* Tiffany’s Point of View*
The front room had two window seats. Back when I lived here I sat at the plush blue window seat, and I watched out the freshly white painted windows. Now the paint was all chipped off, and the wood was splintering. The white curtains now barely hung by a string , and had tons of moth holes. When I climbed upon the seat I saw a big old oak tree out the window. Still standing when it should have been took down thirty years ago. I became cold and started to shake. The last time I saw that tree it was apart of a sick game of living torture.
Edward had been at the orphanage only three weeks. He was sent there by his biological parents because they didn’t what to do with a child who had mental retardation. Miss Scarlet didn’t know what to do either. All his random noise making and sudden movements made the employees nervous, and the lack of control they had over it made then frustrated with madness.
Edward was always happy with just what he had. He had no concept that he could have more; so he never wanted anything more. That was some thing we all tried to emulate.
While at lunch Miss Scarlet was behind Edward in line for her inspection of the cooks and what they were dishing out. Ms. Scarlet yelled at the child in front of her, and scared Edward. In one swift movement Edward dumped his mashed potatoes and gravy on to her new dress. She didn’t even brush it off as she walked out of the room quickly and quietly.
Edward had no idea what he had just done. I shook my head as tears fell down my face. Remembering this was just too hard.
“Tell me, tell me everything.” Dalton sat beside me and wiped the tears from my face.
I continued to choke up before I could stop crying and tell Dalton the awful death of Eddy.
“Edward McCullens. I watched as they drug him to the tree, and told him they were playing a game. Scarlet stood watching as Chance slipped a noose around his neck. They slowly suffocated him until he was silent, but he became conscious again. So they did it a second time, but they did it very slowly. His eyes bugged out, and veins showed upon his head like they were ready to burst. Then his body become very languish. When he finally stopped breathing for good he looked like he was peacefully sleeping.” I sobbed as I backed away from the window and into a wall behind me.
What they did to Edward was unjust. He was always happy to be someone to anyone. Eddy merely made a mistake, and he got killed for it. While there are murders who roam the streets living their like ungratefully.
Dalton wrapped his arms around me, and he kissed the top of my head. I feel so grateful that I was never abused, just bitterly slapped a couple times. I also feel horribly saddened. If I had to go back in time I would take all the pain of those thousands of kids, and put it all upon me. I would go through the whole experience a hundred times just to have those kids back who lost their life tragically. Guilty is what I’m feeling, and I can’t make it go away.
I pushed off of Dalton, and looked out the window once more. As I grew up in the ‘real world’ I heard all this talk about ‘retards’. The way they are portrayed if ridicules and unfair. Those are the people who have the biggest heart. They are the closest you can get to becoming Godly and pure. True happiness and emotions pore from them.
Edward taught us all a little something with his little time at the orphanage. It was love, and all it’s forms. He was so innocent, then he just has his whole life ripped away from him.
I some times lay in bed and wish I could trade places with Eddy. He deserved more of a life than what he got. Dalton thinks I am here just to visit and rehash old awful memories, but I’m not. It’s so much more than that. In the pit of my stomach I can feel my lunch start to rise into my throat. This guilt has held me prisoner for far too long. I came here to lift the world off of my shoulders.
*Dalton’s Point of View*
I don’t know where Tiffany’s guilt and pain comes from, but I know that it lies deep down inside of her. My poor china doll I’m afraid she’s going to break. The boiling point is in reach.
I also knew Edward, but to have watched his death must have been traumatizing. As Tiffany wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath we walk into the room that once was a wash room. There was only one; so girls went one hour then the boys got the next. Now the ceiling had caved in. Even though the tile walls stood strong. If these walls could talk, the bile they would tell. Blood, sweat, and tears ran down these drains.
Early as three years old I remember watching as the older male employees tortured the younger males. They were touched in places they shouldn’t of been, and they were so humiliated death seemed like a better choice.
Kyle was a thirteen year old teenager just hitting puberty when one of the older male employees, Robby, started to touch Kyle’s inner thighs and squeeze his penis. This went on and on for weeks. Until Kyle got fid up and told Robby to stop.
“So mad, so mad,” I whispered as I shook my head.
Tiffany watched me intently as I walked past the stalls and rubbed my finger tips gently across the cool tiles. She didn’t run to my rescue, but rather silently urged me to tell more. First I had to sort out my thoughts. Kyle turned fourteen, and he had already gone through awful accounts of abuse and rape.
People merely think it’s a joke for males to be raped. They think it’s suppose to be joyful because it’s sex. At such a tender age, its not so fun, it almost kills their entire being.
At such an awkward age of unknowing Kyle had had his buttock ripped open as Robby thrusted his penis roughly through him. You could hear his screams all through the building. As the last bit of blood went down the drain Robby dragged Kyle to his bed. For the next week Kyle was locked in his isolation because he was so badly hurt.
“Oh the screams, his horrible screams.” I starred at Tiffany as she nodded in remembrance.
After his isolation Kyle jumped out of the third floor window breaking his neck, and killing himself.
“You know Robby wasn’t even charged with statutory rape because the jury couldn’t put him there with the prosecutors evidence. He drove Kyle to insanity, and cost him his life, but he still gets off scott free.” Tiffany shook her head and closed her eyes.
I knew what she was thinking. It’s probably what most of you are thinking. Kyle was a victim, out of random, which many were. It’s just not fair. Being so young I didn’t understand what was going on, and now I wish I still didn’t. The nightmares that drive me out of my bed at night are solely caused by this awful place.
It had started to get dark so I coaxed Tiffany to go back to our hotel. Our house was two states away so for the night we were staying at a hotel just down the street from the orphanage. I hoped the next day wouldn’t be as awful, but with all the bad that orphanage held I could barely remember the good memories. We walked to our room in silence, but as we got in our room all tiffany wanted to do was talk. So I shut my eyes and pretended I was asleep. I wasn’t in the mood to help Tiffany sort out her stories and emotions.
*Tiffany’s Point of View*
When I woke up Dalton was no where in sight. So I got up and went out upon the balcony to see if he had gone out there. I saw his coffee mug and paper, which had been slung about, but once again he wasn’t there. As I stood there I watched the sun as it came up and filled the sky with oranges and purples. At that I went back into the hotel room and got dressed. Still Dalton wasn’t back; so I went into the bathroom and applied my make up.
First went on my light cover up to hide the redness on my nose and cheeks. Then I put on onyx black eyeliner with its matching mascara. Then I put on the rose blush so my face doesn’t look hideously pale. Once all that was done I closed my make-up bag, and left the hotel room.
There wasn’t many places you could go around the town. Besides the orphanage there were only two main schools and a shopping center. Since I left this lousy place they have built a coffee shop and some housing complexes.
I walked a block from our hotel to find Dalton at the coffee shop. When I walked in I ordered a doughnut from the counter and brought it back to where Dalton was sitting. He stood up and pushed my chair in once I sat down. He was such a gentleman some times.
“I thought you would sleep in a little longer with such a rough day yesterday.” I split my doughnut in half and gave Dalton some of it.
“ Yeah so did I,” I muttered, as I ate the rest of my half of the doughnut.
We left and decided to visit an old friend, Jose; he was the architect that decided to not tare down the orphanage. His older sister was Brandy so he knew the significance of the building.
When we got to his house Dalton knocked on the door while I remained frozen be hide him. I hadn’t seen Jose in four years, but in the last year Dalton had met up with him numerous times. He opened the door in pure joy as he hugged us, and let us in. We were there because we wanted to know more about what was found in the orphanage, but once he told us I was horrified as I began to remember why the second floor was almost never used.
“The scene at which I saw greatly perturbed me. Shattered glass, needles, medical trays, and wheelchairs laid all around the dusty old wooden and rotten floor. Slimy green mold was growing in the corner of the room , and it had upon it tons of hair attached to it.” Jose sat down after handing us a cup of hot tea.
“Where was the room located in the building?” Dalton asked.
“It was on the second floor towards the right of the hallway. May I ask why?” Jose replied.
I gasped recalling the room at which he was speaking of. As you walked up the steps on your right there was a room with a steel door. Set in that door was a glass window, and upon that window was etched special purposes. Thankfully neither Dalton nor I had to be brought to that awful room. It was filled with terrifying screams and devastating results.
Such a room was used for pure torture and evil. If you weren’t perfectly normal they sent you up to that room to ’fix’ you. The most common problems that got you sent up there were having glasses, braces, or being in a wheelchair. Certain staff members only dealt with these children, hopefully the smarter of such evil. No one could stand the fear in some one’s eyes who was being sent to that room. It was so bad that if you did need glasses to see you smashed them, and threw them out the window. It was worth it to run into a couple of walls then have your eyes dug out. Or if you were braces you never opened your mouth, whether to talk or eat. It was worth it to lose a few pounds and be ut cast by the other children then to have your gums bleed until you die.
*Dalton’s Point of View*
As Jose and I sat there in bewilderment she finally let her gasp go, and let Jose continue describing the scene. Chairs were scattered around the room, and all of the rollers on the chairs had been broken off. The room had no windows or vents. There was a closet which potentially held supplies of sorts. With no short in time a visualization popped into my head.
Eleanor was a girl who for a while had a crush on me, and would follow me around. We all called her Elli because she hated her name. When she came to the orphanage she wore glasses and her twin sister, Alli, wore braces. With in a week Scarlet found out, and had the girls ushered to the room.
Elli lived to tell her story in court. Though she was blind she could still vividly remember the night her sister died. Too specialist were in the room at the time. Alex worked with Elli, while Seth worked with Alli. Alli being the braver of the two volunteered to go first.
She sat in a steel school desk as Seth forced open her mouth. Railroad tracks covered both the top and bottom of Alli’s teeth. Seth yanked the top row of braces off rather quickly, along with a few teeth. Blood squirted out of her mouth and fell upon both Seth and her shirts. She screamed in agony as tears blurred her face.
Elli couldn’t bare to watch so she closed her eyes. Even though she couldn’t see her sister being tortured beyond human possibility she could hear her awful screams, and feel her heart rip in to two for Alli.
Next was her turn, and she bit and clawed at Alex. He took her glasses off and broke the glass out of them. Then he rounded them into little round pieces. Shoving it into her eye he split open the clear protector covering her eye. Elli screamed out in pain as blood and clear liquid fell down her face like tears. Her face suddenly puffed out and reddened as an infection crept into her eye socket. All she wanted to do was die as the pain washed over her, and knocked her unconscious.
I lost it as I stood up, and covered my face with my hands.
“What is wrong?” Jose asked unknowing of the instant or prolonging deaths that occurred in such a room.
“Elli and Alli were victims of that room. They can’t see nor hear, but their story has been heard.” I walked into the bathroom to spring water upon my face.
I now have realized some thing about myself that I hadn’t known before. I am not a sensitive person, and I don’t want to confront emotion at all. Even though it seems like I have been doing a lot of that lately. I never really had to look upon the bad in my life because I always just accepted that it was what made me who I am.
‘This is crazy’ I thought to myself as I walked back into the living room. Tiffany confronted me with a smile as I sat down, and she wrapped her arm around my waist. She cuddled more into me, and it came into my mind that we were like one spilt into two.
Jose talked the rest of the time about savoring the building, kind of like a memorial to those who were killed. It’s a nice idea, but a project like that would need a large amount of funding. So for now I think it should be left alone.
I cringed more than once reading through.
