Soulful Cadence

Chapter 3

"Wake up, I told y'all don't go to sleep, y'all are hard-headed," A woman yelled in the hallway, with a kind yet authoritative tone, like a grandmother, making me jump from my sleep.

I sit up, removing my blankets off of me as I try to calm my erratic breathing. Looking over to see a startled Sam who was sitting in their bed looking disoriented. I stood up shuffling on my house shoes, as the air conditioner hit my exposed brown toned legs of my above knee-length yellow night down.

I shuffle to the door grabbing the keycard from the basket on the table next to the door. Opening it, I'm met with a few of my peers standing in the hallway with a dark-skinned and curly-haired woman gently guiding a sleepy Flora to the elevator with her scared hands.

I step away and close the door as I head to Sam's bed and gently shake them awake from their sleep. They mumble some incoherent words before opening their eyes and gracing me with their beautiful dark blue eyes.

"Wake up baby," I whisper as I sit down on the edge of her bed. They sit up bringing the covers to their waist.

"Good morning darling, Who was that yelling out in the hallways?" Sam asked, climbing out of the cover and coming to sit next to me.

"I guess our caretaker or something," I say as I kiss their cheek, wrapping an arm around their waist as they slide their house shoe on, "Walk with me downstairs?"

"Yes, love," Sam said as she stood up taking my hand. I gently lead them out to the hallway grabbing Sam's robe and pulling it around them. We headed to the elevator and went down. As the elevator doors opened, we were met with a group of our peers waiting for us. The woman who was previously yelling now stood in front of the elevator doors with a stern look on her face.

She ushered us all to follow her, guiding the group down the hallway toward a large meeting room. Sam and I exchanged glances, unsure of what was going on but following along nevertheless. The woman opened the doors to the meeting room, and inside we found the rest of the group seated and chatting amongst themselves. We took our seats, ready to hear what this woman had to say.

"Alright, so my name is Ms. Davis but you can call me Mary and for your foreseeable time here I'll be your caretaker, I have all of your files along with your medical history. I'll make sure to provide you with all the necessary care and attention during your stay.," Ms. Mary said as she looked down at her watch, "Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any specific needs or preferences. Your well-being is my top priority, so feel free to ask me anything at any time,"

"I need to take my t-shots every week," Travis chimed in, a tan scraggly boy with brown hair and hazel eyes, his plump lips messy with syrup.

I chime in as well, no need to struggle alone, "I have severe asthma"

Then Sal admits to insomnia along with Tristan stating he has diabetes. We all sat in silence waiting for any other confessions about medicine other than pills and syrup. We all know we had something in that category if we looked at a new china cabinet in the corner filled to the brim with medication. Turning around I began to pour myself my second cup of coffee.

Looking around Ms. Mary stated, "Now breakfast should be served," eyeing Travis who had already started eating...

I narrowly understood what was happening but regardless I stood up and walked to the common room to see a dining room. How they did it I don't know, but sat in a seat at the large dining table. The aroma of fresh coffee and pancakes wafted through the air as I sat down, grabbing a plate and serving myself some breakfast. As I took a sip of coffee, I looked around at my peers, wondering what the day had in store for us.