"Marijé Brian, a local thug in Blüdhaven. Unemployed, with no fixed address."
Dick recalled the records he had looked up at the Police Station that morning and slowly explained them to Miaomiao.
"He was an orphan. Both parents were dead, and he had no other relatives, so he was sent to the Orphanage. He was fairly good-looking and healthy. He was adopted twice, but returned both times. Both families gave the same reasons: 'Stubborn, irritable, a habitual liar, prone to violence, with obvious psychological issues.' After that, no one wanted to adopt him."
A child returned twice, for reasons like those, was bound to make prospective adoptive families more cautious and hesitant. And Blüdhaven never lacked orphans; families willing and qualified to adopt were the scarce ones. After considering their options, most ordinary people would naturally lean toward the easier choice.
According to the records, Brian grew increasingly obsessive after being adopted and returned twice. He repeatedly argued and fought with other children, tried to escape the orphanage, and befriended some gang members outside. Finally, when Brian was fourteen, he managed to escape with their help.
He was free.
Unfortunately, the world of "freedom" was nowhere near as wonderful as he had imagined.
A half-grown child with no steady income, no home, and no protector was a signal in himself. If he did not want to be treated as a lamb for the slaughter, something that could be cashed in for profit at any moment, he had to find a way to make himself worth something.
Brian had no particular skills. After leaving the orphanage, he could only become a bottom-rung thug in Blüdhaven's gangs. Running errands, keeping watch, stealing, fighting, transporting illegal drugs...
Whatever others needed him to do, he had to do it, earning the gang's protection in