Words Unspoken

You wave goodbye to your colleagues as you push through the glass doors, your head not once glancing back at the words "Deloitte LLP" written on the sign above the entrance. Instead, you continue walking another two blocks down to an old coffee house where your regular cab driver is waiting outside.

"Evening Derek" he says.

"Evening John" you respond, then enter the yellow taxi.

"Where to boss?" he asks as you pull your seat belt across your waist.

"The riverside", you answer.

He nods and begins the twenty-minute drive from your job in downtown Edmonton to the riverside on the outskirts of the city. Neither the driver nor yourself speak after the brief greeting. The driver is accustomed of your quiet demeanor and simply completes the drive in silence.

Upon arriving, you begin walking along the wooden boardwalk to a dimly lit bench near the river, then light a cigar. This routine had become more of a habit than a diversion after some time. Silently, you blow out a cloud of smoke and sigh, your head slowly tilting up as you stare grimly into the night sky. Your eyes find the moon and you close them as a feeling of emptiness consumes you; a feeling you've become accustomed to. Gradually, you open your eyes again to return them to the night sky, but stop as you hear someone approaching you. You twist in your seat to look to your left and find a young girl walking towards you. She catches your gaze and you glance away at your cigar as you tap it lightly, allowing the ashes to fall to the ground, then glance back at her; she continues to stare.

You shift uncomfortably in your spot as she approaches your bench. She walks around to face you and smiles softly. You straighten up and say "is there something I can help you with?"

The girl continues to stare at you for another moment before finally shaking her head and simply pointing at the empty spot on the bench beside you

You look at the empty spot and back at her, "you want to sit with me?" You ask, slightly confused by the oddness of the girl's silence.

She nods. You begin to feel more uncomfortable by her silence. Is she a foreigner? Can she not speak English well?

However, after a few moments of silence you gesture for her to take a seat next to you. She responds with a warm smile and plants herself to your right on the bench.

For about a minute, the only sound is that of your cigar as it slowly cracks away. At a quick glance, you assume she's in high school; her skin lacks any signs of aging like wrinkles, but instead appears smooth and fresh. With this possibility, you begin to wonder why she's spending her time at the riverside park on a Friday night, so you start looking around to see if the girl is with her parents or friends.

When you finally bring your eyes back to her, she is staring at you with a piece of paper held out. You stiffly take it and ask "what is this?" But she simply points at it, insisting you read its contents.

Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable ... I didn't mean to stare so much earlier either. You seemed lonely so I thought I'd try keeping you company.  

You feel a little embarrassed for looking so lonely, nonetheless you pull one of your spare pens out from inside your coat pocket and write: why are we exchanging notes instead of talking?

You pass the note back, but are taken back by the sudden frown she gives you after reading the note. 

"Sorry, did I do something to upset you?" 

She shakes her head and begins writing again. 

I'm physically mute, I can't speak.

You finish reading and sign "can you sign?"

Her expression lights up as she swiftly signs back "Yes". Then quickly continues the conversation "Why are you here?"

You pause for a moment to think about your response "To clear my mind I suppose". She tilts her head at this as if she were trying to figure out an appropriate response. "What about you?" You ask.

She frowns at this, then responds "The same I guess".

You pause for a moment, debating if you should ask what she's stressing over. But she interrupts your thinking with a poke to your arm. You look at her and raise an eyebrow. She asks "Why did you learn to sign?"

"My sister" you reply briefly.

She seeks for more "She taught you?"

You shake your head left then right. "She was born deaf", you pause for a moment to translate your thoughts into sign, "Back when she was a little girl my parents paid for someone to teach her to sign. At night I would sneak into her room and slowly, I learnt how to sign as well."

The girl smiles faintly at this; "She's so lucky."

You flinch at her comment. Lucky? What's that supposed to mean?

She shakes her head "Forget I said that."

It is in this moment that you hear a woman's voice scream "Melissa! What the hell are you doing out here with a stranger in the middle of night!?"

The girl's eyes dart from the woman to you as her face grows weary, her eyes pleading for your help.

You assume it's her mother and draw your attention over to the woman storming towards the both of you, her arms flailing about as she screams at the girl next to you.

"I don't know what the hell you were doing with this man but you better have a good explanation for this" the woman continued to scream.

"Ma'am I was just asking her for directions, sorry for holding her up" you interject.

The woman hauls to a stop and gives you a look of utter confusion; "Asked her for directions? But she's mute?"

You glance to the girl, "mother?" you sign.

"Yes" she replies.

The girl's mother ignores this and instead proceeds to grab the girl by the arm to pull her up from the bench. "Well I hope my daughter was able to help you despite her disability, but she left without permission this evening so I'll be leaving with her now".

The girl glances at you one last time before her mother begins dragging her away. You frown and stare blankly at them as they leave. Upon finally disappearing from your view, you pull out another cigar, light it and place yourself back on the bench. You begin to tilt your head back to examine the night sky once again but stop part way. Instead, you pull out your cellphone and find 'Jennifer' under your contacts and begin writing a text message.

"Hey Sis, how did you handle mom and dad refusing to use sign growing up?"