Braided Together

Smile

The walk to Max's house was fairly pleasant. A long, winding dirt path that led to a cracking but still functional paved one.

Max talked a lot. About the town, which was called Hillside because of one single hill on one side of the town that just jutted up out of nowhere.

Rini laughed, but even then, only a light fluttering noise pushed it's way out of her throat. Still, it made Max smile. He had a bright, big smile, like a little kid.

He gave her a brief tour of the parts of the town they passed.

"That's the grocery store I worked at for a grand total of three days." He said, pointing to a large building across the street.

She gave him a quizzical look.

He grinned again. "I tried studying for a test while restocking shelves and I got fired." He admitted with a shrug. Rini just shook her head at him. She didn't undersrand half the words that came out of his mouth, but he was friendly enough.

They were walking through a residential neighborhood when Max stopped abruptly and turned toward her.

"This one's ours." He said, gesturing toward a house that looked just like the rest on the block. Two stories, decent size. Certainly much larger than the only house Rini had known, the cabin in the woods. Truth be told she was a little overwhelmed. She'd never seen a town or stores or houses lined up in a row like these were.

She was a bit apprehensive but the atmosphere was inviting. Yellow light poored out of curtained windows as the sun began to sink. A swing on the porch creaked in the autumn breeze. Leaves swirled in small numbers over a still bright green lawn. It seemed like a cosy place, but how would she know?

And of course she was worried about staying the night in such a place. Max was being quite generous, allowing a stranger into his home, but that didn't make her any more comfortable with the idea.

She would've much rather been in a nice cave with a warm fire, all by herself, but looking up, she could see the clouds rolling in as if they were eating up the light. She would certainly be glad not to experience the tempest they would bring.

"Well, are you coming?" Max asked from the porch. Rini hadn't noticed him move, she was too lost in her thoughts. She took a deep breath and walked up the cobblestone path and a handful of wooden steps as Max opened the door.

The first thing Rini noticed was the smell. Some sort of meat was cooking, and it wasn't one of the kinds she was used to eating. The second thing she noticed was how clean and disorganized everything was at the same time.

The brown wood boards were clean and free of dust, but knickknacks and household objects were littered everywhere. The walls looked freshly painted but the mounted pictures were skewed every which way.

Rini heard a loud scream from above her and a young girl's voice screeching. "Oh Evy I'm going to get you!" Footsteps pounded across the ceiling and Rini looked at Max worriedly.

He just laughed. "It's the twins." He said. "Evan probably stole something of Lane's and she's getting back at him."

This did not ease her worried. Seeing her expression he laughed again. "Don't worry. This happens all the time."

He took a step, landed on something pointy and jumped back, reaching down to hold his foot. He muttered something under his breath and looked at Rini apologetically. "Sorry for the mess, you may want to watch your step."

Rini nodded and followed Max deeper into the house. "Hey Mom! I'm home!"

"I heard the door honey is there any reason you needed to announce that?" The voice came from nearby, but there were so many walls the sound echoed back and forth off them. Rini's well trained ears couldn't pinpoint the direction of the sound. It made her feel all the more lost.

Max continued walking through his shouted conversation. "I, uh... Brought someone with me."

"Oh a stranger? I love strangers, in the kitchen darling."

Max lead Rini through another door and she found herself overwhelmed by the strength of the smell - the food at it's source.

A woman was bustling around the area, using tools and machines Rini vaguely remembered from her childhood. She was middle aged, maybe early 40s and had very light brown hair, only a few shades darker than her son's dirty blonde. She turned around and brushed her hands on her apron. Her eyes were a startling green, but friendly none the less.

"Hello dear," she said brightly. "I'm Max's mom, but you can call me Vera. What brings you here?"

Rini wanted to respond, she really did, but her voice hadn't worked so far why would it change now? She shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Max for help.

"She doesn't talk mom, I don't think she can." Max said quickly.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear." Vera probably would have continued but her son's eyes lit up like he'd had a brilliant idea.

"Can you write?" He asked her quickly. She nodded and he smiled at his mother then ran out of the room without any indication of where he was going.

Rini shifted back and forth on her feet. Uncomfortable didn't even begin to describe what she was feeling.

"Okay sweetie, I just need you to answer a couple of questions."

Rini clenched her teeth and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Don't worry sweet. Just yes or nos. First, are you a serial killer?"

Rini was startled by the ridiculous question and quickly shook her head.

"Do you have anger issues or violent tendencies?"

She shook her head again.

"On the run from the law?" Vera asked, by now her tone seemed joking, but this question was the only one Rini may have needed to think about. Nonetheless she shook her head, and hoped she was telling the truth.

"Then you're welcome in my home sweet." She said, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Rini flinched from the physical contact but the older woman didn't notice. She was too busy brushing the dirt from Rini's shoulder, at least trying, and frowning while doing so.

"Do you have a change of-" She started, but stopped when she saw the state of the bag Rini carried her meager belongings in.

"Well, never-mind that then. I'm sure Erin could lend you something, though it might be a bit small. Would you like to... get cleaned up?"

Rini nodded and smiled gratefully at the woman. The prospect of bathing sounded wonderful. She hadn't had a real bath for years, not counting rinsing off in streams.

"Upstairs and on your left sweet, shouldn't be too hard to find."

Rini smiled and nodded, but when she stepped back into the maze these people called home, she could only think, "Easy for you to say."