I woke up to the sound of voices in the morning. Everyone else was already awake except me.

I turned my eyes towards the direction of the sounds. They were coming from the kitchen.

Ahmet said, "I should go and wake up Taşkın."

When he left the kitchen, we made eye contact.

"I was just coming to wake you up. Go wash your face and hands, and come to the kitchen for breakfast."

"Okay."

After washing my face and hands, I went to the kitchen. They were all gathered around the table waiting for me. They hadn't started breakfast yet.

They said good morning.

I smiled and nodded.

There weren't many different dishes, which I didn't expect anyway. At least it was better than the meals I usually got.

I sat in the chair designated for me, and we began to eat breakfast.

Ahmet was on my mind last night. He had told me his story, but he didn't mention his age.

I decided to ask.

"Ahmet, how old are you?"

He stopped just as he was about to take a bite of bread and turned to me.

"I'm fourteen."

"Let's leave the age talk and get to more important matters."

"If you remember, I told you that you can't just sit around in this house doing nothing."

"Kerem has an idea about this."

He directed the conversation to Kerem and resumed eating his bread.

I turned to Kerem and waited for him to speak.

"Yes, Taşkın, as you might recall, I had a tough time at school."

"Because of that, I decided to improve myself and found a gym. They also teach many martial arts there."

"Of course, I had no money and was too shy to ask the gym owner to let me in occasionally."

"I kept hanging around in front of the gym until the owner noticed and called me over."

"Why do you keep hanging around in front of the gym?"

"N-nothing, just passing by."

"Do you want to work out?"

When he asked this, I got very excited but tried not to show it.

"Y-yes, but I don't have any money."

The gym owner didn't say anything for a while.

Then he started talking again.

"Look, as you can see, the gym is big, and I can't handle all the work alone. If you want, you can work here, clean the gym, and exercise in your free time."

"O-okay, sir, I'll clean."

I had given such an answer out of excitement. The gym owner laughed at my state.

Then he took me to the gym and showed me around. He also explained the tasks I was responsible for.

"So, Taşkın, the reason I'm telling you this is..."

He took a sip of tea and continued.

"I can't handle all the work alone. If you want, you can work at the gym too. I'll talk to the owner. You're young, but the tasks aren't heavy. You can handle it. Plus, you'll get to work out. It'll be very beneficial for you as you grow up."

Accept it, Taşkın. You know you need to get stronger.

"Alright. I accept."

"Great, then we'll leave together after breakfast and head to the gym."

"Okay."

Now that I think about it, I was the youngest member of the group and had just joined them. However, they never discriminated against me and treated me with kindness.

Taşkın's face turned sad as he thought about this. Not long ago, he was chained up like a dog. Now, he had friends and was having breakfast with them. He felt emotional. He was smiling, but tears were streaming down his face involuntarily.

The kids panicked when they saw Taşkın like this.

"What happened? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" They bombarded Taşkın with questions.

Finally, Taşkın pulled himself together and answered.

"I'm-I'm fine. It's just that I've never had breakfast before."

The kids' faces fell at this response. They were saddened. They wanted to ask Taşkın many questions, but they knew they wouldn't get any answers.

Ahmet spoke up.

"Don't be sad, Taşkın. You're with us now. We don't know what you've been through, but you can be sure you'll experience good things from now on."

I nodded. I wiped my eyes and continued eating breakfast.

I had questions for Ahmet and Cengiz. They must be working somewhere too. I was curious about where they worked.

I decided to ask them in the evening.

After finishing breakfast, we cleaned up the table together and left the house.

Cengiz and Ahmet went their separate ways and wished us good luck.

Kerem and I headed to the gym.

While walking, I asked Kerem a few questions.

"Ahmet told me to be careful around here and not to walk around alone, but he went off alone. Will he be okay?"

Kerem looked at me.

"When you get to know Ahmet, you'll understand that he can defend himself comfortably. Even if he gets into trouble, he knows the area very well. He can easily escape. You don't need to worry about him."

Then I thought of Cengiz.

"What about Cengiz? Will he be okay?"

"Taşkın, when Cengiz ran away from home, he slept on the streets for a while. He didn't start living with us immediately."

"In fact, he only told you a small part of his story. There's a lot more he hasn't shared with you."

"I could tell you, but it wouldn't be right."

"If Cengiz ever wants to tell you himself, he will."

"I understand... What kind of person is the gym owner?"

"His name is Adem and... Well, we haven't had any problems with him so far. We even joke around sometimes. You'll probably like him too."

"Are there other people besides Adem? I mean, other staff? You mentioned martial arts, so there must be instructors, right?"

"In fact, there's only one instructor. That's Coach Özkan."

"What martial arts does he know?"

"I don't know, I never asked, but he must know many martial arts. Honestly, I'm a bit intimidated by him. He has a very stern face. Plus, no one knows what he used to do."

"Didn't you ask the gym owner?"

"He doesn't know either, or if he does, he hasn't told me. From what he told me, he found Özkan injured on the street one night and brought him to the gym to treat him. He's been working at the gym since then."

"I think there's more to the story, but I'm not interested. It doesn't concern me."

"I see."

The man described by my new friend seemed interesting.

...

"Is the gym far from here?"

"Not very, we're almost there."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the gym. Kerem introduced me to the gym owner, Adem, and asked if I could work there.

"Hello, Adem."

"Welcome, Kerem. Who's your friend?"

"His name is Taşkın. Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Can Taşkın work here too? The gym is big, and it's hard to manage everything. I can handle it, but it takes a long time to finish all the tasks. With Taşkın, we'll get things done faster. Yes, he's a bit young, but he's a sturdy kid."

"Do you trust this kid? I haven't seen him with you before."

"I trust him."

...

"Alright, Kerem. He can work here. You teach him what he needs to do."

Adem came up to me and extended his hand.

"Congratulations, Taşkın."

"Thank you."

I shook his outstretched hand.

"Kerem, I have to go. I have a few things to take care of. Good luck to you."

"Alright. Goodbye."

After Adem left, Kerem turned to me.

"Taşkın, I told him I trust you, but I don't fully trust you yet. We've only known each other for a day. Please don't disappoint me."

That bastard's starting to get on my nerves.

Milaz, shut up.

"Thank you, Kerem. Don't worry, I'll do my best."

"Okay, then let me explain the tasks you need to do. There's not much to do. We'll just clean the gym at regular intervals. That's the easy part. The other task is to show the correct movements to the people who come here to exercise. I don't think you know any of the movements. I'll teach you everything, and when people ask, you can explain them properly."

"Alright."