Poison Arms

The bus ride was long and exhausting. You’d think that all that sitting would help me rest up, but it drove me crazy. I haven’t sat down that long in 8 years. It took about 2 days, although I still had no clue of our destination the whole way there. The bus was the most horrible place to sleep, although I didn’t get much of it anyways because I was too excited. There weren’t that many people on the bus surprisingly. I guess I figured more people would be traveling, but there were only about 15 of us.

We finally came to a stop and the guy in the seat in front of me shook me until I woke up.

“Hey man, this is where you get off.” He said. I sat up looking around and out of the bus windows. It was very sunny here, must’ve been early morning. I grabbed my bag and slowly exited the bus. I heard the door squeak then shut behind me, and I knew I was stuck here. I looked around for somebody, anybody that could help me or tell me where to go, but I didn’t see anyone. In movies people are waiting there with cardboard signs and welcoming smiles. Then again, this is the real world. Not knowing what else to do, I called Brittany.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey Britt. It’s Kellin.” I half smiled.

“Oh God. I miss you already boy!” I could tell she was smiling from the way she talked.

“I miss you too. Um, I kinda have a problem though.”

“What is it? Are you out of money already?” she asked franticly.

“No, nothing like that. I’m here in-“ I paused looking around for a sign to tell me where I was, “-in San Diego I believe. Am I supposed to be here?” I asked.

“Yes. You should be heading to Turley Group Home. It’s at 3997 Shasta St.”

“Thank you so much. You’re a life saver!” I said.

“Alright. Keep in touch. Love you Quinn!” she said.

“Love you!” I responded hanging up the phone.

3997 Shasta St. 3997 Shasta St. I kept repeating it in my head, so I wouldn’t forget. I was going to walk there, but I figured it could be hours before I found the place. So I called a taxi.

We pulled up, and I hopped out of the car. I bent down and handed the money to the driver and when I turned around I bumped into somebody. I stumbled back in shock and dropped my bag. The guy instantly picked my stuff up for me and handed it back. Then he nodded and continued walking. He was relatively short, tan looking so I assumed he was Mexican, and he had shoulder length wavy brown hair.

I found myself staring at the building in front of me, scared to go in. I noticed that guy walking towards me again, so I pretended to know what I was doing but failed epically.

“Hey man. You lost?” he asked.

“Actually. I think I’m supposed to be h-here. Is this Turley Group Home?” I stuttered.

“Yeah. We like to just call it Turley though. Sounds less frightening. You must be the new kid. We’ve heard about you.” He said sticking out his hand for me to shake it I guess. I didn’t though. I just looked at him.

“Come on. I’ll show you around.” He offered.

“Um. Okay, but I never caught your name.” I pointed out.

He chuckled. “Sorry, I’m Vic. And you’re Kellin Bostwick?”

“Quinn, actually. I don’t really like Bostwick.” I corrected him. This was something I had to do often.

“Quinn? I like that. That’s cool man.” He said smiling. Then he motioned for me to follow him.

The building was in really good shape. It looked like a regular house from the outside, but it looked more like a mansion on the inside. There were doors and rooms everywhere you turned. He led me down a fairly lengthy hallway until we turned into what looked like an office. He called it “headquarters”, which explained in a less frightening way just meant that that is where Mrs. Kendra stayed most of the time. I was told that she worked online, doing God knows what. She was sitting behind the desk, but quickly got up and walked around it when we came in.

“Ah, Kellin I presume?” she said sounding fancy.

“Yep that’s me.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, it’ll be a pleasure having you. Your room is on the 3rd floor, 5th door on the right. Make yourself at home!” she welcomed me with a small hug.

“Will do Mrs. Kendra.” I said waving at her.

Vic then took me all the way up to my room and opened my door for me. I took a look around the room. Looks like I had my own bathroom, a queen size bed, and a dresser for all the clothes that I didn’t have.

“So this is it. What do you think?” he asked.

“I like it. Honestly, I do.” I smiled widely.

“Alright Quinn. I’m just down the hall so if you need anything let me know.” He said.

I quirked an eyebrow and half smiled.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. A good friend used to call me that, that’s all.” I said and then he left.