Authors: Veronica Melan
Delicious!
I would be happy to carry on meditating in the kitchen until dinner, if it wasn’t for Tabitha's voice.
“Shereen, someone wants to see you!”
“Who wants to see me?” I rocked in the chair, feeling relaxed and not particularly worried about the unexpected visitor. My home, my world, everything was fine and wonderful. If my soul is singing, then the visitor will be fine as well.
She came into the room.
“Let me help you outside. There is an old and wrinkled man from the fields here. He wants to talk to you. He refused to chat with me, saying that he’ll only speak with you. I told him “She is blind!” and he said “I don’t care. She’ll still be able to hear!”
I got up from the chair and leaned on Tabitha’s chubby elbow.
“Have you seen him before?”
“Dunno. There are hundreds of workers. I can’t remember every prisoner, but his face doesn’t look malicious, that’s all I can say.”
I stood on the spot where Tabitha left me - in the shade of the trees, by the kitchen. After she was gone, I heard someone’s steps along with strained coughing and then the words followed.
“Shereen, you probably don’t remember me...”
The man’s voice sounded familiar - an invisible gear in my head turned, pushing up the vague memories associated with that voice on the surface, but I still couldn’t identify the owner of the voice.
“I’m Ted.” The man said, “We sat next to each other when we were on the bus to Tally. Do you remember?”
Yes, I remembered him - the lanky man with the apples. During the whole trip he was trying to tell me something, but I could hardly remember a word from that story.
“Hello, Ted!”
“What’s happened to you?” My companion got worried, when I blinked and opened my eyes for a split second.
I winced.
“Don’t worry, it’s just temporary and it’s getting better. How are you?”
“I’m alright, quite ill, but am still alive, the rest is not that important. So the reason for me coming... I know it was you, who gave us - the plantation workers, hats. If you had not of been so kind, many of us would still be suffering from the sun.
“Don’t mention it Ted, I know you needed them.”
“Nevertheless I want to thank you once again, from all of us. But that’s not why I am here... I heard about that rogue that set the barn on fire and planted the canister in your room. We all heard about it, because the rumours spread so quickly.”
I nodded, feeling sad.
“So I thought I should ask, if there was something stolen from your room?” Ted coughed and I stiffened.
Why was he asking me this? How would he know?
“Yes.” I decided not to lie, “One thing is missing, but why do you ask?”
“Because I found something. Give me your hand.”
Feeling worried and excited, I stretched my hand out. Something heavy and painfully familiar landed on the palm of my hand. With a pounding heart and not quite trusting my own feelings, I brought it closer and started touching it with my fingers. Of course! The same fabric, the same sound of the rattling stones, the same weight... How many nights did it spend under my pillow in my tiny room? The only difference was that the fabric felt dirty and dusty.
“Where?” My voice broke from excitement, “Where did you find it?”
Ted sighed with relief.
“I knew it was yours! Now listen to how I found it. I usually don’t sleep well at night because I cough a lot, and when the coughing fit bugs me too much, I go out so it doesn’t bother the others. They work really hard in the daytime and it just wouldn’t be fair on them. So, the other day I went outside, due to my usual coughing fit. I looked around, couldn’t see the patrol, so I decided to take a walk along the field to get some fresh air and calm down. I kept on walking aimlessly and then I saw her - that girl! At first I couldn’t even work out what she was doing, I just recognised her blond hair, she was crouching down and digging under the bush that grows behind the women’s barracks. So, I thought "Well, she might have come out for a wee or something, you never know...” and decided not to call her, and just went back to mine.”
I didn’t interrupt her, listening with baited breath and a loudly pounding heart. That’s where my gems ended up!
“I have to say, I didn’t figure out right away what it was all about, but when I heard the story about the barn I got thinking again. I thought to myself, why would she be digging under that bush if she wasn’t trying to hide something? And if she was hiding something, what was it? Thus, she could only be hiding something that she’d stolen on the day she broke into your room! This conclusion really concerned me for a while, until I decided to check it out for myself. Of course, I could have been wrong, but I still decided to go there to take a look. Oh, yes, I was kicking myself for this decision - what if the other men thought I went to see some women? But this secret really captivated me and as a result I found this bag!” Said Ted happily, “Yes, I’m sorry - I glanced inside the bag, but I didn’t take a single stone, I swear. But now when you say that it’s yours - all the pieces of the puzzle have finally come together and it shows that I was right.”
I was so grateful, I almost cried.
“Thank you, Ted. If it wasn’t for your observational skills and logic, I’d never have see these stones again. And they were a gift that I thought I’d lost forever.”
“Well, you see! Then all my thinking about this whole story wasn’t in vain!” He looked flattered, “And I’m glad it wasn’t, especially since you were so kind to us.”
“Oh, come on ....” I found his hand and squeezed it, “Anybody else would’ve never returned the stones and you got them back to me. I don’t know how to thank you...”
“No, I would never even take one.” my former bus neighbour firmly replied, “I’d never take what doesn’t belong to me. That’s just my nature. You don’t need to thank me, I did what my heart told me to do and I’m glad it all ended so well. You get well soon; it’s unbecoming to be sick, whether you’re old or young.”
He left, and I stood still in the shadow of the tree, facing in the direction where his steps were fading away.
How everything has turned out! Unbelievable!
Jenny stole the stones from my room, and when she decided to run away, she somehow forgot about them, and fortunately for me, good-hearted and honest Ted noticed it, not someone else - what a happy coincidence. Not that these stones were that precious to me - I could live without them, but it still felt indescribably good to know that some valuable part of my life got back in its place. I didn’t know who was responsible for the fate and coincidences, but I thanked them in my mind.
“Why are you still standing there?” Tabitha’s voice came from the distance, “Your guest has gone as I can see.”
When she came closer, I asked, “Tabitha, do you still have the key to my room?”
“Yes, indeed. Do you want to go there?”
“Yes.”
“Then hold on to my elbow, sweetie.” She laughed, “What did that man want from you?”
“He brought back one thing that I’d lost some time ago.”
“Ah! That’s good! He must be an honest man then... I told you his face was not malicious.”
We slowly limped to the house.
The day was blooming with bright colours again.
*****
We sat by the same fountain again, but this time it was early evening, the water was splashing in the pool. I still couldn’t see it, but I could hear its tender murmuring nearby. It was a good place, and Hulk chose it himself in order spend a leisurely evening away from the ranch.
As with the last time we were here, there weren’t many people around; only occasionally I could hear some distant footsteps and voices of the passer-byes. The heat had subsided a little and the sun was moving down towards the horizon.
“What do you want me to do about Alex?” Hulk asked after we spent some time in silence.
I was surprised by his question. It’s been a while since I thought about my ex-boyfriend, and if I ever did, I felt only a sense of great relief that he was no longer in my life.
“Why would you do anything about him?”
“He lied to you.”
“Yes, he did. Why are you even thinking about it?”
“It’s not nice to know that you were brought here because of him, while he is relaxing on the beach, spending that money you paid so dearly for.”
I shrugged.
“Yes, it’s not nice for me either, but if it wasn’t for this, I would never have got here get and would not have met you. Should I keep blaming somebody or should I regard it as a gift?”
“Maybe you're right. You were always too kind.” I heard Hulk smiling. Then he became serious again, “This time things turned out to be ok, but there could be another time and it all could go pear-shaped. I can teach this slug a lesson.”
“How would you do that being in Tally?” This time my curiosity took over my kindness.
“I still have some contacts. I could really do some damage to him but first I’d like to hear your opinion on the matter.”
I suddenly went quiet. What did I think about it? Of course Hulk was right – I always tried to be kind, wherever possible, but at the same time I knew that some people didn’t deserve it, but was it worth it to let the anger, bitterness or revenge take over you like that? What would my positive answer bring to me? If I encourage Hulk to make Alex suffer - would it deliver more happiness into my life and would I breathe easier, knowing that the guilty one has been punished?
No, not really. Frankly, I didn’t care how Alex spends his time with his new lover.
In the end, Alex didn’t demand any money from me, he tried to force Elmer to pay, but so it happened that it was me who sent him the required amount. Another consideration was that even though Alex was fully aware of this fact, he didn’t have the courage to confess and return the money. Instead he chose to disappear, forgetting that there was someone waiting for him at home.
Yes, that was making me sad. But was I upset enough to say Hulk “Please make him pay! I want to see him writhe in pain from the realisation of his own mistakes!” No, I was not, and although I was angry, I still didn’t want to be responsible for such words and actions. I’m not a judge. None of us are. Yes, people interact with each other, sometimes it brings us joy, and sometimes it brings disappointment, but you always have a choice whether you want to keep dealing with a certain person, or you just to go your separate ways and find new friends to communicate with. It’s not necessary to try and change anyone, whose opinion or principle does not coincide with your own - life is too short for that. I firmly believed that I would never waste time on some fleeting desire to teach someone a lesson or make them realise something. My own time and my inner peace were far more valuable than that.
So I happily refused the given opportunity to vent revenge on Alex.
“It’s not necessary. I've already forgotten all about him and I don’t want to even think that our paths would somehow cross, even through your actions. I am happy with you now and he is in the past.”
“Ok. I understand.”
Hulk’s fingers squeezed mine as if saying “Don’t forget that I’m always here for you” and I squeezed his in return.
We both fell silent again. A breeze touched the grass growing on the stone basin, and the stems gently rubbed my bare ankles. The new shoes that Hulk brought to the office the day before were now standing next to me, on the concrete. It was nice to wiggle my bare toes and feel them being caressed by the warm air.
“Tell me about yourself.” I asked Hulk, “Why did you end up in Tally? And why can’t you leave?”
He chuckled.
“It’s a long story. But if you have some spare time, I’m ready to share.”
I playfully pushed him to his side.
“Mr Head of the Ranch! All the time I’ve got in Tally belongs to you now. So if your Excellency would deem one of their servants worthy of an ice cream, then your servant would be more than happy to spend some time with you, which they’d be ready to spend with you anyway, but not half as happy should they have an ice-cream in their hand.”