Robyn

~Chapter 30~

Like clockwork Nancy enters the library, her brown and grey streaked hair following her. Weeks have passed between our last interaction when she recommended that book to me. Since then, I quietly watched her enter the library and sift through the books. Her grey eyes are like magnets, pulling in my curiosity. She comes up to the front desk and hands me the book she's returning along with the one she is checking out. I'm silent as I check her books, but steal glances at her to try and gauge something about her.

She clears her voice suddenly, almost making me jump back. "Are you going to ask me a question or keep peering at me whenever I come in here like a child trying to sneak and steal a cookie from a cookie jar?" She raises a thick eyebrow and waits for a response.

I open and close my mouth as I try to formulate a sentence. "Your book choices--they're good," I state. I had been reading all the books she returned. They were something to occupy my time--something I have more than enough of. "I've been reading the books you hand back," I clarify.

She pauses and scans my face, searching for something. "Robyn is it?" I nod. "Nancy" she states introducing herself. Her freckled hand reaches toward her newly checked out book and picks it up. "Let me know how you like that book," she says nodding toward the book remaining on the desk. She does not let me respond, and simply walks away, leaving me to watch her exit.

Shifting my attention to the desk, I look at the bright yellow cursive that fills the red cover of the book. Beloved. I bend the book in my hand, running through the pages. The scent of the aging paper enters my nose and I sit back in my seat, beginning to read.

It takes me about a day and a half to finish the novel, and when I arrive at work, I wait patiently for Nancy to come by, book planted on the desk. When she enters, she heads straight to the bookshelves in her usual fashion. She looks around and leafs through some books before settling on one. Nancy walks toward me, her eyes first making contact with mine and then noticing the book. There's a slight shimmer in her eyes as she opens her mouth. "That was pretty quick."

"It was a good book," I reply. "I have a question though." Nancy raises a grey eyebrow as if asking me to proceed. "Beloved, is she the baby? Sethe's? It just seems like she could be, since the baby died and then here comes beloved made from water, acting like a child. And also once she comes, the house is all of sudden no longer haunted. I mean her name is Beloved, just like on the baby's tombstone. It's just--" I trail off, suddenly aware of my rambling and Nancy watching in amusement.

She chuckles as I come to a halt. "One would think so. I do, but there are some other thoughts to who she is. It's clear though she's a representation of the past and the ways in which it hinders and enables us."

I nod, feeling more clarity and insight into the novel and my own thoughts concerning it. "It's like Beloved represents the story of hundreds of slaves whose stories and names remained untold but are still very much a part of present."

Nancy's thin lips upturn into a smile. She slides a book across the table. "Sit with me during lunch when you finish this. I think you might want to discuss this one in depth."

I glance down at the book then back at her. "Okay," I say as I check out her next book.

She leaves as quietly as she entered, leaving me to the world created by Ken Kesey.

It's the end of the week before I finish reading the book, and when it's time for lunch, I can't halt the excited and anxious mixture brewing in my stomach. My mind is still on the ending of the book. I just finished thirty minutes, and my brain still seems to be processing.

 "Right?" Dee asks.

I nod. "Yeah." I had honestly forgotten that she was walking with me. "Hey," I begin as I grab my tray of food. "I'm gonna go sit with  Nancy today. I'll catch up with you after."