Be Blue

TWO

"Do you like flowers?" Charlie asked, "Very much" Celine replied, "You see, my mother loved flowers so much so she grew flowers in her garden so maybe we can go there, collect them and sell them," Charlie said, "Well I think your parents won't be happy with that" Celine said worriedly "well they are not alive anymore" Charlie replied calmly, "I say we sell our flowers, what do you think?" Celine said, "But where are your flowers?" Charlie asked, " Come, let me show you". Celine took Charlie to her garden behind the house. She didn't really have a lot of flowers in her garden, but they were enough to be sold to get enough money to pay for Charlie's school, "wow you have nice flowers" Charlie said, "Why thank you" Celine replied "So, since we've got flowers where are we going to sell them from?" Charlie asked Celine "I am not sure yet" Celine replied, "I have an idea maybe we can go to every house in the town and ask them if they want flowers" Charlie said cheerfully "That is a great idea, but remember we have a baby so we can't walk long distances" Celine replied "Oh yeah right" Charlie said touching her chin thinking again. "Okay I have an idea maybe I can carry Lois," Charlie said "Charlie, Lois is a newborn baby, remember?" Celine asked, "I guess we have to wait until Lois is a bit older" Celine continued "But mother, I wanted to resume school," Charlie said sadly "Charlie dear, I know but we have nothing to do" Celine replied. "Life sometimes is like that and you can't change it easily," Celine said, "never forget that" looking at Charlie in her crystal blue eyes "We can look for something else to do" "Like what, Mother?" Charlie asked Celine who was thinking of what to reply, "We can sell lemonade, my mother loved making lemonade and it was the best lemonade I had ever tasted", "but sadly, she passed on due to a very bad illness," Celine said. Looking deep into Celine's black eyes, Charlie said, " I am so sorry to hear that" "No need to apologize" Celine replied, it was reaching noon when Celine and Charlie heard Lois crying from the house "Sounds like someone's hungry" Celine said walking back house with Charlie behind her "But she has slept for a long" Charlie replied Opening the door to Lois' room, Celine looked at Charlie and said "Well, newborn babies sleep for 6 to 9 hours a day so it's normal" They entered Lois' room and Celine went to her crib, carried her and put Lois on the mat that was on the floor she then got a clean nappy from the old dresser that was in the corner of the room. Patiently observing what Lois was doing, "Mother, what's the white towel for?" Charlie asked "It is called a nappy, and it's used as a diaper for babies" Celine replied tying the nappy to Lois' waist, then got a swaddle blanket that was covering Lois in her crib and wrapped it around Lois "She looks like an egg," Charlie said coming closer to see Lois "This helps her to stay warm" Celine replied carrying Lois from the mat to her shoulder "Okay, let's go make Lois something to eat," Celine said exiting Lois' room, Celine and Charlie went to the kitchen and Charlie looking at the empty cabinet said, "Mother, we don't have any more milk" "It's going to be hard to get more milk" "What do you mean, I can go to the shop next to the taxi stop and buy some milk" Charlie replied looking unbothered. "Well, I don't have enough money, so you'll have to go to the town farm and get milk from the cows" Celine replied "What's a town farm and where is it?" Charlie asked looking confused from everything Celine said, "Okay listen, it's a place where people who live in the whole town come together, plant specific plants in specific places and later on harvest them, so at the town farm, there are cows and people go there to milk them whenever they want" "But I don't know where it is" Charlie replied "Two blocks from here, the road on your right and that's where the town farm is" Celine replied trying to distract baby Lois who looked like she was going to cry any second from now "Do I need a bucket?" Charlie asked, "Yes you do it's in the cabinet, there is some warm water in the kettle you can put it in the bucket" "Why do I need warm water?" Charlie asked, " You'll find out why when you reach at the farm" "Okay, is there anything else I need to take with me?" "No, I don't think so" Celine replied. "Okay, I guess I am heading off then" Charlie said looking at Celine, "Okay I wish you all the best" Celine replied Charlie passed through the front porch of the house and headed out to the path that goes to the town farm while on the road, Charlie felt the gentle breeze of the sun shower all over her body, she happily sung skipped with the grey metallic bucket waving in her arms. After walking the two blocks from home, Charlie reached the two paths and remembered what Celine had told her "two blocks from here, the road on your right" Charlie then took the right side of the road and walked happily while she was walking, she heard cows mooing in the distance ahead, she knew that she was about to reach the town farm. After a few minutes, Charlie finally reached the town farm she saw a lot of people in a long line waiting to go next to get milk from the cows in the kraal Charlie went and joined the line and waited patiently, there was an old lady behind Charlie she had also come to get a bucket of milk when Charlie saw the old lady behind her "Ma'am you can come in front of me" " Thank you very much for your kindness, young girl" The old lady said coming in front of Charlie "No problem Ma'am". Charlie looked around and looked at people the women were wearing cottage core dresses the men were wearing pants with visors and a white shirt, Charlie looked at her outfit and it looked like she was coming from somewhere else she looked like she didn't belong to be living in their village she was still wearing the blue jean shorts and the light pink blouse from last night. She felt quite uncomfortable, but she had nothing to do, the line moved slowly by slowly and Charlie kept looking at people planting their yellow maize, she saw a girl her age she was helping her mother plant maize the girl had blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a blue ribbon tied in it, blue crystal eyes like those of Charlie's, a beautiful floral dress, she was beautiful. Charlie looked at the girl for a very long time she wanted to go and talk to her but she was scared the mother of the girl would find her inappropriate with the outfit she was wearing so she just stayed in the line and waited until it was her turn to get milk from the cows, she knelt and held one of the teats of the cow and pulled it downwards to let milk out but nothing came out, people behind Charlie laughed at her and one person said "Look we have an invader in our village" "She's not an invader" the old woman who was in front of Charlie said "She is a very sweet girl, she might be wearing differently but she is very kind" the old woman continued, "Then how come she doesn't know how to milk a cow?" a short fat man said "So what if she doesn't know how to milk a cow, everybody is born different" " so just leave her alone and mind your own business" the old woman shouted at the short man. Everybody went back to what they were doing, and the old woman looked at Charlie and said, "People here are like that but just ignore them, okay?" "Okay Ma'am" Charlie replied "Do you need help with milking?" The old woman asked Charlie "Yes, please" Charlie replied, the old woman knelt and told Charlie to hold the teats of the cow, squeeze them and pull them downwards and upwards continuously "there you go" the old woman said "thank you for helping me" Charlie replied, the old woman then stood up with her bucket of milk and headed back to her home. Charlie kept doing what the old woman had told her to do until her bucket of milk was full, she then stood up and carried the bucket full of milk in her hands, she then headed back home she took the same path she had used earlier when she was going to the town farm. She walked steadily and careful not to let any droplet of milk fall on the ground, she noticed that she was walking too slowly so she tried to hurry up because she was worried that Celine may become worried about her, after a few minutes, Charlie reached home and knocked on the front porch door Celine came and opened the door while Lois was on her shoulder "welcome back, my dear" "Thank you, Mother " Charlie replied coming inside the house. "Did you milk the cow yourself" "No not really, a lady I met at the town farm helped me" Charlie replied putting the bucket full of milk down on the floor, "Mother, why do people who live in this town wear cottage core?" "Well dear that's the tradition people here wear like that, did you like the way they wear?" Celine asked Charlie. Handing Lois over to Charlie, Celine picked up the bucket of milk and went to the kitchen with Charlie right behind her, "Yes, I liked the way people her dress" "and I would like to dress like that too" Charlie said looking at Celine who was busy preparing milk for Lois "No problem if you want to wear like that, I have five dresses that might fit you" Celine said removing a pot from one of the old brown cabinets." I can't wait to see them" Charlie replied with excitement showering all over her face "Do you need help with anything?" Charlie asked Celine " No, darling it's okay" "Okay" Charlie replied carrying Lois who was looking up at the ceiling, "Do you think she can see?" Charlie said looking closer at Lois' eyes "I think so" Celine replied preparing Lois bottle "So about the milk coffee thing, do you have a coffee stand?" "Yes, it's in the attic" Celine replied "Shall we go check it out after feeding Lois?" "Sure, dear" Celine replied removing the pot milk from the stove. Celine put the milk in Lois' bottle and left it open for the milk to cool down "Do you want milk too?" "Yes, mother" Charlie replied, "Thank you" "Sure" Celine replied removing a cup from the rusty cabinet, she put some milk in the cup and told Charlie to meet her in the living room. She carried the bottle of milk in one hand and the other with Charlie's cup of milk and walked to the living room she put the cup and bottle on the table and went back to the kitchen to get some sugar and spices for Charlie's milk, she checked in the cabinet and removed a cup that had sugar in it, she also removed a plate that had coffee on one side and tea leaves on the other side. She carried the plate of spices and the sugar in the cup to the living room, "Okay, here you go" "Thank you very much, mother" Charlie said, sitting down Celine said, "No problem dear" "Has Lois' milk cooled down?" Celine asked. Tasting the milk from Lois' bottle, Charlie replied "Yes, it has cooled down" "Okay let me close the cover for you so you can feed her" Celine said closing the cover on Lois' bottle, "will you be able to drink your milk when you're carrying Lois?" Celine asked holding Lois' bottle in her hands "It's going to be hard" Charlie said looking down at Lois in her hands "do you need me to hold her for you?" "yes, thank you" Charlie replied handing Lois over to Celine. Celine carried baby Lois in her hands, opened the bottle cover, and started feeding Lois, Charlie was drinking her tea while looking out at the window looking like she was in deep thought, she was thinking about her and her new mother would get out of this poor life they were stuck in. She looked at Celine feeding her baby and she knew she had to do something about it she knew she had to bring a better life into Celine and her baby's life, hers too, but Celine and her baby needed it more than she did. She just stayed looking at Celine and her baby, "Mother, can we please go see the stand?" "Alright dear, let me take this dirty bottle to the kitchen" " I'll help you" Charlie replied taking the empty bottle from Celine's hand she quickly walked to the kitchen and put the empty dirty bottle on the old cabinet and hurriedly went back to the living room where Celine was "Mother can we now go please?" Charlie said impatiently. Standing up while carrying Lois on her shoulders, "Okay, follow me" Celine replied heading to the direction of the room next to Charlie's room, when they reached the attic, Celine handed Lois over to Charlie and opened the door, "I thought an attic is only found in storied houses" Charlie said looking around the dark room You can call it a store" Celine replied "Okay, where is the stand?" "It's not a stand-in such it's just a table with drawers" Charlie replied heading to the direction where an old brown table was, she checked in one of the drawers and removed a paper. The paper had a recipe it was for making cappuccino it had all the measurements and ingredients needed to make the perfect lemonade, though it was old, it could come in handy, ''what is that paper for, Mother?'' Charlie asked Celine ''It's the recipe my mother wrote down for making cappuccino'' Celine replied. ''Is Lois asleep?'' Celine asked Charlie who looked like Lois was becoming heavy for her ''I think so'' Charlie replied ''Okay, you can take her to bed'' ''Okay, Mother'' Charlie exited the store and took Lois to her room, she then put her in her crib and covered her with a thick blanket. After tucking Lois in, Charlie went back to the store where her mother was ''I am back'' Charlie replied entering the store '' Okay, thank you for tucking Lois in. Now we need to carry this lemonade stand and take it outside'' Celine said folding the paper and putting it back in the drawer. ''Okay'' Charlie said ''Are you ready to carry?'' Celine asked Charlie who was holding one side of the table and Celine holding the other, Celine and Charlie lifted the old table and slowly started walking out of the storeroom, ''This table is so heavy'' Charlie said ''don't worry, we're almost there'' Celine replied. They reached the front porch and placed the old table down, Charlie went and opened the door so they could take the table outside, they then lifted the table again and slowly went outside careful not to fall. Charlie and Celine placed the old table in front of the front porch and took a deep breath ''Good teamwork'' Celine replied '' Is your womb okay, do you feel any pain?'' Charlie asked Celine since she gave birth yesterday, ''Yes, I am okay. You don't need to worry'' Celine replied ''Okay, so what should we do next'' Charlie asked Celine, ''Now we have to clean the table and start setting up the utensils'' Celine replied ''Okay'' Charlie replied '' So, let's go back inside the house and get the things we need for cleaning the table'' Celine continued. So, they both went back to the house and got buckets full of water, a towel, and a bar of soap, they then went back outside and started cleaning the table. After a few minutes, Charlie and Celine went back to the house and got what they needed to make the Cappuccino they got cups, a jug, and a spoon, and they went back outside with the utensils in their hands and placed them on the table. ''So, now we have to make the cappuccino'' Charlie said excitedly, ''How about we make it in the morning? ''Why can't we make it now, Mother?'' Charlie calmly asked her mother ''Tomorrow, we will have enough energy to make the cappuccino'' Celine replied to her daughter, ''Okay, Mother'' Charlie replied. By then, it was 3:00 pm, and both Charlie and Celine were hungry so, they both went back to the house and headed to the kitchen to make late lunch. ''Mother, what are we going to eat?'' Charlie asked her mother, ''I don't know dear what would you like to eat for lunch?'' Celine replied ''I have no problem with anything available, Mother'' Charlie replied. The only available thing was bread and since they had little money, they had nothing to do but eat what was available to live ''There is only bread remaining'' Celine said checking in one of the old cabinets ''I guess that is what we are going to have for lunch'', Charlie said ''I wonder when we will eat the dishes of our choices'' Charlie continued ''don't worry, that day will come'' Celine replied slicing the bread into half. After slicing the pieces of bread, Celine lit up the stove and put a kettle of milk to cook ''Mother, do you think people will buy our cappuccino?" Charlie asked her mother while removing cups from the cabinet, ''I am pretty sure people will'' Celine replied it clocked 4:00 pm and the milk tea was ready Celine removed the milk tea from the stove and put it in the cups Charlie had set up ''I'll take the cups to the dining room'' Charlie said carrying the cups in her hands ''Okay, but be careful'' Celine replied putting out the burning stove, she then carried the plate of sliced bread and headed to the dining room where Charlie was. ''Okay let's eat'' Celine said placing the plate of sliced bread on the dining table, they sat down and started eating until they finished their tea ''Thank you for making late lunch, mother'' Charlie said ''You're welcome, dear'' Celine replied adding the dirty cups together ''Let me do the dishes this time'' Charlie said standing up ''Okay, dear in the meantime, I'll go take a bath'' Celine replied standing up ''Okay, mother'' Charlie replied taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen. She then got steel wire and started washing the dishes Celine went to Charlie's room and took a bath, Lois woke up when Celine was still taking a bath and Charlie was about to finish washing the dishes, Charlie heard Lois crying and hurriedly went to her room her hands were still wet, so she wiped them on her shirt and carried Lois from her crib ''Your awake little sister?'' Charlie asked her little sister while carrying her in her hands, Charlie then went to the kitchen and got Lois a bottle of milk, it was in a saucepan that had hot water in it she carefully removed the bottle from the saucepan and placed it on the counter she then tasted it to make sure it wasn't hot for Lois to drink, but it was warm. While carrying Lois in her hands, Charlie took the bottle to the dining room, sat down, opened the bottle cap, and started feeding Lois a few minutes passed by and Celine came to the dining room where she found Charlie feeding Lois ''Thank you for taking care of Lois while I was taking a bath'' Celine said ''No problem, Mother'' Charlie replied ''It looked like she was starving'' Celine said looking at Lois suckling the bottle ''Yes, she was'' Charlie replied. ''Should I give her to you so I could also go take a bath?'' Charlie asked ''No problem'' Celine replied reaching out to carry Lois, Charlie then handed Celine the bottle and went to her room to take a bath, she got the long scarf that she had earlier hung on the door to dry and wrapped it all over her body and headed to the bathroom to take a bath. After taking a bath in cold water, Charlie exited the bathroom and went back to the dining room ''Mother, could you please give me the dresses you promised to give me?'' ''Okay, dear'' Celine replied carefully standing up with Lois in her hands, they both went to Charlie's room ''Could hold Lois for me?'' Celine asked Charlie ''Sure, Mother'' Charlie replied spreading out her hands. Celine handed Lois over to Charlie and started checking in the old dresser in the corner of Charlie's room, she checked in the last drawer and removed five dresses ''They are so beautiful'' Charlie said widening her eyes ''Yes, they are beautiful, my mother gave them to me when I was young,'' Celine said handing the dresses over to Charlie, ''and now I want you to have them.'' ''Thank you, mother'' Charlie replied holding the dresses in her hands ''Why don't you try them on?'' Celine asked Charlie ''Okay, mother I'll be right back'' Charlie replied handing Lois to Celine and going to the bathroom to change into the dresses Celine had given her. After a few minutes, Charlie came out of the bathroom wearing a floral yellow dress ''wow, you look like a princess'' Celine said ''Thank you, mother'' Charlie replied ''Do you like the dress?'' Celine asked Charlie ''Yes, Mother. Thank you very much'' Charlie replied ''I am glad you like them'' Celine said with a big smile. It was 7:00 pm when Lois fell asleep, Celine took her daughter to her room and put her in her crib, she then went to the kitchen to prepare the Ingredients she and Charlie will use to make a cappuccino for selling the following day, Charlie, who was in her room, was fitting in the rest four dresses ''wow these dresses are so beautiful'' Charlie said looking at herself in the cracked bathroom mirror after admiring her self in the mirror, Charlie went to the kitchen where she found her mother preparing for what they would need tomorrow. ''Mother, what are you doing'' Charlie asked Celine ''I am preparing the ingredients for making tomorrow's cappuccino,'' Celine replied grinding the tea leaves, ''Okay, do I need to help with anything?'' Charlie asked her mother. ''No, dear I am almost done'' Celine replied ''You can go to bed'' Celine continued ''Okay, Mother. Goodnight'' Charlie said starting to walk away ''Goodnight, dear'' Celine replied. By the time Celine finished preparing the ingredients, she went to the living room, slept on the couch, and covered herself with an old blanket that she earlier got from Charlie's room and slept off.