AllFreeNovel
Share Us
3 months earlier…
BRAXTON
Sticky and heavy, the air clung to my face like vengeful steam the moment I opened the tiny window in my room, making me feel like I had just stepped into a sauna. Briefly, I wondered what had ever made me do such a stupid thing. Humidity during one of San Francisco’s famous heat waves was no joke, especially in the summer.
The day seemed cloudy and a storm was clearly brewing behind the clouds, but that didn’t deter the heat from making me feel like I had just entered the foyer to hell’s pits. The wind was nonexistent, and thanks to Mrs. Reyes—my landlord—so was the air conditioning in the house.
Turning to the fan cramped next to my bed, I closed my eyes, hoping it would erase the gross feeling clinging to my skin. No such luck. My beat-up old fan mostly just spewed the hot air in my room back at me; I had just showered and it already felt like I had stepped out of the gym. Not that I ever went to the gym.
After I jumped back into the shower for a quick refresher, I got dressed and made my way downstairs. The smell of fried eggs, waffles, and bacon instantly lifted my spirits.
Fried bacon made everything better.
“Morning,” Mr. Müller greeted me the moment he saw me from the rocking chair at the corner of the dining room.
Old Man Müller, as we called him, was German, and looked the part of an old-school shepherd with his full white beard, high-waisted wool pants, cardigan, and hat—except he was the real deal. He and Mrs. Reyes were the first ones to get up with the call of the rooster—yeah, she had chickens and a rooster in the backyard.
“Good morning,” I replied, keeping my voice fairly low not to wake the others, while I made a beeline for the half-served breakfast on the table. Lifting two pieces of extra crispy bacon—mostly burned—I stuffed them into my mouth.
“Hey! Wash your hands first.”
When I turned, I found Mrs. Reyes struggling out of the kitchen with a large tray full of scrambled eggs in one hand, and a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice in the other.
“I just showered, twice. I’m squeaky clean,” I defended, taking the heavy jug and tray from her and placing them on the table.
I smirked when she narrowed her eyes at me, giving me the full Filipino attitude. The woman’s nature was generous, loving, and caring, still, you did not want to make her angry. She was small but scary.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” I added, giving her my most charming smile.
It didn’t work. The back of Mrs. Reyes’ hand smacked my chest, hard. Piling food onto a plate, she placed it on the closest setting. “Eat,” she ordered, gesturing to the chair.
Without arguing, I took my place and began to gulf down the eggs. I was starving.
“Eat slowly, boy! You want to choke?” The warning was followed by a smack upside my head, and I chuckled.
“No syrup?”
She shook her head. “I’ll get more today after work.”
“It’s shopping day!” The tiny voice reached me just as a little girl jumped on me. Her tight braids fell onto her back while she climbed me like a tree, finally sitting on my thigh. Taking the fork from my hand, Little Suzie pinched the eggs and plunged them into her mouth.
She was only four years old and had already stolen my heart.
Suzie was Mrs. Reyes’ daughter, who after being abandoned by her husband, was forced to open her home to complete strangers just so she wouldn’t lose everything else. She and her husband had spent what little they had on the adoption costs to get Suzie, but a month after the baby girl was given to them, he told her he was in love with someone else and left.
Lucky for me, I was one of those strangers, welcomed into her home at only sixteen years old. I, along with Old Man Müller, Jose and Patricia, rented the three spare rooms, becoming somewhat of a family for the last three years.
My real family, however, that was a different story. One I tried not to think about too much.
“Mom is going to buy me chocolate milk. Today is food shopping day,” Little Suzie informed while she picked up my waffle and took a bite.
“Is that so?” I asked, glancing up at her mother, who gave me an ‘it’s highly unlikely’ kind of look. Suzie was addicted to chocolate, and we often had to hide it from her around the house.
“Yep,” Suzie replied, certain of the fact. With such sweet possibilities, her light green eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Put that waffle down, child! You already ate,” Mrs. Reyes complained, but her daughter only giggled, taking another bite, which brought a smile to my face.
“You are going to be late…” Old Man Müller casually crooned from his rocking chair, nursing a coffee cup between his hands.
