Later that night, all 50 of us boys were getting ready for bed. We all had very old twin sized beds that made creaking noises every time someone lay, sat, or pushed on it. All 50 of us were placed in the attic, with just one window to look out at night. There was one bathroom with a toilet that was dirty and stained with mustard yellow. A sink was next to the doorway that all of us had to share in order to wash our hands or brush out teeth. I peeked in and saw a bathtub and shower head, but it was covered in dirt and stains of all different colors. The showerhead looked as if it had rusted.
“Okay boys!” shouted the Mrs. “Since the shower is not working right now, we will skip washing off for the night.” Everyone clapped and cheered with joy. Some even jumped up and down.
“How is this a good thing?” I asked with a disgusted look.
“It’s good because when the shower does work, she makes us go together in groups of five, and it’s gross because we’re all in a dirty tub, showering naked with each other.”
“Wow I can’t even imagine,” I said as a shiver went down my spine. We then went to our assigned beds, made them properly as we were told, and changed into our night clothes. I was lucky enough to have my bed assigned right next to Garrett’s.
“Frankie tell me,” Garrett started. “How did you end up in an awful place like this?”
“It’s kind of a long story,” I said with a sigh.
“That’s okay, I’ve got time,” he said.
“Well, when I was about seven, my mom died after she got really sick and had cancer. I was really close to her. She would always tuck me in and make food when I was hungry. She was also always there when I needed to talk. I also still had my dad back then. He did really well at first, he took over all the chores in the house that my mom used to do, and on top of that, he made sure to care for me and love me. He hugged me everyday and tucked me in every night, letting me know how much I meant to him.”
“That still sounds pretty good. What happened then?” Garrett asked.
“Starting when I was about 10, my dad started to change. He started to get upset and yell at me all the time. Sometimes I’d be too scared to live with him because he’d also get violent and hit me. He also started drinking and smoking a lot, and wouldn’t tuck me in at night anymore because I was ‘too old for it’.”
“Wow. That’s really deep. I’m so sorry,” Garrett said with a droopy face. “So where is he now?”
“Well you know how the war started a few years ago?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“My dad was drafted. The government knew he had problems, but they didn’t care because they just needed more men to fight. When he came back, he was more different than ever. It was almost like I didn’t even know who he was anymore. Sometimes he’d wake up, screaming and crying in the night. I tried to comfort him, but he’d hit or kick me away.”
“I’m really sorry, that’s worse than what most of us have been through,” Garrett said as he put his hand on my shoulder.
“Eventually, some people complained and he got taken away by the police. Now I have no idea where he is, probably in jail somewhere. I ran away, but this one family found me and I was sent here. So yeah, that’s basically how I got to this place.”
“It’s okay, now you have us,” Garrett said optimistically. Before we could continue on with anything else, Ben, Johnny, and their group of boys walked right on up to us.
“Hey new kid, I see you got yourself a new friend!” Ben said with a smirk.
“Leave us alone. No one even likes you!” shouted back Garrett.
“Hear that guys? Sounds like someone’s trying to be tough. You know what to do, get them!”
Immediately, the group of boys launched themselves at us. Garrett began to fight the boys that attacked him. Before I could even make a move, I was grabbed by the arms and legs of three of the boys. Garrett continued to struggle and fight back, but I was left helpless. The boys laid me down on the bed and threw the bed sheets over me. Then they tied down the sheets to the end of the bed so that I would not escape. After this, the group took off their socks again and loaded them with any hard objects that they could find. They began swinging them around like slings and pounded me with them. I braced myself for the impact, flexing and flinching to make it not hurt as much. I was hit multiple times in the stomach, throat, and face. The pain seemed unbearable. I screaming and cried for them to stop, knowing that after this, I would have broken bones, or at least bruised ones. We got no help from the other boys that were in the attic with us.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” they all chanted at once. “Beat each other up! I dare you!” This must have been it. I gave up on anyone helping us. Why was no one stopping this?
“Enough already!!” came a familiar voice from the end of the room. It was the Mrs and this time, she had furrowed eyebrows and was glaring at the boys. “You all are supposed to be quiet right now!” she yelled out loud. Please yell at them! Make them stop! I secretly begged.  “Shut up! Keep your hands to yourselves, and go to bed!” she cried, already halfway down the stairs.
“Yes ma’am,” we all groaned together. Everyone started to shuffle towards their bed.
“You got lucky this time you little punk!” snarled Ben.
“Yeah! You better watch out for next time dork! And bring more backup next time,” added Johnny.
“Get back to your own beds!” shouted Garrett as he stepped in between me the and boys. They glared at us for a few seconds longer. Then slowly strolled over to their side of the attic.
“It’s okay now, you can relax. Go back to bed,” Garrett reassured. I hopped back into bed just as the lights turned off. Little balls of tears ran down my cheeks as I tried to sleep. I did not like it here. I wanted to go somewhere else, anywhere but here.

Weeks and months went by, though there was not much improvement. I spent most of my time hanging my head, and laying low out of fear that the group of boys would hurt me again. They continued to mock me, make fun of me, and call me out whenever they felt like it. It was incredibly difficult to survive. I don’t think I can make it, I told myself. These people were too harsh and nobody seemed to care about me, except for Garrett. What was I supposed to do?
One day we all walked as a group down hallway to one room on the end. It was time for class just as usual. The classroom had just a few windows, 50 desks - one for every boy, a teacher’s desk, and a black chalk board. Everyday we were taught something new in either math, language, history, science, sports, or music. As I walked into class and took my seat, I noticed there was a special guest teacher for the day.
“Boys, listen up!” yelled the Mrs to get everyone’s attention. “Today we have a special guest with us today. This is Dr. Fugenmire and he is here to teach you kids about the violin.
“Good afternoon Dr. Fugenmire,” we all said in unison.
“Good afternoon boys!” the doctor boomed back. “I am here today to talk to you about the violin. Now who here has ever heard of it?” Not a single person in the room raised their hand. “That’s okay! That’s what I’m here for!” It was at this point that I started to tune him out. He went on about notes, and lines, and strings, but I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get out of there and be alone. I stared out the window for what seemed like hours, waiting for the sun shining through to pass by.
“Alright everyone, now that I’ve taught you everything you need to know for right now, it’s time each of you come up one by one and try out the violin!” the doctor said excitedly.
“Awe man,” everyone groaned.
“It’s alright! Just give it a try, you just might find that you’ll like it!” I immediately woke up from my daze. What had I learned? I didn’t pay attention at all to anything that came out of the teacher’s mouth. One by one, each of us went up and started to play. The first few boys up there were goofing around and seemed to have no idea or interest in what they were doing.
“If you guys paid attention and actually tried, you could be amazing,” the doctor said encouragingly. I began to panic. I did not want to get humiliated by the teacher, especially in front of all the boys that I lived with. Soon, it was Ben’s turn to try out the violin. I secretly hoped he would be bad, because if he was good, that would have been another thing for him to brag about and another reason to put himself above others. He held the violin in one hand and the bow in the other. Then he pulled the bow across the string. Instead of a beautiful note, what came out was a shrieking noise. The cringe-worthy noise sounded like a piece of metal was being scraped along asphalt. We all covered our ears to block out the ugly noise. Some also began to laugh.
“What the hell are you guys laughing at?!” Ben shouted. “I bet you guys can’t play any better!”
“It’s okay! No one is good when they start out,” assured the doctor. “But if you keep practicing…”
“I’m not going to because this whole thing is stupid! Who even cares about this?!” Ben snapped back. He stormed out of the room, his footsteps banging on the wooden floors and echoing through the hallway. 
“Frankie, I believe you are next,” called out the doctor. I stepped down to the front, my hands shaking with fear. I did not know what to do. “Whenever you’re ready,” encouraged the doctor. I pulled the bow and played the first note with my eyes closed. I paused, waiting for people to scream or laugh, but no one did. Then I realized that the note I played sounded nothing like the one Ben played. What I played sounded a lot more soothing.
“Very nice Frankie, now the next note please,” the doctor said as he pointed to the sheet of music in front of me. I played the next note, then the third, and continued to play. Each note sounded more beautiful than the one before. I smiled and stood up straighter as I allowed my confidence to grow. For some reason, what I was playing reminded me of summer time on the beach. All the boys in the class cheered and clapped. “I am very impressed!” said the doctor with a large smile. Suddenly, a voice came from the hallway.
“Why are you guys cheering?! It sounded like a cat coughing up a furball!” teased Ben. The entire class began to laugh and laugh.
“What are you talking about? That was lovely!” defended the doctor. Before anyone could say anything else, I dropped the violin and bolted out the door, pushing Ben beside me. I sprinted as fast as I could, sobbing, searching for a room to cry my sorrows in. I found a dark room and closed the door shut. A few minutes later two people were standing outside of it.
“Frankie, are you in there? That was really good!” said Garrett softly.
“Shut up! Don’t lie! I was terrible. You heard Ben!” I didn’t believe a word he said.
“Frankie, I’m an expert and I can tell you for sure that you have talent!” argued Dr. Fugenmire.
“You really think so?” I asked, raising my voice as a sign of hope.
“For sure,” the two said at the same time.
“Common Frankie, don’t let Ben and the rest of those guys get to you,” encouraged Garrett.
“Like I said Frankie, you do have much potential. If you come out, I would be willing to work with you once a week so you can improve your skills,” said the doctor.
“You really believe in me that much?” I asked astounded.
“Yes! Of course!” he said gently. I opened the door and slowly walked out. Garrett decided to give me a hug and Fugenmire stuck out his hand to shake mine. A wave of pride and honor came over me.
“If you really want to get good at playing the violin, you must work hard. Are you willing to do so,” asked the doctor.
“Yes, I am!” I said proudly with a smile.
In the weeks and months after that, the doctor kept to his promise. He came over to the house every week and worked with me on improving my skills. On the days that he was not here, I spent hours and hours practicing. Playing the violin became my escape from the terrible house. It comforted me whenever the thoughts in my head turned into a storm. Playing and practicing gave me a sense of accomplishment as well as belonging that I had not felt since before my mother had passed away. I started to feel truly at peace.

Years later, when I was about 16 years old, I was still playing the violin with only doctor Fugenmire and Garrett at my side. I became so good, I would sometimes perform on the street or the market place by the home. Many people would take time out of their day to stop and listen to what I was playing, then they would applaud me and smile after I finished. Sometimes, there were even people in the audience who went up to me and congratulated me on my success.
One day, Dr. Fugenmire came to me with good news.
“Frankie! I have some amazing news!” he said with arms wide out.
“Really? What is it?” I asked, curious.
“You have been offered to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City!” he shouted out.
“What’s Carnegie Hall?” I asked, extremely confused.
“It’s the most famous performing center in the entire world!” said the doctor excitedly. “They want YOU to perform!”
“That’s amazing! I can’t believe I’m going to go to New York City to perform!”
“We have to leave right away, but you can bring one friend with you. Who would you like to bring?”
“That’s easy! I want to bring Garrett,” I bursted out. “He’s the only other person that’s stuck by me this entire time.”
“Alright then! The flight leaves in a few hours, so let’s get Garrett, and get to the airport!” the happy and excited doctor said. I ran upstairs told Garrett the good news.
“That’s awesome! Let’s go then!” he said happily. We packed our bags and set on out for New York, just about an hour flight.
When we arrived in New York, we took a cab to our hotel and checked in, then went up to our room. Our room was beautiful. It had walls painted into artistic patterns, two queen sized beds, and an incredibly soft carpet, almost like a little puppy. The room was a little cramped however.
“Alright what should we do now?” I asked.
“What do you think? We go out and explore the city! The two of you have never been here!” said the doctor.
“Great idea! Let’s go Frankie!” Garrett said with a huge smile that went from one end of his face to the other.
We went off to explore all of the city. There was so much to see and do. We walked around Time Square, went to the top of the Empire State Building, and took a river tour that went under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Soon after, time came for me to perform at Carnegie Hall. When we arrived, we went around back where the performers entered, so I could prepare and warm up. Just minutes before the performance, Fugenmire and Garrett came up to me.
“No pressure,” the doctor said. “Just give it your all and the audience will appreciate you.”
“We’re really proud of you,” Garrett said as he gave me a giant bear hug.
They took a secret stairwell to get to their seats. Just moments after, I was called on stage. As I walked on, I could see it was a full house. I took a deep breath and began to play. The acoustics of the hall made my notes last forever. It was probably one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard in my life. The notes floated around as I felt as if I was lifted up on a cloud in heaven. I finished the performance with a standing ovation. Not only were they proud of me, but I was proud of myself as well. For how far I had come. Afterwards, I was greeted by many members of the audience who enjoyed my performance. Finally, I was able to see Fugenmire and Garrett again.
“Outstanding performance! I was in tears!” beamed the doctor.
“Yeah dude, I’m so proud of you!” Garrett chimed in.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I am exhausted from the traveling,” Fugenmire said as he wiped his forehead. “I am going to go back to the hotel room and get some rest. You two can explore the city more together, but don’t stay up too late,” he warned.
“Of course, thank you sir,” I replied as he walked away. “So what do you say? Want to explore more?” I asked as I turned to Garrett.
“Sure! Let’s do it!” said Garrett. He seemed thrilled to do so.
Hours went by as we explored the heart of the city, by this time, it had just gotten dark.
“Hey, we should probably start heading back,” I said.
“Not so fast…” Garrett said suspiciously. Then I saw it. He pulled out a handgun from his pocket and pointed it at me.
“Wh-Whoa wait, what are you doing!?” I demanded, too shocked to move.
“Ever since you started playing the violin, you’ve left me alone for hours a day! When you came in, I cared for you and treated you like my brother. Then you start leaving me for all the attention from random strangers?! It’s not right!” he shouted with his face turning red.
“Garrett, I’m sorry!”
“No it’s too late for that!”
“Garrett! Wai…”
BANG!
The bullet pierced my heart and I immediately fell to the ground. I was left alone to die on the streets of New York, just as I was left alone later in my childhood.