Grandfather by Anthony Wade Read Free Book Online

stretched. But I
guessed nothing mattered as long as they were making me happy with
my own room. It definitely didn’t matter if staying would keep me
off of the streets.

Chapter Three
     
     
     
     
     
    I heard a loud bang. At first, I thought I was dreaming. I then
realized it was the door. I opened my eyes, knowing exactly who it
was. Belladonna had warned me. “Open this damn door,” Edgar yelled
from behind it. “Or no food.”
    Great. Edgar was back to
his usual self.
    It was dinner time. I
actually contemplated staying in bed and ignoring him. That
would’ve made him angry. But I had to admit that I was pretty
hungry. If not now, I wouldn’t be able to eat until morning, so I
forced myself out of bed and dragged myself to the door.
    “ Okay,” I said as soon as I
opened the door.
    “ About damn time,” Edgar
said. “Don’t want ya to go hungry. Let’s go.”
    Edgar led me down the
hall. There were others leaving their rooms, probably headed for
the dining hall as well. I watched them as Edgar talked about where
the restrooms were and how most of the doors were rooms just like
mine. He also mentioned that I’d soon be given some
clothes.
    These other people I saw
looked rather average with their plain clothing. They didn’t look
like they belonged within the wall or outside. More importantly, they
looked happy, unlike the people I was used to seeing around the
orphanage. Why were they so happy? I mean, they lived under the
freaking ground.
    Edgar led me through some
double doors at the end of the hall, and we entered a large room
where there were about thirty old, round wooden tables, each
accompanied by six chairs, also made out of old wood. Splinters
poked out everywhere, so I had to be careful.
    On the other end of the
room was a small line of people, which started at a long table. Two
ladies and two guys helped prepare sandwiches for people. Beside
the long table was a large bucket of water. I watched as an older
lady dipped her cup inside and take a sip. This was definitely no
luxury dining experience. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised
if the food was worse than the orphanage’s. But hey, I was still
better off.
    “ Not much,” Edgar
commented, leading me toward the table. “But it gets us
by.”
    Edgar led me past those
waiting in line and straight to the table where the food was being
served. “Wouldn’t do this normally, Linda,” Edgar told one of the
older ladies serving the people. She had a lot of wrinkles and
short silver hair. I’d say she was about sixty. She wore a white
sweater and jeans. She looked average, just like everybody else.
And she even seemed pretty happy.
    “ Oh, Edgar,” Linda said,
handing us a ham sandwich and an apple on an old plastic tray.
“You’re the one who gets us all of this.”
    “ Ah,” Edgar said, dipping a
cup in the water bowl.
    I did the same thing. I
wondered if it was sanitary. No. There was just no way. Hopefully
it wouldn’t make me sick.
    “ That may be, Linda, but I
won’t take advantage of that.”
    “ Which is
why we love you,” Linda flirted. Again, I was in disbelief. She
seemed to actually like Edgar. What did she see in him? He even smiled at her. It was as
if he was a completely different person. I supposed he just didn’t
care for me too much. Oh well.
    “ Yeah, yeah,” Edgar said.
“I’ll see ya around, I’m sure.” Linda nodded as she helped the next
person in line. Edgar walked slowly, inspecting every table. Nearly
every one of them was occupied. But a few were empty. “There she
is,” I heard him whisper. I followed him to a table where a lady in
her forties sat. Beside her was a girl around my age. They both had
long, wavy brunette hair and blue eyes. The older lady was dressed
in a bright yellow short-sleeve shirt and jeans. She was pretty,
but I had to admit that she was nowhere as pretty as Belladonna.
The younger girl wore jeans also. It seemed to be pretty common
underground. Her shirt was maroon.