The room was empty. Apparently his family had went out again immediately. Derrick took a furtive look around the room, then darted across to his bags. He pulled out some clean jeans, a clean pair of boxers, and a clean t-shirt. He went into the bathroom and closed and locked the door, then stripped out of his old rags and put them in a laundry chute on the wall. He grabbed some shampoo and soap and stepped into the shower.
Derrick turned on the hot water and immediately began scrubbing. He cleaned the grime off his face and began scraping his body clean. He washed out his hair and beard, and his body hair was cleaned as well. He was in the shower for well over an hour, cleaning himself as well as he could.
He stepped out of the shower and admired himself in the mirror. His hair fell neatly and cleanly over his shoulders, and his face was clear.
Derrick grabbed a razor and shaved clean his face. He then used a pair of scissors to cut his hair, trimming it down to be only a few inches long all around. He then put on his clothes.
In the mirror, he looked like a normal, modern person—clean jeans and a green t-shirt, with bright red hair sweeping across his forehead above blue eyes, freckles across his nose. Not ugly, but not quite charming.
He opened the door and went back into the suite. His parents were standing there, tapping their feet, and his sister was standing behind them, giggling. Uh-oh, he thought.
"Why did you take so long in the shower, young man?" his father asked angrily. "The rest of us want to shower as well. Just because we decided to adopt you doesn't mean that you can do whatever you like."
"I wanted to get really clean. I fell over in some mud and it wouldn't get out of my hair," Derrick lied. He was aware of his really strong Scottish accent contrasting strongly with his "parents'" American accents. He also became aware of new memories of being adopted by his "parents" from an orphanage. "Anyway, we're on holiday, and we're all supposed to relax. You could calm down and just let me enjoy myself for once."
Derrick realised that his new life was going to be harder than it had been before.