable carefully. From what I could gather, Tuesdays were my least busiest day, with only homeschooling scheduled. My education was spread over the weekdays, even while I was staying at Derek's mansion. But what was distressing was that I had to go to the experimental facility six times a week. That was more than my education, and it involved me travelling there on weekends.

I felt so infuriated that I only get a break from this experimentation for one day. It was like Derek arranged it so that it was much more important priority than my education.

But there was nothing else I could do. I reached under my bed, and grabbed a blank scrapbook. I found a pen on Alistair's side of the room, and began writing my thoughts and feelings about everything while I wait for the kids to come home from school.

"Sherry! Everyone's home!"

I shot up hearing Harrison's voice. Even though I was anxious, I'm pretty sure the other kids wanted to meet me too. But I was looking forward to meeting Alistair, who was going to be my roommate for however long he's staying here.

I put my feet on the ground and quickly jogged out of the bedroom and down the hallway into the kitchen. I stopped once I spotted seven pairs of new eyes, staring directly at me. I was intimidated by all of them. The four girls and the three guys, all of varying ages, were sizing me up, watching if I had any sign of weakness, even in my stride.

I was tempted to grab my jacket again to feel closer to Claire. It would've calmed down the butterflies in my stomach. But those kids would easily see that as weakness. I should focus on something else, like what was on the dining table. It had a large platter with sandwiches cut in quarters with different fillings. I could tell it was a way to welcome me to the house.

I stood next to Harrison, which calmed me down in front of the kids. I pondered about the three guys, thinking about what Alistair looked like. There was a really tall guy who was almost the same height as Harrison and was a bit muscular. He had messy dark hair and blue piercing eyes. The second boy was taller than me but appeared athletic and had a clear face. His combed fringe was red and he had brown eyes. The final one was kind of short, but he was just taller than me and wore circular glasses. He had shoulder length brown hair, with a thin fringe that was a downwards spike and hazel eyes.

Before I could take a guess at identifying Alistair, Harrison announced, "All right kids, we have a new addition in this home. She's been through a lot recently, so let's treat her nicely and make her feel welcome. Her name is Sherry Simmons."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was not Sherry Simmons, I was Sherry Birkin. Derek must have changed my name. Maybe it was for my own safety, or he really wanted me to take up his last name and left me with no choice. Either way, I had to grin and bear it, because now they all know me by that name.

"Be good while I grab something from the office kids," Harrison stated, and quickly darted down the hallway.

I wasn't afraid when an adult left me alone, but in this case I was very scared. It didn't help that Harrison let me know that these most of kids had been involved in illegal activities. Who knows what could happen when he leaves me with them alone for just a moment?

"Let's have Sherry have the first pick," the boy with glasses stated.

I reached for the sandwiches, picking one with chicken and avocado spread. I was relieved that one of them would attempt to make me feel comfortable here.

However, the tallest boy sauntered up to the table and swiped the sandwich I wanted. I stepped back, stunned that he would do such a thing. Absentmindedly, I grabbed the collar of the jacket.

"Harrison didn't say anything. We can do whatever we want, kid," the tallest boy declared.

"It doesn't give you the right to steal what she wanted," the boy with glasses argued.

"Are you kissing her ass now just because she's new? She's the same as us and she should at least know who's in charge here."

"We should at least introduce ourselves and make her feel comfortable before jumping to that. And I don't listen to some idiot who thinks he's the one giving the orders around here."

The taller boy stomped towards the boy with glasses, towering over him. If a fight erupted right at that moment, the boy with glasses would be beaten to a pulp. I wanted to call Harrison, but I knew he could be back at any moment to break this apart.

"You seriously have a boner for her. You should keep that dick under control, because I've heard you pumping that knob when you get horny," the taller boy mocked.

"Every time we bump heads, you always tend to talk about my dick, like you're obsessed with it. But you're right. I do have a boner and I need relief. So get down on your knees and suck it! It'll be a win-win situation because you love my dick so much!" the boy with glasses exclaimed.

With incredible timing, Harrison and Cindy walked into the room. I let go of the jacket and glanced at the girls and the other boy, who had their mouths agape and were clearly in shock. I felt the same, and I was worried what was going to happen next.

"Boys, that's no way to act in front of the new girl," Cindy declared, placing his hands on his hips, "You should both be ashamed of yourselves. Go into your rooms, and don't think about escaping until we deem such a time."

The boys involved slumped and began the walk of shame down the hallway. As the boys walked past the two adults, Harrison turned to face them and put his hand on the boy with glasses' shoulder.

"Tyson, stop acting like you're responsible for this place. You don't know how to look after everyone," Harrison scolded.

Then, he went down on one knee and talked very quietly to the boy with glasses. I couldn't catch the conversation between the two, as Cindy told us to sit at the table and have everyone present introduce themselves to me while we waited for Harrison.

But I really didn't focus once everyone revealed their names. The boy who wasn't involved in the bickering wasn't Alistair, which meant that guy with the glasses was Alistair. I wished he was here so that he could properly introduce himself to me.

Eventually, Harrison came over and sat next to me. He looked over at Cindy and mouthed something to her. She nodded, giving him the go ahead to do whatever he planned.

"Sherry," Harrison called, grabbing my attention, "Is it true that Alistair was defending you when Tyson stole your quarter sandwich?"

"Alistair is the guy in the glasses? Yes, he did," I answered.

"That's good to hear. It's like I said, he only attacks when he's provoked," Harrison responded, grabbing a sandwich from the tray.

"So, is this how you would punish us if we act out of line?" I asked.

"It depends on the situation. Sometimes we take away pocket money for an appropriate amount of time, or we don't allow them to have treats."

"You have to find the perfect sentence for the crime. That makes sense; otherwise the punishment wouldn't be effective."

"Wow, most kids wouldn't get that right away. You must be really intelligent for your age."

"Well, both my parents excelled in education, so it's pretty likely I've inherited their smarts."

Harrison bit his lip, and remarked, "I heard that your parents died recently. They would be proud to hear how smart you are."

I felt a tingle run up my spine from the mention of my parents. It sounded like Harrison would've been told how I ended up here, and it appeared he didn't know their names. I wondered what he would thought if he knew the truth, that my parents were William and Annette Birkin, who worked for Umbrella. According to some mainstream media sources, the disaster was caused by my father inventing the G-Virus. Would he look at me with scorn, or would treat me like he does now?

It was a secret I couldn't dare to talk about. If somebody found out, they would tell somebody else, and then it would spread among everyone around me. These kids would bully me mercilessly if they knew, even with these adults around.

Maybe Sherry Simmons wasn't such a bad name after all, because it made me feel safe.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon and night, I had gotten to know the residents in the foster home. The girls seemed really nice, although, they surely must get up to mischief at one point. I kept my distance from Tyson as much as I could once he was allowed out of his room. He had an intimidating presence in the room, and his encounter with me and Alistair earlier today also made him daunting to speak to.

The guy with the red hair was much better to speak to though, even though I could tell he was flirting with me on a few occasions. I was surprised to find out he was the same age as me too.

However, Alistair was quiet, compared to before. The only thing he did was introduce himself and told me that Harrison let him know I was his roommate. I tried to make conversation with him, but he didn't say much or completely ignored me. I wasn't entirely sure what I could do with him, so I ended up talking with the others, and trying my best to include him too.

At nine thirty, we were asked to get ready for bed. The other kids really wanted to stay up late, but I was relieved that I could head to bed after such an emotional day. I got into my PJs, brushed my teeth and hopped into bed.

But I couldn't sleep right away. The room was different to the room I was used to than the facility and at home. I wasn't sure how long it would take to fall asleep. Sure, it felt more homey than the facility, but it reminded me of my house in Racoon City before the outbreak happened.

I wondered what would've happened if the Racoon City Incident didn't happen. Today would've just been another normal day. I would walk to school, then return home at the end of the day. Maybe my parents would be home, but otherwise I would entertain myself while I wait for them. I would read a book, do some homework, watch was on TV. Whatever I felt like.

Suddenly, Alistair entered the room. I turned my head to see him in a white tank top and blue boxer shorts. He looked surprised to see that I was already in bed.

"Do you usually go to bed this early?" Alistair managed to ask.

"No. Today's just been exhausting, meeting all of you," I answered.

Alistair sat on his bed and responded, "I was just wondering. None of us actually sleep this early, even though we get told by the staff."

"I'm not surprised. Harrison told me that you guys get up to mischief, but you don't."

"Yeah, especially Amber and Jennifer at night. They sneak out have sex with some creepy men that treat them as sex slaves."

"T-That's impossible," I stammered out in disbelief, "They seem like really nice people. Why would they do that to themselves?"

"I wish I knew, so I could assist the staff in helping them all."

"What else do these kids do?"

"Steal anything of value, experiment with alcohol and illegal drugs, disturb the peace, get involved in fights... all sorts of shit."

"What... happened to them?"

"It's the environment they were raised in. Their parents were either criminals or drug dealers or whatever else they could be and considered unfit parents. So their kids end up in foster homes like this to get a second chance at life, but they do stuff that their parents would do and ruin that chance."

I was speechless. I felt so sorry for them and I wanted to help them. But what could I do? If Alistair couldn't help them, what chance do I have?

"You don't need to say anything. This would shock anyone," Alistair reassured.

"What about you? And how do you figure out this stuff?" I questioned.

"My parents are criminals, but I consider myself lucky since I've been going through several foster homes since I was four years old. I can't remember how my parents raised me, and I'm grateful for that."

"What about being adopted? Have you ever had that opportunity?"

Alistair hesitated with his answer, averting his eyes from me. I hoped I didn't make him upset by asking that question.

"It's rare, but possible. You have to be very lucky to be wanted by a couple," Alistair responded dejectedly.

As much as I wanted to press him about it, I didn't want him to dig deep and resurface the painful memories. Instead, I decided this could be a great opportunity to find out a bit more about him, like hobbies.

"Let's talk about something else, like... what's your favourite thing?" I enquired.

Alistair glanced at me for a short time, taken aback by the sudden change in topic. Then he went down to the floor on his hands and knees, reaching for something under his bed. Once he retrieved what he was searching for, he stood up and sat next to me on my bed.

The item in his hands was a CD Walkman, with earphones plugged in the audio socket. I remembered all the cool kids in my class had one of these, and bragged about how they could take their music with them everywhere they go. I understood why it was hidden, but I had no idea how Alistair managed to get one of those.

"I really like music. All kinds of music, as long as it sounds good. Do you want to listen?"

"Yeah."

Alistair handed me one earphone, and we both put ours in one of our ears at the same time. Alistair looked at me, checking if I was ready before he pressed the play button.

Immediately, the song began with a mellow guitar riff, drums, bass and singing. I instantly recognised the song, it had been played on the radio a lot, and it only came out last year. Alistair bit his lip, and I chuckled.

"This is Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground, right?" I stated.

"Yeah, we could change the song if you want," Alistair responded gingerly, like he wanted to skip to a different song.

"It's fine. I like this song. It's about a guy who walks in on his girlfriend cheating on him," I replied.

His eyes widened, but then he confirmed, "Yeah. The song kind of shows this could happen to anyone, you know."

I agreed with him, and listened to the song blasting in one of my ears. It was a short and sweet song, and everything sounded awesome. Suddenly, I felt an urge to tell Alistair some random thing about me.

"Hey Alistair, did you know I was named after a song?"

"Wow... Wait, what song does have your name in it," Alistair pondered, cupping his chin, "Oh wait, I think I know! Oh Sherrie by the frontman of Journey, Steve Perry."

"That's right. Although, my mum hated how it was spelt, so I ended up with a 'y' at the end of my name, instead of the 'ie'."

"That's pretty funny how that worked out. The song came out the year I was born, so you must've been born close to that year."

"Yep. Born in eighty six."

Abruptly, Harrison opened the door to our room, his arms crossed over his chest. Me and Alistair pulled our earphones out, and he backed off from me. I seriously hope we weren't in too much trouble.

"It's a nice conversation and all, but it's past curfew and you two need to hit the hay," Harrison ordered.

"Sorry," we both said in unison.

"I'll be working here again on Friday, so I won't see you both for a few days. So make sure you stay good until then, especially you Sherry. Goodnight!" Harrison chimed, and shut the door.

As I watched Alistair climb into bed, I sank down under my blankets. I really wished I could fall asleep right away, but thoughts of what was going to happen in the near future had me worried. How much time would I be able to spend with Alistair and everyone else here? How much time was experimentation and homeschooling going to take out of my day?

All I knew was that I had to savour the time I had with the people around me, especially Alistair.

"Goodnight Sherry. Sweet dreams."

I perked my head up a little bit, watching Alistair close his eyes. He was at peace, like he had nothing bothering him. Maybe, I should pretend that I was a normal kid, so that nothing could disturb my rest. My eyes began to flutter shut, as I found the peace I needed to sleep.

"Goodnight Alistair."

Author's Notes: That chapter was a blast to write. I hoped you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it!

Most children that are in foster homes usually have low socioeconomic backgrounds and their parents resort to all sorts of criminal acts, which the government sees them as unfit parents. So their children end up in these homes to grow up in a better environment. Unfortunately, these children end up doing criminal acts or something that hurts their physical and mental health, and the people that work at foster homes have to help these children to get back on the better path. So it's difficult and sad for those kids that suffer because of what their parents had done.

Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground is a song that the vocalist wrote, describing what he felt on the day he walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him with another man. It's a classic nineties song I grew up with, even though I really didn't care about the meaning until I got older.

Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry was released in 1984, two years before Sherry Birkin would've been born. It makes sense that William and Annette Birkin had heard the song, liked it, and decided to name their daughter Sherry.

I hope you all look forward to the next chapter!