There was a fire mom and dad were asleep and Jonah my brother was in his room also sound asleep I was out with friends and by the time I got back everything was burnt to the point of no recognition. I hopped from foster home to foster home no family wanted me they said I was too problematic and short-fused. For years I had used my trauma as an excuse to lash out at people and do whatever I wanted and after 8 years in the system on my eighteenth birthday, I was thrown on the streets to fend for myself with no food water, or friends just myself and my thoughts,” Why couldn’t I just be a good kid? Why didn’t someone choose me? Am I not good enough to be loved?” These thoughts flooded my mind making me feel worthless but most of all I was scared. Alone and afraid it was the middle of December so the snow was fresh, my nose was bright red and my fingers and toes were numb I almost thought they were going to fall off. At this point, I decided that finding a homeless shelter or someplace warm was my best bet because begging for spare change with a cardboard sign outside a McDonald’s drive-through wasn’t going to get a roof over my head. A local high school had set up a food drive in their gym when I arrived there they had hot soup and non-perishable foods, that soup was the first hot food I’d had since I left the orphanage, for some reason drinking something hot on a brumous day such as today just makes it that much better. while trying to spend as much time in the warm gym as a middle-aged man who looks to be in his mid-forties with the shiniest bald head you've ever seen walks up to me he says “Hi I’m Dan It's nice to meet you but if you don’t mind me asking aren’t you a little young to be alone on the streets? Do you have any friends or family to stay with?” I responded with “Well orphans don't really have a lot of that do they.” His eyes widened almost like he just told an orphan to go back to his family. After a couple of moments, he says “Look son you're too young to be living out in the streets alone if you want I have a spare room in my house that you can stay in for a while or just until you can get back on your feet.” At first, I thought it was a joke. I mean who would willingly take in a homeless guy in their home but stood there straight-faced waiting for my response? Eventually, I agreed and after the gym had closed and everyone had gone home he showed me to his car an all-black 2013 Nissan Altima that you would think was fresh from the dealer the way the insides were spotless not one water bottle, receipt, or candy wrapper in sight I thought to myself “This guys a neat freak! I wonder what his house looks like?” But when we got there it looked normal like a little bit of trash on the floor and a couple of dishes in the sink almost like he kept his car clean to keep up appearances. He showed me where I would be staying. It was a pretty spacious room, not something you would just let some stranger walk in and make it their new HQ. After a couple of moments of unpacking, I told him my story and why I was on the streets. He gave me his condolences then he asked a question “how do you feel about being a mechanic?” At first, I was shocked. I mean a mechanic? The career never crossed my mind. Before I could answer he says “ I’ve got a friend, Hector who’s a bit under-staffed right now and I think you should give it a try.” I said yes almost right away because you don’t get an opportunity like this every day. I started working with Hector on the weekdays and had the weekends off I would spend that time with Dan. We would go out on walks or out to eat and on holidays we went on road trips. And for the first time since that fire, I felt genuinely happy.