Time To Make A Change.

Chapter One.



         

         Thirty degrees is what the thermometer on the wall said, but it felt hotter than that, it felt as though it was at least one hundred and ten degrees outside and an extra forty degrees inside without the air-conditioner on.  I can’t believe my step dad forgot to pay the power bill again, so now we have no air-conditioner, no computer and don’t even think about any source of music because I can’t even listen to my iPod because I forgot to charge it before I knew about the bill.

         “Joey, get your arse down here! You spend too much time up there in that dark room of yours!” My step dad yelled. He was such an ass.

         “Go away; the only time you ever want me to come down is when you want to take everything out on me when you’re drunk! Yet you wonder why I’m always up in my room? I always wondered what mum ever saw in you. Now that she’s not here anymore, you think you can do whatever you like. The rest of the world doesn’t revolve around you anymore, it hasn’t for a while, and it might have when mum was here, but she’s not anymore… That’s why I refuse to stay here any longer. You’ve slowly dragged my family away so I have no one… all for what? So you don’t have to be alone? I’m not your punching bag, I’m over your drunken punches…I’m over making up excuses as to why I walk into class with a black eye or a cut lip, because clearly you don’t give a damn.” I yelled back down the stairs.

         What a great way to start my summer break I thought.

         What happened to my real father? I’d bet anything he’d never go out of his way to hurt anyone. Especially his own son; yeah sure, I may not be the best son in the world, but I still go to school, I don’t wag my lessons and I should at least be respected by other people…I mean it’s not like I go out to start fights or anything.

         I heard a beer bottle smash against the lounge room wall, Oh great here comes another smack to the head for being a smartarse…I thought, but not if I could prevent it from happening. I began to quickly and quietly shove stuff into my bag, including the money I had stashed under my mattress and headed to the window. Shit! Why’d my room have to be on the second story?  Oh well, I have to jump, even if I hurt myself… it’s better then getting hurt by Alex. I could hear him stumbling his way up the stairs. This is it… I thought.  I don’t have time to stand near my window thinking about what could happen if I was to jump.

         I grabbed my bag, climbed onto the windowsill and closed my eyes as I leaped from my window to the grass below. Luckily I landed on my feet, but the sudden impact sent a tingling feeling up my legs. I knew Alex was in my room when I heard my door slam against the wardrobe. I quickly grabbed my bag, which I must have dropped when I jumped and ran behind the tree, which was a few meters to the left and out of view of my window.

         From where I was, I could hear Alex throwing stuff around my room. He was soon peering out my bedroom window. “I know you wouldn’t be far kid, so I know you can hear me!” He began. “You can run off as much as you like, but it’s not like you’re going to go far! You don’t even know where any of your family lives! I’ll give you a slight hint, try St. Andrew’s Nursing Home, you may find your grandmother there… That’s if your Aunty hasn’t moved her already!” Alex yelled from my window. He went to turn around and walk away, but he suddenly turned back and slammed my window shut and locked it so I couldn’t get back inside. Not like I’d ever want to be inside that house with him anyway.

           So far Alex had done nothing besides ruin my life. If it wasn’t for him drink driving, mum would still be alive and I wouldn’t have the scar that runs from my eye to my cheekbone. Nightmares of that night still haunt me, and it’s been nearly a year and a half since the accident. Alex was driving drunk with mum in the front seat and me in the back; he thought it was a great joke driving at twice the speed limit. I was fourteen at the time and mum was thirty-six.  Alex wouldn’t listen to mum when she was screaming at him to pull over and let us out. It took him five corners to put us into a tree, which killed mum instantly and left me trapped in the mangled wreck for more than an hour, while he just took off so he didn’t get caught.





Chapter Two.







         It had to be midday by now; the heat radiating from the sun was burning the back of my neck as if it was a meter away. The reflection of the sun was glistening off the top of the water fountain, sending the bright reflection into my eyes whenever I looked up to make sure no-one was around me. Considering this was one of the busiest parks in Adelaide, no one was in sight. I guess this heat wave is keeping everyone indoors, I thought.

         I was sitting in the shade of a tree just off the path that wove its way throughout the park. I had my backpack on my lap looking at what I was able to pack in the short amount of time I had to collect whatever I could. I ended up grabbing an extra shirt, a pair of shorts, the scrapbook I had made of the memories of mum, my phone, my iPod and my wallet and the money I had saved up and stashed under my mattress. I counted my money three times; I couldn’t believe the amount I had saved up in just under three years. When mum was still around, she used to receive a six hundred dollar bonus for me, she used to go halves with me and the money she gave me, I had put away because we had planned to go over seas for a holiday. Unfortunately that never happened, but I was able to use that money for a good cause.

         I sat under the shade for what felt like forever in the hot sun, the shade was slowly moving to the other side of the tree, the sun was gradually setting to another hot and sweaty night.  I began to search for the nearest public toilets and found them to the north on the other side of the fountain, about fifty meters from where I was sitting. I put everything back into my backpack and got up slowly so I didn’t get any dizziness and made my way to the male toilets. I walked to the basin in the small cubicle and flushed my face with fresh cold water. The water on my face felt like a soothing cube of ice, melting as it hit my face. I cupped my hands and drunk as much water as I could, never capturing enough water to keep me hydrated for a while, so I tilt my head to the side and drunk from the running tap. Feeling more activated I set out to continue my journey.

         It’s a good thing I used to lose my appetite in the summer, the heat used to make me feel sick every time I even thought of food. Otherwise by now my stomach would have been tying itself up in a knot from being hungry. Although I was beginning to fell a bit hungry, I ignored my stomach and continued on.

         By the time the sun had fully set and the streets were pitch black, my eyes only just seeing whatever it may be that was lurking around further on in the distance, my stomach was beginning to really ache. There was a fast food place up ahead; maybe one hundred to two hundred meters up a head. It’s just food, I need to be able to survive somehow… I thought, not really wanting to waste the money I had on food. But I knew I had to eat sometime and at the time, I couldn’t stand the pain that was in my stomach.

         When I walked into the restaurant, I looked at the clock on the far wall above the checkout and acknowledged that it was already 8:45p.m, yet it only felt like a few minutes since I walked away from what was nothing besides a bad memory of the house I was living in with Alex. I wonder if he even bothered to come looking for me, or if the lazy ass just went back to drinking his stupid alcohol in the boring lounge room. Then again… Alex… leaving his alcohol to go out in search of someone that meant so little to him would just be a waste of his time. I thought as I was eating.

         As I walked out, there was a group of teenagers around my age, but the way they were all staring at me, it made me feel awkward and as though I had better watch my back in case they were looking for a moment where they could jump me from behind. I put my head down as I walked past them, so I didn’t make eye contact. Just as I past them, one of the guys on the left started mumbling something to the dude next to him, as I looked behind to check that they weren’t following me, I saw them all glaring at me as if trying to work something out. What they were trying to work out, I didn’t know. All I knew was that they were beginning to creep me out.

         I began walking faster when I heard footsteps following me, I thought about having a look to see who it was, but I didn’t want to risk anything so I just kept walking. The footsteps behind me kept getting closer and closer, I saw an alley up ahead, which I was fair sure lead to the main shopping hall in town. When I got to the alley I stopped for a brief second to see if I was right, unfortunately I was wrong, the alley just lead to down the side of two warehouses. To me, that was useless. There would have been nowhere to even hide down there, so I kept walking.

         I crossed three main roads before whoever it was stopped following me, or maybe they were never following me in the first place? Perhaps whoever it was, was just out to get to their destination. Until now, I never realized how creepy the city really was at night, I’ve heard so many stories about things that happen here, but never did I believe they were for real.

         I sat down on a bench chair that was on the side of the footpath to let my calf muscles relax and give me time to think about where to go next. By rights there should be a shelter a few blocks away, maybe I could spend the night there, then maybe I could at least try to talk to someone to get them to help find the rest of my family because there’s no way I’m going to end up going back to that place I’m suppose to call ‘home’. I thought.

         As I was heading towards the shelter, I saw a guy perhaps in his late thirties to early forties in what looked like dirty, torn up clothes that looked as though they hadn’t been washed in days, walk into a building, which was the only building in the street with lights still on shining out the windows. I walked up to the front of the building and saw what was written above the door, ‘Shelter For Men’ was written in big bold letters in an arch above the door. I was a little unsure about the place as I walked through the doors, but it was one of the safest places I could think of, and not to mention it was somewhere Alex would never think look.







Chapter Three.







         To my surprise, it was nice and cool inside and the people at the front counter didn’t seem like all those other people you’d expect to see at a counter, they were just like everyone else, or that’s what they wanted you to believe anyway. You could tell by the way that they dressed that they didn’t want you to think that they were any better then you, one of the people I saw were dressed in just a tank top and a pair of shorts, his hair was sticking out in all different directions which made him look as though he rarely brushes his hair. But at the same time, he made you feel wanted.

         I had to sign a few forms before they could allow me to spend the night, but if it got me off the streets for the night, I would have done anything because at the time, the streets felt like my worst enemy. Following me wherever I go, making things a lot more difficult when I didn’t even know where I was going.

         Once all the forms were signed, the people at the shelter placed me in a room with three other guys roughly fifteen to eighteen years old. One of the guys, my greatest guess was that he was the eldest of the three, looked like he was the type of guy you didn’t want to mess with. He had had four, possibly five tattoos on his arms, four piercings in his face, he had snake bites which is two on either side of his bottom lip, his septum which was a part of his nose and his right eyebrow had a bar going through it as well. His hair though, was split into two different bits, the front bit stayed down around his face with a side fringe that was always covering his eyes, while the back half was sticking up. In a way, it looked kind of cool. The other two guys had the same sort of look, but they only had a few piercings and no tattoos. Well no tattoos that were visible. 

           When I walked into the room and put my bag down on the mattress, the guys looked at me with a smug but also confused look on their faces. At first I just wanted to grab my bag and turn around and walk out, then I thought about it. These guys are out to have someone they can boss around, and plus, I’m only going to be here for one night, how much drama could they cause when come tomorrow morning, I’ll most likely be out of here before they wake up.

         The older guy looked at me as if he was trying to judge me from the outside, which made me feel uncomfortable so I turned around and sat down on my mattress. “How’d you get that scar?” one of the younger guys asked me.

         I didn’t feel the need to tell them the whole story considering I don’t even know them, so I gave them a short reply, “car accident”.

         “Were you driving?” he asked. Why’s he questioning me? I thought.

         “No, stupid so called ‘step father’ was,” I replied. “And what’s with the questions?” I asked in no mood to keep answering questions.

         “Chill dude, just trying to get to know you.” The guys said. “What’s you name mate?” he continued.

         “Joey, you?” was all I said.

         “I’m Pete, the shorter guy there,” he pointed to the other younger guy, “he’s Adam and the older one is Josh.”

         When I looked at Adam and Josh, they both just simply nodded.

         “How long you going to be hanging around here?” Josh asked as if needing to know whether he needed to protect his neighborhood.

         “Ah, hopefully only tonight, I need to find the rest of my family, ‘cause there’s no way I’m going back to the nut shell that I came from”, I told him.

         “Where’d you come from? Or are you just one of those run away kids who doesn’t like mummy’s new boyfriend?” he asked.

         “Actually, if you need to know, my stupid step dad killed my mum in the stupid car accident, and ever since he’s been acting as though he rules the world, keeping mum’s will away from me so I can’t see it for myself acting as though she hadn’t mentioned me in it at all, drinking, getting drunk, then uses me as his stupid punching bag. There is that the type of story you wanted? I don’t have a mum anymore; my dad is who knows where… and my step dad does nothing but abuse me and I have to go out of my way to find the rest of my family because thanks to him, I don’t have a clue where any of them live… even if the send letters or anything, I don’t receive them!” I was so angry that I didn’t even care that I was shouting at them. I picked up my bag and walked out the door. I wasn’t in the mood to put up with nosey teenagers who think they need to know everything.

         I was half way down the road, about to turn the corner heading towards the River when I heard people running behind me. I stopped and turned around; it was Josh from the shelter. This had me puzzled as to why he’d come after me. He nearly ran into me because he didn’t realize I had stopped, he was running with his head down, and when he finally looked up he was about a meter away from me. He tried to stop himself before we collided; I took a few quick steps back so I didn’t end up walking away with a headache.

         “Why are you coming after me!?” I couldn’t help but yell at him. “Didn’t you get what you want, or was my story just not enough to please you?” I continued. From the corner of my eye I could see the other two boys slowly walking towards us.

         “Actually, I feel sorry for you-¬¬” Josh began.

         “I... don’t… need your sympathy” I said through clenched teeth.

         “I never said you did and let me finish before you jump in, okay?” he was extremely calm compared to me. “I know what it’s like to be in your shoes, except both my parents were killed, more so murdered in a drug deal gone bad I guess, and I had no one, because no one wanted to know my parents once they got into the drug scene. So I had no family to go to. Instead I was sent to a foster home. I never stayed at a home for more than two days… by the second day I’d take off, end up spending the night in some park where whatever loser that walked by would say some smartarse comment. You think I never got pissed off? Of course I did, by the end of the first week I was ready to take someone’s head off.

         “One morning I woke up to the cops standing over me, even if I had thought about getting up to run for it, I would have been screwed, they would have had me by the time I even got to my feet. But instead of taking me downtown, they took me to the shelter, where the people there became my family. I don’t want to cause you trouble, and I don’t want to piss you off; if anything I want to help you find your family, I mean, that’s if you want the help?” he asked.

         Yeah, and what’s the catch? I thought. But maybe it could help to have him come along. Company at least… “That’ll be nice” was all I could say. 

         Josh smiled, “Come back to the shelter and we’ll head out tomorrow. The other guys don’t need to know about it, if that’s how you want it to be,” he said quietly now as the other two guys joined us. I looked at him and nodded once in agreement to what he said. Josh knew instantly what the nod was for, and gave one sharp nod in response.

         “What’s going on guys?” Pete asked.

         “Not a lot, just sorting stuff out, come on, lets get back out of this stick heat. I don’t know about you guys, but I need a shower,” Josh said as he turned around and began walking towards the shelter.

         “I call the shower after you, I’ve been out in this all day, I need to try and cool my body temperature down,” I said as the rest of us followed after him.

         Back at the shelter, Josh grabbed his stuff to go for a shower, than took off. It was at least half an hour before he returned. “Man, you take as long as any girl in the shower, you sure you made yourself look all pretty?” I laughed.

         “Depends, does my face look good and beautiful?” he laughed fluttering his eyelids.

         “Oh yeah,” I said winking as I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door for the shower.