A colossal blaze of fire would consume the world, and everyone in it. Every man woman, and child swept away and turned to worthless ash. This was a world full of criminals, and liars, and all of them deserved to die, including Max himself.
Those were his true thoughts; thoughts that he did not plan to share with anybody, and if he were to who would he share them with? He was a criminal and intended to exploit this lifestyle until he found a viable way out or bit the dust.
Max looked at himself in the mirror and saw dark, tired eyes. Excitement had been high in the orphanage the last few days; after all, there’s been a slew of adoptions lately, and when that happens the other kids get more excited than usual, and it’s because of that he hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep.
In truth Max was happy for the kids, especially the younger ones; they hadn’t been broken by the system yet and still had a chance to succeed the right way, unlike himself. Max was more worried about the older kids pushing eleven and twelve, and thought It was unlikely they’d get adopted - it wouldn’t be long before the Archangels came for them.
With a heavy sigh, Max washed his face, dressed, and left the attic and down the stairs to the dormitory.
The dormitory was the second largest room in St. Hope Haven orphanage and was full of twin beds, and numerous toys that were at least three decades old. The sheets were paper thin, and the blankets cold, and rough. One of the kids began to raise the curtains letting in the thick blotted sunlight which to Max, only illuminated the cracks in the floorboard and the scratchy lead paint.
One of the younger kids caught sight of Max and smiled an ugly smile that Max winced at.
“Big Max! Big Max! Big Max! Big Max is awake!” he cried over and over again.
The other kids turned their attention to Max, and they all began to cheer.
“Alright, alright I get it, calm down,” Max said feigning a smile.
The child that started the cheer was a boy named Luke who couldn’t even pronounce his name. He was left at the steps of the orphanage as a child and had spent the entirety of his life within these walls, and to be frank he had no chance, and would not succeed at anything in life; those were Max’s true feelings.
As for the nickname it was simple, Luke had just learned the word big, and to him, that’s what Max was, and so “Big Max” had begun, and spread like wildfire throughout the orphanage. Luke ran up to Max, hugged his leg, and then looked up at him.
“Are you gonna eat with us today?”
“Not today,” Max said, “Maybe tomorrow.”
Max did not like eating at the orphanage. The food was not very good, and he preferred the food he got to eat at school. That being said, he did try to eat with the kids on occasion; for some reason, they seemed to look up to him. Max did not understand why, but if something as simple as that would make their lives less miserable, he figured there’d be no harm.
“Okay, s’long as you don’t lie!” Luke said trotting off to breakfast.
The morning’s chant had ended, and most of the kids had left toward the cafeteria while a few stayed back to finish making their beds.
Max left the dormitory and made his way straight toward the front entrance where he was stopped by Madame Vine, the oldest caretaker in the orphanage, and one of the most respected and feared.
"Oh! Good morning, Maxy," she said with a toothless smile, "a couple more years and you''ll be a man grown. I still remember the day they first gave you to me. You could barely walk on your own two feet." She snickered. "And look at me now. I''m the one barely able to walk."
"Elderly or not it seems like you still have all the younger kids afraid of you" Max laughed.
"Not too afraid I hope," Madame Vine said. "After what happened over at St. Langue’s I''ve been terribly worried," she raised her eyebrows, "that reminds me, Maxy," she said pulling out an envelope, "after what happened to Mrs. Valda all of their children are being sent to other orphanages, so we should expect some new arrivals in the coming weeks.”
That’s right, Max thought. There was a murder a few days ago at an orphanage just a few blocks from here. Based on the description of the murder Max didn’t think it was gang-related, but a lot of strange things have been happening on the news lately so he didn’t know what to think; either way, it didn’t really concern him, or at least he didn’t think it would.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"If you don''t mind Maxy, could you stop by the store after school, and pick up some supplies for us? This envelope has a list of what we need along with some money," she said holding it out, her hand shaking.
"Sure, no problem," Max said taking the list outside of the envelope and handing the money back to her.
Before Madame Vine could protest Max briskly changed the subject.
“What are the odds of anyone else enrolling?”
“Oh,” Madame Vine said looking down at the money in her hands, “The headmaster does not think that’s a clever idea. He believes the education we teach here at St. Hope to be far superior to anything taught in public schools.”
“Yet this curriculum doesn’t have the equivalent of a GED or diploma.”
“Yes well, ideally most children will be “
“Adopted, I know.”
This line of thinking was destructive, but she didn’t need to hear that from Max; it was quite evident that Madame Vine was fully aware of the problems that existed in the orphanage.
He could not help but resent her though. She’d been a cog in this system for so long and had accepted her place within it.
He hated her for that.
But at the same time, if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have his own space in the attic, and if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be allowed to go to school. This woman saw excellence in him that none of the other caretakers did, and for that he was grateful, and for that, a deep part of him would like to pay that kindness back someday.
But that also begged the question. What did she see in him that she didn’t the other children?
Max did not have the time to think about that.
"I know you''re always working, but if you can... please try to keep your attendance up this year," the woman sniffed as a tear dripped down her face, "After you turn 18, we won''t be able to keep you here anymore. I want you to find your own place in the world."
“It’s a good thing I have three years to figure that out,” Max feigned a chuckle, “I’ll be fine,” Max said rubbing the back of his head, “you shouldn’t worry so much.”
"I fear I don''t worry enough about you," Madame Vine said, "I remember when I was your age. I did many-" the old lady stopped herself, and waved a hand. "Ah, if I ramble any longer, you''ll be late for school. Go on Maxy, and best remember what I told you." The old lady turned away and slowly walked back toward the other children.
Once she was gone Max took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob leading outside.
“Hey!”
But someone else was stopping him now; Max sighed again, he was expecting this.
Max turned around and met the boy head-on.
“Hey Caleb,” Max said.
The boy was 12 years old, and just like Max, he’d lost his parents at an early age. He had light brown hair, and his eyes were red, and puffy, further exasperated by his pale skin.
“So, you’re just gonna leave without saying goodbye? You know there’s a chance today. I might finally leave.”
It was true, there was a family that took an interest in Caleb, and there was a decent chance he’d get adopted today. Of all the kids in the orphanage, Caleb is the closest to what Max would call a friend, but even that was a bond he preferred broken.
“I know we don’t hang out and stuff anymore because you’re in school and all, but I thought today you’d at least, I-I don’t know I thought you’d at least say something. Do you hate me?”
Max sighed frustratedly, “It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it then!” Caleb yelled.
Max looked up at the dilapidated walls, the cracked ceiling, and then down at his own hands, and the hoodie he was wearing.
“Nothing about this place is worth remembering, not even me,” Max said, “Once you get out of here you need to forget about this place.”
“But why would I do that?” Caleb said shaking his head. The boy clenched his fists and wiped away the tears that started to flow out of them.
“Everyone here is my friend; I don’t want to forget them.”
“I get what you’re saying Caleb, I do but look around you. Everyone that stays here is destined to live a sad, and worthless life. If you end up even remotely successful, you’ll feel burdened by their shortcomings – including mine. I won’t repeat myself.”
At this point, Max’s heart was racing. What did Caleb not understand? He was smart for his age, and this was a conclusion Max had reached at the start of his adolescence, it wasn’t rocket science.
Max opened the door allowing a cold windy breeze to burst into the room; Caleb wrapped his arms around his chest and sniffled loudly, he was still in his pajamas.
“Is that what you think of us? We’re all just failures with no shot at living?”
“You better hope you get adopted,” Max said slamming the door in Caleb’s face and leaving the orphanage.
Max buried his hands in his hoodie pockets, and quickly made his way toward his destination. Directly across the street were numerous fire barrels set up, and although he could barely see them due to the thick blotted fog he knew homeless men and women were standing over them. It was a well-known fact that many of the city’s homeless once stayed in one of the orphanages; Max wondered just how many came from St. Hope Heaven.
The schedule for kids staying at St. Hope mostly coincided with his school schedule with a few things to note. The first of which is that the kids began their day at 6:00 AM. Breakfast lasted until about 6:45, and school officially started at 7:00 AM. Eden High on the other hand classes didn’t start until 8:00 AM sharp. This gave Max two hours to do as he liked, whether that was breakfast with the kids or work.
Putting aside the thought of his home life, Max focused on getting to his destination as quickly as possible. He put on some headphones and blasted Freddie Gibbs on the way to 7th Avenue just a few blocks away.
Max thought about what assignment was waiting for him. He’d been putting in work for a few years at this point and figured he was due for a promotion. He kept low-key in the organization but not so much outside it, and Max was working to change that.
Max tried to have no social media presence and purchased a second phone to use exclusively for work; he did not want to mix up his personal and professional lives. If he did leave one day, he wanted that transition to be as seamless as possible, and maintaining two phones allowed him to do that.