Chapter 129

When she pushed open the glass door of the second-story porch, the mild breeze of an early-spring morning caressed her cheeks. She reached both arms above her head and stretched, taking a deep breath and inhaling the green smell of the potted herbs on the porch. The smell of breakfasts being made by the families in the other homes in the neighborhood wafted her way on the smog from their houses’ exhaust pipes. “Mm-mmm…Okay.” Now that her first ritual of the day was over, she made her plans for today as she checked on the potted plants. It would probably take a while yet before she could open up shop, but the plants were coming along well. She’d water them and then go pick up the milk and start making her own breakfast. She had to work on setting up the shop she planned to open downstairs, and since the place used to be a clinic, there were so many neglected rooms that she hadn’t even finished cleaning half of them yet. Really, she had so much to do, there couldn’t ever be enough hours in the day. It would probably be like this for a while, with no time for her to worry about anything she didn’t have to. Which meant she didn’t have to think about all the things she’d lost…so she felt sort of glad that these busy days would go on for a while longer. Brrrm brrrm… A three-wheeled motorcycle approached in a clamor of fossil-fuel engine noise and parked below the porch. The young deliveryman said a mechanical “Good morning” as he brought the morning’s milk over and left it in front of the house. “Good morning,” Kieli answered from upstairs, but the deliveryman ignored her. With a wary glance at her doorstep, he turned his bike around and hastily rode off to his next stop. When Kieli leaned out over the porch rail and looked down, she saw a redheaded man in a plain, thin shirt sprawling barefoot on the steps by the front door. “Oh, look at you!” Kieli grumbled to herself, exasperated. “Not dressed for the cold, not even wearing shoes…” She whirled around and went back into the house. She jogged down the steps, grabbed the man’s jacket from its peg on the wall of the entryway, and went outside. Draping the jacket over his shoulders, she said, “Good morning. You’re up early today.” She peeked over his shoulder at his face as she spoke. There wasn’t even a flicker of a response. He just sat there with his slightly dirty feet sprawling in front of him and stared vaguely at the sky. There was no way of telling from his lackluster expression whether he didn’t register Kieli’s voice at all, or did register it but just wasn’t showing any reaction. It didn’t matter which it was, though; even when she knew he wouldn’t answer, Kieli kept on striking up conversations with him just the way she always had. Now she only smiled at him before she left him for the moment to put away the new milk bottles. Hmm, what should I make for breakfast? I’ll have my eggs scrambled, and I’ll make a salad of herb leaves and chickpeas, and…oh, I know, maybe I’ll have milk tea today. As she was working out the menu, something suddenly struck her, and she turned back to the man.