The door shut behind us in the hallway.
"I'm taking you to your room. You're going to change there and give me your old clothes. Don't need anything holding you back now. Do you understand? I'm sure you'll appreciate the change, they keep you boys very well fed and clothed here, much better than a lot of gentlemen I know in newer Roanoke. Of course, that's just an old man's opinion, and I'm sure you don't really care about an old man, do you? Of course not, you don't even know what I'm talking about. At any rate, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here, in fact, I hope you do, because you'll be here a long time. There's a lot for you boys to learn. How to play with your new toys. Quite a toy, quite a toy. Not so sure it makes me comfortable seeing children running around with those things attached. Nothing anyone can about that now, is there?" We approached an elevator. I had been staring at the shiny black walls of the hallway, they were so smooth. I'd never seen anything like that. I reached out my hand.

"Cleaning ladies won't take kindly to you groping the walls. Keep your hands to yourself. Step quick! The elevator won't wait for you." I stumbled over the old man's feet into the elevator.
"Oh young man, so clumsy. Hope you won't be another mistake here. We don't need anymore mistakes. One is enough. Two is trouble. One is an anomoly. Two begins evidence to the contrary. I would like to keep my job here. No need for mistakes. Keep a move on, child. Let's go." He started quickly down the new hallway. These walls were a muted green. The old man for the next few moments kept his thoughts to himself. He was chewing on his lip. I was looking all around. There were doors every few feet, all painted red with a gold letter and a gold number printed on each. The old man abruptly stopped and turned in front of one of the doors.

"But despite that, child, we're here. Room 2C, that's yours. Here's the key, get in, change and come out with your old clothes. Don't bother looking around, you'll have plenty of time for that. I'll show you what to do after you get out of those old clothes of yours." The old man dropped the key into my hand, I fumbled with them and almost dropped it. I was terrified of making a mistake. I missed the lock on the first try and heard the old man sigh. I was so anxious to be quick that I slammed the door behind me. There were two sets of bunkbeds, a window and a dressing room. I started to take my clothes off. Something wasn't right. I fumbled around with the shirt over my head for a minute until I realized that I only had one arm. I was overwhelmed with grief. I let out one long sob and sat down. My arm was stuck above my head and my head was underneath my shirt. I couldn't move. I heard the door slam again.
"Oh, child. What have you done. Here." The old man pulled the shirt off of me and lifted me to my feet with my one arm.
"Not long since you've been without an arm? I'll turn around. Take it slow with your trousers."
I thought about how I was going to get them off, and put the new pants on. With only a bit of struggle and a rising sense of desperation was I able to get the new pants on. The shirt was a bit easier.
"Okay."
"All right, child. Let's go."
"There are bunkbeds."
"You'll have roommates shortly."
"Oh."
"Well, you'll have to get used to them. No use fighting it. Now it's time for lunch. You must be hungry."

After lunch, the rest of the day was blurry. The food was better than I'd had at our house. And there was much more of it. I remember eating everything I could. I ate until I felt like I couldn't stand up. I didn't know that I could eat that much. I followed the old man around the rest of the day, he showed me where everything was. Where the washrooms were, I needed to pee. He showed me where the recreation room was, where the nurses office was. He showed me how to use the elevator and how to interpret the color codes of the floors. He told me what floors I was allowed on and which floors I was never to go to unless summoned. My feet were hot and I was tired. I hadn't heard so much talking in my entire life. I had never been in a building for so long before. The walls were making me tired. His voice was making me tired.
"I want to go to sleep."
"I haven't showed you everything you need to see."
"I don't care."
"Neither do I. Follow me. Not much left to see. Johnson said you were strong. Show me."
"All right." I didn't want to. I wanted to go to sleep.

We walked around for a while more, what seemed like hours. I saw more floors and more doors and more signs and hallways. Eventually we stopped in front of a door.
"What door is this?" I decided to seem interested. The old man stared at me like I was stupid. I felt stupid.
"What does it say, child?"
"Two Cee."
"Well then, I suppose you know what door this is."
"Oh." I didn't. He looked at me for a few seconds.
"Here's your key back. Here's a pill. You must take this with a glass of water. Let me in and I'll show you where to find a glass."
"Oh." It was my room.
We went inside and he filled up a glass of water, and I got into the first bed I could.
"Take this and put it in your mouth." He gave me a pill and I put it in my mouth.
"Now, drink this water and swallow it. It will help you sleep. You have a long day ahead of you. Someone will be here to wake you up in the morning. Make sure to answer the door and don't keep them waiting. Everyone here is busy and no one likes to wait. Goodnight."
At that, the man left the room. I was scared. I didn't think I could sleep. I put myself under the covers and stared across the room. Soon a thick blackness fell over me. I wasn't sure if the lights went out or not. But it was warm. And I was asleep.