It was Sunday evening and the night sky was out. Inside Black Rock orphanage, Kevin was helping Suzan tuck in the other kids since it was bedtime and Innu was tucking in one of the little girls that was rubbing her eyes.
“Is… Big Brother Innu still not coming today?” A small girl yawned, as she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Usually she would have been asleep by now, and Kevin knew she had stayed up just to see him.
“I’m sorry, Innu seems to be busy this weekend, but I’m sure he will visit us soon. Don't worry, you have a lot of time to see him.” Kevin smiled and waited until she fell asleep.
It wasn’t something he had to do, but since he was a bit older than rest, he had volunteered to help out, just like every other night. They all knew that Suzan had a lot on her plate, so the teenager wanted to help her at least a little.
Kevin let out a little sigh.
“Innu asked me to apologise to you that he was unable to come yesterday and today. He also wants us to tell the other kids that he promises to make up for it next weekend.” Kevin informed the woman, as they had just left one of the large rooms where the young kids were left sleeping on just a mattress.
“Innu really has grown up, hasn't he? I can tell he’s working hard and really cares for us.” Suzan sighed. “As happy as that makes me… sometimes I would prefer that he would concentrate on himself and his own life rather than looking after us.”
Just then, they heard a soft knock on the door. Kevin was a bit surprised who it could be at such a late hour, but Suzan told him to go to his own bed. As he watched the woman run off with her hair in a mess, he could only wryly smile.
‘Innu and us other kids want the same for you, Suzan, that's why he’s trying so hard…’
Out of curiosity, the teenage boy decided to take a look at who it was. The orphanage didn’t get many visitors, and at this time of night it couldn’t have been someone looking to adopt a kid. Hidden behind the corner, he peeked and recognised the men at the door. They had come over a few times already, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
After they had been let in, Kevin waited by the side, and could see that there were three of them, who followed the woman to the kitchen. Sneaking his way through, he waited by the door, so he could listen in to what the conversation was about.
“Have you considered our offer? You won't be able to survive much longer on your own.” He overheard a gruff man’s voice.
“I have… I assure you, I have been thinking about it a lot. It's just this place is like a home for everyone If they were to move out of this place…”
“Forgive me for saying this, Ma'am.” Another voice interrupted. “But I think your refusal is quite selfish.”
Hearing a strange man call Suzan, the most selfless person Kevin had ever met, his fists tensed up, but if he tried anything then he knew he would get the woman in trouble.
‘What would Innu do?’ Kevin wondered, since his best friend was a person he looked up to. However, he could only imagine Innu head into the kitchen and tell those men to shove something up their backside and get out of here. Shaking his head, the teenager knew that to be a very bad approach.
“With all due respect, but it’s obvious that you’re lacking the proper funds. Just on the way here, I saw multiple areas where this place is falling apart. The new location would be ten times better for them.
“If it’s a question of money then I can reassure you, you have nothing to worry about. Our boss even allocated some extra funds today. We told you, he is a generous man who was in the same situation as them. That’s also why he wants to help them out.
“Unfortunately, it just doesn’t make any financial sense to give this place a complete overhaul. It would be cheaper to demolish it and rebuild it up from scratch. Please, think about the kids and their future.”
It was then that Kevin relaxed the tension in his fists. What the man said was true, the government’s help hadn’t increased in over a decade and with inflation doing its thing, Suzan had been forced to spend her own money to compensate, making next to nothing from the place.
The number of orphans was also steadily increasing, and each new mouth just put additional strain on the funds. Simply put, they were lacking money, yet now a private organisation was willing to take over.
“Suzan.” Kevin said, coming out from the hallway and into the kitchen. When seeing the teenager, she was surprised and about to tell him to go to his room.
“You should accept the deal. You have already done so much for us. We all know that, so don’t worry. It's not like they are going to put us in the worst place, right? If you’re worried, I bet you can come and visit us. Nobody will blame you if you decide to rest, and it would stop idiots like Innu from having to worry about you as well.”
Suzan was in two minds with what to do. For some reason, it just felt wrong for her to no longer be involved in these kids' lives and just hand them over to someone else, especially a stranger she had never met. However, hearing these words from one of the oldest and smartest kids she had looked after, she was finally willing to agree. Suzan picked up the pen, and signed on the dotted line. The deal was done.
“Thank you for being so cooperative. It will be a few days until we can move them, but we will inform you about everything that needs to be done in due time.” The man with the gruff voice said, and with that they were on their way.
The moment they walked out the door, that man immediately picked up the phone to make a call.
On the other side, Brandon placed the phone down, and smiled at Raven.