My curls stick to my head as I open my eyes to adjust to the dark. I use my arm to lift my back off the mattress covered in holes.
Sweat begins to slide down my forehead, the more I angle myself up. I lift my hand and the tips of my fingers wipe it to the side of my head.
I hear footsteps near the door, my heart beginning to accelerate. I could feel my heart pump through my ears.
I stare at the door in anticipation, waiting to see if the lady will pass my door or not.
My question is quickly answered by the door flying open, hitting against the wall so hard the impact made me flinch.
"Get up, now." The woman's voice was filled with disgust as she looked into my eyes. Her hair was tied into a messy bun, while she wore a green dress that ran down passed her knees and black shoes to go with it.
Basically stumbling out of bed, my feet begin to follow wherever the lady was taking me. My clothes were pressed against my body with thanks to me sweating.
My hand was grabbed roughly by another one. The lady had grabbed me, forcing me into a jog to try and keep up with her as we walked down the darkened hallways.
The clicking of her shoes eventually stopped. We had reached the waiting room of the adoption center.
In a chair, a man sat with casual clothes on. Our entrance had made him turn his head into our direction and his eyes met with mine.
The man had given me a warm smile and stood up as he strived over to us. By now, the lady let go of my hand and her face had nothing but smiles as she shook his hand.
"I know you have already filled out the needed paperwork, so she's ready to be put in your care." The lady had said, truly happy that I would be out of her sight.
The lady had bent down to my level, her rough hands played with one of my curls. Her dry lips had cracked into a smile, and her arms opened wide signaling to give her one last hug before I leave.
I had turned around, quietly declining her hug, and stood closer to the unknown man.
Looking back at the lady, her eyes burning with hatred. She simply stood back up, sighing. "She has always been a shy one, Mr. Galtier."
He gives the lady a nervous chuckle before nodding his head in acknowledgement, "But she seems so sweet, no?" He says.
The lady shrugs her shoulders before returning back to work, without giving a proper goodbye.
The tall man, had eventually bent down my height. "Hi Armani, I'm Christophe Galtier. You'll be put into my care. Okay?" I nodded my head slightly, surely it couldn't get any worse than this.
"May I carry you?" He asks softly with concern. I slowly nod at his second question and reached my arms out for him.
A smile flashes from him, as he softly puts his hands under my arms and lifts me up. I was basically sitting in his arm, with his other hand supporting my back.
My body relaxes against him, letting out a heavy sigh. I hear Christophe's laugh vibrate throughout his chest.
We had stepped outside of the shelter. I immediately flinch at the sunlight, covering my eyes with my hands.
I feel a hand pat my head softly. "I'm sorry, we'll be in my car soon." A voice says from above me.
I slowly remove my hands from my face and blink my eyes a couple of times to adjust to the sunlight. I intake the scene in front of me, the shelter looked mediocre at best.
My lungs expand as I inhale fresh air for the first time in a while. It felt refreshing to be outside again.
We had eventually came to the car and Christophe reaches towards the door handle, giving it a slight tug.
The door opens and I could feel him bend over slightly, making me grab onto his shirt. He places me in a car seat before tugging at the seatbelt.
Christophe pulls the seatbelt toward the other side of me, placing it into the buckle. He pulls his body away, and sighs.
"Are you comfortable?" I nod my head at him and look away. I hear the door close next to me before Christophe enters the drivers seat.
We eventually drive off, and I can't help but stare out the window. The sight of nature, cars, stores, all felt foreign.
"Armani?" I hear a voice, making me break away from my thoughts. I quickly towards Christophe. "Are you hungry?", He asks.
But before I could answer, my stomach does it for me. My face heats up from embarrassment.
Christophe chuckles, "How old are you?" He asks, although I'm pretty sure he was just testing me. I look down at my hands, extending one of them then letting my thumb rest against my palm.
I raise my hand and show him that I'm 4 years old, to which he nods.
We eventually pull into a McDonalds drive-thru. I've only heard about people eating here in stories.
"Chicken nuggets, please." I say, my voice almost inaudible. Christophe looks back at me in shock. His face eventually turns into a happy one, and nods his head.
We pull up to the speaker, and a feminine voice greets Christophe, asking what he wants.
"Can I get one happy meal with chicken nuggets, and apple juice to drink? That will be all." He asks, rubbing his stubble with his fingertips.
I blur out their conversation, wondering how the food will taste. I've never favored the food that was given at the shelter.
My body totally ignores the car beginning to move to the next window, but before I know it, I have food in front of my face.
I grab the food, the bag crinkling at my touch. "Thank you." I say with a small smile on my face.
Christophe pulls over in the parking lot, before stepping out the car and entering the backseat. "Let me help you get settled before we leave." He says.
Christophe lifts the bag, and pulls a tray table from the car seat. I lift my arms so he can put it in front of me comfortably.
I hear the bag open, and the contents of the food are placed in front of me on the tray table. Chicken nuggets, fries, drink, sauces, and a napkin.
"The toy is in the bag when you're finished, are you comfortable?" He asks and turns to me, his eyes widening.
My face was stuffed with fries and a chicken nugget. I quickly look towards him and nod while chewing.
"My gosh." He says and starts laughing nervously. I can tell he was concerned about my appetite, but decided not to bug me about it.
He opens the door, exiting the backseats before entering the drivers seat. He turns on the engine and starts driving off.
I dip my last chicken nugget in the barbecue sauce and throw the garbage back inside the bag before grabbing the toy. The food tasted great.
The toy was a barbie mini figure which distracted me for a while before I felt my eyes getting heavy. My muscles started to relax, my head resting against the car window. Eventually I fell asleep.
-
I woke up to feeling warmth hitting my skin. Christophe unbuckled my seat belt and put his hands under my arms, lifting me off of the seat. My head rests against his chest as I hear the door slam shut.
I lift my head and turn to look at the mansion in front of me. It was huge and modern. My lips slightly part at the beauty of the house.
As we near the house, everything seemed a lot larger. My head turns in all directions, intaking the breathtaking scenery.
We reach the front steps and Christophe places his thumb on a thumb pad. A blue line runs up and down the screen before flashing green.
He reaches out towards the door handle, pushing it down and opening it. The area slowly brightens up.
My eyes in take the living area and kitchen, quickly scanning over everything. I squirm around in his hold to try and do a 360 view.
Christophe had softly placed me on the floor and I started to slowly look around.
I hear footsteps nearing us, I find myself walking back to Christophe quickly.
A woman with straight blonde hair, black roots, and it ran down her collarbone. Her eyes were chocolate brown and a beautiful smile to compliment it.
Her eyes quickly moved from Christophe's to mine and her face began to light up in excitement.
She sent a bright smile to me and walked over. "You're gorgeous." She wipes her thumb against my cheek.
"Do you wan't to come with me? Your bath is ready." She asks me. I look up at Christophe and he nods his head with a slight smile.
I slowly take the ladies hand, and she leads me towards the bathroom on the main floor.
She opens the door, and the floor is covered in marble tile, everything looks so simplistic but large.
The door closes slightly, but never shuts all the way. "Should I help you with your clothes? Do you want to do it yourself?"
She seemed worried about coming across me in a way I didn't favor. "Can you help me?" I ask quietly.
She nods and helps me, "My name is Grace." Before I can introduce myself she continues, "Armani, right?" I nod my head.
We eventually finish and she leads me to the bathtub where she picks me up and sits me inside the tub.
I exhale deeply and move my arms around in the bath. "Is it okay if I wash your hair?" She looks at me. I let out a hum.
She grabs a bottle of shampoo and conditioner and put them next to her on the floor. Her hand reaches for a white colored cup and fills it up using the water from the faucet.
She slowly pours the water over my hair, making sure to be cautious so it doesn't get in my eye.
The step was repeated a couple times until my hair was completely wet, my curl pattern a bit more apparent.
Grace puts shampoo in the palm of her hand before applying it to my scalp, thoroughly working it through my hair.
My eyes close, loving how my scalp was being massaged. Grace leans my head back to avoid any shampoo getting in my eyes.
"You have beautiful hair." Grace says as she fills up the bucket with warm water, washing the shampoo out.
"Thank you." I say, letting out a smile.
Grace lathers my hair in shampoo once more before applying conditioner.
I can hear Grace step away and open a drawer before closing it. She kneels back down in front of the tub and combs my hair as softly as possible.
My hair was extremely tangled. As she combed it, I started gripping my thigh to release some of the pain.
"I'm sorry, we're almost done." I hear a voice say from behind me.
I slowly breathe, silent tears streaming down my face. My hands reach up to my face to wipe them. Before I know it, shes done combing my hair.
She leans over towards the tub a bit and begins to drain the dirty water I was sitting in. Then starts sectioning my hair into 6 parts and braiding them.
After shes done, Grace had grabbed the cup and filled it up with warm water from the faucet.
The conditioner had been all washed out my hair and Grace had ran warm water into the tub once again.
There was a rag and bar soap at the corner of the bathtub, which she grabbed and rubbed them together creating suds.
My arm was gently grabbed and she began to clean my body.
Grace had eventually finished washing me, and grabbed a mini pink robe to put around my body.
As well as slid a pair of sandals on my feet.
I look towards the sink and notice theres a stepping stool placed in front of it. Then I feel my feet getting further off the ground, and I'm suddenly placed on the stool.
I take a good look at myself in the mirror. My braids go down to my collarbone. My face was not as dirty as it used to be.
My eyes hold a glimpse of hope. Finally someone care for me.
Grace handed me a mini toothbrush with toothpaste on it. She also passed me a cup filled with water.
"Rinse your mouth first." I put the cup to my lips and fill my mouth with the cold water. My cheeks become bloated due to the water.
I spit it out and put the toothbrush in my mouth. I hear Grace behind me started to brush her teeth as well.
We had eventually finished brushing our teeth and exited the bathroom.
I looked around to try and see where we were heading, Grace sensed my curiosity.
"We're going to look at your new room." She says, smiling at me.
Heading towards the stairs, Grace gives her hand to me, and I hold it as support to walk up to the second floor.
It took us a bit longer than it probably should have, but we eventually made it.
I look around trying to guess which door we'll walk into. "That one over there." Grace says, pointing to the 2nd door on the right.
"Go ahead and open it." She says, putting a hand on my back.
I walk towards the door and open it, my eyes widen in complete shock.
The bedroom wasn't even remotely close to what I had in mind. Warm tears had started to paint my cheeks making Grace worry.
"If you don't like it we can always change it." Grace had said in a worried tone.
"No, it's pretty. Thank you." I say through sobs. Grace walks over to me and pulls me into a tight hug.
"It's getting late, would you like to watch a movie while you go to sleep?" She asks. I nod my head quickly in response.
Grace had helped me quickly slip into pajamas that were laid out neatly on the bed before grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.
She clicked on Disney+, "Anything you would like to watch?" She turns to ask me.
I point at the TV. Specifically at the move, Princess and the Frog. "Good choice." Grace chuckles.
Grace puts on the movie for me, easily distracting me. I hadn't even noticed she left the room.
Yet, what did distract me is something that touched my foot. I looked down and noticed a soccer ball.
My eyes trail to where the soccer ball came from and noticed Christophe at the door with a smile on his face.
"Have you ever played before?"
--------------------------------
this is like easily the longest chapter ive written, im sorry
the purpose of this chapter is to get a glimpse of armani's background, how she grew up and such
we'll get into meeting hakimi soon i promise
thank u so much for reading, have a nice day:)
ok byee!