Karl Stine entered the precinct in handcuffs with a couple of officers behind him. Led to some desk in his tattered clothes, he watched the environment with such keen eyes. Where was the nearest exit? What door led where? And maybe where's the weapon stash? He stopped in front of the desk, his eyes bouncing around the room as if he was reading a book. It was when they landed on the white sheet of paper on the desk before him that he finally realized what was going on. He gave out his name and added a whole bunch of details, some of which he made up. But he never gave away his friends' names. Not even a hint about them. He wondered where they were. He hoped that they hadn't been caught and were hiding somewhere safe. Some fingerprints handing out followed as well as mugshots. Still, in his dirty torn clothes, he was led to an interrogation room for some intense questions. After a tough interrogation with a mean-looking officer, an old man with a polythene bag entered the small same room.
The man was lean and tall. Wrinkles of every weight and length formed on his old-aged face. Whiskers of white hair rose from his almost bald head and his sharp jawline. He had on a pair of glasses and thin eyebrows that peeped slightly from above them. His skin was white, glowing ferociously with pink rashes and vintage years. He was dressed in a classy three-piece suit; a Luis Vuitton make. He had matching black leather shoes and a pure gold ring that was neatly in its intended place on his ring finger. He sat down across the boy and cleared his husky sore throat.
"Good afternoon, young man."
"Good afternoon sir," Karl replied intently. His heart skipped a beat, or two. He couldn't place how but the man's voice had him scared.
"Are you hungry anymore?" The man asked.
"No?" Karl answered.
"Are you sure?" He threw him a concerned glare.
"I'm… not… hungry." He told him with pauses in his sentence.
"As you say so."
Karl saw the man take a packet of potato chips from the polythene bag and opened it up. He placed it on the table and cleared his throat once again. "More for me." He took a bite, and then another as Karl watched. The man looked at him mockingly as the folding skin beneath his jaws moved around and about.
"What do you want old man?" Karl asked.
"I'm hungry…" He took a bite. "I want to stop feeling hungry."
"Is this a joke to you?" Karl muttered, angrily.
"Aah… there he is." He wallowed. "There's the fire I've been looking for."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me, kid… where are you from?"
"Ohio." He responded immediately without any thoughts.
"Don't lie to me."
"That wasn't a lie."
"You replied immediately, without thinking your answer carefully. You're afraid of people knowing who you are. Aren't you?" Karl snuffed in return and looked straight at the man's eyes that were hiding behind his dark glasses. The man removed the glasses and now looked at him eye to eye.
"I'm going to give you one more chance to answer boy. Where are you from?"
Karl waited for a while before he opened his mouth to speak. "Colorado Springs, Colorado."
"And what brought you here?"
"A bus?" Karl replied.
The man laughed out loud, his croaky voice echoing in the room. "Nice joke kid." He said as he rose his arched head and looked at him. "I made a joke out of you, and now you've had your revenge." He cleared his throat once again. "But seriously… I want to know. What brought you here? All this way east… a small boy as you."
"I was… running away from home."
"Why?"
"I stole money."
"Why did you steal the money?"
"Why are you asking me these questions again? I've already told the police. Your partners have everything about me."
"Who told you that I was a police officer?" The old man asked. Karl was now confused. "Listen, kid… I'm just trying to be helpful. I want to know you more if I am to help you not go to juvy."
"Okay." The dirty boy cohered. "You might wanna sit down for what I'm about to tell you." The man did as instructed, a smirk on his old face.
And Karl told him everything. From Dylan to Ethan. From Zayn to being thrown away by the Purcells. The loving friends he met, and what had befallen them. The ruthless Quagmires and their child labor tasks. The stealing and running from the police. He told him everything. Nothing was left out. If the man would help then so be it.
After his heartbreaking story, the man searched for his handkerchief, moved his glasses aside, and wiped what appeared to be tears. He then turned to the window in front of him.
"Is there something wrong sir?" Karl asked.
"I had a son once." The old man told him. "Now, he's not here anymore."
"Where is he?"
His eyes drifted to the skies. "In a better place." He then turned to Karl who didn't respond to him now. He walked in timed steps to him.
"Tell me, boy, what do you want in this life? What is the most desirable thing that you wish for in the whole universe, that if you had an opportunity, you would grab it by the both of your hands?"
"Um… there's a lot of things." He muttered.
"Choose one."
"Um…" He snuffed as his eyes started stinging again. "I just want to be loved. I want people to appreciate me. I want people to notice me and just be by my side. For who I am… however, messed up I am." He looked at the old man. "I just want a family that loves me. I want to be loved."
A sudden pause engulfed the room. The ticking of the man's gold watch was all but audible.
"You want to be loved?" Asked the man.
"Yes."
The man approached the table and sat on the opposite chair.
"Can I make you a deal?" The man asked.
"Yeah?" His voice was heavy and torn. "Which one?"
"My wife and I… we're very old. And we need someone to take care of us when we get older."
"Uh-huh?"
"Would you mind taking care of us?"
"I... I don't know." Karl muttered.
"It's not going to be the same way the Quagmires raised you I promise." He gulped. "I'm willing to take you as my son, Karl… because when I saw you out there in the streets today, running, with the electricity in your eyes, the sheer will and determination to hide from the police. The fire… that you had... I saw my son in you. I saw his spirit in you. I know he lives in you. And you yourself… you need people who really understand you. Not the cowards that called you family and disposed of you away the moment things went bad for all of you. I will love you Karl and take care of you in ways that you could have ever imagined. I want a son, and you want a family. I see both in you. What do you think?"