Chapter 2: 2. New Town - New Life (Erik)
Looking out the window of the too crowded van his mom was driving, Erik put up with his younger sisters elbowing each other and fighting over who got the window seats after the next rest-stop break. They were on their way to yet another new city where he didn't have a track record, and no one knew him or his family as the pitiful poor folk who could barely afford the apartment they had all lived in for the last year.
He was the oldest of eight kids, thanks in part to his father who couldn't keep it in his pants and only came around when his mom was in heat to convince her to give what little money she had managed to save to him before he disappeared again and gambled it all away. This last heat his mom had, his dad left his mom pregnant again and thus she recently had his 7th sibling, the only boy besides him. To prevent the law and his dad from looking too closely for them, his mom decided to move them pretty far this time. Their last move had been before his baby brother was conceived so at the time he had only six sisters and they had been able to get away with a two bedroom apartment.
According to his mom, this new city had a wider variety of job offers for them and there was a trailer park on the outskirts of the city that was available to rent for a reasonable price. So, his mom had taken the advice of one of the few friends she had kept in contact with and moved them as soon as they were able to afford the move.
As they arrived in the city; to Erik, it looked just like any other city they had lived in before and didn't see the point in caring where they lived or the fresh start, when his dad would just track them down again and bleed the family dry before leaving his mother with yet another child and them flat broke and needing to move again.
When they reached the outskirts of the city, he was amazed at the fact that there was a lake across the highway from their new home. The trailer park was showing its age and was full of small trailers that once upon a time might have looked halfway decent, but as it stood, they mostly looked run-down and dilapidated. Well at least they would have three bedrooms which was more room than their last place had. It would be downright spacious only having to share a room with two of his younger sisters rather than three. His mom would finally have a room and not have to sleep on the beat-up hide-a-bed couch with the then youngest siblings.
After pulling into the driveway, Erik and all his capable siblings piled out of the van before his mom unbuckled the youngest two from their car seats and picked up his baby brother while his youngest sister was crawling down from the van on her own.
"Last one inside is a rotten egg!" Chanted one of his younger sisters as they rushed up the slightly rickety steps of what might possibly be considered a porch, if it hadn't been so narrow.
"MOM! It's not unlocked!" Cried the first sister to try the door.
"Let me try!" Stated another of his sisters.
"Ah, man! I wanted to be first!" Another of his sisters cried.
"Alright! Alright! I'm coming! Make way, girls!" Erik's mom said in her mom tone of voice that inhibited any argument from them.
As the younger kids jumped off the landing to make way for their mom, his mom made her way up the steps and took out an old-fashioned physical key and unlocked the door. When he followed his younger sisters and mom inside, he saw why the place was so cheap. It was covered in dust and had hints of mold growing in the ancient single pane windows. It smelled like mildew and stale air. As the younger kids trampled inside, it kicked up a bunch of dust from the carpet, making half of them sneeze.
"Alright, kids! You know the drill! Younger ones open the windows and older ones start unloading the van!" His mom barked as she sighed at the state of the trailer. She had expected bad, but not this bad.
"Erik! Go and find the landlady that owns this park, I was told she was supposed to have this place cleaned up before we arrived!"
"Fine. I'm going." Erik resigned himself to this task. Oftentimes, landlords never gave a shit about the places they rented so he didn't expect this person to be any different. He had seen time and time again the level of care that these people put forth when it came to cleanliness. They only cared when it was time to pay rent.
Making his way down the narrow road past other slightly less dilapidated trailers, he found the landlady's trailer easily enough since it was the nicest looking one out of the bunch. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. When it was opened, an ancient lady that looked like a gnarly old crone looked at him over a sharp beak of a nose and squinted.
"Yes?" She asked in a sweet voice that didn't match her scary appearance.
"Hi, my mom, Julie Norman, sent me to ask you about the condition of the trailer we're renting." Erik explained.
"Oh, that was this week? I thought you weren't due to arrive until the week after next!"
"I only know that my mom asked me to talk to you about the filthy condition it's in. Did you intend to leave us to clean it in its current state?"
"And what state is it in?" The old landlady asked.
"It's covered in a layer of thick dust, there's mildew everywhere and mold growing in places. It's not a very sanitary home for my younger siblings and I to live in its current state."
"Oh? And how many siblings do you have? You must be such a loving brother!" The old lady continued to ignore his question that his mother sent him to ask about.
"I have seven younger siblings, Ma'am." He answered honestly.
He expected the disdain once he stated how many siblings he had. Most omega moms didn't have so many kids anymore. It wasn't looked upon kindly if you had more than one or two siblings. He had been bullied at his last school for it and fully expected it to happen again at his new school, whichever schools he and his siblings ended up at.
"Oh, you poor thing, you must be so burdened having to help your poor mother out so much! As for that trailer, I told my grandson to clean it out next week in preparation for your rental, but I guess in my old age I forgot. Give me a moment and I'll have the boy that does general maintenance over to help you out!"
"Um, okay, thanks…" Erik said.
"Oh, you can call me Granny, all the children here in the park do!" The old lady said as she waved him off.
Erik didn't trust that the old woman was sincere and thought that she was actually looking down on him, but was better at hiding her true feelings since his mom had paid the first and last month's rent with various deposit fees. As soon as she figured out that they were broke and had no money left, she would soon look at them with scorn and disdain. Then the heckling and miserable little things that landlords did to encourage them to move out sooner would soon start and then he would be forced to steal things again so his mom could afford another month of rent.
He had been busted for petty theft so many times and each time they left town when he was caught. He only stole things like formula and diapers for his younger siblings if it was a particularly hard month for his mom. He had been working from the time he was 14 to help out and his closest in age, little sister, was now old enough to start helping out with part-time work. But then again it wasn't going to help much when they had one more mouth to feed and their baby brother was still in diapers and needed formula. It had been the same when his youngest sister was still a baby.
Making his way back to their new home, he observed a few people out in their itty-bitty yards doing various things. A couple people waved, and others just ignored him. It was the same no matter where they went, there was no point in getting to know these people. They would be gone in less than a year anyway. Getting close to people, only to move away, was just asking for disappointment.
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