GOD FORMULA

06 Dog Days

"Bloody scoundrel! Is it not enough that I am feeding a loser like you!" Mindy Shepherd snarled at her son. "Now you have demands?"

Noah clenched his jaw to suppress his anger. He was eighteen, tall, and athletic with rather good looks. However, in his worn-out, greased clothes, he looked like a house servant. "Like I said, it is for Lia…"

Mindy waved a dismissive arm as if the name was cursed. "Nonsense! Derp's birthday is coming around, and we're planning a surprise party! Do you think it is cheap to organize one in Area G? My husband is a government bureaucrat. He has a reputation to uphold!"

"Tell him, Mom!" Derp chimed in from a safe corner. "Noah's never had a birthday party, so he thinks I can do without one! He wants money to spoil his diva sister!"

Noah cast a spiteful glance at Derp, his rotund foster brother. The boy ate like a hippo and also looked and brayed like one. The young man suppressed the immediate urge to punch the fatso in the face.

"Lia's critical care medicine is running low," Noah said calmly to his mother. "I need only fifty dollars for a refill."

"Fifty dollars?! Why don't you sell my kidneys, too? You won't get a penny from me!"

The young man took a step back in frustration. What kind of monster family were they? Splurging thousands of dollars on birthday parties was okay, but a fifty for life-saving essentials was too much? The answer was quite simple.

Mindy wasn't really Noah's parent in the first place. The Shepherd family adopted him when he was ten. However, they didn't accept him out of the goodness of their hearts.

Eight years ago, because of activism by human rights organizations, the government instituted many changes. The Mayor of Concord City announced cushy government jobs, tax cuts, and allowances for families who adopted orphans from the local orphanages.

Mindy and her husband, Henry, greedily jumped at the opportunity. They took in a healthy-looking kid and his little sister into their family. They never intended to nurture and raise the kids, but to use them as house servants.

Growing up in the Shepherd household, Noah and Lia were overworked like mules. Lia, now sixteen, developed a mysterious chronic illness called Mortisimia. There was no medical cure, and she needed critical medicine just to stay alive.

"Fifty dollars…" Mindy repeated, eyeing the girl cowering in the corner. "I don't give a flying rat's ass about that sickly thing you call a sister! Tell her to stop making excuses about her health! If she doesn't continue doing household work, I'll kick her out onto the streets!"

"You will do no such thing!" Noah retorted bitterly. "She is my sister and your legal daughter! You're supposed to provide her with healthcare! Doesn't the government provide allowances for foster kids?"

Henry Shepherd had a cushy government job, thanks to the adoption scheme he chose eight years ago. Husband, wife, and son led luxurious lives. However, they wouldn't spare a coin to fulfill the needs of their foster children.

While Mindy gritted her teeth at Noah's rebellion, Henry walked in with a confused look on his face. "What's going on?"

Derp scoffed and filled his father's ears with lies. "Noah is harassing Mom like usual. He's trying to extort money to pamper his diva sister."

Henry didn't think twice before landing a backhanded slap across Noah's face.

"Just who do you think you are, bastard!" the man raged. "After all the sacrifices we have made for you, is this your payback? You ungrateful piece of shit! We won't pay for this orphan bitch's medicine anymore! She can die for all we care! Good riddance!"

While Noah stood frozen with a hand over his cheek, Mindy eyed Lia with disgust. The girl was running a fever, trembling like a leaf in the corner. "If you don't remove that diseased thing from my eyesight right now, I'll kick both of you out of the house!"

"Go to the Academy, you loser!" Derp chimed in with a smirk. "It's your last week, and obviously you won't get any jobs! But you'll be old enough to beg on the streets!"

Noah gritted his teeth in anger but returned to his room before he could explode. The last thing he needed was to be kicked out while Lia was in a critical condition. The poor girl whimpered and could barely walk.

Noah and his sister didn't really have bedrooms. They slept under a staircase in the garage on discarded, moldy mattresses. The garage reeked of putrid gasoline fumes, which only worsened Lia's condition.

Mindy slid a plate of stale leftovers under the door daily. The only times Noah was allowed inside the Shepherd mansion were when he cleaned, did the dishes, and ran errands.

"Don't worry, Lia. I'll find a way to pay for the medicine."

The little girl had a coughing fit, and it took her minutes to calm down. Finally, she nodded and cupped her brother's face affectionately to indicate she was okay. "Don't press yourself too hard, Noah… Take care of your own health," she murmured, twinkling her moist doe eyes at him.

Lia was sixteen and pretty, but was petite and skinny, mainly because of her genetic disease, Mortisimia. The doctor said she didn't have long to live, but her brother kept that information secret from Lia.

If the girl realized death was inevitable, she'd lose the will to live her remaining days. Noah intended to find a cure by any means possible.