Chapter 2

He stood frozen like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. He stopped his struggle against the woman due to being totally puzzled by somebody showing concern for him.

The potential pick pocket victim's eyes begun to water like a fully turned on water hydrate. The entire onlookers were appalled by the sight of a person caring for a little brat. It made them sick to their stomach and some even wanted to puke at such a "disgusting" sight.

The small town was truly a den of thieves, never do wells, vagabonds, and various sorts of criminals. Drugs, rape, murder, racketeering were standard operating procedure in this hell hole of a town. The few honorable people in the town hated the corruption and all that took part in it. That included those, like the brat who were alas born into crime, due to no fault of their own. The townspeople had become very harsh to the well being of others. They expected others to live a higher standard than that they had held themselves to.

It is a double standard for the small town's citizens to do this, pure and simple. The onlookers did not know how to act when this fact was brought out into the open like this unknown traveler had just done openly this day.

The woman lets go of her grip of the brat's hand, but before he could react, the traveler did something very strange.

She hugged the boy tenderly as she would hugged her own child!

The onlookers were completely stunned by the simple act of kindness that the woman had

shown towards a complete stranger.

The attended pick pocket victim should had be mad that she was being victimized upon but she decided to forgive the boy for no apparent reason. She was treating others like she wanted to be treated without anything in return.

It was the golden rule! The brat had never knew or experience such a kind act before.

The brat decided to get loose but the crying lady would not let him go no matter what he did.

He spoke,"Quit it, or I will kill you! Let me go!"

The woman remained silent, while she knelt on one knee.

The boy had never experienced any kind of genuine affection his entire life and was at a loss to what was going on. He was abused as a baby and never was soothed as a baby which caused him to act differently than children normally would. It made him a very awkward and rough natured child.

Something within the brat begun to break inside him fiercely. It scared him because it was foreign to him.

The brat was suddenly bursting into tears for the first time without being beaten or abused in other ways. He did not know that these were happy tears that another person was finally showing the

love that he so badly needed and deep down within himself wanted!

The onlookers were disgusted by the sight of the Brat being given love and they wanted no part of it. The townspeople all leave to the business at hand and were totally ignoring the scene.

The kind woman spoke,"What is your name?"

The brat looked perplexed by the comment as if bugs were flying out of her mouth.

The brat spoke,"What is a name? I am just called brat."

The woman looked upset by the boy's comment but speaks softly,"Brat is not a name but it is just an insult. You need a real name!"

The brat spoke,"I do? I didn't know that!"

The woman spoke,"Would you like to me to help you find a name?"

The brat smiled,"Yes, I would!"

The young boy's belly rumbles something fierce but it was a common occurrence to him.

The woman asks,"Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

The boy looked at the ground and said nothing.

The woman spoke,"What is the problem? I know that you are hungry."

The brat cries,"I can not eat until I get five hundred bucks! I do not even know how much that even is!"

The tender woman spoke,"You need not worry since you can live with me."

The boy cried, but is comforted by the woman. She is trying to get out of him what is wrong.

The woman spoke,"What is wrong?"

The brat yells out,"I had not eaten for three days!"

The woman was totally appalled by whoever had abused this boy. She took the boy into her arms and traveled to the nearest diner to get him some food. She was hungry as well since it was

getting close to lunch.

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The pair went into a nearby burger joint.

The waitress asked,"What would you like to drink?"

The woman spoke,"I would like some sweet tea and give the lad the same."

The waitress spoke,"I don't want to be forward but this boy is a known..."

The woman spoke,"I don't care about his reputation! The boy has been underfed and he needs to eat too!"

The waitress spoke,"Sorry, Ma'am. I will get two sweet teas and here is our menu."

The woman spoke,"Baby, we are going to eat. What would you want?"

The boy was nor respondent so the woman starts showing the menu. Something catches the boy's eyes.

It was the super five patty extreme bacon cheeseburger.

The woman spoke,"Would you like that sandwich?"

The brat spoke,"Yes I would and can I have the things laying next to it.

The woman spoke,"The chili cheese fries you mean?"

The boy brighten up," Yes, I would like it all!"

The woman thought,"My lord, that is five pounds of food! The burger is two pounds by itself! At least, he will have something to eat if he decides to go home with me. "

The waitress came back and asked,"Have you decided to what you want?"

The woman spoke,"I would like a large chief salad and the boy would like the super five patty extreme bacon cheeseburger with the optional chili cheese fries."

The waitress spoke,"One large chief salad and what was the second item on the order?"

The server had clearly heard alright, but she did not believe that such a small boy would like to

eat such a large meal. It was simply beyond her comprehension."

The waitress spoke,"We have a food challenge on the super five patty extreme bacon cheeseburger with the optional chili cheese fries. If you eat the entire five pounds of food in an hour you get it for free, if you fail then you have to pay double. Are you sure, Ma'am?"

The woman spoke,"Are you sure, honey?"

The brat pointed at the picture and said,"I want it all! But..."

The woman spoke,"What is it dear?"

The boy would not speak as he flipped the menu's pages over to the deserts.

The woman spoke,"You would like desert too?"

The brat spoke eagerly,"I want that thing with the cookies in it!"

He had wanted a cookies and cream flavored milk shake.

The waitress shook her head and said,"Okay."

The head cook overheard the entire conversion and spoke,"Sonny, you can have whatever you want on the menu if you eat all that you had ordered down to the last crumb. But if you fail to eat it all without getting sick then you will be put on the wall of shame. Your picture will be on the walls so that everyone can laugh at you. I will make your Mom pay triple if you lose, so do not cry when it comes!"

The woman spoke,"Are you being a little hard on the child?"

The chef was taken back by the comment and spoke,"Fine I will give him three hours to get it all done!"

The boy boasted,"I can eat all the food that you can cook in no time flat!"

Everybody was shocked by the boy's boasting.

The other customers were not eating their meals and looking in shock at the challenge that the brat had made. He was four years old but he looked like he two years old at two foot tall and was under twenty pounds. He was way underdeveloped as a young child and looked very pale in complexion. This

was one reason that this nameless woman had interceded for him. It was still possible for the lad to catch up with his physical and mental growth.

The waitress spoke,"You can't eat until I start the timer. Once you start, you are to eat all you can for the entirety of three hours or you go through the entire menu, including every variation of the fifty menu items, whatever happens first. Puking will immediately result in you losing immediately and your caretaker having to pay triple on every item that was brought out to you. If you don't have the money, then you two will have to work here until your bill had been paid. Ma'am, Please, sign this paper for the lad, agreeing to the rules. He is a minor and is not able to sign it himself."

The woman knew that it was too late to back out now, so she signed it reluctantly.

The waitress started the timer on her phone while the entire diner was watching the brat to see if he would fail or not.