Roar of Dragons

[Xander – 12 years]

"Xander?" Mr. Trey asks from behind me.

"I-I think I did it right!"

I'm doing the laundry for the clothes I wear. Mr. Trey suggested I do that as a chore when I asked him what chores I have. Well, he originally told me not to worry about it, but eventually said that if I wanted to do chores so that I didn't feel like I was being bad for not, I could do my own laundry.

There are very clearly displayed directions so that I know what to do for the loads and I tried to make sure I followed them. This is my first time trying so I'm not really sure.

"You did," Mr. Trey says. "I had a question."

"Y-yes, sir?"

"Are you changing your socks and underwear every time you change?" He asks. "Even when you change into your pajamas or out of them? I noticed you were changing pants and shirts each time, too."

"Y-yes, sir," I nod. "I-is that bad?"

"No," he answers. "Just unusual if it's only for a nap. We can get more socks and underwear if you'd like, so you don't have to do laundry as frequently. Also, I noticed that you're still only wearing the clothes from the boys' home when you leave during the day for stuff like a walk or if you go into the back yard. Do you not like the clothes I bought you?"

Oh, no! He's mad at me for not wearing them outside!

"I-I do!" I tell him. "B-but they don't keep me cool! They're comfy, but only inside."

I don't like being hot, so I switch into the clothes that feel cooler when I go outside. The new socks and underwear are fine, but the pants and long-sleeved shirts aren't.

"Hm," Mr. Trey thinks for a few seconds. "I noticed that you only have tagless shirts and that all of the information printed at the collars is rubbed out of them."

"S-sorry!" I apologize. "I-I forgot to ask you! Ms. Johnson gave me permission to rub it all off 'cause it feels weird against my skin so I always do that when I get new shirts."

"No, that's not a problem," he says. "It just means I don't know what brand she was buying before. I could call her and ask, but do you want to visit the home and we can ask in person? We can maybe go buy a few more of those for you, if you want."

I'm not so sure about getting more clothes, but it seems that Mr. Trey wants to make sure I'm wearing the clothes that he buys me. That makes me nervous of what his plans are.

"O-okay."

"Why don't you get ready to go, then?" Mr. Trey asks.

"O-okay."

I get ready to go and meet Mr. Trey outside, and he drives us to the boys' home. He asks me about the backpack but doesn't press when I shrug, which makes me happy. It has Trenton in it and I didn't want to make it obvious I'm not comfortable. I haven't been feeling alright all morning.

When we arrive, Ms. Johnson is trying to get a couple of the younger boys to do their Saturday chores. It takes a few minutes before she's able to talk so we wait until then.

"Hey, Trey," Ms. Johnson says. "Hello, Xander! How can I help you guys?"

"I know we could have called," Mr. Trey tells her. "But we were wondering what brand shirt you guys were buying Xander? He seems to prefer them when outside in the heat, but the identifiers have been rubbed off on all of them. And I figured he might want to say hi in person."

"Of course!" Ms. Johnson smacks her head. "I should have put that in his file. They're a little on the more expensive side, which is why he got so few compared to the other boys. There's magic woven into the fibers to help the wearer stay cool, we felt it was best to do that for him since he prefers long-sleeves no matter the weather."

"Hey, Xander!" Nick calls out, and I look over to find him approaching while waving and smiling. "How's it going?"

"Um… I think okay?" I answer.

"Cool," he grins at me, then leans in a little. "I think the other boys are starting to figure out it was you stocking in that bag of random candies most weeks. It hasn't appeared since you moved out and they're being a little bit slow."

"O-oh," I say. "Um… I haven't been there since I moved in with Mr. Trey. Are they mad?"

"No," he grins. "The ones who are figuring it out are just trying to figure out where you getting the candy from and how much it cost. And why you were buying candy for the home."

"I wasn't buying it," I tell him.

"I know," he chuckles. "You told me how you were getting it. Anyway, I gotta get back to my chores. Bye, Xander!"

"Bye."

"Why don't we get going?" Mr. Trey asks me. "They seem a bit busy. Say bye to Tiffany?"

"Bye, Ms. Johnson," I wave to her, then follow Mr. Trey out.

"She let me know where to find the shirts she got you," Mr. Trey says as we go to the car. "Would you like to go buy some now?"

"Um…" I fidget a little. "C-can I ask for the thing f-from yesterday? T-the ask-for-something t-thing for not freaking out at the d-doctor's?"

"Sure," Mr. Trey says. "What is it?"

"C-can you drop me off at the park?" I ask. "And, um… not follow me somewhere?"

"To the dork's workshop?"

"Um…" I hesitate, then shake my head. "To a place I feel safe. I-I haven't gone there since I moved into your house. And. Um. I feel c-calm there. And k-kind of happy. B-but not if others are there."

"The park on the way from the pet store to the Wolf's Dragon?" He asks.

That's him asking if I want to be dropped off there, I think.

"Y-yeah."

"I'm not going to be comfortable letting you go somewhere without at least telling me where it is," he says. "But I think I know where you're wanting to go. I asked Tiffany about the arrangement with the sandwich shop and she told me about a cluster of businesses you usually went to once a week, if you were allowed. I heard that other boy mention you getting candy, and Tiffany had told me that you usually came back with a one-pound bag of candy that you'd sneak into the snacks cabinet when no one was looking."

He already knows the safe place!

"Don't worry," he says. "I can wait at the park for you. The reason I want to know where you are, Xander, is in case something happens. Alright?"

"A-alright."

"And this won't count as you permitted thing," he adds. "Tiffany said you feel safe there, so I was going to ask if you wanted to go at some point in the next week, anyway. You've had a pretty stressful month."

"O-oh."

Mr. Trey drives to the park and parks his car in the lot there, then looks at me.

"Let me know when you arrive," he tells me. "And again when you leave. That way I know you made it there safely and when you're on your way back. And if something happens and you get scared or you want me to pick you up, just text me. Okay?

"O-okay."

"You can go," he tells me.

I get out of the car and start walking to where the businesses I feel safe at are. When I arrive, I make sure to text Mr. Trey that I've arrived, then I start walking along the businesses.

"Hey, Xander!" Mrs. Adriana, the elderly woman who owns a bookstore here, greets me. "How are you?"

She's left the bookstore and is standing outside, under the small canopy over the door.

"H-hi, Mrs. Adriana," I greet her. "Are you staying cool?"

"I am," she smiles. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"I got put in a home," I tell her. "A big home. It's… it's like bigger than this," I stretch out my arms. "The bed I get to sleep on there, I mean. It's bigger than two of my bed at the boys' home put together. Maybe even bigger than three of them put together."

"That's a big bed," she says. "And you have it all to yourself?"

"And stuffed animals," I pull off my backpack and pull out Trenton, then make sure to zip the bag back up before pulling it back on. "Trenton likes the bed. He wasn't happy about having to share with more stuffed animals, but I wasn't gonna make them sleep on the floor, so I told him he has to get used to it. He's accepted that and now likes having them there. Which is weird. It was a really fast change. Sometimes, I think he's weird. I know that's wrong, but I can't help it."

"We're all a little weird inside," Mrs. Adriana says. "You look a little bit bigger now."

"Yeah," I nod. "I gained weight since moving in with Mr. Trey. About twelve whole pounds."

"Whoa!" She puts a hand to her chest. "That's a lot! You must be getting plenty to eat!"

"Yeah," I nod as she lowers her hand. "Mr. Trey is super nice and tells me to eat until I'm stuffed. I don't always, but I'm not as hungry as much anymore. Trenton told me he's jealous and wishes he could eat food, too."

"I bet he does," she smiles. "Well, why don't I let you get on with your visit, Xander? You have a good one."

"Have a good day," I tell her, then grab one of Trenton's paws so I can help him wave. He can't move on his own so I have to do it for him. "Bye, Mrs. Adriana."

"Bye, Xander!"

I continue walking down the street, and it seems like all of the owners and workers are greeting me today. Usually, it's just a few of them instead of at every shop I pass. They all want to talk and ask me about how I've been. This is new and weird, but at least I know they're all good people. I've been coming here for three years now and know them well enough.

"Hey, Xander!" Ms. Laney greets me as I reach her flower shop, halfway down this side of the street. "You're looking more cheerful than normal."

"I'm not feeling as sad," I tell her. "More happy. Not fully happy, just more happy. So I don't need a crown."

Ms. Laney gives children who could use some happiness a flower crown she makes if they accept the offer. I used to think I didn't have a choice in receiving it, but I learned about a year and a half ago that it's a choice that I can make, and it's okay to say I don't want it as long as I'm polite.

But I still usually accepted the flower crowns anyway because they cheered me up.

"I can still make you one if you want," she says. "You can tell me how you've been while I do. You haven't been here in about a month and I was wondering if something happened."

"I got put into another home," I tell her. "With a huge bed and lots of food."

"That's nice!" She says. "Want to tell me about it while I make you a flower crown?"

I'm still a little bit scared and anxious and depressed, and the crowns always make me feel better. Maybe I can accept.

"How much does it cost?" I ask.

"Free if you tell me about how you've been this past month," she smiles.

That's a fair payment? I thought cash was it…

"Okay," I say.

"Come on in," she beckons, so I follow her in. "Want your usual blue-and-purple one?"

"Yes, please."

Ms. Laney pulls up a stool for me to sit on to watch her work, then she grabs flowers from several containers and begins weaving their stems together as we talk. I watch while using my magesight because she uses some sort of magic as she works and it looks really nice.

"You didn't know how to swim?" Ms. Laney asks after I mention getting swim lessons.

"No," I shake my head. "But I'm learning. Coach Evan said that I'll be a fish by the end of summer if I keep practicing. I'm not sure I want to be turned into a fish, though, so I'm trying to figure out a way to ask Mr. Trey to stop the lessons so I don't turn into a fish."

"I think it was 'swimming like a fish'," she smiles. "It just means that you'll be a good swimmer."

"Oh," my face heats up.

Stupid fucking worthless brain.

"You're a little more talkative today," she says. "I take it that means you're really feeling good right now?"

"A little," I nod. "I like being here. On this street, I mean. You're all super nice. And I've been stressed and scared a lot this month."

"Well, maybe this will help," she holds out the flower crown, which is now complete. "Here you go, Xander."

"Thank you," I pull it on.

"Does Trenton want one?" She asks. "I can make one for him if you tell me your favorite things about living with Mr. Trey."

"Um…" I look down and tilt Trenton's head up, then let him look at the counter again. "He says he'd like one. And… there are lots of things I like there. But I'm worried I'm gonna mess up and Mr. Trey's gonna send me back. Or that he's gonna get tired of me and send me back. Or that he thinks my broke brain is too much and send me back."

"What kind of things do you like there?" She asks as she gets up to grab more flowers.

"Um… the food," I answer. "There's lots of delicious food. And I can eat at almost any time I want. And Ms. Katie is teaching me how to bake."

"Is Ms. Katie his wife?"

"No," I answer. "She's his personal chef. I thought they were dating but he said she's just his employee."

I continue talking with Ms. Laney about what I like at Mr. Trey's house, until she finishes the flower crown for Trenton. Once he's wearing it, I thank her and wish her a good day, then leave to continue walking around the street.

The owners and workers of the businesses here all continue to stop me to chat as I walk by. This feels weird but it makes me happy. I really like how friendly the staff of these businesses are. It's been three years since I first started walking down this street and they've never told me to go away and they've always been nice to me.

"Hey there, Xander," Mr. Roger waves as I walk in front of his shop.

He's a really old man who makes candy. The candy that I used to put in the snacks cabinet at the boys' home, back before moving into Mr. Trey's home. Some of the candy is alright, but I don't like having to pick out the ones I like so I just put the whole bag in the cabinet unless he only picks ones I like. All of it has that special flavor that I like, but that doesn't make it all taste good to me.

Nothing can make chocolate taste good to me. Proper chocolate, not white chocolate.

"Hi, Mr. Roger," I wave back.

"Want to arm wrestle?" He asks. "Same deal as always. If you win, you get a three-pound bag of candy of your choice. If I win, you get a one-pound bag of candy of my choice. I whipped up some batches of a holiday selection for Interception Day this coming Tuesday."

When Mr. Roger first started offering me this deal, I was scared to refuse him. But I've learned that it's okay to turn him down if I'm not feeling like it that day. He even made sure I knew it was okay for me to win, though I never have.

I was looking in his eyes when he told me it was okay, so I know he was honest.

The idea of getting three pounds of candy of my choice always makes me want to if I'm feeling okay enough that day. I want to try today, especially since I'm stronger than I was last time. I might still lose, but I want to at least try. Plus, I think Mr. Roger likes arm-wrestling me.

"Okay," I say.

We go into his shop and sit at one of the small tables in here. He keeps all of the candy behind the counters, in display cases, so that kids can't just grab it and go without paying.

"Remember the rules," Mr. Roger tells me. "Elbows need to stay on the table and you can only use one hand. Only one game. Got it?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Alright," he puts his right arm up. "Let's try."

I grab his right hand with mine, then he counts down from three. At zero, I try pushing his hand down, but he pushes back and ends up putting my hand on the table.

"Good try," Mr. Roger says. "You had more resistance this time. Have you been working out?"

"I've been doing fitness stuff," I tell him. "My foster-dad got me a teacher for it. I'm learning how to swim… and do martial arts… and then some fitness and athletic stuff. I'm not very good at dribbling a basketball. Did I really do better?"

"You did!" He tells me. "Keep it up and you may manage to win three pounds of candy by the end of the year!"

Does he really think that? I wasn't looking in his eyes when he said that so I'm not sure. But he probably does, he's always been nice to me.

"Let me pick out the candy," Mr. Roger says.

"Um," I hesitate a little as he goes behind the counter. "I was wondering if I could maybe buy some, too? I can sort out the ones I like and don't like, but I wanted a whole pound of ones I like. If-if that's okay?"

Just because I don't like sorting out the candy, that doesn't mean I can't.

"Sure," Mr. Roger says. "Tell you what, you pick out at least five candies and pay a quarter of the price, and we'll consider that the pound of candies you get for losing. The punishment here is having to pay some rather than getting some you might not like."

"Is that okay?" I ask. "Changing it after?"

"It is if both parties agree to the change," he says. "Do you want to?"

"Um…" I don't know if this is okay or not but he seems okay with it. "Okay."

"Alright!" He says. "What do you want?"

"Um," I look around. "Can I get the red-white-and-blue gummy swirls? Those look good. And the banana jelly beans, please. And the caramel bites, and green gummy bears, and blue gummy bears, and purple gummy bears. That's four… um…"

"The gummy bears count as separate ones," he tells me.

"Oh," I say.

"You can still pick more if you want," he says. "Just mind that it'll end up with less of each the more variety you pick. I said five just so that there's a good amount of each."

"Okay," I look at the candies. "Could I please get the red licorice bites and the black licorice bites, please?"

"Sure," Mr. Roger says. "Let me get those scooped out for you."

Mr. Roger scoops out candies and fills a paper box with them, weighing it all on a scale as he does. Once it's exactly one pound, he rings up the purchase and I pay him five dollars, then he gives me the box and I put it into my backpack. I thank him and wish him a good day then leave his shop and talk to more people who work or own businesses on this street.

"Xander!" Mrs. Natalie waves at me as I walk in front of the sandwich shop. "It's been forever! How've you been?"

She's a Mrs. even though she's only twenty-five because she's already married, and I didn't know people got married before that age. She even has a baby that I think is four months old now? I'm not quite sure how old her baby is. Mrs. Natalie's dad owns the sandwich shop, though she's been working here longer than I've been coming down this street. I think she's the one who arranged the deal with the boys' home.

"Hi, Mrs. Natalie," I greet her. "I got put into a new home. It's big and has lots of food. And. Um. I'm not at the boys' home anymore. So the deal for them to cover a meal at a discounted rate doesn't apply anymore. But I have money. I don't know how much it'll cost but I have money. I can buy stuff. Um. Up to twenty dollars."

That's a good limit, I think.

"Do you remember what you normally got with us?" She asks.

This is a test. I've never ordered inside the shop before so I don't know their menu. I'm not sure why she wants to test me, though, as she's never done that before. I don't think? I don't remember, at least, and she's always been super nice to me so I'm not sure why she'd start testing me now.

"Um…" I try to remember. "Three subs with… uh… turkey and lettuce and long pickle slices and onion and a tasty spread. I think? Also a big lemonade and three sugar cookies. And three bags of potato chips. Oh. But frosted gingerbread cookies during the winter holiday season rather than sugar cookies."

"Right," she smiles. "The deal with the boys' home was that you'd get a meal and they'd pay half the price. A meal is one sub or sandwich, one side or dessert, and one drink. We were giving you most of the food for free already. And doing double the meat."

"Y-you were?" I ask. "W-why?"

"Because you're a sweet kid who's always polite," she answers, and I'm looking in her eyes so I know she's being honest. "And we could. We saw how quickly you'd scarf down what you were given and figured we could sacrifice a little profit to cover getting you more food."

"Is that okay?"

"My dad's the one who said to and he owns the place," she says. "So you don't get much more permission than that."

"Oh," I say. "Can I tell him 'thank you'? The food is always delicious."

"Sure," she answers. "Want to come in? It's a bit warm out here."

"Okay," I nod.

There are only a couple of customers in the shop right now, a boy and a girl who look around fifteen or sixteen and who are sitting at a table in a corner.

"Hey, Dad!" Mrs. Natalie waves to the middle-aged man behind the counter. "Xander wanted to say something to you!"

"H-hi, Mr. Sean," I greet Mrs. Natalie's dad. "Mrs. Natalie told me 'bout the extra food and it being your idea and I wanted to thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiles. "You've always been a sweet kid. Do you want your usual today?"

"I'm not at the boys' home anymore," I tell him. "So they aren't covering for the deal anymore. But. Um. Maybe up to twenty? Um. I mean, I can buy? Maybe buy? Sorry my words are being all mixed up, Mr. Sean."

"It's alright," Mr. Sean tells me. "And if you want your usual, don't worry about paying the full price. We can still give it to you for the discounted rate of ten dollars."

"Is that really okay?" I ask.

"Sure it is," he tells me. "You just have to tell us how you've been doing."

This trip to this street is being so confusing today. Their alternate payment methods are weird.

"O-oh," I say. "Um. Okay."

I tell Mr. Sean and Mrs. Natalie about living at Mr. Trey's as he prepares the food for me, then I pay him the ten dollars.

"Is it okay if I eat in here?" I ask.

"Of course!" Mr. Sean tells me. "You're always welcome to eat in here, Xander."

"Okay," I say. "Thank you. Oh."

I just realized, but it'll be hard to carry all of the food and my drink with Trenton in my arms, but Mrs. Natalie offers to help, so I manage to get everything to the table. As it always does, the food here has that special flavor in it. All of the food from the businesses in this section have the special flavor, which is one of the reasons why I kept coming back after the first few times I was given it.

Once I finish the food, I make sure to throw all of the trash away, then thank Mrs. Natalie and Mr. Sean before leaving. I talk with workers from the next couple of shops, who are outside and greet me as I pass, then I reach the bakery. They make the baked desserts that the sub shop sells and their stuff is usually pretty good.

"Hi, Xander!" Heidi, the owner of the bakery, greets me. "I heard you found a foster family?"

"Mr. Trey is really nice," I nod. "And he doesn't beat me."

"That's good to hear," she says. "I was starting to get worried when you didn't show up for so long. Was going to call the home next week if I didn't see you by then to see if you were okay."

"I'm healthier now," I tell her. "I don't have abs yet so I'm not fully healthy, but I gained weight. Lots of weight. About twelve pounds."

"That is a lot!" She smiles widely. "You're eating right?"

"Ms. Katie makes sure that meals have good food," I tell her. "Like fruits and veggies. Breakfast today was egg sandwiches, which I didn't like, and glazed fruit, which was really good. But there were sausage patties on the egg sandwiches, so they were kind of okay. But the egg ruined the flavor. Mr. Trey let me have ones without the egg after I ate two with it."

"Do you still get to eat sweets?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Ms. Katie lets me help her bake stuff. Like tonight. We're going to bake cookies tonight. There are these really delicious lemon cookies with blueberries that we made before and they were good. We're gonna make them again tonight."

"That's neat," Ms. Heidi says. "We have leftover donuts from this morning. Would you like some? I've got some that haven't touched chocolate."

Ms. Heidi likes to give away leftover donuts after eleven in the morning rather than sell them as day-old donuts the next day. I didn't understand that back when I first started coming here but learned that it's okay to accept them. She does this because she'd prefer them to be eaten while they're more fresh than when they're a day old, so that they're more enjoyable to those who taste them.

I always try to make sure I eat all of them that day, so that they don't become day-old donuts.

"What kinds?"

"A few," she beckons for me to enter the shop. "Including ones with maple syrup icing," she laughs. "Yeah, I know you love those ones."

Ms. Heidi goes behind the counter as I look at the donut case. All of the leftover chocolate donuts are on a single tray, while the rest of the donuts take up two trays and are mixed together. After opening up a white paper bag, Ms. Heidi grabs some tongs and uses them to point at donuts to ask if I want them. She always gives me at least five if there are more than that of the ones without chocolate in or on them, and today is no different.

In fact, there are four ring donuts with maple icing and two rectangular ones with maple icing that get added to the bag, putting me over five just from those. There are also two ring and two long ones with vanilla icing and two that she calls 'bear claws'. I also get two blueberry cake donuts with plain icing and three sugar-coated donuts with jelly filling. The bag gets really full, but it fits into my backpack fine.

There are a lot of leftover donuts today, so Ms. Heidi is giving away more than normal per person who gets free donuts.

"Don't eat them all at once," Ms. Heidi tells me. "And you can share with your new family if you want, too."

"Okay," I nod. "Thank you, Ms. Heidi."

"You're welcome!" She says. "You have a wonderful day, Xander!"

"You, too."

I leave the shop and start walking down the street, only to be stopped by the very old owner of the next shop.

"Hey, Xander," Mrs. Donna greets me. "I haven't seen you in awhile. Has everything been okay?"

"I've been really stressed and anxious," I tell her. "I got put in a new home at the start of the month and there's been lots of mistakes I made. But Mr. Trey is nice and hasn't beaten me or sent me back."

"That's good to hear," she says. "Do you want to stay in that home?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Mr. Trey is really nice. Like all of you. And he says he wants to adopt me, too. And he's honest when he does."

"That's good to hear," she says. "If I'd known, I'd have sent you a gift box to celebrate."

"To celebrate?"

"Sure," she says. "You'd been in the boys' home for about three years, right? Because it was hard to find someone they felt was a match for you? So getting to go to a home is something to celebrate, especially if you like it there and want to stay there."

"Oh," I say. "I do want to stay there. Mr. Trey is nice to me and doesn't yell at me even when I mess up. And I get lots of food and a giant bed and can watch documentaries and learn new words and how to swim and stuff. It's really nice. And he's even trying to help me with my brain, too. He even got mad at the doctor yesterday."

Mr. Trey seemed really mad at the doctor for saying the only way to fix my brain was an expensive treatment he couldn't afford.

"Well," she says. "I can still put together a gift box to celebrate you finding a home that may be a forever home. Come on in to the AC while I do that, okay?"

"Okay," I follow Mrs. Donna into her shop, where she starts picking items off the shelves.

Soaps and candles and oils are among the things she picks out, all in scents and colors that I like. She puts them all into a purple paper box, which she then ties closed with a blue ribbon. I can't remember being given a gift box for something that wasn't a birthday before, but I guess they can be given to celebrate other things, too.

"Here you go, Xander," Mrs. Donna hands me the box. "I hope you enjoy it and continue to enjoy your new home."

I have to rearrange the stuff in my backpack so I can put the box at the bottom, so that it doesn't squish the donuts. Once I have my backpack on again, I look at Mrs. Donna.

"Thank you, Mrs. Donna," I say. "I'll try. You have a good day."

"You as well, Xander!"

There's only one shop left for me to pass by in this part, and I'm not surprised to see the old man who owns and runs it standing outside, greeting me when I approach. After everyone else was outside and greeted me, it would be weird if he wasn't.

"Hi, Mr. Vincent," I greet him in response.

"How are you?" Mr. Vincent asks.

"I'm happy right now," I tell him. "Very happy. And calm. Very calm. How are you?"

"I'm doing quite good," he says. "I just finished up a batch of fudge I think you might like. Do you want to try the game?"

Mr. Vincent plays a game with kids who come through and chat with him. He'll pull out a deck of cards, shuffle it, then hold the cards in a fan. When he says a card value and suit, the kid pulls out a random card without looking at the faces and if it's the card he called out, they get seven boxes of fudge for free. I manage to get the right card around half the time.

At first, I was scared to say 'no' because it's fudge. But then after I won for the first time, I learned that not all fudge has chocolate in it.

"Okay," I say.

Mr. Vincent pulls out his deck of cards and shows me them so that I can see that it's a proper deck and not a rigged one, then he shuffles it and holds it up in a fan, the backs facing me.

"King of Diamonds," he says.

"Um…" I look at the backs of the cards. "I think it was this one?"

I pull out one of the cards and turn it around. It's the King of Diamonds! Yes!

"Good job, Xander!" He says. "Come on in, let's get you your fudge!"

I follow Mr. Vincent into his shop and he goes behind the counter and shows me the different flavors of fudge. There are a lot of them and I'm allowed to pick the same one multiple times. I go with butter pecan, two butterscotch, maple pecan, maple walnut, vanilla, and vanilla sprinkle. Those also get added below the candy and donuts to avoid squishing the donuts.

"Have a good day," I tell Mr. Vincent when I start to leave.

"You as well, Xander!" He says. "I hope to see you again!"

I leave the shop, then start to make my way to the park to meet Mr. Trey. After leaving, I remember that I'm supposed to text Mr. Trey to let him know I'm on my way back, so I pull out my phone and do that.

Today has been a very good day so far, and I feel a lot calmer and happier than I've been since moving in with Mr. Trey. Maybe I should have asked to come visit the shops sooner.

As I walk back to the park, though, I start to worry that maybe I took too long. What if Mr. Trey is upset about all the candy and donuts and fudge I got? Or that I spent some of my money without asking first?

I'm not in the safe place anymore. A lot of bad things can happen now.

When I reach the park, Mr. Trey is sitting on a park bench, talking with S.G. and his friends. Connor's holding a basketball in his hands, while he and S.G. are both shirtless while Sam and Isaac are both wearing sleeveless shirts.

"Xander!" S.G. exclaims when he sees me. "Hi! We came to shoot some hoops and saw Mr. Caldwell! He said you were doing stuff! That's a cool crown! And Trenton has one, too!"

Mr. Trey looks over and his eyes widen a little.

"Where'd you get those?"

"One of the shopkeepers," I tell him. "She made them for me and Trenton. I-I can take them off."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Mr. Trey says as I go to remove mine. "I was just surprised. Did you enjoy your visit there?"

"Y-yeah," I nod. "I-is that okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Um… I don't know?"

"We were going to ask if you wanted to shoot some hoops with us," Connor tosses up the basketball he was holding a little, then catches it. "But you look a bit sleepy. Were you talking with lots of people?"

How'd he know?

"Yeah," I nod. "A lot of them were wondering if I was okay 'cause I hadn't been there in awhile. I am sleepy. And I don't have a gun."

"Shooting hoops is playing basketball!" Sam tells me.

"Oh," my face heats up.

Stupid fucking worthless brain.

"Um…" I think. "I'm really sleepy. Sorry for not playing basketball."

"It's cool!" Connor says. "You get some sleep!"

"C-can I?" I ask Mr. Trey.

"Sure," Mr. Trey gets up the from the bench.

"Bye, Xander!" S.G. waves to me. "Have a good sleep!"

"H-have fun with the basketball," I say.

After everyone says goodbye, Mr. Trey and I leave.

"Do you want to go home now?" Mr. Trey asks. "So you can get a nap? I can wake you when it's times for you to leave to be at the pet store for your usual time, if you want."

"I-is that okay?"

"Of course," he says. "You said you enjoyed the visit, and it looks like you came out with a lot of stuff. Your backpack looks stuffed. Did you buy stuff?"

"Um…"

"If you didn't steal, I can't see why you'd be in trouble for it."

Oh. I guess that's a good point. I'd have to explain how I got all the stuff, anyway.

"The candy shop owner arm-wrestles," I say. "I got a pound of candy. I still lost, so I still had to pay some. And I paid some for subs at the sandwich place. And one store, the owner gave me a gift box to celebrate getting a foster dad. And the bakery gives away leftover donuts from the morning 'cause the baker doesn't want to sell day-old donuts and she gave me some. And I won the card game so I got free fudge. But not chocolate fudge. And no chocolate candy. And the flower shop lady gives crowns to kids who need cheering up. Free. A lot of the workers and owners were out there and asked me how I was doing and if I was okay and stuff. And some of them wanted to talk a bit."

"Sounds like you really enjoyed it," Mr. Trey says.

That's bad, isn't it? He's not going to let me go back, is he?

"Y-yeah," I answer.

"Did Trenton enjoy it, too?" Mr. Trey asks.

I look down and tilt Trenton's head up, but make sure not to mess up his flower crown.

"He says he did," I look at Mr. Trey. "Though he wishes I'd gotten some chocolate fudge. He's weird like that."

"Because he likes chocolate?"

"Well, that too," I say. "But he's a stuffed animal. He can't eat."