Roger's Past and Homecoming

Roger opened his mouth, his face as expressionless as ever. No, rather than expressionless, he looked a little sad. Other people might not have noticed, but I could tell.

I realized Roger was about to tell me about a past he probably didn't want to remember, so I straightened up and prepared to listen carefully.

"I've never told you this, Lord Leon, but I'm an orphan. I don't remember my parents at all. My earliest memories are of children fighting over the little food we had while the adults did nothing. Eventually, I learned that the place I lived was an orphanage. It was a terrible place, with very little food, and everyone struggled desperately just to survive. As a result, fights were constant, and since I was small, I could only ever eat things like vegetable peels."

I was shocked from the very start of his story. ...There were places that awful? It was worse than I'd imagined.

Come to think of it, Ronnie's orphanage really was a lucky find. That wasn't normal; it was the exception.

Actually, in an environment like that, there must have been children who couldn't even manage to survive...

"I realized I wouldn't survive if I stayed there, so I left the orphanage when I was seven. I headed for the city center. From the little information I'd managed to gather at the orphanage, I thought the other orphanages would be much the same, so I decided to go to the city center, where there was plenty of work. I kept walking in that direction, and I don't know how far I went, but eventually I reached an alley. It was already night, so I thought I'd rest there and set out again once it was light. I sat down at the side of the road, and three men surrounded me."

Seven-year-old Roger, surrounded by three men in an alley. I couldn't imagine anything good coming of that...

"The men suddenly threw a bucket of water over me and rubbed my face hard with a cloth. Then they said, 'Well, he doesn't look too bad,' and grabbed my arm, trying to drag me off somewhere. I was too young to understand what was happening, but their rough behavior convinced me they weren't there to help. When they let their guard down, I somehow managed to escape."

Roger paused there. Phew... I hadn't even realized I'd tensed up. I consciously relaxed and unclenched my fists...