I didn’t stop running until I heard the comforting tinkle of the bell in Mr. Barnes’ shop. I slammed the door and leant against the door in relief. I dropped my thing on the floor and slid down the door until I was sitting down then the realities of the situation hit me and tear after tear began rolling down my face.
I heard a shuffling of feet across the stained, dirty yet comforting carpet of the Book Shop. I looked up to see Mr. Barnes standing there, his frail features contorted with worry.
“Jean, dear,” he spoke softly as if not to startle me, “What’s wrong?”
I look up at him and lose any composure I had left. I leap up and wrap my arms around the small old man, burying my face in his chest, crying like a small child. It makes me feel so weak and helpless, but after what he did I don’t see how I can feel any other way. He wrap his arms around me for a moment and the pulls me up to my feet.
“Come on you, follow me.” He leads me to an old wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room and sits me down. He pulls a blanket out of a wooden storage chest and drapes it around my shoulders. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I watch him go and when he is out of sight I pull my knees up to my chest and lean my head against them. I am calmer than before, silently sobbing while I have no hand to hold onto for comfort. Minutes later he returns with a steaming cup of hot lemon water.
“T-t-thank y-you,” I stutter as my shaking hand try to get a good grip on the cup so as not to drop it. I take a sip of the clear yellow liquid and I feel a little better.
“Jean... what happened to you?” his tone was serious, he needed to know and I wanted to tell him.
“J-Jude... He...” I began but I just crumbled again into tears.
I heard Mr. Barnes sigh sadly which was the last thing I needed. I don’t want any more sympathy. “My dear... did he...?” unable to finish the question, he went silent waiting for me to finish the question in my head.
“No... But he was so close.” I wiped my eyes and nose with my sleeve and soon it was too damp to work any longer. “Can I have a tissue please?” I asked him. He gave me a kindly smile and reached into his pocket and held out a clean handkerchief. I took it and began to mop up the mess on my arm and the streams engraved on my cheeks from the amount of tears that had shed from my eyes.
The door flew open suddenly and in ran a scared Anika and Rayyan ran in frantically looking around the small shop. It wasn’t long before their gazes set on the frail figure in the corner that was me.
“Jeanie.” Anika said carefully, as if her voice was going to shatter me.
“I’m okay Anika.” I gave her a weak smile, hoping that it would fool her into thinking that I wasn’t as frail as I may seem. She didn’t buy it.
“Bullshit.” Rayyan looked at me. His is face hardened with anger and worry. “I’ll kill him.”
“Ray!”Anika exclaimed, shocked at the suggestion.
“Look at her Ani,” Rayyan argued, pointing a finger at me, “and tell me you don’t want to do the same.”
“That’s not the point!” She argued back.
“It is the point!” he retorted.
“Be quiet!” a voice shouted and it took a while for me to figure out that for as long as I had known him, I’d never known Mr. Barnes to raise his voice. “I will thank you not to raise your voice in my shop.”
“Sorry Mr. B.” Anika and Rayyan said in unison. Mr. Barnes muttered to himself and shuffled out to the storage room behind the counter leaving Anika, Rayyan and myself in an awkward silence.
