Agyrophobia

Chapter 2: homewrecker

She trotted home in her gleaming ivory sundress. Something about the ruffles At the end caused her to spin more than necessary just to see them swiftly crawl over the grass and at her legs. Until she made it home to the short brick house painted over with a deep red. The door was a ice white that happened to Change from spotless to mud stained corners and oil spills at the slit beneath the doorway over time. Her bare feet had found themselves in mud at some point down the walkway. When her grandma Agus saw it she had a good beating to hand over. But Della never did get what was coming to her.

"Ya have ta' stop dragging that mud inta' the house Della dear ya'll have me runnin' back and forth for soap water ta' scrub it out!" Agus screamed waving a small green washcloth at Della. Della hugged her tightly "Good morning Agus your hair is lovely this morning did you do something nice with it?" Agus had long gray hair and peach skin with a few bags and wrinkles beneath her eyes. She was in her sixties or even late fifties. Every time Della would ask her age she would tell her, "T's mighty rude of you ta' ask a woman my age what she's been livin'" and go about her day. Della took Agus's hair with her fingers and braids it carefully.

"No Della t's been the same fer' the past to long!" She says a bit aggravated as she scrubs the Biscuit batter out of a large bowl from this morning. Della kisses her grandmothers cheek and then ties a rubber band at the tip of her hair searching the pantry for something sweet and something not so sweet. "Do we have much at the apple trees yet gramma A?" Della asks as a smile breaches her lips. Agus nods "the whole field is fulla' wild apples ready for the pickin' of the season." She continues to remove the biscuit from the bowl with her arm strength and soap. The season was just after summer when the plants take their turns for growing. In Iowa Della could grow all she wanted, but all she planted was green apples. Her father used to take her out to the market when she was about seven years old and buy a batch of green apples and bake a pie. She could never get the right taste that her father had. It saddened her heart a bit as she wished for the taste that reminded her of home. Home may not have been in the same place, but it always smelled just about the same, like green apple pie. Della began to wonder about the boy at the bus stop as she walks out her back door to the apple orchard. trees planted on either side of an isle arched over the middle like a walking path just for her as she picked only the brightest of the green apples. The ivory trail of her dress grazed the grass and black soil slowly as she filled the basket. Her mind keeps going back to the boy tapping his foot to the sound. But she heard a crackle in the bushes. It startled her causing her to drop her basket of apples and hold out a stick. She was afraid to ask who was there, if she did that and they didn't see her she would make herself noticeable. But a boy stepped out. A boy with gray eyes so bright if you focus hard enough, the whole world will turn black and white. His blonde hair both short and long as if he had just gotten his hair shaved not even a week ago. She holds the stick tightly in her grasp afraid that if she let go he would take it and turn it on her. But he just stared at her. She felt ridiculous just staring back in the awkward silence and bent down picking up her apples.

"Sorry ma'am ain't my intentions to go around scarin' beautiful ladies like yourself." He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous motion. In some way Della takes pity and sits on her knees "this is my orchard." She says plainly not getting to interested. It's not like he was the boy from the bus stop, or her grandmother.

"It's nice I was just lookin' to fix up some apples if that's alright, I don't mean any harm to it." He says examining the green apples "why green?"

"What?" She asks not paying attention retrieving the last apple.

"I asked why green." He repeats standing firmly in front of her a bit curious.

Her eyes flare lightly at his stubborn worry. "Why in the heavens name is that your business?" She asks rudely and walks back inside.