Paved with Gold

Yellow Objects

János and Sandor sat across from each other at one of the long wooden tables. It was afternoon, so they would be serving lunch soon. It was never anything special, but János was always appreciative of whatever they gave them.
Sure enough, the servers came around within a few minutes of them being seated.
They started spooning out a thin soup into everyone's bowls. János watched carefully to try and see what it was. It looked like it had beans in it, to which the child receiving the bowl snarled his nose at.
Next she handed a child something yellow. It was long and curved. The child smiled brightly and began peeling it. János was perplexed and watched the child eat the food with furrowed brows.
Soon the woman was at their table serving them their bowls of soup. Sandor began eating his immediately, but János was waiting on the yellow object.
She gave them each a yellow object and placed it courteously by their bowls. 

"What is this?" János asked Sandor, picking it up.
Sandor shrugged his shoulders and kept eating the soup.
The skin was smooth and had a light odor. János began peeling it the way he saw the child doing it, although he struggled a bit more.
Finally he revealed a paler yellow center, still in the same shape. It smelled sweet and musky.
János bit into it carefully and chewed slowly. It was creamy and starchy, and it was sweet like a fruit. It wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't something he would want to eat again.
He finished the fruit and the soup in silence with Sandor before the servers came back around to collect the dishes.

János and Sandor sat together for a while after they finished lunch and made decent conversation. It was nice being able to converse with someone after hearing so many different languages constantly. Sandor was from Győr, a decently large city on the edge of northwest Hungary that borders Austria. He was borderline homeless most of the time, if you could count staying in hostels a home. He worked odd jobs here and there for years to save up the money for a ticket. János admired his dedication and ability to be so carefree about the situation. He supposed that he would be in the same position in America, not having a home or a family to be around.
"What is your plan after arrival?" János asked Sandor curiously, both of them still sitting at the table they ate lunch at. There wasn't much else for them to do.
Sandor pondered for a while.
"I might stay in New York City. I might go to Pennsylvania. I'll do just about anything as long as I'm getting paid."
János nodded. "You could come to Ohio with me if you'd like. You would need a train ticket."
Sandor raised his eyebrows in interest.
"Apparently there's an entire population of Hungarians in a town called Painesville." The words still felt strange on his lips and he was sure he was butchering it.
"Perhaps I'll join you." Sandor said sucking his teeth. "The first thing I'll do it rip out a piece of the first gold street I see."
János buried his head in his hands and shook his head.
"Sandor, I-" but he couldn't stop laughing.
Sandor eyed him suspiciously.
"I don't think the streets are actually paved with gold." He finally got out.
"Well of course they are! Everyone knows that!" Sandor rebutted.

The rest of the days drifted by as slowly as the birds perched on top of the ocean waves. János spent most of his time on the deck staring out into the cerulean mist, although the winter air was freezing. He could let his mind wander to his home and make himself feel like he was back there again, until he heartache became too much and he forced himself back inside the ship.
Many afternoons he spent playing dominoes with Sandor and a German man they had met along the way. They could only communicate a few words to each other, but it was enough to play a game or two.
In the evenings, after a yet another thin soup, the steerage crowd often heard boisterous hoots and hollers from the decks above them, just another reminder of their low class. The upper class spent their nights feasting in a dining hall, gambling, and drinking champagne. Meanwhile, János and the rest of steerage remained crammed together night and day, reeking of body odor and sweat.

János climbed into an empty cot on the final night of the journey and never quite found sleep. His nerves had overcome him and he was jittery and restless. He imagined the buildings, the streets, the people he would see. He worried about not speaking English, about finding the train to Ohio, and about having enough money. He was sure he had enough money for a train ticket, but after that he would have nothing left. He had been hungry before, he would do it again.

János laid on his back with his fingers intertwined and resting on his stomach. He thought of his family lying in their beds, hopefully sound asleep. He would write to them as soon as he possibly could. A lumped formed in his throat thinking of them. The next day he would step foot on a new land, the land his descendants would walk on. The land his family sacrificed everything for.