I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off. “Would you turn that shit off. ” I heard James Kennedy, my foster father, yell. I quickly stopped my alarm and got up to walk downstairs. While walking down the stairs i slipped and fell straight on my ass bone. “Why can’t you even walk down the stairs correctly. ” My foster father muttered while walking to the kitchen. I finally gathered myself together and walked into the kitchen. My foster father sat at the table reading the newspaper. “Look at this mexican f*g. ” My foster father said pointing to a photo of a man with long hair pulled back into a ponytail.
The title read “Lin- Manuel Miranda broke the record for Tony nominations. ” I read the first sentence of the article about this Lin dude and he apparently was up for sixteen Tony’s. “You have to admit being nominated for sixteen Tony’s is pretty amazing and the paper said he had a wife and a son and even if he was gay it shouldn’t be a problem. It also says he’s Puerto Rican, not Mexican. ” I said quietly while looking down at my hands. “So, now you are a gay lover and a mexican. ” My foster father yelled at me while slowly getting up and walking towards me.
He slaps me a few times and mutters something about how there will be no f*gs in his house. I didn’t even correct him that I am also Puerto Rican. After that incidents he left the kitchen to go to work. “If you get hungry, I don’t care. ” He said right before the front door slammed. Holy hell, i am so hungry. After twenty minutes of waiting i walked out of the house and into the city. I walked into a small country store and then realized that i didn’t have any money. I looked around to see if anyone was looking and when i knew no one was i quickly snatched a sandwich and just when i was about to leave i felt a hand on my shoulder. I saw that. ” Said the person who had his hand on my shoulder.
I turned around to see the man my foster father was making fun of. “I’m sorry I will put it back. ” I said with panicked eyes. If I got in trouble James would kill me. I looked the man, I like his name was Lin, in the eyes and the moment he saw my panicked look his face morphed into concern. “Wait, there must be a reason that you are doing this because I can tell you are not a bad kid. ” The man said to me. How can he tell I am not a bad kid from one look and me apologizing.
I guess he was reading my face of confusion because he said, “If you were a bad kid you would already be out that door and not offering to give it up that easily. So, why are you trying to steal, young child. ” I didn’t even realize that while he was talking he took the sandwich out of my hand and got into line. “Sir, you don’t have to buy that for me. ” I said trying not the fumble over my words. The man only laughed. I must have said something wrong. God, I am so stupid. “You can call me Lin, child. ” Lin said while still giggling at me.
I felt so bad for embarrassing myself. I just looked at my fingers and fidgeted with them. “I am only laughing because no one has ever called me Sir. I have only ever been called Lin, Old Man Miranda, or a man child. The last one is from my wife. Gosh, I love my wife. She’s a scientist lawyer and she’s beautiful. ” | smiled as the man continued to mumble about his wife. I never realized that Lin was already checked out and we slowly walked over to the booth and sat in it. “So, please explain to me why you were going to steal. ” Lin asked me while picking up his sandwich.
My name is Malina and I was just hungry and forgot my money at home. ” | cringe as I have to call the hellhole I live in a home. He noticed the look of disgust on my face when I say home. He studies my face for any other emotion and he finds something I completely forgot about, the slaps from James this orning. “You obviously hate the place you live and I thinks because you are being abused. ” He said to me. I was completely taken back because no one has ever noticed or they have but didn’t care enough to help me with the abuse. I shook my head no, trying to tell Lin that my home life was okay. Kid, you obviously are not okay because if you were you wouldn’t need to try to steal something. ” I began to eat my sandwich until he spoke up again.
“So, what’s the truth. I am only trying to help you. ” He said with a caring tone in his voice. “I may not have the best home life, but it’s usually because I did something wrong. The reason James slapped me this morning is because I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut. If I only shut my mouth he wouldn’t have done it. It’s my fault. ” I said quickly. That was the most I had spoke today. Lin looked at me with sadness in his eyes. Who is James and he had no reason to slap you. You are a teenager, of course you are going to speak. ” Lin said, trying to make me feel better. “James is my foster father and he had to slap me because I didn’t agree with him. I am a teenager, but that gives me no reason to disagree with him. ” I said, almost on the verge of tears.
We sat in silence until we were both done and I picked up oth of our trash and threw it away. After i did that I sat back down in our booth. I don’t know why I didn’t leave, but I felt like I needed to stay with Lin for as long as I could. Malina, I am going to get you out of that house. We are going to the police station and tell them what happened. ” Lin said while looking into my eyes. I muttered out an okay. We walk out of the store and into his car. He drives to the closest police station and once we get in there he makes me tell the police officers everything. The officers made me go out into the hallway, but I stood with my ear to the door to hear was they were talking about. What are you guys going to do with her. ” Lin asked sounding nervous.
I could tell he was freaking out a bit. We will take her out of that house today and put her into the nearest orphanage until someone will foster or adopt her. ” One officer said. I knew I wasn’t going to get adopted and if I was put into another foster home it would be terrible again. Tears started streaming down my face while thinking about that. “Wait, what if I foster her? I have an amazing wife, young son, we both have stable jobs, enough room for her, and I only want her to be happy. ” Lin said. I was almost in shock. He hasn’t even ran it by his wife yet. The officers told him to call his wife and make sure she was okay with it.
When the call was finally over he had an answer from Vanessa. “Vanessa said she would love to foster and help Malina. ” Lin said. I smiled and still had tears falling down my face, but now I think it was happy tears. I heard chairs move around, so I suspected Lin and the officers to come out the door. So, I ran the the other side of the hallway and sat down. Lin was the first on to come out and he ran to me and pulled me up. Once I was up he pulled me close, picked me up, and spun me around. “Mi amor, mi hija. ” Lin said and I finally felt loved.
