Snippet #1499845

Ten minutes later, Max and his cabbie were still standing outside the front door, an atmosphere of awkwardness spreading between them. Max had been expecting a great many things when they had told him he was being transferred to this home, but not being let in had most certainly not been one of them. It was rather insulting, to say the least; did they not even realise that he was waiting outside, ringing the doorbell? It certainly boded well for his future care.

“Maybe the bell’s broken?” the cabbie asked, clearly feeling rather uncertain by this point; trepidation was clear in his posture, and the little glances he kept sneaking at Max suggested that he was thinking of taking him back home again. Max wanted that, he wanted it very much, actually, but he knew better than to push his luck. There was no way he was escaping this one, but the general lack of attention might just be the blessing he was hoping for.

“Dunno...” He gave the door an experimental kick, just to see if that would work better at drawing attention to his presence, as the cabbie rang the bell again. “I’m sure I can hear it ringing in there... and they know I’m coming, don’t they?”

The older man nodded, leaning on the bell yet again, and knocking just in case someone had missed it. “That they do, kid. I was given instructions to make sure you got in at this end, and I’m glad I did now.” He shook his head, muttering about leaving vulnerable children outside in strange places; Max nearly grinned.

“At least it’s not raining?” Max offered with no real feeling, trying to dissuade himself from getting one of the little gifts from Old Ho out of his bag and putting it to good use on the doorframe. “Or snowing. It could have been snowing.”

“Not the point, kid,” irritation was loosening the cabbie’s tongue, making Max wish that the man could have stuck around; he was beginning to seem useful. “But maybe they’re just busy right now. We’ll wait a few more minutes and see what happens, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll give your last place a ring. They should know what to do about this sort of thing.”

“If they don’t answer, can I go back and sit in your car?” Max couldn’t really say that standing on the doorstep like a beggar was doing much for him, and he’d far rather spend his time dozing in the back of a cab than lurking around outside.

The cabbie nodded, already reaching for his mobile phone. “Yeah, kid. Five more minutes and we’ll both go back to the car, okay?”