Little Orphan Philly (Part 1) [Phan]

“Little orphan Philly all on his own,
He has no place to call home,
He’s got no friends; he’s got no family,
All he has is his feet which are smelly!”

The constant mocking, the constant teasing. Anybody else would think that I’d love to get away from school! But I don’t. Because it’s not as if ‘home’ is any better. But I don’t like to dwell on these things at school, its best just to try and survive. The bullies have their regular hideouts, I know roughly where to avoid. But you can’t always run, and sometimes you have to pass the ‘danger zones’. And that’s when the bullies get you.
Like today, for instance. Today they encountered me round by the bike sheds. I’m was trying to get to maths club, when I ran into them. Percy, Adam, Marcus and the others. They were smoking, cigarettes and something I didn’t recognise the smell of. Drugs, probably.
“Oi, Orphan. You got any money?” One of them shouts.
They often ask this, before they bully me. It gives them an ‘excuse’ to beat him up, because I didn’t give them any. But I never have money, as well they know. I get free school meals so I don’t even have lunch money, or a sandwich from home which I could give them. I have nothing.
The punches and kicks come. I try not to dwell on them, if I dwelled on it every time I got beaten up then I’d have an even more miserable life than I have now.  So I shoulder my oversized backpack and trudge back towards the care home. I stumble on a crack on the pavement, and rip a large hole in my trouser knee. Great. Just perfect.
I open the door to the house, and run upstairs, trying to get to my room before the others realise I’m back. I’m one of the oldest here, and I’ve been here the longest. But I have no authority over anybody, I’m bottom of the pack. Life in care is harsh, at least here. I’ve seen documentaries of lovely care homes in other parts of the country, and yeah the staff here are lovely, but the kids are awful!  
I don’t have luck today though. Jace is waiting at the stairs. He’s the eldest here. And probably the meanest too.
“So, Lester, you gunna do me ‘omework fur me?”
I shake my head and he grabs my collar. I shriek in fright, but I have enough homework as it is, I don’t have time to do his! The door to the office opens, and Jace pulls me into a hug. ‘Great’ I think. It must mean that we have potential parents in. More potential parents not to foster me. Hurrah. Sure enough I hear a sound of “aw” from behind me. How sweet, two friends embracing.
When they’ve moved on to tour the house, Jace drops me almost instantly and punches me in the nose. Hot red blood pours down my face, and I clutch it trying to hold back tears. I run up to my room in the attic, dumping my bag and grabbing tissues. I know how to deal with nosebleeds, people have punched me in the face enough.
Downstairs I can hear some of the kids introducing themselves to the adults looking round. There’s Jace (the ringleader), Thomas (the innocent kid who could get away with murder), Elliot (the strong one), Jessica, Max, Bella, Timmy, Finn (the henchmen). There’s also Hannah and Peggy, but they generally don’t get involved in beating me up. They both have parents who visit them regularly; they’ll be going home soon. Which is a shame, they’re nice people. But they do deserve to get out, I guess.
I get to work, fixing my trousers. I’m not due new ones till Christmas, and that’s ages away. So I grab my needle and thread and scissors, cutting a patch out from my curtains. My curtains have loads of holes in from when I’ve had to mend my clothes, or from when I’ve been given hand-me-downs from people who are smaller than me, so I’ve had to make trouser legs longer.
I’m sitting on my bed, sewing, when there’s a knock on the door, and Julie comes in. Julie, head careworker. She’s very strict, but she has a kind heart. Behind her is a man and a women. These must be the people she was showing round. They have large smiles on their faces, and they look tanned and well fed, and neither has any scars. I’m suddenly very conscious of the dried blood on my nose.
“This is Phil! Say hello, Phillip.” Julie says.
“H...hi...” I stutter.
Julie closes the door and goes back downstairs, leaving me alone again with my sewing.
About an hour later there’s another knock on the door. It’s Jim. He’s the newest careworker here, only part time, but he’s probably my closest friend. He once actually punished Elliot for punching me! Naturally I got hurt even more later, but the sentiment was nice.
“Hey kiddo, Julie wants ya!” he has a slight Floridian accent, he used to work there. It’s comforting, like when I used to go to Florida with my parents. They all spoke like that there.
“Alright.” I jump off my bed and follow him downstairs, into the office. To my surprise, the couple are still there, talking to each other.
“Sorry, I should have knocked” I say, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it, come in and sit down.” Julie says.
I walk in awkwardly and take the one spare seat, looking down at my feet. I’m a very socially awkward person. But I’m getting a good feeling... they must have asked to see me. ME! I don’t quite believe it, to be honest.
“Phillip, this is Mr and Mrs Howell. They’d like to talk to you.”
“Okay.”
She leaves the room and I look at the two people in front of me. The Howells.
“Hi Phillip... or do you prefer Phil?”
“Phil... please?”
“No problem dear!” the woman is speaking. “So... we were wondering... do people beat you up often? Don’t worry honey, you’re not in trouble, we saw what that big boy did to your nose.”
“Oh. Um...” I don’t know how to respond. Nobody’s ever been this direct with the question before. To my surprise I begin crying, great sobs which shake my whole body. She, the lady, comes over and puts her arms around me tightly pulling me into a hug. I hug back... and it feels nice.
“I understand.” The man speaks now. “Phil, I grew up here myself. I’ve always wanted to come and rescue someone from here, the one who’s always picked on. And we’ve seen your file, you seem like a lovely person. We’d love to take you out sometime, get to know you, and maybe consider fostering you in the long run?”
I’m shocked.
“Th...thank you so much”