Heart Condition

Chapter Three: Home Again

Mrs. Bhat walked into their Albert Wilford on Vallejo and turned to usher me inside.

            “Please, come in.” She insisted, taking my jacket “I’ll fix you some tea. I’m sure you’re freezing.” I followed her inside, looking at the time; it was ten after eight. I had homework, plus I wasn’t even home yet, and Mrs. B was making me a warm drink.

            Mr. Bhat smiled, “I’ll call you a taxi, hm?”

            I nodded, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

            “No problem.” He insisted, taking out his cellphone. Hearing Mrs. B in the kitchen, I decided to head to the next room, but I heard a door slam from up the stairs.

            The rumble of feet clamored, and when they turned the corner, I froze.

            A boy’s eyes locked on me, and I felt an odd combination of nostalgia and displacement.

            Mrs. B called from the kitchen, “The tea will be ready any minute, sweetheart.” Rami’s eyes shot to the kitchen door, before they moved back to me.

            “Hey.” I waved, my hand frantic from the cold.

            His eyes widened, “Hi, Abbie. What…what are you doing here?” He walked to the foot of the stairs, and he gestured to the couch. I guess I was supposed to sit, but my brain was bombarded with everything that seemed to be happening.

            I shrugged, “Your mom saw me walking home, and offered to call me a cab, so we ended up here.”

            He nodded, and then suddenly remembered that he was doing something else before he saw me. He gestured, “Um, could you just, uh…” There was another closed door, and above me, the sound of trudging feet caught my attention.

            “Ram, did you want to go over the chapter again, or…” I jumped a little when I saw Sasha hover at the top of the stairs. He stared, my hands burrowing deeper into my jacket pockets.

            Rami shifted his eyes from Sasha to me, “Sasha, uh, this…this is Abbie.”

            He nodded, walking down carefully “We’ve met.”

            “Really?” Rami narrowed his eyes, “Where?”

            “He’s a TA in my English class.” I admitted, shrugging away my nerves “How’s it going?”

            Sasha nodded, “Good. What are you doing here?”

            Rami walked toward the kitchen, “My mom brought her over. She was walking home from…where were you?”

            “I was at BCB, working.” I kept my hands clenched around my house key, ready to tear the seams of my jeans pocket, “I needed to walk home, and Mrs. B saw me, so she drove me here.”

            Sasha’s eyes widened, “You were going to walk home in the dark?”

            I shrugged, “It’s just Nobb Hill to Alamo.”

            “That’s two miles.” He remarked, “You were going to walk that? At eight o’clock at night?”

            I nodded, not saying anything. Mrs. B came through the door, smiling “Abbie, Mr. Bhat will call the taxi to take you home just as soon as he gets a hold of your parents.”