Small Excerpt from Chapter Two

 

 

              His mother’s words wouldn’t leave his mind. Was she being truthful—that she needed to get it off her chest? Or was it her last abusive move towards him? As he sat in his mother’s bedroom, he pondered over the thought. The room was filled with empty boxes, waiting to be filled by her things. He was finally free of her but he really wasn’t free. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was her intention. Did she find a way to keep him under her thumb? He hated the feeling and didn’t know how to shake it.

                The radio in the next room played away and a commercial caught his attention. He stood up and walked into the kitchen to catch the information. His camera was sitting on the table so he picked it up as he listened to the radio. The picture of his mother caught his eye. Adopted. He was thrown away and put in the arms of a woman who would beat him until the day she died. He listened to the words on the radio as his mind went over the memories.

                “Do you have questions that need answering? Call me today and we’ll find out together,” the voice on the radio said. Benjamin put the camera down and wrote down the numbers at the end of the commercial. It was more of a show than a commercial but it was long enough to get his attention. He stared at the phone number for a while as the words repeated in his mind. “Call me and we’ll find out together.”

                Benjamin picked up and the phone and started dialing. He stopped before he reached the final number. He hung up the phone. “This is stupid. There’s no way he’s going to find anything about my biological parents.” He picked up the scrap paper and tossed it into the trash, and walked away.  He left the radio on. By the time, he reached the next room; he decided to give it a chance. He rushed back to the trash can and picked up the note. He made the call and set up the appointment. He hung up the phone and began to feel better already.

                Two weeks later, Benjamin found himself sitting in the waiting room with a few other people. To his right, was a young lady holding a napkin to her nose as she cried. She was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair wrapped in curls. Her face was pale and smooth with just a little pink in the cheeks. Her other hand held a magazine turned to the middle where she was reading an article of some kind. He got a glimpse of the article but it didn’t look interesting to him so he continued looking around the room.

                Next to her with an empty seat between them, was an older man. He was sporting a soft white beard that was braided. He wore a black bandanna on his head and his white hair stuck out in the back. He looked like he could be in his sixties.  His head was bent over as he slept quietly.

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