by Martha Adele
I can’t help but smile as I watch her eyes widen every time she sees something new. After about twenty minutes of driving, we finally make it out onto an open street with large fields lined with barbed wire fences to keep the cattle in. Trees line the road we turn onto, and the patches of sunlight produce a strobe-light pattern as we drive through the tunnel of dead winter branches hanging overhead.
“I imagine that come springtime, this will be one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen.” Mom gives my hand another squeeze. “Can’t you picture it? The luscious green leaves with whatever flowers bloom, creating a tunnel above us to block out the heat of the sun, but still allows us to see the thick green grass as the cattle graze?”
I nod. “I imagine so, Mom.”
We drive for another minute or so and turn right onto a gravel road or driveway, leading up to Mr. Gohaki’s considerably large house. It is painted a light pastel pink with a gray tin roof. This house has the largest white columns lining their porch and decks that I’ve ever seen.
The moment we pull up to his house, a man hobbles out wearing a long-sleeved button-down shirt, along with a pair of brown worker pants that look as if nothing could cut them, not even a knife.
He makes his way down the stairs as Mom and I exit the cab. “Hello there,” he says to us, “you two must be the Heckmans.”
Mom and I exchange a glance. “Actually,” she corrects him, making her way in for a handshake, “we are the Beckmans. Bonnie and Samuel Beckman.”
She finishes shaking his hand and I follow. His hands are rough like sandpaper and yet plump like plums. “You can call me Sam though.”
“Ah.” He releases my hand and chuckles. “Why, thank you, Sam.” He passes us both and pulls our suitcase out of the trunk of the cab and waves the driver off. “You can go ahead and go. Thank you very much.”
The driver takes off, and Mom and I exchange another glance.
“So …” He carries the suitcase over to us and sets it on the ground. Pointing to my mother’s wrapped-up arm in a sling, he continues. “What happened?”
“Oh, um, I was shot a while back around the time the war first started. I’m fine though.” Mom smiles at the man and chuckles nervously. “I can still work.”
He nods with a smile. “The man who called me just a bit ago told me you are both very hard workers. Is this true?”
We nod.
“Okay then.” Mr. Gohaki smiles again. “Wait here for a moment, and I’ll take you out to your new house. We can talk more there.”
“Thank you,” Mom and I say in unison.
Gohaki walks around the side of his house and whistles a tune that I cannot identify while Mom and I stand in the cold and try not to shiver. It looks like no snow has dropped in a while, but it is still a bit too cold for my liking.
After a minute or two, Gohaki comes around the corner of the house with a small doorless car with eight seats, a front screen, and a red roof and hood. “Come on over. Take a seat and I’ll drive you guys out there.”
I pick up our suitcase and throw it on, ready to get out of the cold. Mom follows and we sit in the seats right behind Gohaki.
Almost immediately, Gohaki takes off and we begin riding down another dirt path. The cold air becomes even colder as it blows with force against my face. Mom must notice the redness of my nose because she takes her free hand and holds it in front of my face as a shield.
“Thanks.” I chuckle as I return the favor and hold my hand in front of her face.
“No problem,” she tells me as we ride with our hands held up like weirdos.
After about half a mile, I see a house arrive on the horizon.
“Is that ours?” I ask him.
The man chuckles. “No. Those are your neighbors. I suggest you go talk to them sometime because they are also your coworkers.”
We continue driving for another mile or so and come upon another house. Before Mom or I could ask if it was ours, Gohaki confirms. “Welcome home.”
We pull up into the driveway of our small house to find that it has an even smaller garage attached to the side. The brown-stoned house seems oddly comforting as I walk my mother and our suitcase to the door.
Mr. Gohaki chuckles as he scoots by us. “Sorry about that.” He pulls out a large set of keys and sorts through them. After listening to the keys clinking against each other much longer than they should have, he unlocks the old wooden door and ushers us in.
This house is actually about the same size as our old one, but so much nicer. The windows are perfectly shaped, no broken glass, and no dirt covering the walls around it.
“Oh, Mr. Gohaki!” Mom scurries into the building and spins around, admiring her new home. “This is wonderful!”
He chuckles. “I’m happy you like it. What about you, Sam?”
I nod and set the bag down. “It is certainly something.” I turn back to him. “Thank you very much, Mr. Gohaki.”
“Oh, no problem. I’m happy to have two hard workers.” He chuckles again. “Just remember, I reserve the right to fire you if I think you are slacking.”
Mom turns back to him and makes her way over. She shakes his hand once more. “Don’t you worry, Mr. Gohaki, both my son and I will work as hard as we can. We wouldn’t want to spoil an opportunity like this.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear that, but I don’t want you working yourself too hard, Mrs. Beckman.”
“No, no,” she tells him, “I’m fine, but I don’t need to do too much, I will admit. The doctors did tell me I can go back to work as long as I don’t overwork myself.”
“Um,” I interrupt, “excuse me, but, Mom? Working already? You still have your sling on.”
She waves me off with her free hand. “I’m fine.”
“Mom,” I reiterate, “you don’t need to do too much yet.”
Her voice shifts into a slightly more serious tone. Her eyes meet mine as she tries to get me to stop. “Sam, I am okay. I can do work. I already spoke to the doctors about this.”
“I’m not saying you can’t do some, but farm work can be rough. I don’t think you—”
She looks back at me and glares. “We can talk about this later, Sam.”
I take a step back as I let Mother continue to speak with Mr. Gohaki. He outlines what all she and I will be doing and tells us the plan. I listen as he explains and boil as I watch. Mother won’t even look my direction.
A great way to start our new lives.
With an argument.
Why doesn’t she understand that I’m just trying to help her? Why did she feel the need to shut me down like that in front of Mr. Gohaki? She made me look like a kid who didn’t know what he was talking about, when in reality, I think I know more about this than she does.
I just don’t want her to get hurt.
“Okay, Sam,” Mr. Gohaki grabs my attention, “so tomorrow, I will need you to start and clean out the horse stall. All the supplies you will need are in the barn, and you can carry them around by taking the cart in your garage.”
“Cart?” I ask him. “What kind of cart?”
“It’s like the one I drove you in, but smaller and more powerful. It’s in your garage. I’ll take you two out to the barn in a bit and show you guys around the land so you won’t be too terribly lost.” He winks at me and chuckles.
Creepy old man.
If he starts winking at my mom, I don’t know what I’ll do.
“So any questions?” he asks us.
I raise my hand so as to not offend my mother by speaking out of turn.
He chuckles. “Yes, Sam?”
“How many other workers are there?”
“We have quite a few that live off campus and that one family that lives up the road, the one we passed earlier.” Mr. Gohaki takes a seat at our dining table. “The mother of the family should come
over and introduce herself any time now.”
“Oh”—Mom looks at us both with a giddy grin—“this should be fun!”
Mr. Gohaki nods and rises to his feet just as quickly as he sat. “So if you guys need anything, you call me on that phone on the wall over there, okay? There is a list with all the phone numbers you may need taped beside it.”
“Thank you,” Mom tells him.
I catch him just as he heads to the door. “Do you know when you’ll take us out to show us everything?”
He nods. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. That way, you guys will get to settle in a bit.”
“Thank you,” we tell him again.
Mr. Gohaki leaves the building, and the first thing I do is head into the kitchen and open the small white refrigerator. I open it to find a small bout of chilly air floating to me.
I’ve never had my own refrigerator before. Neither has my mom. Though I’ve seen larger and better refrigerators in Bergland, this fridge is still amazing. As I explore, I see that this house comes with two bedrooms, one bathroom, one refrigerator, some plates and silverware, and a fireplace. It is all either of us could ever ask for.
I mean, it even has a wall phone! Our phone number is written at the top of the list, so I can write it down and give it out. Now I can call Logan and Mavis.
“Isn’t this great?” Mom asks me as she takes out a few of her clothes and places them into her new dresser. “And we won’t even have to make house payments! As long as we do our work and pay utility bills, we have a perfect setup.”
I nod. Still slightly upset with her for snapping at me, I try to push down the anger and remain calm. “You’re right.”
“Now all we really have to do is buy some food and pay off my hospital bills!”
I nod again. “Everything is perfect. I have to go back to the place where I stayed last night and get a few of my clothes and my bag.”
“Okay, but you should probably wait until after Mr. Gohaki comes back to give us the tour.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I head out of the room and sit on the couch. Our new couch.
My couch.
I sit and fold my hands, intertwining my fingers with each other. I didn’t think I’d need the medicine anymore. I never really felt like I needed it when I was with my mom. When the man in the office tricked me, all I wanted was the medicine, but that desire slowly went away the longer I was with my mom.
Until she snapped at me in front of Mr. Gohaki, I felt fine. I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is. She snapped at me and treated me like a child when all I was doing was trying to keep her from having to go back to the hospital. And what makes it worse is the fact that she did it in front of my new boss. He probably thinks of me as a child now.
He probably thinks that I am someone who won’t be capable of making decent decisions.
All because she snapped.
I reach into my pocket and pull out one of my miniature vials, which happens to be the only vial I packed for today. I inject it into my leg before things get out of control and feel a slight sense of calm wash over me.
The miniature vial definitely doesn’t have the same effect as the regular-sized dose, but it does seem to help.
Now, I wait for Mr. Gohaki to come back.
Mavis
Click.
I take another photo of the voting booths.
Click.
I take another photo of people looking at the pamphlets just before voting.
Click.
I take pictures of people coming into the building.
Click.
I take pictures of people leaving.
An old lady smiles at me as she waits in line to vote.
I smile back at her, somehow inviting the woman to pinch my elbow and pull me close.
“Who are you voting for, sweetie?”
I give a nervous chuckle. “I am not old enough to vote yet.”
The woman’s face drops, and she lets go of my elbow. She says nothing else to me and never even looks my way again. I shake off her attempt to get me to vote for her candidate and make my way back to the other end of the room. I continue taking pictures, angling the camera and each shot to be the most aesthetically pleasing as I can.
Though I feel like my “career counselor” was really just trying to get me in and out of the office as quickly as he could, I think he made the right choice. I actually enjoy taking these pictures.
I stay at one of the voting buildings for eight hours and leave as soon as my assignment is up. I drop the camera off at Trolly, my new boss’s office so that he can use them for the news, and then head over to Sam’s new house.
Derek and Ms. Page are out voting tonight, so I’ve decided to take it upon myself to drop by and surprise the Beckmans. On my way, I have my cabdriver stop at a flower shop, and I buy a small bouquet of lilies, the favorite flowers of Sam’s mother.
Though I have just started working, I have the flower shop woman scan my code and charge my account. She tells me it is all taken care of, which makes me wonder whether I got money for working at the kitchen or if my new boss has already paid me for this last week of work.
Once I get back into the cab, the purple-haired driver smiles back at me. “Those are gorgeous. Are they for someone special?”
I smile back at the woman as she takes me to Sam’s address. “Yes yes, they are.” Before the woman can really react, I pull the pink lilies out of the arrangement and hand them to the driver.
“Oh!” she cheers as she stops at one of the traffic lights. “These are beautiful! Are they for me?”
I nod. “Thank you for driving me.”
She smiles again. “Aw, thank you.” She giggles and holds them up to her head. “They match my hair!” After a minute or two of silence, she looks into the rearview mirror back at me. “You do know you’ll still have to pay me though, right?”
I nod and laugh. Once we get to Sam’s new place, she scans my code, and it pays her through the car. We wave each other goodbye, and I walk to the large house at the front of the property. Just as I begin climbing up the stairs of the porch, I catch someone’s attention.
“Excuse me.” A young man approaches me with hedge clippers in his hands. “Can I help you?”
I look around, somewhat trying to avert from eye contact and stumble to find my words. “Yes, sorry, I um, I am here to visit the Beckmans.”
The man looks me up and down. After a moment, a small smile rises on his face. “Then why are you looking in there?”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never been here before. I figured that knocking would—”
He rolls his eyes with a smile. “I’m just messing with you. Follow me, I can take you out to their house.”
Squeezing the bouquet tighter, I take one final look over the porch and follow the man back to a small red cart.
He hops in the driver’s seat after tossing the clippers in the back. As he turns the keys to start the vehicle, he looks over his shoulder. “Their house is a mile or two back that way. I can give you a ride.”
I can’t help but begin to rethink my visit.
The man drives the cart over to me and pats the seat beside him. “Come on. I won’t bite.”
After hesitating for a moment or two, I give into the pressure and take a seat. We drive for about five minutes or so when a house comes into focus. The large amount of joy I feel when I think I will be able to get out of this cart is surprising, but short lived when we drive right past the building.
“There are three houses on the property. One is Mr. Gohaki’s, the house you were at originally. This is the second one, where some of the other workers live. The Beckmans’ is the next house we will come up to.”
The rest of our ride is in silence. Once we pull up to Sam’s new house, I get out of the cart, thank him, and th
e man drives off. Making my way up the porch’s steps, I am startled by Sam swinging open the doors. “Mavis!” He leaps forward toward me and wraps me into a bear hug. “I saw you coming up the driveway!”
“Yeah” I gesture over my shoulder. “I had to hitch a ride. Next time, I will call before I show up.”
“Come in, come in.” He pulls away and ushers me into his home, pointing at the flowers. “Are these for us?”
I nod.
Sam smiles and calls out, “Mom!”
A woman slightly taller than me, but shorter than Sam comes into the room. Her bright-blue eyes are even brighter than Sam’s and her skin much tanner.
“Who is this?” she asks Sam. “Is this—”
She pauses and points to me with a smile and Sam nods. “It is.”
“Mavis!” she squeals, making her way over to me and wrapping me in a one-armed hug. “Oh hello! I’m Bonnie Beckman, Sam’s mom, but you can call me Bonnie.”
I can’t help but smile at how similar the two are. “Thank you, Bonnie.”
“So what brings you to …” She pauses again as she looks at the flowers Sam holds in his hands. “Are those …”
Sam nods. “Yes. These are from Mavis.”
Bonnie turns to me with a giddy smile. “You are the sweetest thing! How did you know I loved lilies?”
I look back to Sam and smile.
Bonnie’s smile turns even sweeter as she lets out a little “Oh you.”
“Here.” Sam places the lilies at the center of his new dining room table. “Perfect.”
I continue to stand, not knowing what to do, and feeling very awkward as Sam’s mother praises the flowers and me. Sam takes notice and chuckles as he ushers us both over to the couch. “Mom and I were listening to the voting results. They were just about to announce them.”
“Okay,” I say, taking a seat on the end of the couch, and watching Bonnie as she takes a seat right beside me.
