The place looked like monsters lived there. Half of the shingles on the roof were a different color than the rest. The siding on the massive place had been sanded down to the bone by the wind, and some of the boards needed replacing. The front porch was caving in and when he leaned up a little, he could see that the front yard was a jungle of green that needed to be clipped, or better yet, burned. For that matter, the whole place should be torn down. “You can’t be serious!” He turned to the pretty blonde woman he’d come to know only as Lilly. She’d shown up at the boys’ home a few weeks ago. At first, all the guys had whistled at her and made crude comments. All of them, except Marcus. Maybe that’s why she’d taken an interest in him at first. She’d asked Mr. Everette, the head of New Hope Boys’ Home, if she could meet with him. It had been just over a year since his mother had dropped him off at the front door of the home for troubled boys.
