chapter six

After she finished her last minute shuffle there were only two large packages and a backpack waiting by the door. She retraced her steps in search of any forgotten necessity but everything she could possibly need had been on stand-by for years so as to be easily accessible. This minute procedure had also been an unconscious one, instantly placing Jill in a cynical and bitter state of mind when acknowledged. However with effort she buried these sorry emotions admirably.
Jill shrugged her assent when asked of her readiness and took up the rear as Ravyn led the way outside, a clear Tupperware container tucked under his arm filled with cookies. He had no car so presumptuously he either walked or was dropped off. “I hope you don’t mind but I used your phone a while ago.” As he said it a blue-gray 1984 Honda Prelude rounded Jill’s corner at a ridiculously safe speed with which could only be explained when she saw the driver looking inquisitively out her window. When she spotted the couple on the doorstep she looked relieved and pulled solidly into the driveway to wait, car softly idling. The passenger seat became unoccupied as yet another woman climbed out, at length to help with the bags but presently to offer Jill a tooth achingly sweet smile and a hand soft to the point of intimidating. Jill had the stature of one who knew she was being accommodated and wasn’t exactly grateful. It was sneakily annoying; her awareness of the excess of women there mainly for her “comfort.” But like none else she digested it quietly.
The lady who ably took Jill’s cases went by the name Gretal Addams. She cheerfully told Jill of how her father was a poet and spelled her name likewise to “petal” as opposed to the traditional fashion. Gretal was a shorter woman with an equally small build. Her choppy fire hair was decorated with butterfly clips complete with flapping wings. Whenever she walked they bobbled on springs like undulating tongues never content with the last word. Her body was shaped like a pear and clothed a sunshiny summer dress that tickled her toes and gloated “sleeveless.” While having thin lips one could hardly tell for they moved so fast they lent the illusion of circumference. Her button nose perfectly accentuated her turquoise eyes and she was pretty.
The driver stepped effortlessly out of the car to greet Jill then. She was a good four inches taller than Jill and just as slim if not more so. Her obviously long hair was thoughtlessly tumbled into a ball at the nape of her neck and something like twenty strands had made the escape only to curl up around her face, unable to let go. Everything about her murmured graceful. A thin material wraparound skirt that was shaded forest and stretched to her calves fell around her in waves and complicated her every move. She wore no shoes and Jill could detect a fading tattoo or scar circling her left ankle that the woman, Talthea was her name, seemed to self- and sub-consciously keep veiled. Her fingers were long and unadorned, musical hands. She wore a white wife-beater over a green sports bra, which matched her skirt, that was visible slightly underneath and completely at the armpits. Her neck was long and elegant and privileged a sole necklace. The piece of jewelry was hung low falling atop her breast. It was made of tiny shells fluctuating between light and dark browns and golds and meeting each other at a pristine white gemstone centerpiece carved into a Celtic cross. Her eyes were large, wide, giving her a perpetually shocked appearance and yet their soft light brown candescence shown only wisdom and patience, and also age. Her perfectly matching blonde eyebrows arch with amusement. Her cheekbones were high and her lips were pouting but they instantly became joyous when she smiled her greeting and she was breathtaking.
What Jill liked most about this woman though was her handshake: firm yet yielding. It was unschooled with lack of experience but complete with a natural confidence that made it right. Gretal’s hand seemed limp and unsure but then the vibrant woman’s constant flow of information seemed to more than compensate.
Jill learned from Gretal that Talthea, “just plain Tal,” declared herself mute at the age of 9. She was now almost 39 and even if she wanted to talk could probably no longer be able to. The pair had met fifteen years hence and were as close of friends as Jill had only dreamed of having and being.
The four of them stood just to the right of the car after the bags had been loaded and politely acquainted themselves with each other. Then they clambered into the Honda and Talthea started it up. It was difficult to tell if the car was moving or not for Tal was an excellent driver. When she turned Jill and Ravyn, in the back seat, barely perceptibly leaned with the vehicle but besides that the ride was incredibly smooth. The one negative aspect of this talent was that throughout the beginnings of the ride Jill felt antsy and impatient to get out as she felt she wasn’t getting anywhere. Eventually though the speeding scenery remedied this and the journey fell into serenity.
Gretal told Jill of the organization they all made up. “All we really do is help people to help themselves. Once we take the initiative and get them relocated every one of our people are capable enough to thrive. It’s a lot like gardening in the sense that once they’re freed they flourish. Speaking of which I have some azaleas just to die for, you’ll love ‘em. Both Tal and me, we were once in that very same position so it’s easy for us to empathize but our Ravyn here, why, he’s special. He don’t need to have been in such an awful place to know just how to fix them. He didn’t need to be there to realize it needs to stop. And if we’re the flowers than he’s the soil. It’s a damn shame he’s so young and all ‘cuz if he were my age, woo-ee, he’d be in trououble.
The two women chuckled contentedly, Gretal’s throaty and loud, Talthea’s practically non-existent, but both of their faces showed unmistakable euphoria. They were having the time of their lives all the time. This teasing must have been an ongoing joke since Ravyn too laughed and rebuked good-naturedly. Jill found their banter to be both amusing and reassuring.
They drove close to an hour before the car halted and the engine stopped turning. The stop of the car was more disturbing than the whole ride had been. Jill found herself in front of an absurdly homey 2-storey cottage large and entirely out of place among its far-spread surrounding modern homes. There was a lovely garden making up the front lawn and Gretal promised an herb and vegetable one just around the back soon to come. Ravyn led the way up to the front door and into the home.
The first thing that processed in Jill’s mind was noise. Loud bustling busy emotional white noise. There were all sorts of people consorting all sorts of ways and it must have been exactly like a commune. Jill saw women hugging with tears rolling down each other’s cheeks and men playing with children or changing babies’ diapers. Some doors were closed and had yelling coming from within while some rooms were bright and open brimming with people not emitting a single sound. Sitting in a hungry armchair looking very small was a little boy amidst all this activity. He was quietly reading a Dean Koontz novel and looked positively at peace with his environment. Honestly he looked as though he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all were these things removed. Some kids were like that Jill knew, stilled amongst chaotic energies. Jill saw Ravyn smile lightly when he saw the boy.
Gretal and Tal lost themselves within it all traveling between different groups and people, becoming more of an aid together than apart yet doing just fine on their own as well. Just then, as Jill stood there somewhat disoriented, Ravyn closed the gap between them and clasped her hand pulling her through it all. They walked into the kitchen where men and women alike were cheerfully preparing dinner with much laughter and conversation. Ravyn led her inside it and many people stopped to grin or offer an encouraging anecdote. She nodded or smiled when due all the while keeping up a fluent trek toward the stairs located at the edge of the kitchen and back door. Wafting through the open windows was the smell of fresh nutmeg and parsley. Ravyn set down his cookies on a random counter and once he paused to give some attention plus a dash of advice on something they were putting into the oven.
On and up the steps they climbed past the second floor and straight up till (morning?) the attic. When there Ravyn finally released Jill’s hand and closed the door behind them. The attic was big and lofty. The whole of the slanted ceiling that faced the back was paneled with windows and awarded a view of green. There were long dark curtains, hinting at a daytime slumberer, to block the sun but at the moment they were tied back. The windows had been thrown open allowing a heavenly breeze, after pushing her way through a hot, crowded room, and more herbal scents this time mingling with the wildflowers. Apart from these luxuries the room was sparsely furnished. It had a twin bed, a chest of drawers, and a tall mirror in one corner. The ground was carpeted dark blue and the walls were whitewashed.
“This was my room,” Ravyn said. “It’s the only area in the house that is completely quiet at any given moment if left to its own devices. The original owners of this place were musicians and made this room sound proofed for a recording studio. It comes in handy anyway.” He smiled and it was a sweet smile: hesitantly sincere. Jill smiled back at him a little wider.
Continuing he said, “Here’s where you’ll sleep for however long you stay with us. Jill there’s one thing I didn’t tell you about Oralia…she’s my wife. We were married four years ago. So you see, I owe you more than you’ll probably ever realize. More than my life… Please try to feel at home here.”
He started to walk out but before he vanished through the doorway Jill asked, “When can I see her?”
“She’ll want to come up the moment she returns. Until then I’ll bring up your bags. That’s the bathroom there,” he indicated to a door at the far end of the room. “Be right back.” She lay down on the bed to catch up.
Jill was beyond surprised at Ravyn’s revelation. Last she’d seen Oralia the girl had seemed all but lost to any human relationships save the one growing in her belly. She was frighteningly timid and couldn’t even look Jill in the eye. Oralia…married again? Yet beyond her disbelief she was extremely happy for her and not a little proud.