“You sound really good,” Chris told him. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. I very… I am very ready. But what do we use for money?”
“I have some for you that we can use.” She pulled her coat around her, and Bazel got the jacket Atlas had given him. It was big, but it smelled like him, and he liked that. He followed her out to her white car and got inside. “How is everyone?” He paused. “Did I say that right?”
“Yes, you did. They’re all sick at the moment. Something has gone through where they live, and they all caught it. Everyone is doing what they can for them, and they have seen a doctor, so they are going to be all right.”
Bazel nodded. “I hope they feel better,” he said as he watched outside the window. “What is that?” he asked, looking at the building with the tall tower and clocks.
“That’s the old courthouse. It was built over two hundred years ago.”
“Can you go up in it?” he asked, craning his head to see the very top.
“I don’t think so. But we can go inside the building if you want. It’s very pretty.”
Bazel smiled. “Okay.” He continued watching as they pulled away from a traffic light and the tower disappeared behind other buildings.
“How big is this town? It seems big and small at the same time.”
Chris chuckled. “That’s a great observation. It’s about eighteen thousand people, and we have everything we need here, but if you want something special, you might have to look somewhere else. But it’s a very nice place to live. People are mostly friendly, and they help one another.” She continued driving.
“I try to help Atlas,” he said. “But I do not know what to do. It is strange being here. I think back home, that America is perfect and everything would be happy when I got here.”
“No. It’s not perfect, but you can think what you like and go to whatever church you like.” She turned when she stopped again. “I was going to ask if you wanted anything. I could arrange to take you to a church or somewhere else.”
“No. I do not need that. They will not accept me anyway. That is why I come here.” He was so confused sometimes at how one thing about him would cause his entire family and the people in his community to turn their backs on him. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. He knew others did things that were bad, but all that anyone could talk about was him. “I want… I don’t know what I want, but not that.”
“All right. That’s fully up to you.” She made a number of turns, and they ended up at the same grocery store he had been to with Atlas. He got a wheely buggy and entered the store. “What is it you want to make?”
“Mama used to cook Khinkali. They dumplings with meat, mushrooms, and potatoes. Mama used goat sometimes.”
“You might try chicken. It will be easier to get,” Chris offered.
“Okay, I also need vegetables.” He pushed the wheely thing around the store, picking up veggies that looked right, as well as nice strawberries. “And nuts.” He got what he thought he needed and then went to the nut section, which had a ton. He found some that looked right and added them to the cart.
“What else do you want to make?”
“Khachapuri. It cheese bread. Mama made it all the time. It very good.”
“Okay. I’ll help you.” Chris brought him flour and helped him pick out the cheese. He didn’t find exactly what he wanted. “I checked the internet on my phone, and I think you wantgruyere, cheddar, and parmesan.” He smelled at what she chose, and it seemed good. He also got eggs.
“Okay.” He continued through the store and got some things to drink before passing down the candy aisle. He stopped in the middle. “Gosh.”
“Do you like chocolate?” Chris asked.
Bazel nodded as he looked up and down at everything. “I love chocolate. Mama didn’t let me have any, but a friend had some, and she shared it.” He picked up an orange package and then put it down again.
“You can get it if you want. Those are Reese’s. They have chocolate and peanut butter. It’s really good. There are also these with chocolate, peanut butter, some caramel, and pretzels. I love these best because they have crunch too.” He looked them over and put the crunchy ones in the cart. Then she led the way up front and showed him how to scan the groceries and handed him a card. “This is for food. It will work here. All you have to do is use the card in this machine.” She showed him how it worked and what numbers he had to put in.
“Okay.”
“This is yours to keep.” She handed it to him, and he put the card in his pocket, reminding himself to ask Atlas about it. He had seen him use cards like this when they went shopping, and he had wondered what it was and how it worked.
“Thank you.” Maybe he just needed to accept how things worked here. Though how he could get money without working for it was something he didn’t understand at all.
“I was able to get you some emergency help for a few months,” Chris said. “It won’t be forever, but this way you will be able to afford food for a while.” She packed the groceries in bags, and they took them to her car.
Chapter 9
