Chapter 8 #2
Eventually he got up and got a drink of water. Bazel thought of going downstairs instead of going back to his room. He was tired of being scared and worrying all the time. What he needed was to be able to sleep. But it seemed like whatever he did just made things worse.
“You need to rest,” Atlas told him as he tiptoed back from the bathroom.
“Come here.” He lifted the covers, and Bazel hesitated a few seconds, wondering if this was right.
But he was tired and he slipped into Atlas’s bed.
“You’ll be fine here. I’ll watch over you.
” He sounded sleepy, but Atlas was warm, and Bazel closed his eyes, knowing he would be safe.
Atlas would not let anything happen to him.
HE WOKE alone in Atlas’s bed. In fact, the house was really quiet, and Evie was gone too.
That meant they were at work and Bazel had actually slept.
He got up and showered before dressing. He thought of working in the yard to keep busy, but he was running out of things to do. So he used his phone to call Chris.
“Hello, Bazel, is everything okay?”
“Yes. I am safe.” He didn’t quite know how to ask what he needed to. “Atlas is good man and he help me a lot. How do I be nice to him?”
Chris didn’t say anything for a moment. “What do you mean? I think you are always nice.”
“No, no, no.” He huffed. “I want to do nice to him.”
Chris chuckled. “You want to do something nice for him?”
“Yes. That’s what I say.” He tried not to get frustrated.
“It isn’t exactly, but I understand you now.
What can I help you with?” She was typing in the background and spoke to someone else while Bazel waited.
“Sorry. It’s busy here. You want to do something nice for Atlas and you don’t know what?
That’s pretty easy. Cook him something. The man never met a can or a package that he didn’t like.
What he eats is awful, and he liked what you made before. ”
“But I need stuff he not have.”
“Then this afternoon I can take you to the store.”
“No money,” Bazel said, hating the fact that he had to ask others for everything. He needed a job, some way to earn for himself.
“I know, and I am working on that. I have some papers that I need to review with you, and then I can get you an emergency asylum declaration. That way you can also work. Finding a job will be another story.”
“I work hard. It no problem. I not lazy.” He knew he could find something to do if he could get proper papers. He was so excited to start building his own life here.
“It will take some time,” she cautioned. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” She hung up, and Bazel put his phone in his pocket before wandering through the house. He needed something to do other than sit and watch TV, but every time he looked out the windows, all he saw was rain and more rain.
With a sigh, he went back to the living room, about to give up when a knock sounded on the door. He went to it and peered outside. Two men huddled on the stoop, trying to get out of the rain. He just wanted them to go away.
“What you want?” he asked, cracking the door open.
They both straightened up in their white shirts and black pants. “We are with the Church of Latter Day Saints, and we wanted to speak to you about your faith.”
Bazel blinked. “What about it? It is mine and I happy with it. You go away now. Have a nice day.” He closed the door and locked it again.
People here were strange and wanted to talk to people about faith.
He was raised to go to the church since he was a boy.
He had prayed with his family for many years.
But he stopped after they stopped being family.
It was all connected in his mind, and he didn’t want to talk about it, and definitely not with strangers.
“HI, CHRIS,” Bazel said slowly. “How are you?” He was really trying to sound more like the people he heard on TV. “I’m really bored and don’t know what to do. It keeps raining and I can’t work in the garden.” He smiled to himself, pleased that he had said it right.
“You sound really good,” Chris told him. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. I very… I am very ready. But what do we use for money?”
“I have some for you that we can use.” She pulled her coat around her, and Bazel got the jacket Atlas had given him. It was big, but it smelled like him, and he liked that. He followed her out to her white car and got inside. “How is everyone?” He paused. “Did I say that right?”
“Yes, you did. They’re all sick at the moment. Something has gone through where they live, and they all caught it. Everyone is doing what they can for them, and they have seen a doctor, so they are going to be all right.”
Bazel nodded. “I hope they feel better,” he said as he watched outside the window. “What is that?” he asked, looking at the building with the tall tower and clocks.
“That’s the old courthouse. It was built over two hundred years ago.”
“Can you go up in it?” he asked, craning his head to see the very top.
“I don’t think so. But we can go inside the building if you want. It’s very pretty.”
Bazel smiled. “Okay.” He continued watching as they pulled away from a traffic light and the tower disappeared behind other buildings.
“How big is this town? It seems big and small at the same time.”
Chris chuckled. “That’s a great observation.
It’s about eighteen thousand people, and we have everything we need here, but if you want something special, you might have to look somewhere else.
But it’s a very nice place to live. People are mostly friendly, and they help one another. ” She continued driving.
“I try to help Atlas,” he said. “But I do not know what to do. It is strange being here. I think back home, that America is perfect and everything would be happy when I got here.”
“No. It’s not perfect, but you can think what you like and go to whatever church you like.” She turned when she stopped again. “I was going to ask if you wanted anything. I could arrange to take you to a church or somewhere else.”
“No. I do not need that. They will not accept me anyway. That is why I come here.” He was so confused sometimes at how one thing about him would cause his entire family and the people in his community to turn their backs on him.
It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. He knew others did things that were bad, but all that anyone could talk about was him.
“I want… I don’t know what I want, but not that. ”
“All right. That’s fully up to you.” She made a number of turns, and they ended up at the same grocery store he had been to with Atlas. He got a wheely buggy and entered the store. “What is it you want to make?”
“Mama used to cook Khinkali. They dumplings with meat, mushrooms, and potatoes. Mama used goat sometimes.”
“You might try chicken. It will be easier to get,” Chris offered.
“Okay, I also need vegetables.” He pushed the wheely thing around the store, picking up veggies that looked right, as well as nice strawberries.
“And nuts.” He got what he thought he needed and then went to the nut section, which had a ton.
He found some that looked right and added them to the cart.
“What else do you want to make?”
“Khachapuri. It cheese bread. Mama made it all the time. It very good.”
“Okay. I’ll help you.” Chris brought him flour and helped him pick out the cheese. He didn’t find exactly what he wanted. “I checked the internet on my phone, and I think you want gruyere, cheddar, and parmesan.” He smelled at what she chose, and it seemed good. He also got eggs.
“Okay.” He continued through the store and got some things to drink before passing down the candy aisle. He stopped in the middle. “Gosh.”
“Do you like chocolate?” Chris asked.
Bazel nodded as he looked up and down at everything. “I love chocolate. Mama didn’t let me have any, but a friend had some, and she shared it.” He picked up an orange package and then put it down again.
“You can get it if you want. Those are Reese’s.
They have chocolate and peanut butter. It’s really good.
There are also these with chocolate, peanut butter, some caramel, and pretzels.
I love these best because they have crunch too.
” He looked them over and put the crunchy ones in the cart.
Then she led the way up front and showed him how to scan the groceries and handed him a card.
“This is for food. It will work here. All you have to do is use the card in this machine.” She showed him how it worked and what numbers he had to put in.
“Okay.”
“This is yours to keep.” She handed it to him, and he put the card in his pocket, reminding himself to ask Atlas about it. He had seen him use cards like this when they went shopping, and he had wondered what it was and how it worked.
“Thank you.” Maybe he just needed to accept how things worked here. Though how he could get money without working for it was something he didn’t understand at all.
“I was able to get you some emergency help for a few months,” Chris said. “It won’t be forever, but this way you will be able to afford food for a while.” She packed the groceries in bags, and they took them to her car.