"We're here," Herman called out grumpily as he stepped into the room.
With no choice but to follow, Sapphire braced herself as she too stepped into the apartment.
There was a soft, buttery yellow light coming from a stained glass light fixture above the dining table, spreading its glow around the cozy apartment. The smell of sizzling meat and onions entirely replaced the odd smell from the stairs.
It wasn't bad up here at all, Sapphire thought in a sagging sigh of relief. Clean and homey, the small one-bedroom was filled with floral prints, doilies, and dated furniture. It reminded Sapphire of the typical grandmother's house she had only ever seen in movies and shows.
Pulling her roving eyes back, Sapphire turned and smiled at the woman standing near the door at the stove. The old woman, who was much shorter than Sapphire and wore her bright white hair in a perfect coif of curls, lifted her arms up in a welcoming hug and an ever-warmer smile.
"Oh, it's so good to finally meet you, child," she said, squeezing Sapphire into a soft hug. "The pork chops are almost ready," she said, eyeing Sapphire's empty hands with curiosity.
Sapphire quickly shouldered the bookbag on her back and brought it out in front to hold. "I got the salad and greens in here," she explained, opening the bag so she could see the vegetables.
Delighted, Blanche waved her over to the cutting board by the sink. "Here, darling, you get that started, and I’ll finish up these chops."
"When do you think it will be ready?" Herman's rough voice lightened a bit as he looked hungrily at the food on the stove. "I’ll need to put a sign at the door for them to ring the bell and all."
"Now, don’t rush us," Blanche scolded, shooing him off with the tea towel that had been draped over her shoulder. "I'll call you when it’s ready."
Mumbling something under his breath, Herman slunk back through the stairwell door.
"That man," Blanched huffed with a shake of her head and turned to Sapphire, where she was washing and cutting the greens.
For the first time since entering the apartment, Sapphire noticed the metal cane the woman used. Sapphire turned and peered past the woman to the pork chops on the cast iron skillet and looked back to the woman.
"How about you sit down and set the table, and I’ll finish up the pork chops and the vegetables?"
A tired relief shined in Blanche's bleary blue eyes, and she nodded. "Thank you, that sounds much better." Stiffly, she walked over to the round dining table that separated the kitchen from the living area. "It feels as if I have been running around since the moment I called you."
With full control of the kitchen, Sapphire felt some of her old self come back to her as she finished browning the sides of the pork chops and dicing a few more onions and mushrooms to go on top. She missed cooking. Not her mom, not Houston, and not school; she missed this, the space and the control of cooking her own meals—and maybe her friends, too, she amended with a smile. After only a couple of weeks, she didn't realize how much loneliness was creeping up on her until she started at the coffee shop. Just interacting with Julie and the customers felt like a breath of fresh air to her solitary existence.
"Okay," she called out. "It's ready."
As if waiting just outside the door, waiting for her call, Sapphire heard Herman's footsteps come up the stairwell.
Dinner was surprisingly a lot less awkward than she imagined. Sapphire listened to Blanche happily chat about growing up in another small town on the other side of Stardust Cove and how she met Herman one night going out with friends. Even Herman seemed to smile at the memories, and Sapphire was tempted to take a picture of the rare expression. Her sautéed greens and garlic, along with her simple salad, went off well with the elderly couple, judging by their praise and the lack of leftovers.
While Herman went back down to man the front desk, Sapphire urged Blanche to stay seated as she gathered up the dishes. She was wiping down a plate when they heard the first chest-rattling growls of the engine directly outside.
Chapter nine
Thegrowlsgrewlouder,and Sapphire knew immediately that there was more than one engine. Vibrations seeped in through the floor, unsettling around her heart as she looked at Blanche in silent question.
Was it starting already? Moving toward the large windows at the other end of the apartment in the living area, Sapphire wanted to peek out and see for herself, but Blanche's alarmed voice stopped her.
"No, don't go near the windows, darling," Blanche called out, holding out a pleading hand. Seeing her confusion, Blanche shook her head, and she hurried to the door that led to the stairwell and slid the deadbolt in place. "You're much too pretty for anything like those men to see," she explained as she cut off the overhead light leaving only the dim, yellow glow of the stove light on.
Looking at the locked door, Sapphire thought of Herman downstairs. "What about Herman?"
Blanche waved Sapphire to sit at the dining table where she now sat, clutching the top of her cane. Her face was lined with worry, so unlike the bright expression she had worn throughout dinner. "He’ll be fine," she said softly, looking down at her lace place mat sitting on top of the faded vinyl floral print table cover. "Don't worry about him. He has Bertha with him."
Much too worried to sit, she caught Blanche's gaze and whispered. "Bertha?"
"A sawed-off shotgun, dear."
"Holy shit," she breathed to herself, aware of the nauseating tightness in her stomach.
The constant growling outside that seemed to surround the building lessened suddenly, and Sapphire imagined them turning off one or two of the bikes, but not all of them. There was still a constant thrum of vibration, upsetting the cool night around them and making her chest tighten. Frozen where she stood in the middle of the barely lit living room, she listened.
