Chapter Seven

Her phone rang for hours but she didn’t have it in her to pick up the call. It was beginning to irritate Feena who laid on their rug sprawled out like a specimen to be used for anatomy. She had all manner of books opened up around her waiting for her to just sneak a peek at them. So much for getting ready for an exam.

“Shasha, I swear if you don’t pick up that phone I’m going to shove it in the toilet!” She held a book to her ears which did little to reduce the noise.

“That’d be a favor”, she sat and sipped coffee, while reading the Writers Magazine at their makeshift two-seater dining table which faced their kitchenette. 

Feena growled in frustration. Keisha savored the moment. And that was a rare occasion. Feena always rode on her silence to get things done her way.

The call came in again and Feena had had it. She literally lept to take it.

“Hi. This is Feena, Keisha’s best friend. Take a hint and stop blowing our heads off with your incessant-“ she paused to verify the word in an open dictionary on the floor.

“Yes, your incessant, aggravating calls!”  She cut the line and slumped back down on the floor.

“Seems you finally found use for that word”, Keisha teased without flexing a muscle to even smile. All she did was sip and read.

“What are you doing with that magazine anyway? I thought you said you were done with writing ?”

“Writing not reading,” she replied, her eyes glued to its pages.

“Nice try,” she turned facing the other way from her. 

The phone still rang and now even she was peeved. She picked up the phone without seeing who it was.

“Kayden,” she said .

“So you knew it was me,” she replied in a hardy tone.

“It’s that time of year, isn’t it? So of course I knew. But I’m wondering why you called especially since you just told the whole world you had nothing to do with me”

“Here we go again. We’ll talk about that later. But for now Sally is calling for a family meeting and said to bring you”

“…”

“Keisha? Are you there?”

“I think you should come with me. I could pick you up from your end in the morning, if you want.”

“What does she want from me now? I thought she made herself clear three years ago?”

“… Keisha, I’m not going to get in the middle of you and Sally. You can vent all you want when you meet her. So, are you going or not? ”

“….”

“I’ll be at your door, six in the morning. You have now till then to decide. It’s half a day’s journey so I don’t want you stalling. And try to look good if you’re going to make your statement to her. You don’t want her thinking you got miserable after you left”, and she hung up. She still remained on the phone, speechless. The raging words she wished she could spill had all congealed over time in her head but now, the resentment she felt seemed to have vaporized them into sighs.

She slowly put the phone down and tried to think. What should she expect this time? A reprimand? A slap? An open criticism? She was used to all of those. She was brought up with them. What could be new now? She would never have thought of going back to that house but what she heard from the hospital on her last visit got her feeling a bit humane.

“Learn to take care of yourself, unless you want to give up without a fight. But I think you have what it takes to push,” she recalled Dr. Keller’s words. 

Almost immediately, the other thoughts resurfaced. She’s always had that battle. And she always won against herself. A part of her believed she could come out of the mess she was in, another part did not. Her next course would determine if she listened to the other thoughts or not. She got up and dressed herself up in a long white sleeveless dress. She wore that colour to express what she felt inside, that is, wishing to be pure like that colour. But who can see through her like she wishes to be seen by breaking through that barrier she had set to keep people out? This was why she never won her mind battle. She longed for one thing but blocked it from coming to her. 

With such a scorching sun she advised herself to pick up her usual black floppy hat which she chose over all the beautiful colors she was offered. Feena asked her the reason for that choice and just got her answer after asking. She surely likes to hide in the dark, she thought and they left the shop.

Keisha had half a day to decide on going to The Haven as they usually called it, and to get a mental preparation if she was really going.

“I’m leaving. Don’t forget to lock up,” she told Feena who appeared to be sleeping. 

“Mmm… whatever”, she wrapped her arms around the throw pillow from their double couch and arched herself like a baby on  the floor.

“Feena. We just had new neighbors. I don’t think it’s safe to assume they’re not like us. And you know us,” she warned.

“Okay okay okay. Get the hell out and let me lock up,” she sprang up from the floor, finally awake with her eyes rolling up and down. 

Aiden and Albie played Lego together in front of their apartment with their new friend, Darren. Ms. Morrey was indoors as usual, baking some cakes for the kids so they could have something to snack on. Everyone loved her for that especially. And of course, her piousness. One thing Keisha knew she fell short of and for that, never wanted to have anything to do with her. She was in everyone’s business around the block but she took a special “liking” to Keisha and her roommate. Nagging at their door almost every time must have built some sort of peculiar relationship between them. Ms Morrey reminded her so much of the life she was introduced to as a child and that didn’t give her the usual nostalgia everyone would have, it rather made her more embittered.

She and Feena have had their times with her and none of them was pleasant, especially on their side. If she was grateful for anything, it’d be the fact that she’d never be drafted by her as a babysitter. Being a retired nurse, from time to time, she’d pay visits to the hospital to help out after she’s sent away the kids for school. It’s always advised to keep the bones busy, she always thought to herself. As a result, she’d entrust her little ones to her neighbors on days she ran late. It would have been a headache if she never repaid their kindness with some of her tasty cakes and cookies.

Keisha walked past their apartment without saying as much as a word to her. Aiden and his sister Albie loved to see her. These twins thought she was pretty, although she hardly smiled at them. Ms Morrey would not have realized if she hadn’t heard the kids giggle.

“It’s the pretty Miss, again”, Albie whispered and Aiden replied with dreamy eyes locked on the young lady. 

“She’s my aunt,” Darren interrupted, putting a piece on his Lego house. 

“Liar. You just got here. How do you know her?” Aiden countered. Feeling like their new fellow was going to snatch their crush away. The old nurse followed the kids’ gaze from the window and saw her. She immediately recalled their most recent episodes but after spending several times with Naomi she decided that violence or aggression was not the answer.

“Oh Lord, help me be wise about this. I think my mouth has gotten me into enough trouble with this young lady already”. She stepped out of the door.

“Young lady” and it was as if she expected it, she paused and turned to face the older lady with smarted eyes. A closer look at her was a reward for the little kids. They saw her round hazel eyes, her well groomed thick eye brows, her flawless tanned skin and her beautiful slender lips. Almost reaching puberty, Aiden’s eyes would have travelled down her body if his grandmother hadn’t yanked him from his thoughts.

“You three, wait inside. I need to speak with this Miss alone”. She didn’t have to say it twice. That was the unspoken advice every child needed to have: if a black old lady asked you to do something, it wouldn’t be a request but an order. 

Darren also had a chance to get a closer look too. Perhaps he could agree with his friends why they were so enamored with her.

Disappointed about their brief encounter, the kids obeyed and hesitantly got into their apartment which was on the same floor they were. However, they couldn’t help but sneak a peek through their windows. The two women stood at the porch alone. Keisha wondered what her crime was this time. Ms. Morrey saw how the words she had meant to say slowly disappear and now, all she felt was a genuine concern.

“How are you?” She wasn’t expecting that question, given her previous experiences with her. 

“I’m … fine, I guess ?” She still wasn’t sure she was having this conversation with her. Ms Morrey studied her and saw she didn’t hold a bag or anything formal. She must be taking a stroll, she thought.

“Are you hungry? I have some baked chicken pieces. I prepared it for a family time with the kids but I’ll like for you to have some.” 

Now that was very strange and Ms Morrey saw it in her eyes and hesitance. 

“Thank you, Ms but I think I’ll pass”, she stepped back a bit. 

She wondered what had changed. Was it a test? Or there’s another news about her spreading around town? Southern Street was small enough for news to spread like wildfire. 

At this point, Ms Morrey knew it wasn’t time.

“Thanks for the concern but if there’s nothing more, I’ll like to leave”, Keisha said, not sure if that would snap the old lady into her usual self. 

“That will be all”, she smiled and the young miss, unsure if this was happening or not,  took short hesitant steps down the stairs. Feena would be enrapt if she learned about this. 

Ms Morrey’s brief encounter did a lot to her course afterwards. She stepped out not sure where she was going to go strolling but two minutes with the old nurse got her feeling like wanting to be good and staying out of trouble. She sauntered off and found herself heading towards the beach again. It was roughly a mile away from the busyness of the neighborhood. 

She always thought that if she had known about it sooner perhaps she would have been much better now. The fact is, it had nothing extraordinary. It was just the endearingness it made her feel. The voice of the wind, the gaze from the sun, the welcome from the colors. It felt like everything made her feel at home- something she thought she’d never feel. The warmth she got from this place got her thinking everything was on her side. Even if the sun was at its highest or lowest, she knew she could be assured of two things: warmth and light. 

She sat at the shore, on the cushioned beach sand crossing her legs and facing the sun before her. Unlike her first visit there, she felt a bit lighter. She partly blamed the locket which was around her neck then which she tossed into the sea. She resented it for being a symbol of bondage, her fears and disappointments. A gift which was supposed to be a symbol of love, now became that of resentment. 

She breathed a lot easier and did not allow her other thoughts to judge her for that. She was with the sun and that’s all she cared about. The warmth filled her face and made her face flush for the first time in years. That was major and she wasn’t going to let go of that experience.

****

Some distance away from the shore, where the summer huts were built, Mitchel perched his easel stand deep in the sand. He had a tree stump beside him on which he placed his paint, brushes and pallet. As an ex-con he figured he could put his talents to good use if no one was going to hire him. His new journey found him a great friend in Mr. Todd, who was also his youth pastor. What started as a normal bible discussion would give him a project that would keep him busy for weeks, possibly months. 

“The devil finds work for the idle man”, Todd told him some time ago. Getting acquainted with the devil for most part of his life made him know what he wasn’t missing. 

He measured his canvas in squares and just began to brush strokes on the board lightly but skilfully. He began with pale tints of brown on the whole surface and progressed to lighter shades at the base. He took a pinch of white and blue and smeared some colour just above the brown base, highlighting some deeper shades of blues to render the ocean. He finally coursed into the painting of the sun. It was hard to not notice it was a shining sun but the second lesson today’s painting was showing him was, the sun needed to shine through something to be appreciated. But how was he going to depict that in his painting when the sun stood unbothered in the vast sky? No clouds interfered with it. It stood alone and somehow, though someone might describe it as a happy sun, he felt lonely for the sun. Having so much to give but no one to share it with and to think it was burning to give off its light. How often people sacrifice for people but it all goes to naught.

His red and yellow paint did justice to the sun on his now colorful canvas but the disappointment of what he had discovered from the sun got him thinking and thinking hard. At the end of the day, he’s supposed to paint what he’s learned and not necessarily what is clearly visible for everyone to see. Before he got any ideas, he spotted the perfect transmitting medium, the perfect cloud through which he saw the sun shine.

“I’m sorry for this, Big G”, he whispered a prayer. He fluttered his brush in the white paint and did same for the black. He wondered if he needed some kind of permit for this but he risked it. What lingered in his thought longer was how he was going to depict this cloud. This breathing, walking, talking cloud.

---