Stranger

Lin

           

The next day, I was lucky to have my mom come over again to watch Nora.  I knew she would be in good hands with her.  My mom meant business, and I knew Nora would get her work done with her looming over, checking in.  When I got home in the evening, mom had made her do a couple loads of laundry and the house was still spotless.  I could tell Nora was ready to be free of my mother's care.  I kissed my mother goodbye and went to Nora's room.

She was laying on her bed when I walked in, earbuds in her ears.  She took them off and sat up as I sat on her desk chair.

"Hey, there," I told her.

"Hey," she said.

"Have you thought about what you want to do tomorrow?" I asked her.  I really did want to spend some one on one time with her.  I wanted her to open up to me and let me in a little.

She shrugged.  "Whatever you think is fine," she told me, indifferent.

"How about you do school in the morning and in the afternoon we'll do the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island?"

"Okay," she said, pulling out her phone to scroll through, obviously not wanting to have a conversation.  I left her room to give her some alone time and the rest of the evening passed uneventfully.

The next day, the house was quiet in the morning as Nora worked in her room and I got a few things done in my office.  I decided she needed to get a taste of some of the local Washington Heights cuisine, so I took her to La Barca for lunch.  Her mother is white, so I don't think she's gotten a real taste of latin cuisine.  She seemed to like what she ordered, and I was glad we were able to have a meal together.  We talked about some of her favorite music and movies, so I was able to get her to open up a little.

In the afternoon, we took the ferry to Liberty Island.  We went all the way to the top, which was pretty cool.  Most of the time we just spent wandering around Lady Liberty, sometimes chatting and sometimes just walking in silence.  The silence never felt awkward.  I could tell she was tuned in, taking in the sights.  She was noticing things that the average person might overlook, like how there were chains on her feet.

We headed over to Ellis Island next, and she seemed fascinated.  She seemed to like history, like me, and actually seeing part of history right in front of you could be pretty powerful.  We struck up conversation about some of the exhibits we saw.  I bought her a book at the gift shop and she immediately started reading.  It was time to catch the ferry back, so I let her lead the way.  As she was boarding, her foot slipped a little and I caught her by the arm.  She looked at me, somewhat shocked, and I realized that was the first time I'd ever actually touched her.

When she was steady, she stood up and I let her arm go.  The physical contact seemed to take her by surprise.  On the ferry ride back to the mainland, she read from her book the whole time. It continued on the Subway and back at the house.  She laid on the couch and read for a whole hour.

That night, it was my turn to read Sebastian his bedtime stories.  I loved reading to him.  We pulled out a couple of my favorites and I laid down with him on his little bed, him cuddled up to my side.  As I read, I changed my voice to match the characters and he laughed and laughed.

As I continued to read, I noticed an eye peeking in at us from the door, which was left partially open.  I looked over and it quickly disappeared from sight.

"Nora, do you want to come join us?" I offered, knowing it must be Nora.

"No thanks," she said, and quickly disappeared.  I soon finished the story and tucked Sebastian in, making sure his nightlight was on before I closed his door.  I stopped at Nora's room on the way back to the living room.

"Hey," I said after knocking.  "Did you finish that book already?"

"Yeah," she said.  "It was really good."

"I'm glad you liked it," I told her.  "We could take you to the library tomorrow to get some more books about Ellis Island if you like.  Do you have a library card?"

"No, I don't think so," she said. 

"No problem, we'll get you signed up," I assured her.  "And I wanted to say I'm really proud of you for getting all your work done so fast.  That was a lot of work."

She gave me an uncomfortable smile, like she wasn't used to getting praised.  I told her Vanessa and I were probably going to watch a movie and eat popcorn if she wanted to join us.  Predictably, she stayed in her room.  It was great that we had spent the day together.  Baby steps.