Chapter 5- The Hunt

Chris Hadn't been into this particular library since he was twelve, for he usually used the one at his school. The public library was very different and had become much more run-down and dilapidated since he had come here with his family when he was ten. There were many small circular tables with laptops in the center for gaming or reading, but all of the tables were filled with people and Chris didn't feel like being social.

Unfortunately, since all of the tables were occupied, that wasn't an option, but there was one in the corner with just a few little kids playing video games, so Chris walked over to the blue chair. Interacting with little kids was better than people his age, he thought.

He was wrong. Chris had forgotten how nosey and talkative little kids were, and that they weren't afraid to strike up a conversation with a random stranger.

"Who are you?" a blonde one asked. "And why are you sitting here? I have that spot saved for my friend"

"Can't your friend sit in another chair?" Chris responded, and gestured to the three empty chairs around him.

"He likes that one your sittin' on though, it's his favorite color" piped in another one, who was wearing a hideous neon tracksuit.

The spot wasn't worth arguing with ten-year-olds over, so Chris sighed and moved to another table where two homeless men were having a conversation about how their friend, Ernie, was drinking too alcohol, which gave him diarrhea. Lovely.

Chris pretended not to hear them and searched up Josephine's Haven for Boys and Girls on the library catalog. He found two matches, but only one looked like the right one, and it was just about the founding of the home. Well, it was better than nothing, so Chris clicked on it and opened the full display. It was number 394 under economy, so Chris climbed the stairs to the second floor where the economy section was located, and walked into the aisle, searching for the book.

386... 398.. 391... there it was! 349. Chris took it out of the shelf and walked over to a plush orange chair that had a few stains on it, but it was better than sharing a table with strangers again. Chris settled down and opened the book, but it looked like it was in another language, like trying to read Copywrite info or reading a dictionary. Maybe Chris was just a bad reader, but this couldn't have anything useful. He skimmed through it some more and found that towards the end there was a section of old photographs.

An old black and white photo of a plump, mousey looking woman read Jaime Walker founder-1964. So this was the original founder, the one who had started it all. If her name was Jaime, he wondered why the place had the name " Josephine" instead of "Jaime." Chris flipped through some more photos, most of which were just more faculty and staff, but also some students. It seemed like back in the 1960s-80s, the home had chosen an honorary student/resident for the year, or whichever child had exhibited the best behavior. Chris stopped at the photos taken in the year of 1985 and saw a little girl who for some reason looked very familiar. He looked below the picture and found that her name was Antoinette Emerson. Chris studied her face a bit longer and then realized that she must have been Mrs. Toni, his former counselor/teacher at the home. He never knew that she herself was a kid here as well.

Chris couldn't imagine growing up there, and then going back there to work. It would be like nothing ever changed.

He flipped through more pictures, but it ended in the 90s before he was born. Another dead end. Chris had really been avoiding going to the police, but if he was going to continue the search, he really didn't have an option.

Sure, he could have told his parents, but they already hated talking about how he was adopted and bot their biological son. They got awkward and didn't know what to say. Trying to explain to them that there was this kid he needed to find, whose name he didn't even know... They would think he was going crazy.

He put the book back and walked out of the library, getting glares from the little kids he had apparently angered when he left. The police station was only a few blocks away, so he could just walk; he didn't want the trouble of finding a parking spot again.

As he was walking, he thought about what he was going to tell them and cringed. He was going to sound so weird, just showing a blurry photo of a kid whose name he didn't know. What could they do anyways that he couldn't? But Chris was already on his way, and some hope was better than none, so he trudged on.

He reached the entrance of the police station and stood outside for a bit, trying to gather his courage for the awkward experience he was about to endure. When he couldn't procrastinate anymore, he grabbed the door handle and pulled.

Great. Just Great. The handle read push.

Chris's face flushed with embarrassment and he pushed the door open and walked inside.

The room was square, with blue chairs against the walls and a large desk in the center. Behind the desk sat a squat man in a cop uniform, so Chris figured he was the guy to talk to.

"Excuse me?" Chris asked. "I have a question-"

"Is it anything serious? Life-threatening?" the officer responded.

"No, but-"

"We'll get to you eventually" replied the officer, and he gestured to the blue waiting chairs that were filled with other people who seemed to be in the same predicament Chris was in. He frowned and found an empty chair by the window to sit in.

Chris played games on his phone for what seemed like hours, ignoring the texts from his friends questioning his whereabouts. A text from Kayla popped up on his screen, and Chris accidentally clicked on it. He groaned, and knowing he couldn't leave her on read, started to reply.

Kayla's text read

Hey, r u not feeling well or something?

How come you're not in school?

Sorry. I'm sick. Should have told u but it slipped my mind.

Haha ok. Tell me next time.

Will do :)

Chris put his phone away and jumped. As soon as he had looked up, a different officer was standing right in front of him.

"Dude, you scared me!"

"Sorry about that," the officer said. "I heard you got a question? Well, make it quick. I'm very busy."

"Yeah sure. So, I was adopted from St. Josephine's Haven for Boys and Girls, and when I was there, I had this friend."

"And?"

"Well, that's the problem... I don't know his name, but I need to find him, and, you know, I figured this was a good place to come for help-"

"Listen, kid, as sweet as that little story of yours is, if you don't give me anything to go on, I can't help you-"

"Wait! I do actually have this picture..." Chris shuffled through his wallet. "It's here somewhere..." Chris's hand made contact with the paper and he pulled it out.

"That's him! Right there!"

"Hm."

"Is.. there a problem?"

"No, not at all. St. Josephine's Haven for Boys and Girls, did you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, follow me then."

Chris stood up and followed the officer through the back of the station and into an office cubicle with a large computer.

"I'm going to pull up some files on that place, maybe we can find your friend's name at least," the officer told him.

"That'll be great, I just need his name."

The officer turned on the computer and searched up St. Josephine's Haven for Boys and Girls, then clicked on the first file that popped up.

"This it?" He asked, and showed Chris a picture of his old group home.

"Yep, that's the one" Chris responded.

The officer scrolled down further in the file, and Chris saw a list of names under the same photos he had found in the book.

"And what year were you in this home?"

Chris told him and proceeded to watch him scroll further and further until he reached a list of names towards the bottom.

"Is your name Chris Turner?" the officer asked.

"It was back then. Now it's Chris Willaims"

"Okay, I see your name. Tell me if you recognize your friend's name on this list."

Chris was surprised that this was all happening so suddenly... If he could find this kid's name, he basically knew where he would be. He stepped closer to the computer and scanned the long list of names until one caught his eye.

Mío Cortes.

"See anything?" the officer inquired.

"Y-yeah, the one right there. Mío Cortes" The name felt strange on Chris's lips, nostalgic, like when you look at something you used to have as a kid. "That's the one"

"You want me to make sure his name isn't in a criminal record?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

The officer typed the name into the bar at the top, but nothing came up.

"Phew," Chris mumbled. "Can you perhaps, find where he lives? If he's still in the system?"

"I can, but I can't tell you where he lives. Sorry, I'm sure you don't have ill intentions, but that's the law, son."

Chris sighed as the man scrolled through more files under Mío Cortes, and wondered how he was supposed to find Mío if he couldn't know where he lived. He figured he'd find it on the internet somehow or at least try as best he could.

"So, Chris" The cop cleared his throat. "Your friend, Mío, is still in foster care, but he doesn't have any criminal records yet, and that is a very good sign. I'm sure he's okay."

Chris's spirits fell when the officer told him Mío was still in foster care.

"Thank you, so much, sir."

"No problem, let me walk you out"

Chris allowed the officer to lead him out of the station.

✁✃✁✃✁✃

When Chris got home, he immediately ran to his room to retrieve his laptop. No matter how illegal it was, he was gonna find Mío some way or another. He had to.

Chris wasn't really an expert at technology, so he just typed Mío's name into the google search bar. It was better than nothing, and a pretty solid start.

As soon as she clicked on images, he found the same picture of Mío at the home, but another one below that, where Mío looked much older. Chris clicked on it and found that it was taken two years ago under the name of some organization called AdoptUSkids2day. Chris clicked on the link and saw something like a yearbook for this organization. He found another picture of Mío with what must have been his foster family, and under it, a quote in italics read "you can find great foster care here, just like I did!"

Mío was smiling next to a tall, skinny man and a short plump woman with long blonde hair. Next to Mío was a little girl, maybe five, with curly red hair pulled into pigtails. At Least Mío looked like he had been in a happy home then, but Chris still didn't know where he was today.

Chris searched his name up in the organization, but he couldn't find any pictures that were taken recently. They were all from 2 years ago, so Chris decided to give google another go, but he found the same results. He figured he would have to download one of those creepy extensions meant for stalking people, but he really didn't want to do that. It was a last resort.

Chris was about to try again, but he heard keys jingling in the door and quickly closed out his many tabs and shut his computer, just in time as his mom came in.

"Hi, honey, feeling better?" She asked him.

"A little," Chris lied. He was feeling fine physically, just shaken up.

"That's good to hear" His mom replied, emptying the groceries into the fridge. Chris watched her, wondering if he should tell her about Mío. Maybe she could help.

Whatever, she wouldn't want to hear about foster care again. Chris sat on the couch and figured he would have to continue his search for Mío another time.