Laura's Past Part 2

More of the same...it's a bit convoluted.  For that, I apologize.  

                “So they have no living relatives?”

                “None that we know of.” 

                Laura could hear adult voices through the haze of drug-induced sleep.  It sounded as though they were discussing Johnny’s and her future. 

                “Unfortunately the only local orphanages are organized by gender.  They never have very much space in the first place.  They will have to be placed in separate facilities.”

                Something about being separated?  Was that what they were talking about?  Laura was terrified.  She tried to sit up, but found her limbs weighed too much, and her head was too heavy to lift.  They can’t take Johnny away from me!  She silently screamed, and began struggling.  She felt a sharp pain in the crook of her arm and then she faded back into sleep.  

                When she awoke completely, she found herself propped up on a small, child-sized bed.  A plump, harassed-looking woman sat on a bed opposite from her.  Laura immediately began asking questions, “Where is Johnny?  Where is my brother?”  As the lady watched Laura with hardened eyes, Laura could feel herself growing angrier.  She began shouting, “Where is my little brother?! What have you done with him!?!”   

                “He’s not here,” the lady answered simply, with no trace of sympathy in her voice. 

                “I know he’s not here, but where is he?” Laura asked again, enraged. 

                “That is none of your concern.  He will be well taken care of.”  The lady brushed aside all of Laura’s questions with a sweep of her hand.  “You will be living here now.  You are expected to be a well-behaved young woman.  This orphanage is run completely off of donations, so you should be thankful.”  Laura made a sound as if she were about to protest, but the lady continued on as if she couldn’t hear her.  “You will be expected to go to school, make good grades, listen to your caretakers, do your chores, and learn to be a use to society.” The lady looked down at the watch on her wrist.  “Dinner will be at six o’clock, sharp.  Be there on time, or you don’t eat.”  She stood up to leave.  “You will receive a schedule tomorrow morning.  You must complete all items on that list in a timely manner.  Everybody here is expected to do their part.”   

                Laura sat up in her room, fuming.  She began planning a way to escape this horrible place to find her brother.  She thought of her father, and shivered.  Had he died?  Had he escaped?  Did the police capture him?  Where was her mother’s body?  Would there be a funeral?  The only things Laura knew about funerals were from movies, but she didn’t know much about the details of one. 

                She figured that she might as well get used to her surroundings and learn to take advantage of her new situation.  At six she made sure she was down in the dining hall.  The other girls had already formed into small groups of friends.  They all looked at her suspiciously whenever they thought she wasn’t looking.  She sat at a corner table, facing a wall.  She endured the stares of the whole room, quickly ate her food, and then went upstairs to her room.  She cried herself to sleep that night, thinking of her mother and her brother. 

                She obediently did her chores each day, but refused to go to school.  The lady who ran the orphanage, Ms. Philips, Laura eventually learned was her name, would berate her for skipping out on school. She would often refuse to feed Laura if she found out that she had skipped out on school once again.  Laura soon became so hungry that she forced herself to attend school.  She would sit through her classes, but she refused to absorb the information given to her.  Her homework remained undone.  Seeing as no laws were being broken now that Laura was attending school, Ms. Philips left her to her own devices.  

                After a few months of living like this Ms. Philips came in to speak to her.  Behind her trailed a small girl, about the same age as Laura.  The girl’s dark, brown eyes were full of mischief and cunning.  Laura glared at these intruders into her small space.  “Alright Laura, this is our newest member.  She will be sharing this room with you.  You will teach her how we do things here, and you will get along.” And with that, Ms. Philips left the two girls alone. 

                Laura huffed and turned her back on this other girl.  She had enjoyed the small semblance of privacy the cramped room had provided her, but now, even that was gone.  “Well,” the other girl said slyly, “I already know your name.”  When Laura didn’t answer, she went on, “well, anyway, I’m Jennifer.”  Laura turned back around to face her.  Jennifer’s hand was outstretched, as if to give a formal handshake.  Laura tentatively reached her hand out to shake it, but right as she did so, Jennifer moved her hand to push her hair out of her eyes.  She gave Laura and evil grin, finding pleasure in tricking her.  Laura huffed again and went and sat on her bed.  During dinner that night, the two of them sat together although they exchanged not a single word.