Anthony was now at school. On his first day he had watched as other children cried and he couldn't understand it. For him it was an opportunity to get out of his home and also away from the cloying ministrations of his nursery helpers. There was still supervision, but it was not so close. The only downside was that it was only five days a week.
Tanya and Rob were nice people, but he knew they were not his real parents. That had been figured out before their pathetic attempts to explain to him that he was adopted. They had done this shortly before he went to school.
"Anthony, come and sit down. Daddy and I have something to tell you." Tanya's voice was shaking as she began to speak.
"Is it about going to school?" Anthony mustered up a bit of enthusiasm.
"Sort of." Tanya looked at Rob and he took over.
"Have you heard the word adopted?"
"Um, I think so."
"It means that a child is given to a new family when their own parents can't look after them. Their new family can care for them and love them as if he was their own."
"Am I adopted?" Anthony asked, a faint smile on his lips.
"Yes, you are. We brought you here to live with us when you were a baby. You may have been born to a different mummy and daddy, but we are your family. You are the most important thing in the world to us."
That was a tedious and unnecessary conversation. Why would his real parents want to keep him? They, obviously, had more of an idea about what he was. They knew that there was something wrong with him. Anthony stifled a yawn after the revelation. His real parents were long gone and he had no interest in them whatsoever.
The news about the adoption made sense of many things. As he grew older, Anthony considered the tell-tale signs that Tanya and Rob were not related to him. He looked nothing like them for a start. Tanya was bigger and taller than her husband. She had mousey hair and most of the time she was squeezed into leggings. When she did dress up, she wore flowery outfits which made her look even larger than she was.
Rob was a bit of a weed. He had fair, receding hair and stood a couple of inches shorter than his wife. He liked sport and regularly went jogging, which meant that he was thin and wiry. He was probably stronger than he looked, but he was not the type to cause any sort of confrontation, so nobody would ever know.
Both of his parents were guilty of crimes of fashion. Even as a child Anthony was most particular about how he was dressed. Tanya would choose an outfit and then be met with a pouting child. There was no way he was going to wear the mismatched items proffered. Going to the wardrobe, he would pick what he wanted.
It was a few years later that he learned the full story of his life before his adoption. Another serious conversation was heralded as Tanya and Rob sat Anthony down. Keen smiles could not distract from the wringing of hands and stiff posture.
"Anthony, we are going to tell you how you came to be adopted. You will likely meet some people who know your story and we want you to learn it from us not them." Tanya, once again passed the task to Rob.
"It was a big story at the time. In the papers and on the news. You were found in a box outside of a shop. The shopkeeper called the police and they took you to hospital. You were quite healthy and one of the nurses named you Anthony."
Tanya and Rob exchanged glances as Anthony nodded as if this was all rather ordinary.
"Your real mum and dad never came forward. I think that they were not able to look after you properly and wanted you to go somewhere better. This was the box that you were found in and the items that were with you. A blanket and a hamsa. A hamsa is a charm that is supposed to protect you from evil, so someone was looking out for you. These are some clippings of the story, if you want to read them."
Anthony took the box which was offered to him. Rooting around in it, he picked up the hamsa. Whatever properties it was alleged to have, it did not have any effect on him. Laughing, he tossed it back into the box.
The woman that he called mother had a soft aura about her. The calming effect of her presence was always welcome. Away from home, the urge to be aggressive dominated. Studying his feelings, Anthony could not explain what was going on inside of him. The one sure thing is that he was not like other children. It was good to be individual. It was good to be mean.
By now, Anthony's hair had grown darker. No longer blond, the change of colour suited him better. At school, there were opportunities to hurt others and cause a bit of chaos. Lessons were okay, but education took many forms. Interacting with others was revealing what he was capable of doing.
Starting at nursery with nips and pinches, Anthony's violence had escalated. The, inconvenient, conscience which nagged at him, became quieter with every year that passed. It was easy to punch and kick if one didn't feel much guilt. Would there come a day when no feelings of regret were felt? What would he do then?
The thought of killing was still a step too far. There would come a time when it would happen. This thought brought no worries at all. Back home, under the influence of Tanya's light, Anthony wondered how he could even contemplate murder. When he left home, a substitute for his mother would have to be found, otherwise he would run rampant.
Some days he was bolder than others. The voice in his head would urge him on and he would try to battle against it. In school, injuring another pupil could lead to trouble. His powers of persuasion didn't always smooth over the problems caused. Seeking out girls, with their soothing glow, could keep him in line.
It was in the corridors and classrooms that he learnt the art of manipulation. Cruelty was fun, but it was not always appropriate. There were times when a bit of finesse got him a long way. He was now assessing a situation and making a choice, rather than resorting to violence as his first option.
"Hey, Ryan. You wanna play football?" Anthony smiled at the other boy.
"Yeah okay." Ryan's initial hesitation disappeared as Anthony worked his magic.
"You got any money?"
"Just my dinner money."
"I'll share my dinner with you and then you won't need the money and can give it to me."
"Okay."
The persuasion worked on his teachers too.
"Anthony, did you kick that boy." Mrs Rutledge had eyes everywhere.
"No, Miss. I wouldn't do anything like that."
"Alright, off you go."
Anthony had no real problems with Tanya and Rob. He called them mum and dad, but they weren't his parents. Many adopted children chose at some point in their lives to look for their real family. This would not be an option, as he had been abandoned, not given up. What use would he have for people that didn't want him? Maybe for the purposes of revenge, but that was all.
He liked seeing Tanya at the end of the day and feeling her calming virtue washing over him. Rob did all the things that he thought he should do, like taking him to the park and playing football. They went swimming and watched sport and action movies on the television. Rob was okay, but they were not close. Tanya was necessary, Rob just came as part of the package.
He was ambivalent about Rob, but he wanted to keep the peace and be looked after. Anthony could act like the perfect son, laughing and smiling and nodding in all the right places. He got into the odd scrape like a normal kid, just to keep Tanya and Rob on their toes, but they were blissfully unaware of his real nature.
Anthony did not have a best friend as such. Tanya and Rob kept asking about his friends and appeared anxious because there was little talk about other kids. That problem was easily solved. Ryan was convinced to appear at Anthony's house for tea occasionally and act the part of his bosom buddy.
The concept of friendship was lost on Anthony. With a bit of chat and a touch of the hand, everyone liked him. People were to be used for what they could give and then, if necessary, discarded. Boys of his age usually hung around with other boys. Not him. Girls were his preference and that was good for the whole school.
Away from the constraints of teachers and bosses, a normal working life wasn't for him, Anthony would be able to achieve so much more. Great things were in his future. When he got to sixteen, there would be some major changes. Bring it on.