All My Tomorrows Read Online Free PDF

will be to do things like you did for Teddy Hansen. It must make you feel good to help somebody like Teddy.”
    Justin smiled and placed his hand over his heart. “Yes, son. It makes me feel good right here.”
    In a small, dingy flat in a run-down tenement house on Houston Street near downtown Manhattan, Gerald and Delia Mitchell sat down to supper with their seven children, who ranged in age from the thirteen-year-old identical twin girls to their ten-month-old baby boy. The meals were meager, like all the other meals hadbeen in the Mitchell household for some time.
    While they were eating, Gerald ran his gaze over the faces of his children. “Your mother and I have something to tell you. When we went shopping today, we also went to Dr. Baldwin’s office. Dr. Baldwin told us that your mother is going to have a baby in October.”
    The eyes of all the older children were silently fixed on their father, then swung to their mother. Delia Mitchell was little more than thirty years old but looked more like fifty. Her skin was pallid and her thin, lifeless brown hair—streaked with gray—was pulled back in a tight bun on the nape of her neck. She was nothing but skin and bones, except for the small roundness of her middle. A tired sadness pinched her face as she met the dull eyes of her older children and a weary sigh escaped her lips. She looked down at the table, assessing the scanty meal she had put there for her family. And now, there was another one on the way.
Gerald is right. We must let the twins go and find a place for themselves. But how am I ever going to part with them? They’re my firstborn and have a special place in my heart. But they’ll be better off, and at least maybe they’ll have a better chance in life. But I’ll miss them so.
    Gerald’s voice was tight as he said, “Mama and I had a little talk on the way home from the doctor’s office. We’re hardly able to keep enough food on the table and clothes on ourselves and you children. As you know, I’m working two jobs. I can’t work three. So … Donna and Deena, since you are the oldest, you are going to have to move out. We don’t like to have to do this, but there isn’t any choice.”
    Stunned beyond words, the twins stared at each other as though looking in a mirror. The blood drained from their faces. Both were seized by an icy, unreasoning fear.
    Finally Donna found her voice. “Wh-where are we supposedto go? We’re only th-thirteen years old and still in school. Papa, please let us stay here with you and Mama.”
    Tears filled the eyes of both girls as they stared at their father.
    Gerald cleared his throat shakily. “We simply can’t keep you anymore. There are thousands of children who live on the streets downtown. Some of them do odd jobs for businesses, and others sell different items provided by distributors, such as wooden matches and toothpicks. Others do quite well at begging. They sleep in all kinds of makeshift shelters. Certainly you two are old enough to take care of yourselves as the other teenagers do.”
    Deena set her tear-filled eyes on her mother. “Mama, is this what you want, too? Who’s going to help you with the children? You can barely get out of bed some days because you are so weak.”
    “I know,” Delia replied in a whisper. “I’ll just have to do the best I can. Please, girls, look at this as an opportunity. Maybe somehow you can better yourselves. You—” A sob clogged her throat, and she began to cough uncontrollably.
    Gerald’s face bunched in momentary displeasure. He set hard eyes on Deena. “Now look what you’ve done. You and Donna will do as you’re told, and no sass from either of you. Our situation is desperate. You will have to leave tomorrow morning.”
    The twins looked at each other, panic tearing at their hearts.
    Deena wiped tears from her cheeks and set her gaze on her father. “Why so soon, Papa? The baby won’t be born for another seven months.”
    Gerald’s anger