It's me, Pokey. You all remember me, I hope. I'm heare, at this Home for Orphined Children in Minnasoeta (I think I spelled that word wrong oh well). I cant explain anything cause I think the people here read the letters we rite, and you undestand, rite? I want to come and see you guys but I am in real trouble making choises here. I cant explain that either. I cant rite a very long letter but the address where you can reach me is on the back of the envelope. Don't rite that my name's Pokey cause they might not give me the letter.
Rite to me, from Pokey (Jamie Jenkins)
I waited for an answer to my letter. In the meantime, I found myself avoiding Sonia, Lizzi-Ann, and just about every other girl in the entire place. I tried to blend in with the other boys, but that was difficult. Somehow I always stood out. People would pick me out when they saw us walking by, to classes at the school or to church on Sundays. Maybe it was the fact that my skin was just a shade darker than everyone else's. I don't know, I barely noticed the difference, and no one had cared back home, so I just ignored the way I could tell people were looking at me.
Sonia wanted to talk to me. Every time I brushed her off to do something else she only grew more persistent. I didn't want to talk to her! I didn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted a letter from my friends in New York. Something to prove to me that they are still there, and they still want me to return. If I can't prove that much to myself, then I might as well resign myself to being an orphan.
And so I waited...
And waited...
And waited...
Six weeks later I was still waiting. I'd grown irritable and bitter, and even Sonia had stopped trying to talk to me. Why aren't they writing to me? I wondered. Have they forgotten about me? Do they not want me to come back? I worried about it for days. Finally, one Sunday while I sat on the concrete steps in the front of the orphanage, Sonia came and sat next to me.
"What do you want?" I asked bitterly.
"Jamie...what's wrong?" she asked, her light blue eyes imploring me to answer.
"I don't wanna talk to you," I responded, looking away.
"Please Jamie, I want you to talk to me," she looked so serious, "I'll help you. I promise." I sighed and turned to face her.
"I'm waitin' for a letta'," I told her.
"A letter?" she asked, trying to figure out the accent I was slowly losing.
"Yes, a letta'," I replied softly. "From my friends in New Yawk," I added.
"Why're you waiting for a letter from your friends?" she asked, cocking her head and studying me.
"'Cause I wrote one to dem, an' I wanna make sure dat dey ain't forgotten 'bout me." I responded pointedly.
"They haven't forgotten you, Jamie. No one could." Sonia fixed her clear blue eyes on my mud-puddle brown ones. I felt uncomfortable but found I couldn't break her gaze.
"Well why ain't they answerin' my letta' then?" I asked, as both of us looked away from each other at the same time.
"I don't know, Jamie. Maybe they just haven't gotten around to it." Sonia looked upset. "I don't know why they wouldn't write to you."
"I don't eitha', an' they should make time." I said angrily. "I'm da one stuck hea' in dis awful place while dey run 'round da city an' don't know how good dey got it!"
"Who are your friends, Jamie?"
"Well, dere's Flash. An' dere's Lynn. Dey'se my best friends, but dere's Jack, an' Race, an' Blink an' everyone, really."
"Don't you feel that you have anyone on your side, here?" she looked at me again and I knew what she wanted me to say. But it wasn't true.
"No," I said angrily. "No one's on my side. I gotta get back ta New Yawk, Sonia. I don't care if dat means dat my parents get me an' take me home an' lock me in my closet or beat me 'til I'm blue. I gotta get back to whea' my friends are."
"I'm on your side," she stated, unfazed by my outburst. "An' I'll help ya get back ta New Yawk. I wish I could go with you..."
"If you can get us outta hea' I'll take ya wit' me, Sonia. I will." And I would, too. She was the first person since Flash to truly understand me when I needed help figuring things out, and she'd taken my side and stayed there. Even when I had been mean to her. Sonia grinned and stood up.
"We got plans to make, Jamie, if we're gonna break out of this joint," she smiled.
"Wait, what 'bout yer brudda?" I asked, thinking of Tague.
"He won't care. He likes it here for crying out loud. It's the girls that are horrible. The guys aren't so bad."
"That's how little you know," I laughed. But I was happy to be talking to someone I could joke around with again, even if it was a little blond-haired chick with clear, icy blue eyes.
"Careful!" Sonia whispered loudly as the window slid open with a slight crack.
"I's bein' careful," I muttered, "I don't know why I agreed ta let 'chu come wit' me..."
"I'm the one who devised the plan and got Tague to distract ole' Harkins," Sonia grumbled. "Even though he had to practically bust his ankle to do it," she added.
"Thanks for sharin'," I stated irritably as the window jammed only a few inches open. "Dis is a nightmea' comin' true, kiddo," I said to her.
"Lemme try it," she said, putting all her weight into the wall and pushing up. I did the same, and with an extraordinarily loud snap the window flew open and banged against the top of the sill.
"Oh damn," I said, slipping into the corner in case someone entered the room. I heard footsteps outside and saw a light in the hallway. "Sonia, get away from da window an' hide!" We each dove into separate corners and hid from the person opening the door.
"What in the name of..." the woman, who happened to be Miss Perkins, uttered, staring at the window. She slammed it shut, banishing our hard work back into the tightly squeezed wooden frame. Sonia's white blouse against the dark wooden chest she was crouched in front of made a perfect frame for her. If Miss Perkins turned around right she was found for sure. I held my breath and didn't move at all. Sonia did the same and we watched Miss Perkins slowly survey the room. She looked very angry and peered around the stacks of boxes and bags. Suddenly she stiffened as if having heard something. She whipped around and saw Sonia. I wouldn't have known that she's seen her, but her eyes widened almost in anticipation and she grabbed one fo Sonia's carefully tied blond pigtails and pulled her to her feet.
"Sonia Johannson, I am shocked and disappointed by this behavior, and with your brother injured and all too. The memory of your parents would be highly disappointed in you as well. Just what in the name of God did you think you were doing?" she yelled, every word reverberating through the orphanage. I cringed in the corner.
"I wasn't doing anything, honest. I was just sitting here and thinking about...my brother and how he was hurt...and umm..." she thought hard, "And the window just...just popped open and it scared me so much so I hid over here in case something was happen-"
"I don't want to hear this, young lady. I don't know how I can punish you for such unimaginably horrendous behavior. You deserve to be thrown out of this orphanage, but who knows where you would end up then? Stealing from the already poor, I suppose. Girls of your upbringing should know to be thankful for what they have, and not go squandering it and trying to climb out windows from the very place which houses them out of the goodness of the city's hearts..." she looked like she was going to slap Sonia. I wanted to do something but I was so scared I could only sit in the corner.
"Miss Perkins, Miss Perkins..." Sonia whined, looking terribly frightened and near tears. "I didn't mean anything, honest I didn't. I swear I didn't..." Why isn't she blaming me?! I'm the one who got her into this! I thought, nervously. I didn't know what I should do. Suddenly Miss Perkins grabbed Sonia's arm roughly and yanked her after her.
"You shall be an example to all of the other wretched students here at the home. You will be publicly whipped tomarrow at breakfast for this appalling behavior, and then made to scrub floors here until the day you turn twenty-one, and then we will turn you out into the world. Until then you will be the scullery maid. You do understand that, Sonia?" she asked with a bitter smile. I couldn't take this anymore.
"It wasn't her, Miss Perkins. It was me," I said, standing up from my hiding place in the back corner of the room. Miss Perkins absolutely gaped and the look of reverence on Sonia's face was worth every single ounce of punishment I was sure to get.
"James Jenkins..." Miss Perkins said quietly, looking shocked and amazed. I raised my eyebrows.
"Da one an' only," I replied with a fake bow. "Call me Jamie," I added for comic relief. Hey, at least Sonia's laughing, I thought nervously. I was terrified inside but somehow I was extremely calm and feeling even cheeky on the outside.
"What on earth do the two of you think you're doing in here?" she demanded, looking from Sonia to me and back again. Suddenly an absolutely insane and absolutely brilliant idea sprung into my mind. I dashed over, grabbed Sonia by the hand and practically threw her out the window, diving out after her.
"Let's get outta' hea'!" I shouted hoarsely, running as fast as I possibly could down the frosty streets. I could see my breath in front of me as I panted and kept running. Sonia started to lag behind me. "Sonia, you'se got no idea how dead we's gonna be if Perkins or ole' Harkins catches us. Kid, you gotta keep runnin'." I grabbed her hand and dragged her behind me, still running as fast as I could in the direction of the main part of the city.
"Jamie...Jamie I can't," Sonia gasped. I paused and looked at her. Her hair was sticking to her face and her cheeks were flushed. Her chest was rising and falling extremely rapidly and she leaned against a building. "I can't..." she reiterated.
"You gotta..." I said, concerned. I franctically looked around me. "We gotta find the train station so we can get to New Yawk. Sonia...'re you okay?" I looked at her and put my hand on her flushed cheek. "Your face is so hot," I added.
"I feel so cold," she shivered. "I was so scared," she added quietly.
"I thought she was gonna hit 'cha. An' it was my fault dat you was even in da stupid room when she caught 'cha so I had ta do somethin'," I said quietly. I started to walk at a slow pace, motioning for Sonia to follow me. "C'mon kid, let's get outta hea'."
"Thanks," Sonia said, taking my hand as we walked towards the train station.
"For what?" I asked, looking back at her.
"For what you did," she said. I looked at her and kissed her hand impulsively.
"For you," I said slowly, measuring my words, "I would do much more."
To be continued...