Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

13 ∞ the connection

She stared at him a moment, then picked up the sandals, slacks, and a top and left. He took the satchel bag after the cashier cashed it and pulled the tags off. Then he dug into his other pocket, pulled out the wad of bills and stuffed it in the bag. No regrets. When she was ready to leave she wouldn't have to beg. 

"I.D. please."

"Oh." He went into his wallet again and pulled out his driver's license. "Here." He signed the slip and took the receipts and cards. When he looked up he saw Mickmi approaching from down the aisle with a shy smile. The sleeveless flowery tunic with the black slacks suited her. Did she seem different? For a moment he felt like time slowed down as he watched her, as a tingle rushed through him. He shook his head at himself and gave her a thumbs up. Her quizzical expression made him glance at his thumb then back at her, grinning. "It's all good. Here, take your bag," he said.

She pulled the strap over her head to her shoulder and patted the pouch at her hip.

"Okay, let's go."

They loaded everything into the truck. Danny spread the tarp over the bags, then remembered something. "Hold on—I'll be right back."

He jogged to the store and returned with two packaged ice cream cones. He climbed in and handed her one. "You should try this." He peeled off the wrapper.

Mickmi watched him and did the same. Her eyes widened when she took a bite of the nut crusted ice cream. 

"Good, huh?"

She nodded and licked cream off her upper lip, chuckling.

∞

Danny turned off the main road and drove through a residential area. Passing a road on the left he pointed. "That's where I went to high school." Then bearing right he pointed to the left again. "Baseball fields."

Mickmi looked past him. "Sport?"

"Yeah. I used to play it."

A little later he pulled up the truck in a parking lot and lifted a couple of the bags from the bed. He handed her the new blanket, took the bags and led the way past some trees onto a grassy area that stretched to the shore. When he found the perfect spot, he put down the bags and took the blanket from her. She watched him shake it out and spread it on the grass. Then he sat down.

She stood looking at him stretching out his legs, a smile playing on her lips. 

He patted the blanket. "Sit down. Today is for you to relax. No pressure."

She pushed off her sandals and felt the grass with her toes. Then she threw a glance at him and started walking down toward the shore. 

He got up. "Watch your step, there are some sharp stones over there!" He followed her a few paces to the side.

She stopped where the ground got rough, looking around. It was a small body of water just a couple of stone's thows wide that led left out to the lake. She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes and raised her cupped hands in front of her as if she was waiting to catch something. Then she sank to her knees, sitting on her heels. Curious, Danny watched as she stretched out her hands with palms down,  and let them slowly sweep in an arc from her sides to her front and back again, a foot above the grass. She repeated the motion twice before bringing her cupped hands to her face without touching it, closing her eyes, taking long breaths.

He didn't know what she was doing, but his heart was moved—he understood what being here meant to her. He remained silent. After a while, she looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, then rolled back onto her feet and rose.