"No Longer Alone": Part 2

One Month Later

I’m still getting used to not having Jack around. Not that I would want him around after he showed his true colors. The caretakers put another boy in the bottom bunk. He’s not that talkative. The most I’ve ever heard him say was, “Can you pass the water?” 

Anyway, I can’t complain too much. The drawing was random, after all. But it just makes me wonder, was Jack always ready to just pack up and leave me the first chance he got? Did all those years we spent together mean nothing to him? Even if they didn’t, they meant something to me. It didn’t just feel like losing a friend to me. Not even like losing a brother. It was almost like losing a piece of myself.

“Are you going to eat that?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you’re going to eat your sandwich.”

“Oh, sorry. No. Here you go.”

“Thanks.” 

That was probably one of the most awkward interactions I’ve ever had. Not the most awkward, but in the top ten. Scratch that, top twenty. Maybe in the top thirty. Turns out I have a lot more awkward conversations than I thought.

I look back at the person who I gave my sandwich to. Turns out, it was my bunkmate. At least now I can say I’ve heard him say two things.

“Jaehyun Kang, please report to the head caregiver’s office.”

That is unexpected. No one gets called to the head caregiver’s office, especially not in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, or in the middle of the month. Never in the middle. 

“What’d you do this time?” My bunkmate asks from behind me. Turns out he’s a lot more talkative than I thought. Maybe I just never noticed. 

“I didn’t think I did anything. Maybe I did? I don’t know. Do you think I have to go now?”

“Now!” I hear the head caregiver say over the loudspeaker.

“That answer your question?” My bunkmate asks. I should get his name. “You better hurry too, she sounds mad.”

“Noted.” I run down the hall towards the office, dropping my food in the process. It doesn’t matter anyway, the head caregiver gives no mercy. 

“You wanted to see me, ma’am?”

“Yes, I did. Please take a seat.”

I sit on the chair across from her. She waves to something behind me, beckoning whoever it is to come in. I don’t dare take my eyes off the front. 

“Jaehyun, this is Robert and Kareema. They have something they would like to ask you.”

“Yes,” the woman, Kareema, says. “Robert, honey, care to do the honors?”

“You’re better at these things.”

“Okay, well Jaehyun. It has come to our attention that you have been at the Blooming Children Orphanage for quite some time now…”

“Yes…”

“Well, Robert and I have been talking… and…. Would you like to be adopted?”

“What?” I breathe in disbelief. Did I just hear what I thought I heard?

“Yes, well–” “Yes! Yes! I mean, sure. That’ll be cool.”

“Excellent!” The head caregiver exclaimed. “We can proceed with finalizing the adoption tomorrow, but for now, try to get to know each other! You will be spending lots of time together after all!”

She ushers us out of her office, saying she has lots of work to do. As we sit in the waiting area in prolonged silence, I try to break the ice with some pretty stupid questions.

“So… where do you guys live?”

“Here.”

“Cool. Do you have any kids?”

“No.”

“Any nieces or nephews?”

“No. No siblings.”

“Neither of you?”

“No,” they said in unison.

“Well, this is getting us nowhere!” I throw my hands up in exasperation.

“Sorry, well, we don’t have much experience with children. We were hoping to have some, but it never happened. And then we saw you, and…” Kareema trailed off with hints of tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just… is there anything you would like to tell me? About yourselves, I mean.”

“Well, every year we go to this vacation house,” Kareema started. “Oh isn’t it the most beautiful place ever, Robby? It’s high up in the mountains where no one will bother you. The stars twinkle so brilliantly there! You can almost hear the faint flapping of butterfly wings, it’s so quiet! Every night we build a fire and sit. Oh, it would be so lovely to have a third person with us! It would make it so much more enjoyable instead of just the two of us.”

She went on rambling about their cabin in the woods for a while longer. I just sat there and listened. It did seem like a nice place. I’ve always wanted to go to the mountains.

“Have you ever been on vacation, Jaehyun?” She suddenly asked me.

“Oh! No, I haven’t.”

“That’s a shame. Why not?”

“No one to take me I guess.”

“Oh! I should’ve known! I’m so sor-”

“Don’t be! Hopefully, in a few months, I will have someone to take me.”

“You can count on it.”

And so, for the next six or so months, my adoption got finalized. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend much time with my soon-to-be-adoptive parents, but I’ll have lots of time for that in the years to come. And to think, just a mere seven months ago I thought my life was over…

After the final papers were signed, my new parents and I drove home in their SUV. 

“You ready, kiddo?” Robert asks me from the driver’s seat.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Oh, I know you’ll just love it! We already have a room set up for you and everything!” Kareema excitedly explains. “Your room is upstairs; third door to the left. But don’t worry, we’ll give you a tour. Oh and…”

She went on like that for a while. I mostly tuned her out until she said something that caught my attention.

“...We even signed you up for school!”

“School?” I ask.

“Yes! There is a nearby high school that we signed you up to go to this fall. You start in a week. Sorry, you don’t get much time to adjust.”

“Oh no that’s fine! Thank you!” I’ve never been to an actual public high school before with other kids my age. The orphanage always taught all of us together. 

“We’re almost there!” 

We rounded the corner, and the most magnificent house came into view. It probably wasn’t that grand, but coming from BCO (Blooming Children Orphanage), it looked pretty impressive.

“Welcome to your new home!”

As I walk through the house, I try to notice as many details as I can. Specifically, ones that pertain to who this couple is and what they like to do. I notice several pictures of them in various places, doing what one might call extreme activities. There’s one with them skydiving, another swimming with sharks, and another with them bungee jumping. It even looks like their wedding was on top of a volcano. Yes, an actual volcano. Luckily it didn’t look active, but still.

“Looks like you’ve seen some of our adventures, huh sport?”

“Oh, I don’t play sports, sir.”

“That has nothing to do with playing sports. And you don’t have to call me sir.”

“I’ll feel more comfortable if I did, sir.”

“Okay then.”

I keep walking around the gigantic mansion-like home and pick up on a few other things about the people who are now my parents. There’s a big kitchen with lots of appliances. So at least one of them cooks a lot. There’s a big backyard with an outdoor TV and kitchen. So they like to entertain. There are only two TVs on the entire property (one indoor and one outdoor). So they spend a lot of time in the living room. Or they just like spending time together. I was just getting to the garage when Kareema pretty much materialized next to me.

“Hi, Jaehyun! Hope you're getting used to the layout.”

“Very much so yes, thank you.”

“Marvelous! If you need anything, feel free to ask. And I mean anything.”

“Thank you.”

She looked at me for a second, trying to figure out what to say.

“Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

After she left, I looked around the expansive three-car garage for a second, taking in the whole grandeur of it, then went upstairs to look for my bedroom. 

Just as Kareema said, I found a note on the door of the third room on the left saying, “Jaehyun’s room.” As I enter, my jaw almost hits the floor. It’s by far not the biggest room ever, but it sure is bigger than the room I shared with seven other guys back at the orphanage. There was a full-size bed in the corner, which I immediately flop on. I’ve never had a bed bigger than a twin. Especially not to myself. As I sit up and examine the rest of my room, I notice all the things that Kareema put in here for me. A mirror on top of a desk in the opposite corner, a closet full of clothes that are way nicer than any I’ve ever owned, a large window with the nicest drapes I’ve ever seen that actually let me see the outdoors, and a bulletin board on the wall next to my bed. There are lots of papers on the board, including information about the school I will be attending, (it’s called Live Wood High School), information regarding my adoption, and lots of pictures Kareema must’ve gotten from the orphanage. Every year at Blooming Children we take a photo with every kid currently living there. I used to be a part of that photo for 15 years. But not anymore. Still, it’s heart-wrenching seeing all the kids that I used to know.

My eyes scan the various photos, trying to remember each kid’s name, and recollect memories I have of them. One girl, Carla Stevenson, made a name for herself about 5 years ago. It started just like any other day. We each went to the bathroom, changed, and went downstairs for breakfast. But instead of having porridge like we normally do, there was bacon and hash browns on all of our plates. The glorious meat and potato breakfast was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of us, rather than the bland porridge we usually have. At that moment, Carla stood up and claimed responsibility for the outstanding meal that lay before us. No one knew if she was telling the truth or not, but from then on she was known as Good Karma Carla.

I smile as I survey each and every face carefully, slowly pausing on each one to fondly remember my time with them. Then I get to the face of the one and only Jack Hwang. It was bound to happen eventually, he is in every picture after all. But even after seven months, I still can’t fully look him in the eyes. Even if it is only seven-year-old Jack in a photo.

“Are you going to come down for dinner, sweetie?”

“Aaaaahhhhh!” I scream as I fall off the bed.

“I’m sorry,” Kareema apologizes. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh no no, it’s alright,” I say. “What did you say about dinner?”

“Oh! It’s done. Downstairs. We were going to wait for you… but… it was getting late…”

“Oh, that's okay. I thought dinner wasn’t for an hour?”

“You’ve been up here for an hour, honey.”

“Oh.” I head downstairs and see the table set for three, with Robert already at the table with the daily newspaper. “Hi, Robert.”

“Hello Jaehyun,” Robert says without looking up from the paper.

I sit down at the table and look at the contents of my plate. Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. Meat, starch, and vegetables. Just how a meal should be. 

“Wow, I never had anything like this at the orphanage.”

“Well, start getting used to it, sweetheart, because there’s a lot more where that came from!”

The pork chops are delicious, the mashed potatoes are divine, and the broccoli isn’t my favorite, but way better than anything I’ve had back before I lived here. I hurriedly gobble up the rest of my supper. 

“Hungry?” Robert asks.

“More like this is the most heavenly food ever to touch my taste buds! You really are a good cook, Kareema.”

“Thank you. This recipe was my mother’s.”

“Well, you should cook more often.”

“I did go to culinary school…”

“You would be amazing running a restaurant!”

“Well, thank you for thinking so, but I’m fine right where I am.”

I excused myself to wash up, and head to bed. I wonder why she doesn’t just take the leap of faith, I think. Obviously, she’s okay with taking a physical leap of faith, so why not this? I enter my bedroom with a full belly and clean body, which is more than I could’ve said just a mere few days ago.

Despite my best efforts, I fall asleep with the face of my ex-best friend and now enemy implanted in my brain.