I told her I had just moved.She told me she hoped I would love it here.
As soon as we got to the bus stop, she ordered me to put everything down on the bench.I obeyed, and watched her approach an elderly couple to ask them something about bus schedules.I did not intend to, but I heard their back-and-forth conversation.She wouldn’t be catching any buses in the near future.
After a few moments, she came back to me and the bags.The words simply slipped.
“I can give you a ride, Miss Amara.”And why wouldn’t I?
Her face lit up, but she immediately focused her eyes on mine.
“I’m grateful, honey.But are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I have absolutely nowhere to be,” I unraveled.
And maybe it was my tone, maybe it was how straightforward and certain I sounded, maybe she saw right through me.She kept her eyes fixed on mine, and it was as if her mind had made a decision.
Later, I realized it had been the decision to open her arms to me.She decided to make me her companion.
“Well, then we’ll take a quick stop on the way!”she said, smiling and gesturing for me to lead us to the car.
“Now, honey,” Miss Amara ordered me around, but I was starting to like her company like that.“Please bring the bigger bags, because my arms have already done their workout of the day.”
I grabbed all the stuff crammed into the trunk of the car and quickened my pace to follow her.For such a small woman, she definitely had animated legs.
She tore off some branches of pink flowers that were leaning against the wall and opened the big gate next to them, which wasn’t locked, nor did it seem to have a functional lock.
“Is this your place, Miss Amara?”I asked her.
“Ah!”She giggled.“No, not mine, Miles.”
Suddenly, I asked myself if I should be entering this stranger’s farm with another stranger I’d just met.
As we walked in, I could smell freshly cut grass and the intense scent of cake baking, probably coming from an oven somewhere.Maybe this was a hotel, with a restaurant that would make you want to follow the smell, like in a cartoon.
We stepped inside the enormous house — or hotel?Who knew — through a wooden door at the right corner of the building’s façade.Not seeming to be the main door.Seeming more like a suspicious kind of walk-in to somewhere that wasn’t yours.
Okay.
I was starting to suspect the whole thing.
We pass through a corridor with a few closed doors.I peeked through one that was slightly open and saw a boy standing on one leg, stretching it as he seemed to struggle to maintain his balance.Next to him was a man in a white coat.Maybe a doctor?
Was this a hospital?
“So, whose place is this, Miss Amara?”I asked, still following her.She never stopped walking, and as the wall ended and we turned left, we stepped out into the huge garden.It had about 50 people scattered around, who seemed to be of all ages.Some were in groups, others alone.I saw smiles, concentration over cards, and heard laughter and chatter.
Miss Amara stretched her arm toward the view and held her words for a few seconds.
“It’s all of ours,” she answered.
“Oh!Come with me!”Miss Amara ordered enthusiastically.“Ella, honey!”she shouted.
I looked in the direction her steps were taking her and followed very slowly behind, as if something told me to maybe slow down into this moment.Toward a girl lying in the grass, leaning against the trunk of a tree, wearing the brightest smile, and with no shoes on.She got up to give Miss Amara a hug, and the sun hugged her golden hair simultaneously.
Chapter 5
Ella
September 7th, 1998
