Chapter 31
Esmie halted. Her feelings of safety betrayed her.
She shouldn’t have removed the sunglasses, yet the woman, Dolores, had given her a place to hide from Chad.
Esmie’s instant reaction was to trust Dolores.
Now she regretted her gullible decision.
Either way she couldn’t sit there working her mouth open and closed all day. She needed an excuse.
“It’s hard to explain,” was all Esmie could say.
Dolores’ eyes brightened. “It is tribal. From your ancestral people. I understand now why you wanted it hidden. I can no longer even wear my salwar kameez because of these people and their strict, silly rules.” She waved a hand in the air as if dismissing Andloor Capitol from afar.
The few bangles on it jangled for effect.
She then leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about it.
This will stay between you and me.” Dolores winked, patting Esmie’s hand. Esmie bit down on a giggle.
“Thank you. Many people don’t understand how our traditions are important to us. Silencing the outspoken ways we exhibit our cultures will not cut them off from us. They remain deep within, a part of us Andloor Capitol can never take away.”
“Such wise words from such a young soul. Yet, I sense a divine wisdom about you. Not necessarily an old soul, just one who didn’t take for granted the lessons passed onto her.
” Dolores grinned while handing her a plate of the delicious smelling food.
Esmie’s stomach growled again. She thanked Dolores as she took the plate, then spooned the first bite into her mouth.
The delectable aromas were only a precursor to the flavor of food dancing in her mouth. Esmie closed her eyes and sighed.
“This is—incredible—is the only word I can think of. Words don’t do it justice as to how wonderful this tastes.” Esmie smiled at Dolores, whose eyes twinkled in response.
“Eat to your heart’s content,” Dolores replied before they both silenced all conversation while enjoying the food.
Esmie sat back in her chair when she finished, have eaten to her heart’s content as Dolores requested.
Dolores cleared the plates, moving everything through a door behind Esmie’s seat while Esmie drank more water.
When Dolores returned, Esmie contemplated her for a moment before deciding to ask her question. “Is your name really Dolores?”
“Wisdom should have been your name. Or discernment.” Dolores chuckled at her own joke. “No, my name is not really Dolores. It is Deepika, but no one could pronounce it, so it was changed for me.”
“Changed for you? As in forced?” Esmie’s eyes widened when Dolores nodded her head. “But who would do such a thing?”
Dolores released a hollow laugh. “Andloor Capitol of course. When I moved here with my family from far away, attempting to escape the horrors from outside, the Immigration Office stated I had to change my name to make it more ‘palatable’ I believe the word was.”
“Sounds about right.” Esmie rolled her eyes.
“What I didn’t know was, while I was escaping the horrors from outside, there were also horrors here as well. Only packaged with a pretty bow of promised safety and prosperity. Both were lies.”
Esmie sat up. “What do you mean the horrors from outside? You mean like Las Afueras? Sorry, I mean The Suburbs.”
“No, I mean outside of Andloor city altogether,” Dolores said.
“They do not speak of it much, but the world outside of Andloor is—different.” Dolores’ explanation was cut off by the tinkling bell from the front door.
Both her and Esmie startled by the noise.
Dolores moved around Esmie with a quickness she hadn’t shown before and opened a wooden door behind where Esmie sat.
That must be where she had taken the dishes before.
She ushered Esmie through while placing a finger on her lips, then shut the door behind her.
When Esmie turned around, she stood in a small foyer and the space extended further into an apartment.
The apartment wasn’t very large but was the perfect size for the elderly woman.
Esmie had entered the side of a kitchenette complete with a shallow sink, short countertop, small stove and refrigerator complimented the space.
Beyond the kitchenette sat a cozy living room.
Directly to Esmie’s left a wooden staircase shone with glossy steps, which she assumed led to a bedroom and possibly bathroom.
Voices sounded from the other side of the door.
A male’s voice and Dolores’. Esmie’s heart thudded and she huddled against the kitchen counter, ready to duck into the apartment if need be.
She stared through the wall and made out the figures of Dolores and a man which appeared to be Chad.
He pushed into the small shop with Dolores at his heels.
Esmie strained her ears to hear it was indeed Chad, and he insisted on searching the shop for a dangerous suspect.
Esmie crept further into the kitchen, sifting through the utensils until she found a butcher knife.
She grabbed it, her knuckles whitening from the strain as she perched carefully next to the fridge while watching the door.
Chad walked back to the front of the shop, Dolores following.
Esmie couldn’t see their figures anymore between the stacks of fabric.
Everything quieted. Only Esmie’s labored breaths and beating heart could be heard.
A stooped figure walked toward the door, but she couldn’t tell if it was Dolores, or Chad hunched over.
Esmie held the knife high over her head.
The handle jiggled then turned. Wood creaked.
Dolores stepped through the frame, entering and closing the door behind her.
Esmie dropped her arm, setting the knife back where she found it, so she didn’t scare Dolores.
“A customer?” Esmie asked when Dolores faced her. Even though she already knew it wasn’t.
“Not really. A good-looking, but suspicious man entered and asked about a young woman with dark wavy hair.”
“Chad,” Esmie said.
Dolores shuffled further into her apartment. “It isn’t safe for you to be here anymore. We will wait until it gets darker, then you will sneak out the back into the alley. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“My parents live in almost the furthest part of Las Afueras. I can’t get there safely from here and I’m not sure where to go.”
“I figured as such. There is a place you can hide until that man stops looking for you.” Dolores pulled a piece of paper from under a stack of books on a worn, wooden coffee table.
She sat down on the loveseat in front of the coffee table, pulled out a drawer from underneath, grabbed a pencil then drew a map with directions.
This woman had so many relics here. Esmie couldn’t remember the last time she had seen a paper and pencil.
They were replaced with tablets and phones now.
When Dolores finished, she handed the paper to Esmie, who perused it with pursed lips.
“Where are you sending me?”
“It’s an old apartment my family owns but no one is living there now.
Don’t worry, it’s not like those crummy apartments in the skyscrapers.
I like my places cozy, not rigid, if you can’t tell from this place.
I kept it after my children moved out of downtown Andloor.
I’m not sure why but it can be of some use to you now. ”
“Your children live in Las Afueras? Why don’t you go live with them?”
“I can’t leave my shop or my home. Not yet at least. But I do keep an eye on the place, to make sure it stays clean and free from squatters.
You’ll be warm and safe there. It is located at the edge of downtown, so you will have a hike to get there, but it won’t be as far or dangerous as trying to go back to your parents’ home.
” Dolores moved back toward the kitchen, pulling out a duffel bag from a hidden coat closet within the staircase wall.
She went into the small fridge, removing food items and placing them in the duffel bag.
“Are you coming with me?”
Dolores released a watery laugh. “Oh no dear, I couldn’t make it there walking with you.
I would only slow you down. Mind yourself not to take any transportation, walk only along path I marked on the paper.
It is the safest, although slowest, route.
I’m packing you some supplies to hold you over until you can get to someone who can help you. ”
Esmie walked over to Dolores and placed a hand on her arm. “I can’t ask you to do that for me.”
“You didn’t ask me. I offered. I’m guessing it has something to do with the purple on your face.
If you are fighting against the oppression of Andloor Capitol, then I will offer to help you anytime.
” Dolores gently removed Esmie’s hand before moving to the cabinets, putting more non-perishables inside.
Esmie touched her temple thinking of all of the secrets she was keeping from everyone.
She didn’t want to keep it from Dolores.
“This purple on my face…it’s not what you think it is.”
“And I don’t care to know what it is. Only to help you stay safe.
Now go upstairs and wash up. I’ll bring you some extra clothes my daughter left here so you can change into something less recognizable.
Then I’ll give you some tea so you can rest before your journey.
Bathroom is upstairs to the right, bedroom straight down the hallway.
” Dolores moved away from Esmie, mumbling to herself as she gathered more supplies.
Esmie shook her head, but made her way upstairs as told.
She wasn’t going to argue with the kind, but stern woman. It probably wouldn’t matter anyway.
After a quick shower, Esmie found comfortable, warm clothes and a teacup, saucer, and biscuits on a chair outside the bathroom.
She changed, drank the tea, and ate the biscuit in the bedroom.
Esmie didn’t think she could fall asleep, but she found herself drifting off on Dolores’ twin bed next to a window with a fuchsia curtain covered in different golden patterns.
A few blinks later, Dolores shook her awake.
Esmie jolted upright. The room had darkened considerably.
Dolores placed a finger to her lips, gesturing for Esmie to follow her back downstairs.
When they reached the kitchen, Dolores handed Esmie the duffle bag.
While heavy, Samson’s weight training kicked in, and it didn’t feel too bad.
Thinking of Samson caused her stomach to drop.
By now, he and Leo would have found the note.
They would assume she was with Mamá, instead of running for her life.
Mamá would either think she was still with them or being treated by Chad.
She didn’t even want to think of how Chad tricked her mother or why Mamá trusted him.
Instead, she shook the worries from her mind, pulled on her jacket, and slung the bag around her shoulder, pushing it onto her back like a backpack.
It would be an easier and faster way to carry.
Dolores led her to the back, or front of the apartment, depending on how you looked at it. She creaked open the door, poked her head out, glanced around, then reentered and nodded to Esmie, handing her the map and another baseball cap. Esmie’s eyebrows rose.
“I went to that awful place next door to get it because you need it. Go now while everything is quiet. People will be settling down for dinner and getting ready for bed.”
Esmie wrapped her arms around the stooped woman, breathing in her scent of cotton and spices. “Thank you, Deepika. For everything.” Deepika held on a few moments before releasing her and shooing her away, tears glistening in her eyes.
“Fair well my child,” she whispered as Esmie stepped into the dark alley, gritting her teeth in determination to get to Deepika’s hiding spot and then find a way out of this mess.