Adopted by Phan

Chapter 3

We all made a mutual decision to camp out at the house overnight, but it was really crowded so some of us moved into the next room. I wasn't sure who owned the house, it was just used as a sort of base for everyone who was part of our group. All of us were homeless and most of us were part of the LGBTQ+ community and had been kicked out of their homes, which were most of the younger ones.

I myself was a part of the LGBTQ+ community, being asexual and bi-romantic but no one really cared , I was just Jay. A lot of the others weren't straight too, we did our best to support them if they needed something to help them.

The morning came around quite fast and before any of the others had woken up I took a pair of track pants, my sneakers and jacket, slipping out of the now open window and onto the streets. It was about 6 in the morning by that point so the only people that were out were people in their cars or people out for a run.

I jogged over to the public toilet in the park and changed into my new track pants and sneakers, tying my new coat around my waist and dropping the old jeans and sneakers into the clothing bin nearby, they were to worn for anyone in the group to use them. I groaned, I had to find some way to get some more food for the day. I hated begging, it made me feel so useless because I had to ask for help from other people.

I occasionally wandered away for a week or so for a bit of change, and I decided to make the most of having warmer clothing and the slightly warmer weather and head to somewhere else for a while, have a bit of change. I had nothing but my coat and the clothes I was wearing but when a gust of cold wind blew over the city I pulled the coat back on. I stuck my hands in the pockets but pulled them out when I felt something in them.

From the pockets, I pulled out a card, a bus card and twenty dollars. I grinned, that should be enough for food for the week I was wandering and if the bus card had any money on it I should be flying. I meandered over to the nearest bus stop, not in an any hurry to get anywhere. The bus pulled up a few minutes later and I climbed onto it to find it was nearly empty.

I scanned the card and grinned to see almost thirty dollars on it. Whoever left this must have been pissed off to lose it. I stayed on the bus for about half an hour, getting off at a relatively busy area but with plenty of space for me to explore. I hadn't been that far into the city because of all the competition from other homeless people but I figured I might get some sympathy because of how young I was.

The rest of the day I spent wandering around, taking in the sights and the bustling streets. One sign caught my eye, a foster home for homeless youth. I gagged at the sight, most of them were terrible place that smelled of rot and mold. Someone was standing outside the door to the foster home and when they saw me they walked over, motioning for me to move away from the noise so they could talk.

"Where are your parents kid?" I shrugged.

"Dunno. Haven't seen them in a good 6 years." They looked at me and I grinned, stuffing my hands into my pockets and starting to wander off but they grabbed me by the shoulders. I yelled out and shook their hands off me, starting to run. My yell had caused some commotion on the streets and everyone was looking at me, so I bolted off and ran a little way down the street before stopping.

There was a policeman standing on the side of the road and when he saw me running he took off in a steady jog towards me. I tried to run around him but he grabbed my wrist, pulling back towards the foster home man. I struggled valiantly but it was no use; he was too strong for me to break free.

"Where were you running off to kid?" I refused to talk, my mouth clamping shut in defence. His grip on my wrist loosened slightly, allowing me to wrench my arm from his grip and bolt down the road again. I ran as fast as my legs would allow me, catching glimpses of people every now and again as I sprinted past them.

Someone grabbed for me but I ducked underneath their outstretched arm; it was too dangerous for me to run on the streets. The street had tall buildings on either side of it and dead in the centre was an artwork stretched right across the road. It was made of metal and the brick buildings on either side of it gave me perfect access to climb onto it.

Jumping onto the first-floor windowsill of the nearest building I scaled up the brickwork with ease, not hesitating when the officer followed behind me, struggling to keep up with my speed. The artwork was attached to the third floor or there about so when I reached it I climbed on top of it rather than going under it like I normally would. Dodging the gaping holes in the metal I ran across it to the other side, pulling myself up onto the fourth-floor balcony and waving down at the gaping people standing on the streets below me.

The foster care man had followed the officer and I up the street but he clearly wasn't very fit because of his red face and heaving chest. Looking up I took the easier route, which just so happened to be up and I continued my climb to the top. The building was reasonably tall, about 8 or 9 floors up and the wind grew steadily stronger the further up I got. When I neared the top I looked down, letting go with one of my hands and waved it down to them, hearing faint cries of terror from the watchers.

A sudden gust of wind knocked me off balance and all of a sudden, I found myself hanging from one of the balconies by one hand, listening to the terrified screams from below. I grinned; I was totally fine, I guessed I deserved it for being so cocky but it'll give the people below a shock. Above me I heard a door open and there were a good few heads above me; all of them belonging to a member of the fire crew. I groaned internally.

Moving my hand out of their reach for the time being, I listened to them bickering and yelling at me to grab their hand and let them pull me up. I rolled my eyes; they would just drag me back to a foster home and I'd be stuck there again, in an endless cycle of abuse and new homes in new countries. Preparing myself to make a getaway I swung my loose hand to grab the bars surrounding the balcony and moved the other one to beside it.

And just before the fire crew could grab my hand;

I

let

myself

fall.