Haymitch's Love: The Untold Story

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Nemit: Family

Nemit sits at the polished kitchen table next to a chattering little Melmar.  The young boy seems to have grown so much throughout this whole ordeal.  His formerly sleek blonde hair has transformed into tousled, honey coloured locks.  He still wears his thin framed glasses but they don't quite suit his newly jumbled array of features.  His nose has become exceptionally beaky and his eyes seem darker and more swarming, as though they are swimming with haunted memories and the wisdom acquired from deep, mature experiences.  She studies the boy so thoroughly that she barely registers a word he says.  It suddenly dawns on her how much Melmar looks like Haymitch.  Tears well up in her eyes at just the thought of him.  

Ms. Abernathy - Angress, as she instructed Nemit to call her - dances around her spacious new kitchen in search of spices, cooking some sort of rich stew on the fancy, high-tech stove, filling the kitchen with the warm, comforting aroma of thyme and rosemary.  Nemit stares at the woman and smiles to herself.  It is incredible how the two women have managed to bond these past few months.  Haymitch was once the rock that came between them, the source of so much conflict and quarrel.  And now, Haymitch is the rock that uplifts and holds the two women together.  Some nights, after Haymitch and Melmar have already gone up to bed, Angress and Nemit sit together in the plush living room by the enormous, crackling fire with marble finishings.  For the first few nights, the two would sit in silence; Angress would immerse herself in an enormous old book while Nemit would watch the dancing flames of the fire for what seemed like hours.  Finally, one night, without any real reason to, Angress began to read aloud:

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

  It is the east and Juliet is the sun.

  Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

  Who is already sick and pale with grief..."

The words broke Nemit's fixation with the fire.  She turned her head sharply and stared at Angress oddly.  The woman kept on reading.  Nemit could hardly understand a word Angress was saying, and yet, there was something transfixing about these words.  Angress's voice was smooth, soft, and confident.  When Angress finally stopped reading, the silence in the room seemed strange, the flames of the fire crackled louder than ever.  After some time had passed, Angress asked Nemit what she thought.  Nemit was speechless.

"...it...it was beautiful," she said uncertainly.  Was beautiful the right word?  How do you describe something that you know you love yet have no real knowledge of? 

Angress smiled.  She must've known that Nemit didn't understand her words.  Nemit barely even knew how to read!  But there was not judgement in Angress' grey eyes.  She began to speak again, this time with the book sitting closed on her lap.  She began to tell Nemit the story of Romeo and Juliet, how they were passionate, star-crossed lovers, how their families despised each other, how they had all odds pitted against them.  In an instant, Nemit became transfixed. When Angress gave her final reading of the story, Nemit was outraged.  

"But- but how could that happen?" She practically yelled.  "How could their families let that happen?!"

Angress looked at her simply.  "They loved each other in a place and time where their love was simply not accepted."

Since the finishing of Romeo and Juliet, Angress had been hinting at reading other stories as well.  But lately, Nemit has been rushing up to bed immediately, before the woman even has a chance to catch her eye.  It has been impossible for her to face Angress in this state.