I can’t let her leave like this.
“Wait. Hold up.”
She doesn’t stop walking. I hit the lock button and run after her.
“What? I’m fine,” she stage-whispers, hurrying even faster. “I do this all the time.”
“Walk in the total dark to get home?”
“Not usually at two in the morning, but yes.”
She ignores my mutteredJesusand plows on. There’s a path, I think, under the unmown grass, which is wet and damn cold.
Her poor feet must be frozen in those pointy shoes. I can’t stand the idea.
“You need lights back here.”
“Tell that to my landlord.” She tromps straight back to a small, cinder-block cube. Possibly a garage. It starts to rain, and it is cold.
“You livehere?”
“Yes. Anyway. Thank you for taking me home. And for my sister. And for…” It’s sprinkling heavily. “You can go, Grant. Don’t stay out in the rain.”
“I’ll wait.”
She shoves her key in her lock and pushes the door open. It’s pitch-black inside.
“Might as well come in for a minute.”
I step through the door and look around while she turns on lamps of all colors, shapes, and sizes, lighting up what is literally the smallest place I’ve ever seen. There’s room for one person to walk between living room furniture, kitchen counter, bed, and a little workbench, covered in tiny objects.
“This is a garage.”
“It’s my home.”
“It is a shoebox.”
“If you came here to insult me, you can—”
“No. No, sorry. It’s…” I take in details I hadn’t initially noticed—paintings on the walls and swaths of cloth covering the ceiling. Bright, chaotic colors everywhere, and at my feet, a fluffy white cat. “It’s cozy.”
She fills an electric kettle and sets it on to boil. “Close the door, please.”
Does she mean with me inside or out? Where do I want to be? In or out?
The cat rubs and rubs against my legs.
“He’ll make a run for it if you don’t close it.”
I reach out and shut the door before wandering over to look at her tiny creations. “These are amazing. What did your sister call them?”
“Book nooks.”
“What do you do with them?”
“Make them. And I guess now I’m starting to sell them.”
“Really? This is so cool. What’s this one?”
