Beth grinned. She couldn’t blame him for trying to get a bit of extra pork crackling. ‘Deal,’ she said with a nod, then turned and almost collided with Hana, who inhaled sharply.
Concerned she’d stepped on Hana’s toes, Beth apologised—‘I’m so sorry!’—but Hana shook their head and smiled before taking their seat.
After that, Beth scribbled down everyone’s drink order and noted that five bánh mí were required, one with extra pork, and less than fifteen minutes later, everyone had their food and drinks.
Trevor peeked into his bread roll, then caught her eye and saluted. ‘Tell Marge I said you deserve a raise.’
Beth laughed and set about clearing some tables, leaving the group to enjoy their meal.
By the time the lunch rush had died down, Beth was frazzled. Countless diners had come and gone, yet the craft group remained. Their meals had long since been consumed and they were on their second round of hot drinks. And not only that, they’d each pulled out a crafting project—Trevor was embroidering, Flo was knitting, Elsie and Carmen were both crocheting, and Hana—
‘Oh, wow!’
Her arms laden with dishes, Beth leaned over Hana’s shoulder to get a closer a look at their drawing. ‘Gosh, that’s amazing!’ Hana had sketched an incredibly detailed willy wagtail, so lifelike that Beth half-expected it to hop right off the page.
‘Here, join us,’ Trevor insisted, getting to his feet and dragging a chair over from the table closest to theirs. ‘You deserve a quick break.’
She knew she should protest, but she was so in awe of Hana’s talent that the temptation was too great. A few minutes wouldn’t hurt, she supposed.
Leaving the dirty dishes on a nearby table, she sat down beside Hana and turned to them as the others listened to a story Elsie was telling. ‘I’m sorry if I offended you when you came in.’
Hana shook their head, making it clear they hadn’t taken offence, but said nothing to put Beth’s mind at ease and continued drawing.
Glancing around the group, Beth couldn’t help noticing how quiet Hana was compared to the others. It reminded her of the lunchroom at work, how she’d sit silently while everyone made small talk and told funny stories about what they’d done on the weekend. Did Hana feel as alone as Beth had?
Determined to make conversation and let Hana know that Bethsawthem, she nodded at Hana’s sketch. ‘That really is beautiful. Where did you learn to draw like that?’
Hana beamed, though their cheeks took on a rosy hue, giving the impression of being pleased but also embarrassed by the compliment. They glanced down at the drawing and appeared to hesitate.
Worried that she’d somehow managed to offend Hana, Beth rushed to smooth things over. ‘I’m sorry, you don’t need to—’
But Hana held up a finger, asking Beth to wait, then took the notepad that sat on the table in front of them and, after turning to a new page and scrawling a few lines, handed it to Beth.
Intrigued, Beth read what Hana had written:I don’t speak, but I’m happy to communicate this way. Is that okay?
Hana didn’t speak? What did that mean?
Beth covered her confusion by nodding and handing back the notepad. ‘Of course that’s okay.’
Hana wrote a few more lines.I took visual arts in school, but drawing has always come naturally to me.They shrugged, bemused, when Beth looked up again.
‘Well, you’re very talented,’ Beth said, though her curiosity was gnawing at her.
Whycouldn’t Hana speak? Sometimes Beth wishedshecouldn’t speak—she often got tongue-tied or said the wrong thing, just as she had earlier. But shecouldspeak and so she usually felt pressured to perform, to interact and communicate in the same way others did. She thought back to the day she’d met Noah, how she hadn’t been able to joke and laugh and banter in the same way as he and Ellie had done.
She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memory of that moment and how she’d spiralled into a dark place of shame and self-loathing afterwards. And then she thought about how disgustingly self-centred she was being—here was someone who literally couldn’t speak, who’d probably wished a million times that theycouldspeak, yet Beth was sitting here envying them?
Just as Beth managed to get herself under control, thinking she’d done a good job of hiding the depressing and self-judgemental turn her thoughts had taken, Hana reached out, put a hand on Beth’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Such a kind gesture did not bode well for Beth as she fought to keep her emotions in check. Also, how’d Hana get to be so perceptive?
‘I’m sorry,’ Beth said, laughing awkwardly even as her eyes welled. ‘You must think I’m weird.’
Hana studied Beth closely, their expression a mixture of concern and curiosity, but then took their pencil and jotted down a few more words before handing over the notepad.I could say the same.They cocked an eyebrow and gave Beth a meaningful look, as if to say,Are you kidding? I’m the one writing in a notebook!
Beth laughed again, this time with genuine amusement, and Hana grinned widely.
In that moment, something passed between them, an odd yet powerful connection. Beth couldn’t quite figure out why, or what it was, but she felt it all the same.
‘Ooh, a joke?’ Carmen clapped her hands. ‘What are you two laughing about?’
