The Secrets of Jesse & Noah

Chapter One - Jesse

Jesse

(Five years old)

Andrea and her friend are sprawled out on the floor when he comes to the house. I've been sitting here for a while, watching them and waiting to be told what to do. Waiting for one of them to notice me. But they don't.

The Client's rough voice comes through the front door.

"Get the fuck out of there and get into my car."

I rise and walk over to the front door. It's falling down, leaving only a small gap to walk or crawl through. I see him standing on the other side, a scowl on his face and anger burning in his eyes as he glares at me. I squeeze myself through the tiny opening. It's hard. My legs are too short to climb over it and the space isn't very big, so even though I'm really little, it's still hard to get past.

He grabs my arm and drags me down to his car while muttering something under his breath about me being a stupid little brat. I hate it when he gets like this. I just want to run back inside and hide in the bedroom. But it will only make them mad, and I'll get into trouble, so I allow him to shove me into the car and drive off. I open my mouth to say something but decide against it when he growls.

"I'm only dropping you off at the corner of the school. Why they can't have the kindergarten classes somewhere else is beyond me, but they have them at the same school you'll be going to next You'll have to walk the rest of the way yourself. And don't tell anyone I brought you. Got it?"

Shivering with fear I nod and press my lips together.

"What was that?"

"Yes," I say weakly.

"Okay, we're here," he says, pulling up far away from all the other cars. "Cross the road and walk to the gate. And remember what we told you; don't talk to anyone or make friends. If you do, there will be consequences. And I will know."

I get out of the car and make my way across the road and down the sidewalk.

There are a lot of people on the sidewalk and standing near the gates. Some look familiar, maybe they live in my neighborhood. I'm not sure. One of the men in particular looks familiar. And when he spots me, he seems to know me, but I'm not sure. I'm too afraid to say anything. I've been told not to.

The other kids are all bigger than me. I feel so small around them, smaller than I feel around Andrea and her clients. A few people glance in my direction but they don't say anything. Some wrinkle their noses at me and glare. I dip my head down and try to avoid bumping into them. I don't want to make anyone mad.

Everyone wants to hurt you. You're a waste of space!

A woman steps back and bumps into me. She turns around and when she sees me, a scowl spreads across her face and she huffs. "Look where you're going in future."

I nod and scurry past her. I hear the woman's voice harshly say she needs to make sure she hasn't gotten anything from me. I don't know what she means. But I think that mean she knows I'm dirty.

I stop beside a wall and lean against it. Nobody's standing around here and the door's right beside me, I'll be able to get in without causing any more problems.

I don't know where to look. I don't want people to get angry at me for staring at them, but I also don't want someone to come up to me without me knowing it so I keep looking around. People don't pay any attention to me. I like it that way. It means they don't want to hurt me, or they won't have a reason to. When people notice me, they want to hit me. They want to make me cry. That's what Andrea always says. She said it's how she felt the day I was born. She's always right about those things.