Taking a small sip from his glass, Ralph had a calm face as he faced Camellia.
"What do you want to know?"
He didn't put his glass down, but instead held onto it tighter. His knuckles turning slightly white at the force.
"Just a rough idea of how things have been in Bottom street for the past 2 years."
The two of them stared each other in the eye, neither backing down as Ralph shrugged his shoulders and took another sip.
"Things have been better in the past two years. Ever since the large kidnapping incident there, the local authorities have been pressured to do better. Although whether they do enough is a controversial issue, it has definitely improved compared to the past."
Starting off with the overall direction Bottom street was heading in, then after a little silence, Ralph dove a little deeper.
"Before the kidnapping incident, I heard my mother say that it was hard to enforce the mandatory 4 years of schooling and a lot of children would be forced to work for their families and skip school. However, after that incident, there has been more attention on the local police, and so things have been better. Although my mother said she didn't know when things would devolve again so we moved to Middle street."
Taking small sips here and there, Ralph described his life in Bottom street. It was a dangerous place, where the police were more than useless and the streets were run by gangs. But funnily enough, it was the streets that were run by these gangs that were the safest. There was protection, provided you had enough money. Good food, if you knew the right people, and sometimes there was even a chance to upgrade your life if you were strong or lucky enough.
However, since Ralph and his mother were neither strong nor lucky, and definitely not rich, life was stressful for them. They lived in a street run by a decent gang, and provided they managed to scrape up enough money to pay the protection fees and rent, their lives were peaceful.
"I even had some friends who joined the gang early instead of going to school. In Bottom street, education isn't really seen as an important thing if you decide to stay there. There were also rumors that even if you didn't go to school, as long as you made it high enough in the gang hierarchy, they would teach you what you needed to know. So school was seen as a relatively useless thing."
Pausing here, Ralph racked his brain to think of what else information Camellia would like to know.
"Did you feel safe there?"
Ralph turned his head as he thought about her question.
"Safe? I guess you could count it as safe? After that incident, the gangs decided to lay low so the protection fees reduced a little."
"So not much changed after the kidnapping incident?"
With a frown, Camellia whispered as she looked down at her hands, hiding her eyes behind her hair.
"I might not know all the details, but I don't think so."
Shaking his head slowly, I watched as Camellia gave a soft but long sigh before lifting her head and smiling at the two of us.
"Thank you for answering me, Ralph. I really appreciate it. Here, I'll help you refill your glass."
Reaching forward, Camellia took our two empty glasses and slowly hobbled back to the kitchen.
The moment she was out of sight, I leaned over to Ralph and put my hand on his thigh. Then, as soon as I saw his gaze pan over to me, I showed an apologetic expression.
He then shook his head and gave me a small smile.
"She seems like a really nice person."
Despite the interrogation he just went through, Ralph gave a look of admiration towards the kitchen as he whispered to me.
"Usually, when people know I am from Bottom street, they always give me a look of pity or fear. It's the first time someone has asked me about my life there!"
Seeing Ralph's shining eyes, I put down the worries in my heart and patted him lightly on the thigh.
"Bottom street does have a horrible reputation after all. But, Camellia really cares about the lives of people in all streets. Her husband is a policeman, and she used to be a policewoman herself. She left the force to raise Eren, but she is really passionate about making people's lives better! Back when we first moved in, she would show us all the awards and projects she led and took part in! They used to be in that corner there."
Pointing to an empty corner of the house, I described all the amazing stories Camellia had told Leo and I the first couple months we moved here. Back when Eren was still alive.
Dropping my hand, I then gave a small sigh as I remembered those times. Comparing them to now, the present seemed to be a little bleak.
"She's amazing!"
Ralph smiled as he patted me back and smiled at me.
Smiling back at him, I heard slow footsteps approaching us and lifted my head to see Camellia exiting the kitchen with two full glasses.
"Since we're here, can we see the news for today?"
Before Camellia sat down, I asked and stood half-way up to receive the glasses.
"Sure. Just give me a moment to keep some of them."
Smiling at my enthusiasm, the two of us stood up and followed Camellia over to the room closest to the door. The other two rooms were Camellia and Daniel's room, and Eren's room. Based on my own apartment, Camellia and Daniel must have taken the room closest to the kitchen, as that was the master room. It was the only room with direct access to the toilet.
The room after the master room should be Eren's room, since we were entering the bottom most room.
Looking over at the doors, I could see that Eren's room was not fully closed. The door was slightly ajar, and although I didn't mean to peak in, the room was in a fully preserved state where the floor and tables were free of dust, but it was clear that the items inside were not in use for a while.
It gave off the same feeling as Leo's room.
Tearing my eyes away from the room, the three of us entered Camellia's study room. The room was painted a very nice shade of blue, and the bed was removed to be replaced with a large study table and several bookshelves.
Gesturing for us to sit on the two chairs, she then walked over to the pile of newspapers on the large desk to sift through them. Some of the papers she piled neatly on the left, and the others were filed into a folder on the right.
Once the papers were all sorted, Camellia took the loose newspapers in her hands and handed them over to us.
"Here. You can read these. They're more trustworthy, and I have cross checked the news to confirm if they are correct. As for the rest, I'll keep them."
She smiled at the two of us and turned around to file the folder into the bookshelf.
"You two can take your time to read, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."
And with those words, Camellia left us alone in her study.
Seeing her back disappear, I found my eyes wandering to the place where she kept the folder. However, I didn't stand up and attempt to take it out. It took so many words to convince my parents to let me read the news via Camellia, and if I lost her trust right now, I might lose the chance to read any newspapers for the foreseeable future.
I tore my eyes away from the bookshelf and onto the pieces of newspaper that were handed over to us. There were several of them, each from a different newspaper source with their own format and styles of writing.
Picking up one, I looked at the title. 'Anti-MDVA act politician in hot water after alleged scandal moved to Middle street to lay low! Says he was framed!'
Looking at the pictures, they showed a kind looking man standing beside his wife and son. From their clothes alone, they were obviously very wealthy. However, compared to the extravagant wealth that the others in High street showed due to their exploitation of those below them, the politician's more subtle luxury made them seem more trustworthy.
I was about to turn my eyes away from this article when something in the picture caught my eye. Out of the family of three only the son had his face censored, most likely because they didn't want to disrupt his life by having people recognise him. However, that cheerful and bright smile, that signature grin, combined with that silhouette, made me raise one eyebrow.
Giving a small chuckle, I moved the newspaper to the last one in my hands and hid it from Ralph.
Setting my eyes on the next article, my small smile faded as I read it. 'Oliver declines position at the Research Institute. Is he entering the adoption system?'
In this article was a picture of the Research Institute, a large and extravagant building in High street that only those in High street could see. And only the super rich or talented could step in. In front of that building was Oliver, calm and collected as always, staring straight at the camera.
Reading the article further, it said that the head of the Research Institute had offered to adopt Oliver due to his genius, to which Oliver declined and admitted he had other plans. Although the article never mentioned what his other plans were.
Frowning, I set the article aside to ask Camellia more information about it later, and continued to browse through the others. And once done, I took the small stack of articles and exited the study to find Camellia.
"Camellia! I have some questions!"
Entering the kitchen, I saw her sitting quietly at the kitchen table with a high-tech phone in front of her. In the middle of typing, I saw her turn her head to look at me before she closed the phone.
"Ok, come here."
Pushing the chair next to her out, she gestured for me to sit as she took the articles from my hands.
"What questions do you have?"