Two Faced Europe

Chapter 7; Final decision

Amani knew that she had just one shot at work or someone had to hire her this instance, how likely would that be? She opened up the doors of the store. This time the woman wasn't alone, a man was standing behind the counter next to her. Just like the elderly woman, he was grey, his hairline receding, which made hair grow just on the sides. The grey eyes matched his hair perfectly. The woman bumped his arm and his gaze pointed towards Amani, a small smile appeared on his face. The two said something to each other and the man went into Amani's direction.

The man introduced himself as the owner of the shop and he asked Amani to follow him. Together they went to the back of the building. He opened up a door and let Amani go in first, there was a desk with a chair on both sides. Amani was standing in the middle of the room when the man walked towards the chair on the other side. He motioned her to sit down which Amani did. She watched him in anticipation, not knowing what would happen. In her head she was crossing her fingers and hoping for good news. His grey eyes focussed on Amani and she felt her heart skip a beat. Not because of a feeling of love, no because he had a stern look in his eyes which predicted no good news.

"I heard from my wife that you saw some people stealing and stepped up to that." Amani nodded in response. "Thank you for that miss..."

"Yandel" Amani finished the sentence for him. "Because I saw it happening, I wanted to stop them." Amani waited a moment and when she noticed he wasn't going to say something she proceded. "I have to say I'm very grateful that you would like to reconsider me for a job, especially that you came here for me."

The eyes of the man saddened, it wasn't much but just enough for Amani to see. "Unfortunately we don't have the money to give you a job at this moment. You see, we are situated in a very unlucky part of the town and a lot of people avoid this area. So we don't have as much customers as we would like."

A lump in her throat prevented Amani from speaking, suddenly her head, shoulders, everything felt heavy and she didn't know what to do. In her mind she tried to figure out a solution for her problem. She had no money, no place to live, to be honest, tonight she would be a homeless person. Amani looked at her knees, with her eyelids half closed she looked at the lines running over her pants.

The man on the other side of the desk scraped his throat which made Amani look up to him. "Since you helped us and saved us a lot of money we would like to give you something." Hope flared up in Amani, she knew she wouldn't get a job but everything was welcome at this stage. "We can't give you a job but we wanted to give you something as a token of gratefulness." A envelop was being pushed over the smooth surface of the desk towards Amani. Her hands were slightly shaking when she picked up the envelope. She looked at it, confusion written in her eyes. "Open it up." The man smiled an encouraging smile and Amani slowly opened up the closed envelop. She tore the top open and pulled out two fifty euro bills. "You saved us a bit more money but I guess they won't be back, so you saved us a lot and we wanted to thank you for that. Is that enough?" Amani looked at the man in shock, is it enough? She's saved! Maybe not for a long time but she's capable of staying somewhere and have a roof over her head.

Amani wanted to hug the man, instead she smiled as wide as possible and nodded at him. "This is so generous, yes, it's enough. Thank you so much!" She folded the envelope with money and put it in a pocket. She padded it to make sure it was safe and looked back up. "Might you know a place where they are looking for people?" The man shook his head in denial and seemed to be lost in thoughts for a moment.

"You could sign up for HelpX, that might be helpful for you, I heard from my wife that you were looking for a job for some money."

"What is it and how do I reach them?" Amani asked.

"It's a company that gives travelers a chance on working for someone, they get a place to stay and food. You won't get paid but for max 4 hours work... at least you won't have any expenses."

"Where is it situated?" Amani got more and more exited, she never heard of such a company before and this could be an amazing shot to safe her money. Also she would be able to go and see citizens of the country.

"It's not in a certain place, you have got to go on internet and make an account. After that people can send you a message or you send out messages, in that way you get in contact with each other and you'll be able to find a suitable place. You can do it on your phone as well, a lot of people would like to call to see how your English is."

The excitement Amani felt a moment before, drained away, she had nothing to be in contact with them. "Can I go to those places, I don't have a phone, nor a computer."

"Not that I know of, you could go to the public library to make an account, you could put on your page that you have no phone and just internet." The man said.

"How do you know all of this?" Amani asked, she became curious. He knew so much about it. A wide smile spread across his face. It made his wrinkles become even deeper but it suited him, he looked... sincerely happy.

"I had the same problem when I was traveling and I did this to safe up some money too."

"It's very helpful, I will do this HelpX thing. Is it just in Belgium?"

The man shook his head. "Oh no, it's all over the world. Not in every country, but in most. I did it in New Zealand and in Australia, they have a lot of travelers there and it's a benefit for travelers and the hosts. Here in Europe, you've got a lot of hosts as well, there are many places you can go and see. To live in their families will give you insight in the country and the way they live, really interesting."

Amani couldn't suppress the smile creeping up, it sounds that she found a way of saving some of her money and still be able to travel around. A new plan created itself in her mind, the library was the place to go today. She said goodbye and mentioned how much this information meant to her. After that she walked away, waving at the woman behind the counter. She felt good and filled with hope for a bright future. 

That day she went to the public library, Amani was convinced that she would find a family to stay with and this could be so much more convenient than the way she traveled at the moment. She pushed the door open and the unsettling feeling of eyes burning in her back made her turn in the opened door. Amani looked around behind her, the buildings surrounding her seemed to have eyes but she knew that it was nonsense. Behind her was a boy and he looked not too happy with her holding him up and she let him pass. He bumped her shoulder and she hissed an insult at him. He looked back at her with squinted eyes, his mouth in a thin line and Amani could see he was restraining himself, she turned her back to him and looked around. The burning on her body was still there and since the boy was gone, it couldn't be him.

A lot of people were passing her and Amani decided to lit up a cigarette since she was outside anyway. Her eyes looked at every passing person, every passing car and she tried to look through the windows. The unsettling feeling grew stronger with the moment. What if someone was following her and if so, what was the reason? For a split second her family crossed her mind. They could've send a detective or something but after a while she found that not realistic. Her father and Calinda had no money to spend at the moment and if they had something, why would they spend it on finding her? The whole situation made no sense to her. Amani leaned onto the brick wall of the library, one foot rested onto the wall and she was enjoying the sun on her face. The smoke from her cigarette twirled into the air. After her last puff she put the butt in the cigarette box next to her. Amani went back inside, ignoring the feeling from before.

After looking around she noticed a sign that stated that the computers were upstairs. She walked up and picked a computer. Amani pressed the internet button and decided to make a new e-mail address. She wasn't planning on using her old one, since they might be able to track her with that. Once she made a new e-mail address and a page on HelpX she found out that it was easier to contact people. Therefore she needed to transfer money, which she couldn't. She slumped her head into her hands and remained sitting like that, staring at the screen, hoping for a message.