Snippet #1937180

Damien Joles

Damien was awestruck by just the size of the buildings around him, and he was certain that the home of the Walters was going to be more extravagant the cold, blocky skyscrapers found downtown. Damien felt a flicker of excitement for a moment, but he rejected it the moment he realized how silly he was being. A life filled with wealth was never going to be handed to him. Besides, he had a good life with his mom. Thinking of home he remembered that he was going to give everyone a call. He called the Qualm household first. It was probably already afternoon on the east coast and the children would be home from school. The phone rang twice before the familiar squeaky voice of an eleven year old answered, "Hello?". A smile spread across Damien's face as he recognized that he was talking to Nick.

"Hey bud, it's me."
"Damien?" In the background Damien could hear the other three children scrambling to the phone as they heard his name.
"The one and only. Put me on speaker. How is everybody?"

What came next was so much chatter that Damien couldn't make out what was being said. Finally Andrea, the oldest of the children, made everyone calm down. Damien told them about the huge buildings and the snotty people he'd seen on the plane. Twenty minutes of talking to them felt like two seconds before the limo pulled up in front of a huge house. Damien frowned for a moment, realizing not only that he'd have to hang up and go inside, but that he'd really be living with a family so consumed with greed that they needed a house that could probably hold his entire block.

"Listen up, I want all of you to behave while i'm gone. Go visit my mom if you want, i'm sure she'd love to cook all of you a meal." Damien was about to hang up after their goodbyes when he heard Nick softly say his name.
"Damien?"
"Yeah, bud?"
"You're coming back, right? It won't be like Jason?"

In that moment Damien's heart felt crushed by the painful memory of losing his best friend. "No bud, it won't be like Jason. I'll be home in time for your birthday, okay?"
"Okay. Bye!"

Damien sighed as he hung up the phone, bracing himself for the next few months of hell. He grabbed his luggage and walked down the path to the door before giving a good hard knock and waiting to face his new temporary life.