Evicted

Kara jogged up the graffiti-splattered steps of the run-down building. She was exhausted after her shift at a job that demanded too much and paid too little. The mile walk each way on a granola bar and a muffin pilfered from a customer’s half-eaten plate hadn’t done much to restore her energy. But she already knew there was no point in heading towards the elevators. Those had never worked. Kara stole a glance at her watch.

She had about 45 minutes before she had to be at the school. Just enough time to grab Lily’s sweater and maybe the last few crackers. Lily was too small for her age. Kara knew it was because she wasn’t getting enough food.

She glanced at her watch again as she reached the top of the landing and turned right. Her mind occupied, she almost ran into a tall burly man who was standing in front of Apartment F.

Her apartment.

“Excuse me?” Kara stepped back as he whipped around with a scowl.

“Yeah, lady?”

“Sir, this is my apartment. What is going on?”

The man blinked down at her. Pity flashed in his eyes, “Lady, you been evicted.” Kara stared. She couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Pardon?”

“Sorry lady, you been evicted. Seems you mighta missed one too many payments.”

Kara shook her head frantically. “No, I have an arrangement with the landlord. I just got a job. Please.” She dug in her bag and pulled out a fistful of crumpled bills. “I can’t lose this place. I have nowhere to go.”

He heaved a sigh. Kara could see it in his eyes. He didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to be giving bad news to a tenant who couldn’t pay her rent on time. She pressed her lips together, returned the bills to her bag, and attempted to summon her dignity.

“May I go inside and gather some things?” she whispered; eyes downcast. When there was no response, Kara looked into his sympathetic eyes. “Sorry, lady, it’s all mostly been thrown out. But here.” He thrust a large trash bag at her. “I saved this for ya.” Kara accepted the garbage bag and tried to force a smile. It felt more like a grimace spreading across her face. “Thank you.”

The big man tilted his head at her, “I reckon you could go stay with a friend for the night. Sleep in your car, maybe. Nice-looking girl like you, why don’t you call your parents?”

Kara blinked at him and clutched the garbage bag tighter, “My parents are dead.” She laughed suddenly and turned away. Just as quickly, she turned back around and waved the bag at him, “I appreciate this, thank you.”

Numbly, Kara headed away from the apartment she and her daughter had called home for the past year and out of the building. He watched her go, compassion written all over his face, but he made no move to call out. Not that she noticed. Head bowed under stress and an uncertain future, she never looked back.

Kara walked slowly down the street, the trash bag bumping into her left leg. She ignored the rush of people, pressing against her and around her. Her entire world had narrowed down to one question: What was she going to do now?

She had already taken a glance through the trash bag and seen handfuls of clothing, her daughter’s brown teddy bear, and the quilt he must have grabbed off the twin bed they shared. It was a nice gesture – especially when he could have just thrown all her belongings into the street. God! Kara looked up at the sky and groaned aloud with the pain of all the things she had lost that way over the years.

Pausing at the red Stop sign, she blinked up at the street name. Lily’s school was only 2 more blocks over. Kara bit her lip and wondered how she would explain to the 7-year-old she wouldn’t be returning. Kara knew from experience that once a child began looking homeless, the questions would start coming from all directions. And unfortunately, she didn’t have the answers.

She wasn’t even sure where they would lay their heads for the night let alone what the next day would bring. She frowned down at the bag she carried as she approached the steps that led to the elementary school. She didn’t want to go inside carrying a garbage bag – how suspicious was that! But at the same time, she did not dare to leave their only possessions sitting unattended.

Kara was pondering what to do when a small, sweet voice reached her, “Mama, you’re here!” Kara glanced up to see a tiny dark-haired girl dashing toward her. She threw her arms open wide and her daughter flew into her with such force, she was knocked back a step. Laughing, she hugged the child tightly. “How was your day?” Lily needed no further opening and began chattering on about Jenny who had shared her cupcake, Adam who had colored on the wrong page, Rebecca who had scraped her knee, and Ms. Jackie who had managed the whole day.

“Mama? Mama!” Kara started and looked down at Lily who was staring up worriedly. “Mama, what’s wrong?” Kara sighed inwardly. She had hoped to avoid this conversation for a little longer, but she couldn’t hide it.

“I am so sorry Lily; we were evicted today.” The little girl wrinkled her nose in confusion, “What’s evicted?” “It means, we don’t have a place to live. And…” Kara bit her lip, wondering how much information to share, “We might not have a place to live for a little while.”

Lily looked at the ground, “Is it my fault? Because I told Mr. Short he smelled like cabbage?” Kara couldn’t help the shocked giggle that escaped her. “What? No. No, of course not, sweet girl. It isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I wasn’t making the payments on time. I am so sorry.” Lily didn’t look at her. “Lily?”

No response. “Lily, please look at me.” Kara gently lifted her daughter’s chin up and wiped at the tears pooling in her eyes. “We will be okay. You and Me. K and L. I will get this figured out for us.”

Lily slowly slipped her hand into her mother’s. “Where are we going?” Her question came out in a stumbling whisper that sent an arrow right through Kara’s heart.

The question was quite a good one. Where were they going? Kara realized, as she stood up, she had no idea where any shelters were located or if they were going to be able to get there in time. She adjusted her grip on the garbage bag. The bag seemed to weigh a ton suddenly and exhaustion nearly bent her over. She hadn’t noticed it so much during her walk to the school but now standing in the middle of the sidewalk, she felt dazed.

Just across the street, a neon light lit up a store, 24 Hour Vintage & Rare Finds. “There.” She pointed across the street. “We are going there.” Lily frowned but allowed her mom to pull her to the crosswalk and across the street without comment.

Kara had just pulled open the door to allow them both to slip inside when a woman rushed out of it. Nearly bowling them over in her hurry, she knocked into Lily and a large manila envelope fell from her open bag. Kara had just opened her mouth to call out something scathing to the woman, but she was already more than halfway down the block. Lily tugged on her arm, “Mama, look, that lady dropped this. What is it?”

Kara tilted her head and took the bundle. She turned it over and over but there was no name or label. Just an address. Kara frowned down at it, lifted the flap, and peered inside. It was a little black book with a gold engravement on it. Exploring Unplanned Grace.

Shrugging, Kara slid the book back into the envelope and stuck it in the garbage bag. “Come on Lily, let’s go see what we can find in this shop.” The two made their way inside but the shopkeeper scowled. “You can’t bring that bag in here! I won’t have it.”

Kara sighed. “Come on Lily. We will just come back.” “I’d rather you didn’t,” sneered the shopkeeper.

Back on the street, she looked around and then took a firm hold of her daughter’s hand. “Here, wait here with the bag. I’ll just go in there and get us something to eat.” Lily nodded. Kara’s heart twisted. She hated having to depend on the 7-year-old but what choice was there. They were already going to be in the cold. No need to be hungry as well.

She dashed into the convenience store next to the vintage shop and grabbed 4 bottles of water, bread, bananas, and a candy bar for Lily. The total came up to $11.18 and Kara winced as she handed over $12.00 to the pimply-faced kid ringing her up. That left her with exactly $20.82. “Have a good day, miss.” Kara forced a smile and hurried back to Lily to find her paging through the black book.

“What do you have there?” Lily didn’t immediately answer, all her attention focused on the black notebook. Kara peered at it over her shoulder. The book was filled with all manner of scribbles, symbols, and whorls. It was almost hypnotizing, and Kara felt a bit dizzy trying to make sense of it. “Lily,” she called her sharply. “That’s enough of that. We need to find somewhere that is going to be dry to stay tonight.”

Lily blinked up at her slowly, her face uncharacteristically serious. “We have to return this book, Mama. I think the lady needs it back.”

“We can worry about that later. For now, I spy a bench. Let’s eat.”

They made their way to the bus stop and Lily plopped down. Eagerly, she took a slice of bread and gobbled it before unwrapping the chocolate bar. Kara chewed on her own bread more thoughtfully. She took out the envelope again. The address wasn’t far, and they probably could make it there before total dark. She came to a decision and pulled Lily to her feet. “You’re right, lovebug. It looks important and we should return it.”

Off they set. It wasn’t a difficult walk, but Kara could see the toll it was taking on Lily. “Almost there.” She encouraged, running a hand over her daughter’s curls.

Arriving at a small tidy house with a garden, Kara gently lifted the latch to open the gate. They walked up to the door and rang the bell. The woman who answered was dressed head to toe in a vibrant pink and a loud tie-dye scarf was wound around her neck. She beamed brightly. “Are you selling cookies?”

“Um.” Kara didn’t quite know what to say. It all felt so ridiculous. “We are here to return your book,” Lily piped up. The woman smiled, “My book? Well then, of course, you must come in.”

Before Kara could utter a word of protest, the lady had pulled them both inside and insisted they leave their shoes at the door. “You’ll never guess just how important this book is to me. Truly! Truly!” She said over and over as she pushed them both into seats at the table.

“Now, there is the small matter of the reward! I was just going to post an ad. $20,000 for my book to be returned to me. And before I’ve even gotten it worded, here you are!”

The woman clasped Kara’s hands and then Lily’s. “Does that seem fair?”

Kara could only stare, “If this is real, $20,000 would be…. beyond amazing. Beyond my wildest dreams.”