“I hope this is okay,” he said.
“It’s good.” Bazel ate quickly, cleaning every bit of food off his plate. Then he took the dishes to the sink and stood, looking around as though he didn’t know what to do next.
“Is something wrong?” Atlas asked.
Bazel nodded. “I stay here but not pay. I need to help.”
Atlas nodded slowly, understanding what Bazel was saying. He had some basic pride, and it hurt for him to be taking charity. Atlas could understand that, but he didn’t know what to have him do. He didn’t want to ask him to do the dishes and stuff like that.
Evie went to the back door and sat in front of it. Atlas went to let her out, and Bazel followed him, stepping outside into the yard. He stood at the edge of the patio while Evie ran off into the yard. Then Bazel turned in a circle, smiling as he gestured around. “I can make pretty for you.”
“You want to work in my yard?” The previous owners had done some things with the backyard, and Atlas had done what he could to keep it up, but he just hadn’t had the time it required. Most of the plants were still there, but weeds had been given a chance to take hold. Mostly Atlas mowed the lawn and did the basics, so things had gotten a little rough around the edges.
“I make it beautiful.” He seemed really excited. Atlas didn’t want to take advantage of the guy, but he showed him where the various gardening tools were. Bazel grabbed a shovel, a rake, and some clippers from the garage and hurried back outside. “I promise, you will like.”
Damn, the guy seemed happy, and Atlas returned inside, leaving Evie lounging in the shade in the backyard while he took care of the dishes and then went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
By the time he was done and came back downstairs, Bazel was still outside, so he went to see what he was up to. Atlas found the beds at the edge of the patio raked free of leaves and the weeds gone. Some of the plants had been cut back, but the flowers stood tall. Evie trotted over happily while Bazel, down on his hands and knees, skillfully pulled out weeds and cleared the soil of the remains of last year’s growth. “See, I tell you it bepretty.” He barely looked up as he worked. Already the yard was coming back to life. “I study plants back home before I have to leave.” A cloud passed over Bazel’s features, but it passed pretty quickly.
“Thank you,” Atlas said before going back inside to get his own chores completed.
“YOU WHAT?”Chris asked once she arrived and asked where Bazel was.
“He felt bad because he was staying here for free, and when I took him out back, he got really excited.” Atlas led her out the back door into his partially transformed yard. “Look at this.” The beds had been raked, and Bazel was using the shovel to recut the edges and remove the grass.
“Holy hell. He’s done all this already? This place was a wreck.”
“It was not. I just haven’t had all that much time,” Atlas protested. “I’d have gotten to it… eventually.”
Chris rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Maybe in the next century.” She waited until Bazel set down his tools before motioning him over. “Are you doing well?”
He nodded. “Atlas is very nice to me. So I help him.” He motioned around. “It a mess, but I fix it.” He seemed proud of what he’d done so far. “But I worry about others who were with me.”
“The police want to speak with you about what happened to you,” Chris said with a nod, and Bazel glanced at Atlas, that worried and scared look filling his eyes. “We want to catch the person who put you and the women in the truck. They hurt people, and we want to stop them.”
“But they bring me here,” Bazel said, as though it were a logical conclusion. “America.” He smiled. “I want to be free andhave good life. They bring me here,” he repeated as though that explained it all. “Are others okay?”
Chris nodded. “They are fine.” The truth probably wasn’t as clear-cut as Chris said. “I will be seeing them in a little while.” She bit her lower lip.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Atlas asked.
“We’re having communication issues. I placed the women in this location because they had someone who spoke Russian, but there’s a lot of tension between them. The women won’t speak with the interpreter for some reason, and because they’re frightened. I’m trying to find someone else through Penn State. They said they should be able to find someone.”
“Find them things that are familiar,” Bazel said softly. “Give them books in Georgian if have. It help. I make you food that they know.” Bazel hurried back toward the kitchen. “You bring to them.” He started going through the cupboards.
Atlas excused himself and gently got Bazel to stop. “We can go to the store to get what you want. Okay?” He was pretty sure he didn’t have whatever Bazel needed. “And we can cook for your friends.”
“She will take?”
Atlas nodded. “Yes, she will take it to them.” He spoke for Chris because he knew that she would do just about anything for the people in her care. Atlas grabbed his phone as it began to ring, wondering when his house had become Grand Central Station.
“Hey, Wyatt,” he said. “I take it you want to speak to my guest.”
“I would. I’m on my way over.”
He suppressed a sigh. “Sure. You might as well get this over with. Chris is here from Social Services, so you can be prepared for her to do her mama bear impression.” That was her to a tee.She saw the good in people; it was her gift. Cops tended to have that drilled out of them. Suspicion was the name of the game.
“Got it.” He hung up, and Atlas told Bazel what was going on. He went back to the living room, and Atlas answered the door while Chris and Bazel talked.
