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Ms. Bellager's Love

A walk to remember

By Ebony SimpsonPublished 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago 10 min read
2

While walking through the park I noticed a woman hunched over on a nearby bench. I asked if she was okay, the conversation and the day that followed, you will never believe.

The well-dressed older woman looked at me from under her wide-brimmed hat and flatly told me that she was dying. I tried to assure her that she wasn’t, but she continued on by telling me that it was her death day. Death Day, I had never heard of such a thing. As I looked at her puzzled, she said “Kielani, I need you to deliver my love to my children, I can’t make it to the last three on my list. Will you do this for me? “I know who you are because I’ve been waiting for you”.

I stood there stunned by every word she said. She handed me her leather satchel and instructed me to retrieve her little black book from it. I did as she asked. In her book, there were names listed on every page accented by a purple heart. On the last page at the very bottom, there were three un-hearted names.

She handed me a single-tagged key from her pocket. She said, “this is the key to my apartment, get my love and take it to my children, please”.

I agreed.

I took the key from her hand, read the tag: Ms. Bellager, 79 Park Pl. Apt 1501 NY. NY.

“Off you go, you have lots to do”, she shooed me away, winked her eye, and smiled.

As I walked out of the park I looked back toward Ms. Bellager’s bench, she was sitting up, still as a statue. At the park exit, I glanced one last time at the bench, she was gone.

The doorman greeted me as I arrived at 79 Park Pl. I told him I was headed to Ms. Bellagers’ apartment he said “Kielani, she let me know you’d be coming by today”.

He smiled with twinkling eyes and gestured toward the elevator bay.

Following his directions, I walked under the marbled archways toward the sound of the elevator bell. During my short wait in the elevator bay, two older women seemed more interested in me than I was comfortable with. They spoke in low tones and glanced at me often while smiling with twinkling eyes.

When the elevator arrived, we all filed in. One of the women pressed 9 and 15. We rode in silence. When we arrived at 9, they walked out of the open doors, while exiting the smaller woman of the two said “Goodbye Keilani, it was a pleasure to ride with you”. I nodded and smiled in response to her comment.

If it wasn’t for the pleasantness of it all, I would’ve been freaked out. Being called by name by total strangers is STRANGE.

I stepped out of the elevator on the 15th floor and easily found the door labeled 1501 among the only two doors on the entire floor. I exhaled and used the tagged key to open the lock.

The foyer lit up as I entered. I slowly made my way down the pictured hugged hallway that smelled of lavender and patchouli. Smiling faces watched me as I walked further into Ms. Bellager’s home. Were these her children? Was the love these smiles? I never saw photos so in unison yet so different.

As I entered the quaint sitting room whose only furniture was a deep purple grandfather chair, piano, and bookcase. I noticed three small boxes lined up on the piano next to a purple envelope. The boxes were wrapped in gold paper with a hand-written note on each. Twined to secure the lids with a dried flower placed on top.

I approached the boxes, lifted the tag of one and it read the same name un-hearted in the black book. The back of each tag had a hand-written address.

Am I supposed to deliver these? Are these the love she couldn’t deliver? At a second look, the envelope had my name elegantly written on it. I opened it:

Kielani,

Thank you for agreeing to deliver my love, Don’t worry, it will all make sense in due time. Deliver each box to the address written on them. They’re all expecting you.

With love and appreciation,

Ms. Bellager

I quickly pulled out my phone and mapped the addresses on the boxes. They were all within walking distance from Ms. Bellager’s apartment. I could deliver them and be home before it got too late.

I picked up each box and delicately placed it in my shoulder bag. I headed back down the photo-lined hallway toward the front door. I took a last glance at the smiling faces, inhaled the lavender and patchouli scent, and wondered for the first time who was Ms. Bellager? I was more curious about leaving her home than I had been when I entered.

.

I rode the elevator down to the lobby, exited, and made my way past the doorman. He spotted me leaving and asked if I wanted some hot cocoa. I blurted out; “I love hot cocoa”. He said, “you’ll need some warm fuel for the walking your about to do Ms. Kielani”. He handed me a purple thermal cup with a gold top, purple umbrella, and tissues. Before I could say a word he said, “Have an enchanting day”, and twinkle winked me away.

I headed out the door into crisp fall weather, I looked at my phone and it pinged the first address. It was a bit of a walk to Ms. Ciara Matthews, 37 Staples Avenue. During my walk, the weather changed from chilly to torrential rain. I quickly opened up the purple umbrella the doorman gave me and continued my walk, faster than before. I arrived at 37 Staples Avenue and to my surprise, it was a pet store. I opened the door as it let out a high-pitched chime, while I placed my umbrella in the rack closest to the doorway. At the counter, a young woman with bright eyes and a purple pixie cut smiled at me. Her paw-printed apron was purple as well, complimenting her choice of hair dye. She said “Kielani, your all wet!”

By this point, I was getting used to strangers knowing my name. It wasn’t as strange as it was at first. I cracked a lame but fitting joke, “it’s raining cats and dogs out there”, we both laughed. I told her that Ms. Bellager asked me to deliver the golden box that I held out to her. Once she had it in her hand, she smelled it, smiled, and placed it in her apron. She grabbed my thermal cup from the counter and walked through the curtain behind her. She was gone less than two minutes. She returned with my cup and winked at me as she handed it back. She refilled my hot cocoa, as I took a sip, she said “cocoa is my favorite too”. We shared a final laugh, I left retrieving my umbrella at the door as I said goodbye.

I pinged the second address, Mr. Marcus Lanely, 7 Smithson Ave. It was just a few minutes’ walk from the pet store. The rain stopped as I walked the few minutes to Marcus’s home. I easily found number 7 on Smithson Ave; a slim house that fit tightly nestled amongst brownstones. I walked down the short steps to the front door and used the doorknocker. The door swung open and a middle-aged man looked at me over his purple thick-framed glasses. He wore a black t-shirt, with straight blue jeans and remarkable boots. He smiled under the winged mustache; I noticed the tattoo on his forearm that read Bellagers Boy in beautiful script. He said, “Kielani, it’s good to finally lay eyes on you”. I smiled, then I recited my line, “Ms. Bellager asked me to give this to you” as I handed him the golden wrapped box. He held the box close to his heart, then his forehead, and lastly his lips. Tears ran down his face.

I quickly handed Marcus a tissue, the twinkled-eyed doorman prepped me well. He took it from my hand, wiped his eyes, and said in a low tone, “Thank you Kielani” as he closed the door. I nodded as I turned to walk back up the short steps to the street.

Back on the street, I sipped my hot cocoa and checked my phone for the next pinged address. Ms. Valerie Simone, 3 South Wood Avenue, lived conveniently close to my house. It was getting late, so I hightailed it to South Wood Avenue and quickly jogged up the steps to a modern-looking single-family home. I pressed the doorbell as I waited on the damp porch I heard kids laughing and footsteps coming toward the door. The door opened and I was greeted by a beautiful woman, Valerie. Her eyes met mine and she said “Kielani you’ve made it, and in a great time”. She invited me into her foyer and closed the door behind us. She looked at me and said, “you must be freezing; we don’t want to catch a cold now do we”? Her skin was flawless, and her eyes were bright. She looked at me and shook her head, she walked into the house and returned with a department store bag. She instructed me to go into the bathroom and change out of my wet clothes. I did as she asked, and returned to the foyer in blue twill pants, a grey soft sweater, and boots just as amazing as Marcus’s were. She looked at me, “Now that’s much better, a Bellager Girl.” The mention of Ms. Bellager reminded me of the reason I was there. I quickly handed Valerie the last golden box. Valerie took the box, grinned with her eyes closed, and put it in her sweatpant pocket.

She hugged me tight as we said goodbye. My everyday parka, which was hung on a hook in the foyer, was replaced with a full-length deep purple coat with gold buttons down the front. I put it on, smiled, said goodbye, and headed home.

On my way home I stopped to grab a bite to eat from the bodega on the corner. As I stood at the counter to buy my items I decided to get a lotto ticket, I figured after the day I’d had that anything is possible. I selected my numbers for the drawing and handed them to the cashier. I purchased my food and the single lotto ticket and made my way home.

As soon as I got home I ate my sandwich and quickly dozed off. I woke up to the bright sunlight peeking through my bedroom window. I looked around my room and the day before felt like a dream. I quickly headed to the hallway where I found the purple coat, boots, thermal cup, and purple umbrella. The lotto ticket was in the coat pocket nestled next to the key with the tag that read 1501.

I headed into the Livingroom, ticket in hand. I grabbed the remote from between the couch cushions and pressed the power button. The voice from the TV said “last nights’ pick six winning numbers are 79,15, 1, 37, 7, and 3. I looked up then down at my ticket.

The voice continued “One lucky NY winner has won $20,000”.

I stumbled back and fell onto the couch, I couldn’t breathe, I’d just won $20,000. Then my doorbell rang, I headed to the front door. I opened the door to find at least 300 little golden wrapped boxes on my porch. Another purple envelope lay on my welcome mat.

I opened it:

Kielani,

Thank you, we were able to release our mom into the world last night due to your commitment. Your work is not done. More people need your help. You know what to do.

Love the Bellagers

literature
2

About the Creator

Ebony Simpson

My professional bio has no place here. I’ve always wanted to write. I’ve daydreamed about having nothing else to do in my day but write all the thoughts and ideas that play in my mind. I’m here to find my voice.

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