Blue (19 page)

“Hey! I just wanted to call and tell you goodnight. Your dad didn’t sound all that excited to talk with me,” Ari said.

“I know. I feel kinda terrible that you haven’t met them yet,” Anytha said as her dad peeked into the kitchen and she met his gaze. “I’ll have to bring you to meet them next time you’re in Pretoria.”

Chester smiled at her and nodded as he turned out of the kitchen.

“Well, I miss you. And the little girls at Humanity told me to tell you ‘hello’. They missed you today, too. They are so excited to actually be able to hang out with you when you aren’t separated by a gate,” Ari said.

“Aw, I miss them too. How is it going?” Anytha asked.

“Things are going well. I got to play with the kids for a long time this afternoon, kicking around a soccer ball. One of the staff members actually asked me if I wanted to volunteer in the main office tomorrow morning, handing out visitor passes for visitation day and answering the phone. I told her I would, but it didn’t exactly sound like more fun than just playing with the kids. But, I guess—wherever I can be most useful,” Ari said.

“Well, I guess I’m glad to hear that they are starting to trust you more and giving you some real responsibilities,” Anytha said. “That way they will trust you enough to let me in, so I can be with the kids when I get back.”

“Me too. And this kind of work will look great on any resume I send to a non-profit company. So it’s kind of a win-win,” Ari said, and Anytha smiled at the sound of his voice.

She looked up to see her father staring at her from around the corner of the doorway. “That’s great. Well, I’m going to have to let you go. My dad just walked back into the kitchen and is giving me a little bit of a dirty look,” Anytha said, winking at her Dad. “I think he might need the phone.”

“Okay. Well, goodnight, sweetie. I miss you,” Ari said.

“I miss you too, but I’ll see you soon. Night, Ari,” Anytha said, hanging up the phone on the receiver and looking at her dad, who was giving her a sly look.

“You guys seem to be getting pretty serious. Should I be worried that I have yet to meet this boy?” Chester asked her, nudging her with his elbow as she walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Dad. Next time he’s in Pretoria you guys will definitely meet him.” Anytha said, rolling her eyes at him and smiling as she headed back up to her room.

Anytha lay down on her bed, smiling as she thought of Ari. She had missed him more than he probably knew, and hearing his voice brought so many emotions flooding into her heart. She loved the way that he loved those that were less fortunate. The ones that so many saw as ugly and deformed—he called them beautiful. The ones that were discarded by their families, he would have almost taken them all into his own home. She respected Ari more than anyone she had ever met, and she felt lucky to be the girl that he had chosen. He made her want to love people better. She loved him.

Anytha lay on her bed again with her charcoal pencil in her hand and flipped the page in her sketchpad. Somehow the dark drawing that she had been working on seemed unfitting for how she felt now, after sharing a moment with Ari. She turned on a lamp beside her bed and turned off the overhead light in her room. She laid her head down beside her sketchpad as she delicately shaded in the petals of a flower, until she drifted off to sleep, letting the charcoal slip from her fingers.

Anytha was awakened the next morning by the sound of a knock on her bedroom door.

“Come in,” Anytha said.

“Your mom and I have a big surprise for you today. Get up and get dressed. We’re going out,” Chester said to her.

“Well, it looks like my soup worked. Looks like somebody is feeling better,” Anytha said, sitting up in her bed and stretching her arms over her head.

“I am feeling much better, but your mom isn’t one hundred percent yet. She’s not coming with us today. It’s just you and me,” Chester said.

“Well, okay then,” Anytha said excitedly, getting out of bed and turning to her closet to pick something out for the day.

“Wear some comfortable shoes. You may be on your feet for a little while today,” Chester said, closing the door behind him as he walked into the hallway.

Anytha got dressed and walked downstairs. Her father had poured her a cup of coffee into a thermos and was waiting by the door for her. He handed her the thermos and smiled as she grabbed the keys off the shelf near the door.

“I know you like the practice, but I’m actually gonna drive today,” Chester said. “Don’t wanna ruin the surprise!”

Chester and Anytha got into the car and started down the road. Anytha kept looking at her dad with a questioning grin, trying to figure out what plan he may have in mind. She would smile back at him, and he would turn back to focus on the road ahead, smiling still.

Anytha saw her father put on his blinker, and she looked around to see where he might be headed. He pulled into a used car lot and turned off the ignition.

“Now, I’ll have to approve of it first. But you have 35,000 rands. Take your pick,” Chester said.

“What!? Dad, you really don’t have to do this!” Anytha said, doing a double take as she looked out over the car lot.

“I know, but I want to,” Chester said. “We—your mother and I—want to.”

Anytha hugged him tightly around the shoulders and let go, looking around the lot.

“Oh, and, honey. Your mom and I have also decided to help you pay for your boarding this semester, too,” Chester said.

“What? You really don’t have to do that, Dad. My job on campus pays for the dorm,” Anytha said in disbelief.

“I know, but maybe you don’t have to live in the dorm. Maybe we can give you a little extra to find yourself a little apartment near campus. Is that something you would want to do?” Chester asked.

“Dad, that would be fantastic. I would love to move out of the dorms! I would even have my own kitchen and bathroom! I just couldn’t afford it on my own,” Anytha said.

“Okay. Well, once you pick out a car, we’ll drive out to your school tomorrow and pick out an apartment for you. You can go ahead and get settled in before the semester starts. How does that sound?” Chester asked, crossing his arms and smiling at her.

“Dad—I don’t even—that sounds absolutely amazing. I can’t believe this is happening!” Anytha said, practically jumping up and down. She hugged her father again, and they walked around the lot looking at all of the vehicles that they had for sale, but Anytha didn’t see anything that really stuck out to her in her price range.

They spent the rest of the afternoon scanning the neighborhood for cars, but nothing seemed to stick out to Anytha until they pulled into the fourth lot of the afternoon.

Anytha’s eye caught on a  white sedan in the corner of the lot, and she walked quickly over to it and peeked in through the windows. It had a leather interior, and the price tag read 40,000 rand. Anytha looked at her dad and made a pouty face in objection to the price.

“You like that one?” Chester asked.

Anytha nodded.

“Well, maybe I can get them to go down on the price,” Chester said, motioning for her to come toward him. “Let’s go take it for a test drive.”

The two of them and the car salesman loaded up into the little white car with Anytha in the driver’s seat. Anytha started the ignition, wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel, and pulled out of the parking spot and out onto the road. Chester sat in the passenger seat beside her, watching as her eyes lit up with every detail that the salesman pointed out about the car, and as she took every corner with a smile on her face. They pulled back into the parking lot, and Anytha turned off the ignition, looking at her dad.

“Well, sir. I think this is the one,” Chester said to the salesman. “Wrap it up.”

Anytha could hardly contain her excitement, and she reached across the console of the front seat and hugged her father tightly. The two of them walked into the office of the dealership and signed the papers to drive the car off the lot.

The salesman handed Anytha the keys, and Anytha clasped them tightly in her hand as she and her father walked out to their separate cars to head home.

“Dad, I don’t even know what to say,” Anytha said, wrapping her fingers around the handle of the door to her new car.

“Don’t say anything. We’re sorry that we hadn’t really talked about what was important to you before the activation party. We just wanted to make it up to you. You deserve this, honey,” Chester said.

Anytha got into her new car, and Chester closed the door behind her. She wrapped her fingers again around the steering wheel and turned the key in the ignition. This time she was alone and could really enjoy the feeling of having a vehicle all to herself. She smiled as she pulled out of the dealership parking lot and headed home.

As she pulled into their driveway, her mother was sitting on the bench on the front porch waiting for them. She stood up as soon as she saw the little white car pull in.

Anytha parked the car and opened the door, jumping out to go and hug her mother.

“Mom, I can’t believe you guys did this. Thank you so much!” Anytha said, hugging her mom tightly.

“You’re welcome, honey. We’re happy that you’re happy,” Delah said, sniffling a bit.

“Are you okay?” Anytha asked.

“Yeah, I just knew I would be emotional when I saw you drive up in your new car. I’m so excited for you,” Delah said, rubbing her back.

“Me too. And Dad and I are going to drive back to school tomorrow to pick out an apartment for the next semester. I am just in shock. Thank you so much. I can’t wait for Ari to call tonight so I can tell him all about it!” Anytha said, hugging her mom again.

“I picked up pizza for you guys for dinner. It’s on the table,” Delah said. “I don’t think my stomach is up for it yet, but have at it.”

Anytha rushed into the kitchen and put a couple slices of pizza on a plate, then heated them up in the microwave. After skipping lunch to look at cars, she was starving. She sat down at the table and finished her dinner as her dad came in and picked up a couple of slices for himself.

“Careful, Dad. You don’t want to upset your stomach again,” Anytha said.

“Ah, I’ll be fine,” Chester said, taking a huge bite of a slice.

As Anytha rinsed off her plate in the sink, the phone rang, and Anytha rushed over to answer it.

“Lindewe residence, Anytha speaking,” Anytha said.

“Hey, it’s Ari,” Ari said.

“I have been waiting for you to call all day!” Anytha said, turning around to look at her father, and taking the phone outside the back door to talk in a little bit of privacy.

“You sound excited.” Ari asked.

“I am! Ari, my parents bought me a car! And they’re going to pay for me to live in an apartment near campus. And I’m coming home tomorrow!” Anytha squealed into the phone.

“Wow. That’s amazing. Your parents rock!” Ari said. “I can’t wait to see it. What did you get? Wait, you’re coming home tomorrow?”

Anytha rattled on about her new car, sneaking peeks at it in the driveway as she described every feature to Ari.

“I’m so happy for you. But I’m even more happy that I’ll get to see you tomorrow night! Wait, am I going to meet your dad?” Ari asked.

“Maybe. You should probably be prepared for it, just in case,” Anytha said. “Anyway, enough about my amazing day, how was yours?”

“It was interesting. I will say that spending my day in the front office of Humanity wasn’t exactly what I pictured it to be. It was actually pretty boring most of the day, people coming in and out just to stare out the window at a bunch of kids playing in the courtyard. But, guess who I saw earlier today,” Ari said.

“Who?” Anytha asked. “Wait, Inali?”

“Yep. He came in with some young woman to look out the window,” Ari said. “He rubbed her back for a couple of minutes, just staring out into the courtyard. I think she was crying. And then they turned around and walked out together without saying a word.”

C h a p t e r 
16

Tabitha took a few minutes to gather the few belongings she had accumulated over the last eleven months or so that they had lived underground. Taking the sheet off of her bed, she tied them up inside of it. She waited with Alyssa at the edge of her bed, where they had been asked to line up before they were ushered out to the vehicle that would take them to their new home. She had no idea what to expect, and the tension in the air was thicker even than the dampness from being underground.

At the door were three armed guards with machine guns in hand, waiting to usher the girls to the outside in safety. Tabitha felt a knot rise up in her throat as the staff told them to line up single-file down the hallway between the rows of beds. Alyssa rubbed Tabitha’s shoulders, and the line began to scoot forward as the first girl walked up the stairs at the end of the room. Slowly, the line moved forward, and Tabitha and Alyssa found themselves in the concrete stairwell leading up to the metal door that they had entered through the day they arrived. As she walked up the stairs, she could see light from a streetlight-type lamp shining in through the door. It was nighttime, which made sense. They wanted to move the girls in a way where it wouldn’t be obvious to any passersby.

Tabitha felt a gust of the warm air blow through her hair as she made her way out. She had never felt so thankful for a singular breath in her life. The months of living underground had made this breath feel like her very first, after nearly drowning to death in the dampness of the underground.

Tabitha looked up at the stars shining brightly above her. She could tell that they must be somewhere far from the city lights, because the stars were bright and plentiful here. On their voyage here, the truck had driven them for a couple of hours at least, but Tabitha thought maybe they had just driven in circles for a while, too. They could be right next door to Humanity, or they could not even be in South Africa anymore. There was no way to know.

Tabitha looked up toward the beginning of the line. She saw that it led into the back of the same truck that had brought them here in the first place, and her heart sank. Before, there had been a possibility that the truck was all that they could find on short notice before the dam broke, but seeing the truck now gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. Could the government really not spring for something more comfortable and safe for them to travel in? They were the most valuable citizens in the entire country, after all. No, seeing the truck solidified Tabitha’s idea that the government may not even know anything about this move.

Tabitha approached the metal ramp that led up into the truck, looking down to watch her footing as she entered the truck. She looked up for a moment to see that the truck had been lined with lights on the inside of the trailer bed, illuminating it with a white glow. In the glow of the lights, Tabitha could see that around the perimeter of the bed, seats had been installed. They were like those one might see in a movie theatre with comfortable, collapsible bottoms. Between the two rows of seats facing each other ran a red rug down the middle.

The girls had started filling in the seats along the walls of the truck, starting at the end. Tabitha and Alyssa fell in line to fill the seats, their backs against the wall parallel with the cab of the truck. The rest of the girls filed into the cab, filling the rest of the seats. There were still about a dozen girls left that didn’t get a seat, and they were asked to sit down the middle of the aisle. They sat down, crossing their legs on the rug that ran down the middle.

“Man, they really updated this thing since last time,” Alyssa whispered to Tabitha, hopping up and down in her seat a little bit, testing out the comfort.

“Alright, girls, we have a long drive ahead of us tonight, so I would suggest that you try to get some sleep if you can. Take turns on the floor if you can, and make yourselves comfortable. When we reach our new location, we’ll get everyone to their new living quarters as soon as we can. Then you guys can all go to your rooms and sleep in as late as you’d like. Sound good?” Dr. Hance asked.