Chapter 3 – Home For Some
Tea walked onto the orphanage grounds and smiled at all the kids playing outside. They all seemed fairly young, between the ages of 5-10, but surprisingly there weren't that many outside. There were perhaps five boys playing with a ball in the middle courtyard, and a group of three or four girls could be seen playing board games in the sandbox. Walking into the area, she was taken aback by the way the kids all looked at her. She felt very uncomfortable.
"I hope they all don't think I'm here to adopt anybody," she thought as the boys slowly went back to playing their game. "Maybe working here wasn't the best of ideas…well, I'm here now, so I might as well go in and talk to the person in charge." She walked past the group and into the one-story, long building complex, blinking in surprise at the inside. A woman was sitting in a chair going over what looked like professional paperwork behind a wooden desk. The flooring was blue carpet, and the walls were striped with light green and light blue. There was a large bookshelf on the far wall, a television, two long couches surrounding the television, and a computer. It looked like somebody's home.
"Hello?" the woman asked with a high-pitched voice, getting Tea out of her trance. Tea smiled over at her and walked towards the desk.
"Hi, my name is Tea Gardener," she replied, holding her hand out. The woman shook it and smiled up at her. "I saw your add in the paper for work and was wandering if and when I could start."
"You want to work here?" the woman asked, looking up skeptically at her. The woman looked to be in her late twenties. She wore circular-framed glasses and had long, dark green hair. She was wearing a brown tank top and white capris along with brown sneakers. "How old are you?"
"I'll be eighteen in about a month," Tea answered.
"Here, pull up a chair. I don't want you standing there and hurting your legs." The woman quickly stood up and pulled a wooden chair over to the front of her desk before sitting back down in her own chair. Tea quickly sat down and nodded in appreciation at the woman. "Now, might I ask why you want to work at this orphanage?"
"We have to do a community service project at school," Tea explained reluctantly. She didn't know whether or not this woman would like the idea of Tea working here just for an assignment, but if she was the only one working here, she figured the woman would want all the help she could get. "I saw your add and was wandering if it would qualify."
"Ah yes, I've heard about those. Well, I would gladly have you join our little community here. Let me get out some forms awhile, and we can go over rules and regulations on what you would be doing."
Tea smiled and watched as the woman opened her desk drawer up and pulled a manila folder out. Opening it up, the woman quickly picked up a small packet of papers and handed it over to her. "Are you sure you want to work here, though? I mean, this place is not the best location, especially for one coming from school, and I can tell you right now that your pay will be rather low. Minimum wage, maybe a little higher. Is that alright with you?"
Tea nodded her head, figuring as much by herself, and began to scan the papers. It was all health forms and verification papers. "I will only be working part-time, though, since I'm a student," she stated, looking back up at the woman.
"Understandable. We're short on staff as you can see, but it will be okay. As long as you can come for a couple of hours every day, it should work out. What days can you work and not work for sure, or do you not know your schedule yet?"
"I am free every night and all day Saturday, but Sunday I usually spend with friends or doing activities, so I don't like working on that day."
"That will be fine. Let me write that down on the calendar here. What day do you want to start working?"
"Tomorrow if I get these papers filled out by then."
The woman chuckled. "Eager to get started, eh? That's the spirit we like to see. Oh, do you have anything from your school for this community service assignment?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Tea pulled the paper out of her bag and handed it over to the woman, who placed it on her desk and skimmed it over.
"This will be easy to fill out," she stated. "Well, I'm glad that you chose this place to do your project in. Not many students would think to work in the orphanage as community service. We only have one other student who works here, but he's more a visitor to the kids than a co-worker. But it does say here that you only need thirty hours. Are you planning on working only thirty hours, or will you stay after this assignment is done?"
"Another student works here?" Tea thought, surprised at this statement. "I'm honestly not sure. I was thinking about only doing the thirty hours at first, but if I enjoy working here, I may stay longer."
"Okay, well you're going to have to inform me of that decision soon. I can't just hire people who are going to drop off the face of the earth the next day. Understand?"
Tea nodded her head. "Who is the other student that works here? I've never heard any student talk about working at an orphanage."
The woman chuckled again and smiled. "Well, I guess you'll be meeting him if you stick around. He's coming over today in about fifteen minutes or so. Why don't you hang out here? I'll introduce you to the kids, and that way tomorrow won't be so bad."
"Sounds like a plan," Tea replied, smiling at how easy this whole thing had been. She figured it would have taken at least a week to get started on any community service job or project, but she was being hired tomorrow, it seemed. It was kind of a shocker but also a relief.
"Oh, I apologize for my rudeness!" the woman suddenly exclaimed as she stood up. "I didn't even introduce myself! My name is Shiori. Jade Shiori. On behalf of this orphanage, I thank you for taking this job."
Tea laughed at the woman's antics and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jade Shiori!"
"You'll do fine here," Jade stated as she began to walk outside. "I'm the only real worker here anyways. My father started his orphanage a long time ago, but then I took over and he moved away. So right now it's just me, you, and the other student."
"That's really understaffed," Tea commented, frowning at her statistics. "I mean, how many kids do you have?"
"Only nine, and they're all very good. Most of them have been here for a long time. We just have trouble keeping workers because this place can be very depressing at times. The kids here grow close to each other, and if somebody new shows up or somebody leaves, it causes a big disturbance. Here, let me take you outside and introduce you to them." Tea followed her outside, and all playing once again ceased. Either they knew she was now a worker or thought she was looking for a child. Either way, it made her feel suddenly sad. She was stranger and could be their only salvation at this point. It made her realize that Jade's words rang true.
"Alright kids, we have an announcement to make!" she shouted. All the kids quickly dropped whatever they were doing and ran over, forming a semi-circle around the two. Tea noticed one girl walking slowly up towards the group and sliding into the back, a sad look on her face. "This here is Tea Gardener. She's a student at the nearby school and is going to start working for us. You'll be seeing her in the afternoons and hopefully during Saturdays, is that correct?"
"Yes it is," Tea answered, smiling down at the kids. Smiles began to slowly appear on their faces, and Jade placed her hands on her hips.
"Now is that any way to greet a new worker?" she asked, looking down in feigned shock at them. "Why don't we all say hello and tell Miss Tea here your names?"
"I'm Marcus!" a redhead boy in front exclaimed.
"And I'm Luke!" another boy shouted, this one having blonde hair.
"I'm Harem, and this is my brother Steven," one boy said. He had short black hair and glasses while his brother had long black hair.
"We're Lola and Brethor!" two kids said at the same time. Tea could immediately tell they were twins; both had brown hair and green eyes.
"I'm Lacy, and this is my best friend Caterina!" one girl giggled, wrapping an arm around her friend. The Lacy girl had blonde hair pulled back into pigtails while the Caterina girl had short, orange hair.
Silence soon followed, and Jade frowned at the girl in the back. "You all may go play," she said after a minute passed. Tea blinked in shock at this and watched as the kids all ran back to their stations to continue playing. The girl who had come last stood still, however, and stared at the ground. "This is our newest girl, Lilith," Jade explained in a soft voice, kneeling down in front of her. "Lilith, don't you want to say hello to Miss Tea?"
The girl had to be only six or seven. She had long, white hair and appeared to be almost albino in skin tone. She was wearing a blue dress that went down to her knees and black sneakers. "Hello, Miss Tea," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Jade smiled sadly at the girl and moved a strand of hair. "Why don't you go play with the other kids, okay?" The girl continued standing for a moment before slowly turning and going back to the swings, which were currently abandoned. Jade stood up and frowned over at Tea. "She just lost her parents two weeks ago, and it's very devastating for her right now. She doesn't like socializing with the other kids, but we know it's just a phase they go through. She's just hurting right now and needs to be left alone."
Tea nodded in understanding and looked over at the girl. She was barely swinging back and forth, her legs grazing the top of the sand, staring down at the ground. "It's a shame, really," Jade continued. "These kids are so intelligent and all want good futures, but they can't live at the orphanage forever. If I could afford to send them to school, I would."
"Don't these kids go to school?" Tea asked.
"Oh yes. The bus picks them up. I mean future schooling, like college."
"Some kids actually stay that long?"
Jade nodded her head. "Yeah, I've had kids stay here until they were eighteen. Nobody can afford to have kids right now or just don't want them. Or, of course, they're making their own, letting these kids here all by themselves. I think that's why they become so close to one another. It's all they've got now, besides you, me, and the other student."
Tea could only stare in awe at the kids. She couldn't imagine waking up every day in this building, not knowing whether her life would be changed with a visitor dropping by or not. "Now you see why not many people want to work here," Jade stated, turning to face her. "A lot of people feel too heartbroken, too lost about the situation. They want to do something about it now, and the helplessness at not being able to do anything hurts them. I know I can't change these kids forever, but as long as they're here, they have a home. And that's all you can ask for."
"A home…" Tea understood that feeling of wanting a home. When her parents were going through the divorce, it didn't feel as though she had a home. Her father's house was as close a home as anything, and her mother's house was her worst nightmare. It didn't seem as though she could call anyplace a home. Not until she moved out, anyways. Now she owned her own small apartment, doing chores for the manager in order to stay there. That's why she needed a job so badly. Just to get some money, to start actually living rather than scraping by. "Maybe this community service project will actually do me some good if I can get enough hours in," Tea thought. "I know it's not technically community service if I'm being paid, but I'm helping others out, and Jade really seems to need the help. She's a nice woman too, and I can't turn her down at this point. Who knows…maybe she's right, and I'll end up working here longer than expected. Besides, it's not like I have anything to lose. I don't have another—"
"Big brother's here!" a boy suddenly shouted loudly, interrupting Tea's thoughts. She quickly looked up and gasped in absolute shock as she watched the kids crowd around none other than Seto Kaiba, all with smiles on their faces.