Bad

Monday came at last, and Luca could feel the change moving brought to him most intuitively while crossing two sizeable cemeteries and the park he frequented since childhood in order to get to school. Walk previously easy and joyful with two little charming girls, turned into a long journey stepping on bones of the dead with one thin as paper boy.

"Can we move faster? How can you walk this path in winter time by the way? It should be still dark at this hour in January." whispered Luca, a bit scared to so casually stroll around a necropolis.

"No big deal, get used to it. Not like a skeleton pops up from the grave. It isn't that far actually, takes me twenty minutes tops." indifferently replied Oz.

"No way man, I got to buy us a bike and ride on normal streets, not this jungle." said again complaining Luca swatted by branches and leaves while trying to move along a barely visible track, probably only Oz hiking that way.

"Isn't it cooler to walk your own path? Don't be a wimp." dismissed Oz.

"I'm not!" pouted Luca, the rest of the way uneventful. Yet another day of lessons beginning with them entering the classroom and greeting the group. After Mrs. White started to teach about the correct use of commas in complex sentences, the door opened and sweaty Buffy run inside.

"I'm sorry for being late…" then she spotted Luca sitting peacefully, "Why you didn't come out, we waited so long!" upset, she exclaimed.

"Miss Summers, go quietly take a seat." reprimanded Mrs. White.

"Yes, yes, sorry." in a huff she put down her bag at the desk.

At break time Buffy immediately went to stare at Luca with a grudge, Jeff and rest of the kids coming to watch some drama.

"The truth is…" Luca proceeded to lie about what happened, at this point quite practiced in mixing fact and falsehood. Mrs. White overheard everything, a feeling of guilty excitement as she thought about a possibility. A possibility to adopt Luca for herself, as she dreamt many times. Cursing his mother's lack of care, she decided to immediately off work talk to her useless husband.

"So silly to not tell us, and you too, Oz. Remember, we're a gang, we should stick together." admonished Buffy. "Is that how you treat friends? Two boneheads. We have to go rollerskating today, my treat." worried about her friends she proposed.

"Couldn't tell at all that you lived alone last week. Tough acting, maybe we can watch you on TV someday." Jeff commented.

"About telling things, well I'm sick of some rare syndrome. Not contagious of course, but that is why I look bad. Don't worry about it, gotta keep on keepin' on." scratching his head, Oz decided to come clean since Buffy wanted the crew to be honest, and he didn't think of it as important, nurse Angelica assuring him that he will be fine if taking some pills and bloodletting every week.

"Geez, report before we carry a coffin for you." rolled her eyes Buffy.

"Okay, who is amped for skating? Remember how Dawn couldn't roll a meter without falling on her butt last time?" laughed Jeff.

"I had to buy her a ton of popcorn to stop crying." with a grimace Buffy recalled. For more than a thousandth time in Luca's extremely short academic career, bell took his freedom away, chaining him to a run-down wooden desk for most of the waking hours.

The gang had lots of fun at the local roller-skating rink, perhaps even too much of it as upon the duo's return to st. Joseph's Orphanage dusk was setting. Dinner missed, they had to try to eat more at supper.

"Luca, come with me." Sister Collins looked at a bit pale and fragile-looking boy with pity, leading him in a familiar direction - to the infirmary.

Angelica solemnly scrutinizing a page in her hand faced Luca with a genuine expression of concern.

"I think it's better for patients to face such news head-on, so I will be straight. You are seriously ill Luca, not quite life-threatening, but if you don't listen to my prescriptions and obediently keep diet, it can only get worse. We arranged for you and Oz Osbourne, my other young patient, to live in the same room so that I can visit and check on both of you often. Any questions?" slowly explained nurse Angelica to a horrified-looking boy.

"...so what am I afflicted with?" coming out of shock asked Luca.

"Very rare case of non-invasive leukemia, you have to eat a lot of meat rich in iron. I will cook for you personally, you know I'm kind of a five-star chef." she boasted patting him on the head, "Also there are some liquids, like cider with a bit of alcohol content that can help make you better. I look forward to seeing you drunk for the first time." she smiled.

"All is God's will, Luca. Hardships today result in happiness tomorrow, we have to believe in His plan. I will help you boys pray every night. You have to listen to professional's advice and be good, soon your pain will pass." comforted Sister Collins.

"...but I feel fine. Are you sure doctors didn't make a mistake? Maybe it's not my blood being tested." Luca tried to struggle out of being labeled infirm.

"Everyone finds such things hard to stomach, I understand. Please don't be discouraged, as I said treatment is simple and won't bother you. Now, go with Sister to find a new bed again, you must be tired of moving places." taking out a folder from under the desk and looking busy, Angelica said.

Luca followed Sister Collins to a freshly prepared room, Oz inside. This one noticeably bigger with more furniture, even a couch, and radio prepared in a semi-open first half of it. Big double window letting plenty of light in, albeit currently it coming from a street lamp right outside was an upgrade from a narrow bathroom-like one in his previous room. Sister Collins duplicated in a notebook a couple of prayers for health from her litany booklet for the boys and knelt with them praying to the cross hanging on a wall before saying good night. Left alone, Luca didn't want to let himself feel down with this unexpected development, so back to training it was. This time learned his lesson, he started doing a handstand against the wall.

"What are you doing?" puzzled Oz asked.

"Training Force, didn't you watch that Jedi trilogy?" upside-down, straining himself to speak replied Luca.

"Let me help." smirking Oz grabbed his ankles and pulled away from the wall.

"No, don't, I can't yet…" struggling to walk along with his hands, Luca was led circles around the carpet with Oz dragging his legs and laughing.

In the morning, nurse Angelica sat in the cafeteria waiting for them with a plate of food and different-looking pills to swallow. They tasted bitter, but Luca soldiered on. In school, Mrs. White looked haggard with eyes wandering in Luca's direction constantly. After classes, she came to talk to him.

"I heard that parents abandoned you, baby?" she softly inquired.

"Yes Mrs. White, now I live in st. Joseph's." confirmed Luca.

Mrs. White nervously swatted a lock of hair off her face with her pupils turning around, too stressed to look directly at Luca.

"So I know it's fast, and you need to come to terms with such situation… I was wondering if maybe I can go back and see that place with you." she couldn't bring herself to say her wish directly because of fear of rejection, so she decided to talk to whoever runs the orphanage first.

"Sure, let's go then. Oz also lives with me, it isn't bad." agreed Luca.

Two boys accompanied by their teacher decided to go a long way, taking nearly double the time to eventually arrive at their home.

"So far… You have to get up before dawn. Children should sleep more, you are developing the most at tender age." holding hands with Luca along the journey, she decided to soften him up a bit and vilify this building's conditions, "Look at that walls, moss-covered and almost crumbling down. City ought to demolish such safety hazards before they collapse. This is not safe at all."

"Feels sturdy." Oz contradicted from the side knocking on a brick with interest.

"Feels sturdy until it buries you alive. Any earthquake can break it like a house of cards." continued Mrs. White while opening the door.

"Something wrong with those rascals, miss?" a bored guard flipping through newspapers asked.

"No, of course, no, although I am here to talk to their legal guardian. Before that, let me visit their room, sir." since the boys seemed to have a good relationship, she decided to try to take them both.

"Fine, you know where you sleep I hope." not willing to bother, he let Mrs. White in guided by Luca and Oz.

"Oh, so many rules! Must be hard to keep up. Are you poor things getting beaten or punished?" past the pin board she exclaimed.

"Never, Sister Collins and Father Roberts are awesome! Check out that totally rad rule: anyone can stay outside until six pm." angry with Mrs. White suspecting people he considers family, Oz refuted energetically.

"Irresponsible, how irresponsible! What if some accident happens? Will they take responsibility? I don't believe no child got hurt just left wandering alone." argued Mrs. White looking at Luca's reaction, he was not overly fond of the priest who took him away from the house in the first place and didn't seem to care about her slander. Emboldened by his lack of expression, she thought hard to come up with another jab.

"We can't shelter our pupils from society as well as their parents could. Now they are alone and we have an obligation to prepare them to be as self-sufficient as possible, don't we?" passing by Father Roberts overheard the conversation. Defending his stance on the issue he said sweeping eyes at Mrs. White and observing her body language leaning the entire frame towards Luca, already with an idea of what is her goal here.

"Good afternoon, if sir admits such a thing as lack of care openly, why not send these children to foster families?" Mrs. White got a blush on her face from the embarrassment of getting caught talking behind somebody's back, but had to shrug it off and struggle for herself and for her charming student to come together.

"Please, after me, we shouldn't let the kids listen." Father Roberts said, heading towards his office. Mrs. White adjusted her clothes ready to battle for custody, Oz and Luca left looking at each other with doubt.