▪︎●▪︎
Clara and I spent weeks, months even, on the street, until one rainy day an old woman in her eighties, using a walker invited us to her home.
It was small and old-fashioned. The walls covered in dated wallpaper. She cooked us a hearty meal, ordering us to eat slowly to not get sick.
Something about her, maybe her age and disadvantage over us, or her gentle demeanor allowed Clara to trust her, knowing she couldn't do anything to harm us.
Therefore, we stayed many weeks.
The old woman let us share her spare bedroom. The wallpaper a faded purple and yellow, covered in flowers. She had a fuzzy gray cat that was lazy and round, which she called Sushi. I fell in love with her quickly.
Through her, Clara and I were able to find a job that just required watering plants in a greenhouse only ten minutes from the woman's home.
And the more we spent with her, the more we learned of her. She had no kids and was an only child, therefore, when she passed at the age of eighty-one, we inherited her things.
Her money, her clothing, her furniture. We sold what we could and bought clothing for ourselves, and then we moved.
We bought a small house and cheap furniture from used homes or frequent trips to a Goodwill.
It was summer and school was starting. I went for the first time, scared and nervous. Scared of everyone, especially the boys. I met Katie, and that's when things started to turn. She invited me to her home to study one evening.
That was when I met Dominic.