Standing Still For Far Too Long

“Get up you worthless piece of shit!”

Gerard was woken up by the raspy voice of the Warden at seven-thirty A.M. He opened his eyes slowly and glared into the swamp-like brown eyes of the middle-aged woman before him.

“I said get up.”

Gerard obeyed and pushed the sheets down away from his body. He swung his legs over the side of his tiny bed and looked up to face the Warden again. She was grinning slyly and the satisfaction that enveloped her face was not hard to see.

“Make the bed above you. The new boy will be arriving at eight this morning. If it isn’t made by seven-forty-five, you won’t get any food for a week,” She spat at him.

The Warden finished giving her orders and turn around swiftly towards the door. She was wearing her signature new arrival outfit. She had on her black skirt, white blouse, and 4 inch read heels on. The Warden could have passed as attractive if the hatred that was creased into her face so violently wasn’t so visible.

Gerard got up as soon as the clicking sounds of the Warden’s heals hitting the floor were no longer audible. The sheets were already lying on the top level of the bunk bed. Gerard himself had no idea how long they must have been sitting there. They didn’t get new arrivals in the boy’s division often; the girls usually got one every few months.

The explanation that Gerard had come up with was that the girls could not survive on the streets alone; or rather they didn’t think they could. Boys were different; they always thought that they were invincible. Reasons like these were why he was so in awe at the thought of a 15 year old boy coming to the orphanage.

Gerard began to make the bed. He wasn’t doing it for the warden, no; he could care less if he wasn’t fed for a week. He was doing it for the new boy. He wanted him to feel welcome and comfortable. It was his way; he was the nurturer of the boy’s division. He knew everything about the orphanage; he knew all of the secrets, the practices, the evil, and even the good of it.

A voice piped up from behind him, “Whatcha doin’ Gee?”

Windy Meadows slept next to Gerard at his own request. Windy admired him and wanted to be like him; Gerard was his father figure. He didn’t know if he enjoyed the admiration of the 6 year old. He was sickly, and he always had been. He would be in his bed late at night sniffling, sneezing, and wheezing; Gerard had grown used to the noisy child and never made fun of him or told him to shut up like the other boys.

Gerard knew that Windy had trouble with his lungs; he was a premature baby. Dr. Steepleton had taken a liking to him ever since he was born. He said that Gerard didn’t cry once when he delivered him from his mother 15 years ago. Gerard could not remember when he had ever cried, and neither could the Doctor. He taught Gerard many things about the medical aspect of life.

“I’m making the new kid’s bed Win.”

“New kid?” Windy asked.

“Yes, he’s going to be my age.”

The small boy’s eyes widened significantly, “Do you think he’ll be nice to us? Will he like me? We can play hide and seek in the woods with three people now!” Windy let out a loud cough and Gerard stepped down from the ladder to pat him on the back.

“Stop asking so many questions, you shouldn’t even be up yet…but yes, he will like you and he will be nice. We’ll see about the hide and seek.”

Gerard got up and took the pillow from his bed that belonged to the upper and placed it at the head of it. The thin sheets were neat and looked as clean as they could. He was happy with his work, and stepped down onto the cracked floor with a faint creak. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was seven-thirty-nine.

Looks like I’ll be eating that Godforsaken shit they call food for another week, He thought to himself.

He sat down and pulled a medium sized book out from under his pillow. He opened it and pulled the small, and only, pencil that he possessed out from one of the pages. Mr. Tom had given him this sketchbook for his fifteenth birthday, but he kept it hidden. Who knows what the Warden would do if she found out that he had actually gotten a present?

He began to sketch the now asleep Windy Meadows. Drawing was something that he knew he was good at; and besides reading, it was the only thing he believed he was good at. He began to draw the shape of Windy’s head, then his hair, than the pillow under it. He was beginning to draw the nose when he heard the door creak open slowly.

He looked up from his sketch and saw a boy step in with a small backpack slung over his shoulder. He was wearing torn jeans and a faded green T-shirt on. His hair was crudely cut short on the sides and the thick longer hair ran in the middle of his head. He looked messy and unkempt.

Gerard sat there staring at the new boy for what seemed like a long time until he noticed that he was just standing there with one hand on his head and the other in his pocket. Gerard quickly shoved his sketch book back into the indent under his pillow and jumped up to walk towards the boy.

In a few steps, Gerard was standing in front of him. They were about the same height, and soon Gerard was mirroring the new boy’s stance. His hand was on his head and the other in his pocket; Gerard was nervous. The boy was staring at him expectedly, and Gerard was able to push out an uneasy smile.

“H-hi,” he stammered, “I’m Gerard.”

The boy smiled confidently back at him and took his hand out of his pocket to extend it to Gerard. “I’m Frank.” Gerard took his hand away from his hand and grasped onto Frank’s and they shook hands. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to uh…”

“Hope Falls Orphanage?” Frank finished for him with a small chuckle. “Did you forget the name?”

Gerard grinned, “No, I just usually refer to it as hell. I guess I did, in a way, forget the real name.” Gerard noticed that his hand was still grasping Frank’s and he quickly let go as his smile faltered a bit.

“Uh…right. So you sleep on top of me.”

Frank raised his eyebrow and looked at Gerard questioningly, “What?”

Gerard recognized his mistake and flushed a deep red which shown brightly on his pale skin, “It’s a bunk bed,” he stated quickly turned around towards the bunk beds. He started walking towards the far corner and became aware of Frank following closely behind him.

He started walking faster and ended up almost bumping into the bunk bed. He pointed to the bed on top and nodded at Frank, “That’s yours.” Then he pointed at his own bed, “That’s mine.”

The commotion had woken up Windy and he was sitting up and staring at Frank, Gerard had failed to notice him. Windy mirrored Gerard’s movements and pointed at Frank before yelling out, “New kid!”

Frank started laughing and pointed to him self in a mocking manner, “New kid is me.”

“Why are all of you idiots pointing around? You look dumb.”

Justen Telkom was sitting up in the bed next to Windy’s and staring at them oddly.

“Uh, morning Justen. Meet Frank; he’s the new guy.”

“Well isn’t that exciting…” The 11 year old trailed off and fell back onto his bed before rolling away from them.

“Sorry about that,” Gerard said, “he’s not a very happy kid.”

Frank nodded and looked around the room, “Why do you call this place hell? It doesn’t look that bad. The people seem pretty nice.”

Gerard was taken aback by that comment widened his eyes at Frank, “Nice people?”

“Yeah, the Warden seemed okay.”

“Did she give you something?”

“Yeah but-”

“Apple or banana?”

“Apple…wait, how did you know that?”

“Apple is good, banana is bad. I guess she likes you…I got a banana.” Gerard sighed.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

They had forgotten about Windy until he made a loud gasp after Frank’s comment, “Gerard! He said a mean word!”

“Be quiet Windy, he’s a big kid. It’s alright.”

“I’m a big kid!”

“You’re a big kid when you hit five feet five inches.”

“I’m only four feet and two inches.”

“And what does that make you?”

Windy huffed and replied, “A small kid…”

“Right, can you let us talk?”

“Fine!” Windy got up from his bed and rushed towards the bathroom angrily. Gerard wasn’t worried, he always came around, but he saw Frank staring after him.

“Don’t worry about him.”

Frank turned back to Gerard and shrugged, “If you say so. What’s with the apples and bananas thing?”

“If you receive an apple from her that means she will at least tolerate you. If she gives you a banana then that means she dislikes you, or even hates you, a lot.”

“How do you know that…?”

“I heard her talking to herself about it. She has this rhyme, it goes ‘snapple apple banana nana, I love Snapple and I hate my nana!’ then she lets out this really evil laugh and starts clipping her nails. It’s like a routine.”

“Wow…”

“Yeah, she’s a crazy woman. But at least she likes you.’

“I don’t really know if I want her to like me…” Frank trailed off and slipped past Gerard towards his bed. He swung his backpack over the side then sat down on Gerard’s.

“So this is my new home huh?” Frank said as he felt the sheets and looked around. “Not too bad.”

Gerard timidly took a seat beside Frank and turned his body to face him, “Um, can I ask you something?”

Frank turned his body to face Gerard, “Sure thing.”

“Why did you come here?”