Mary and Alvin Ch. 34

Mary was sipping a cup of tea at the kitchen table and reading the news on her tablet when Hannah came down from her apartment.

"Good morning, Mama," she said, going to the counter and starting the coffeemaker.

"Morning, sweet girl," Mary said, putting down the tablet, "Would you like some breakfast? Papa made pancake batter before he went to the wharf."

"I'll get it," Hannah said. The griddle was still on the stovetop. She turned it on and got the batter from the refrigerator. "You want some, Mama?" she asked.

"I'll have a couple."

"Okay." Hannah ladled batter on to the griddle. "So, Mama, there was a man out front with Jennifer and Yusef this morning.."

Mary laughed. "Oh, you noticed him, did you?"

Hannah blushed. "I just heard voices and wondered who it was."

"It's Yusef's nephew, Omar."

"Really?" she looked out the kitchen window, but no one was in sight. "Is he from Somalia?"

"Well, he was born there, but he lived in refugee camps most of his life. First in Kenya, then in France. He finally got his visa to come to America a few weeks ago."

"So, he's going to be working with Jennifer?"

"For now."

Hannah plated the pancakes and brought them to the table.

"So, what are your plans for the summer?" Mary asked as they ate.

"I don't know," Hannah shrugged. It may be more interesting than I thought it would be though, she mused.

***

For two weeks Hannah had promised herself each day that she would finally finish her unpacking, but it was far too perfect a spring to spend working indoors.

She looked out her window at a crystal blue sky. When she slid the pane open, the scent of lilacs was almost intoxicating. Those last few boxes will still be there tomorrow, she told herself. She dressed and went down to the kitchen. Her mother and father had both gone to work. There was a note on the table, in her mother's hand, telling her that there were fresh blueberry muffins in a container on the counter. She made herself a cup of coffee and wolfed down a muffin, then went to the garage and got out her bicycle.

She rode to town, and passed the wharf. Maybe I'll stop and visit Papa on the way home, she thought. As she turned on to Main Street, she saw Bonita walking up the hill. She glided over to the curb next to her.

"I'm going up to Jessica's to get a doughnut and some coffee, come with me," Bonita said.

"I thought you'd be busy."

"We are, but sometimes when it's busy I disappear, so then everyone goes to Papa for stuff."

"And that keeps him feeling useful?"

Bonita grinned and opened the door of the bakery. Hannah leaned her bike against the wall, and they went inside. Jessica greeted them and took their order. They sat at their favorite table by the window.

"So, you still mooning over that Omar?" Bonita asked as she sipped her coffee.

"I'm not mooning over him."

"You're mooning."

"I just think he's interesting."

"Mooning. Girl, I'd have fucked him by now."

Hannah looked around the bakery, apprehensive that someone might have heard Bonita. No one seemed to notice. "You know I'm not like that," she replied, "I don't just jump in bed with a guy."

"You calling me a slut?"

"I'm just saying you're more...decisive than I am about that kind of thing."

"Okay, fair enough, but what are you going to do, just sneak around getting peeks at him all summer?"

"I'm not sneaking around. I say hi every time I see him."

"You're gun shy. You got thrown off the horse and never got back on."

"That's not true. I have dated guys since Ryan."

"Did you fuck any of them?"

"Yes!"

"Did you fuck any of them twice?"

Hannah blushed. "No, they weren't special like Ryan was."

"Yeah, see, there's your problem. You think everybody is like your mom and dad. But maybe you ought to ask them sometime if it was all just peaches and cream and the music coming up like a movie soundtrack. Being in love ain't like catching the flu. There's work to it."

"Who said anything about love? I haven't even really spoken to him except to say hello."

"Which, as far as I'm concerned, means you just wasted two weeks."

Jessica came over to their table. "You guys want some more coffee?" she asked.

"Nah, I need to get back to work. Hey, Jess, let me ask you something. When you met Andy, did you, like fall for him right away?"

"No. He wasn't my type at all. You know, I was always into the bad boys. He was way too straight laced."

"So, what made you interested in him?" Hannah asked.

Jessica grinned. "Hey, I know he's your cousin and all, but really...have you seen the shoulders on him?"

They finished their coffee and parted ways. Hannah biked up the hill. As she passed the elementary school she saw a teacher sitting on the lawn, reading to her class. They looked to be first graders. As they gazed up at their teacher with rapt attention, Hannah realized that those would be her kids in the fall. Her eyes moistened at the thought of their young faces looking at her with those same eager expressions.

She stopped at the Walgreens to pick up a few items, then at the town hall to change her car registration from Pennsylvania to Maine. There was something about that task that felt very satisfying. When her errands were completed, she rode down to City Park. An older couple were lobbing a ball back and forth on the tennis court, and a young mother was playing with a toddler on the playground, but the park was otherwise empty. She stopped near the shore and sat on the grass above the rocky drop to the beach. The air was so clear that she could make out individual trees on the far side of the harbor. A red and white sailboat cut across her view, heading out to the open bay. She thought about how much she loved her little town, but there was a melancholy beneath her happiness at returning home. Even with my family around me, I feel lonely, she thought. She sighed and spoke aloud to herself.

"So quit being an asshole, and do something about it."

She stood up and dusted off the seat of her denim shorts. Jeezum, I look pale, she thought. I'll be lucky if he doesn't think I'm a ghost and run off.

She rode home, and went inside to freshen up. She gargled and brushed her hair, then grabbed a book and went outside. Just going for stroll, she thought, maybe sit in the sun and read a while. In case anyone is wondering.

She walked down toward the alpaca pasture. It's much bigger than it was when we were kids, she thought. There used to be a couple dozen alpacas, now there were what? Fifty? Sixty?

Yusef and Omar were working in the hay field on the far side of the enclosure. She started to go down toward them, thinking she would just casually stroll by and say hello, but as she approached, she saw them walk over to the back on the farm's ancient pickup. They each took a rolled blanket from the bed of the truck and opened it.

Hannah sat down in the grass and opened her book, pretending to read, while she watched them lay out their rugs, then kneel and begin their midday prayers. It occurred to her that Omar might only be interested in a Muslim girl. Hard tellin, not knowin, she thought, and laughed to herself. She hadn't used that expression in years, funny how it came back to her now.

Omar rose from his prayers, and saw her watching. He smiled and waved, and she waved back. He stood, helped his uncle to his feet, and then leaned close to him and spoke. Yusef looked over at her and waved, then patted Omar on the shoulder. They walked back to the truck and returned their prayer rugs to the bed. Omar picked up two small plastic coolers and handed one to Yusef, who opened the truck door and sat in the passenger seat.

Hannah stood up when she realized that Omar was coming toward her. "I hope that I didn't disturb your prayers," she said when he drew near.

"You did not," he said, shaking his head. He stopped a dozen steps from her. "I thought to ask you if you would share my lunch with me."

"You are working hard, I wouldn't want to deprive you of your lunch."

"I have plenty," he said, "but could we sit in the shade of the trees?"

"Of course," Hannah said. "Let's go over here."

They walked side by side to the grove, passing through the ring of towering pines into the shadowy cool of the enclosed glen.

"This is a beautiful place," Omar said, "I feel a little self confident coming in it, like it is not my place to be."

"I think you mean self conscious."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Your English is very good."

"Thank you. Since I was a child, my dream was to come to America. I tried to prepare."

"I don't think anything can really prepare you for America," Hannah said.

Omar laughed. "That is true. It is a strange and wondrous place." He looked up into the evergreen canopy. "This feels like a temple."

"You know, my parents were married here."

He nodded approvingly. "That seems fitting."

They sat at the picnic table and Omar opened his cooler. Hannah expected some exotic African dish, but he pulled out two plastic wrapped sandwiches."

"It is sardines, is that okay?" Hannah laughed and Omar frowned. "I am sorry if it is not..."

"No, it's fine. When I was little, my father would make me sardine sandwiches for my lunch, and my mother thought they were horrible. They went around and around about it. The memory made me laugh."

Omar grinned. "But I hope you liked them."

"I liked them fine."

"I am glad." He handed her one of the sandwiches. He also had a bag of corn chips in his cooler, and two bottles of water.

"Your sister told me that you will be a school teacher," Omar said as they ate.

"Yes, starting in the fall. I will be teaching second grade."

"Little children?" he asked, holding out his palm close to the ground.

"Seven and eight year olds."

"It is the most honorable thing to do. And to do so in your own village, that, I think, is a special thing."

Hannah smiled. "I think so too."

They ate their sandwiches and made small talk. Hannah asked him about his impressions of Maine. He told her that he would not have believed that there could be so many trees, and asked her if the winter would be as bad as he feared.

"I should return to my work," Omar said when they had finished the sandwiches. "My uncle will be waiting for me."

They walked together to the edge of the grove.

"I owe you lunch," Hannah said, "Perhaps tomorrow I could bring something for you."

"I would like that very much."

Hannah met Omar in the grove the next day. She brought a lunch of chicken salad, grapes and cubed cheese and a thermos of iced tea. They sat and talked, about Pittsburgh and France. They talked about alpacas and black bears, a subject on which Omar was unduly concerned. They talked so long that Jennifer came looking for Omar.

He apologized for the long lunch break and went back to work. Jennifer picked up the last of the cheese and draped her arm over Hannah's shoulders.

"Try not to distract my workers too much, okay, sweetie?" she said.

Hannah blushed and Jennifer laughed.

It rained all through the following day, and was still raining when Hannah awoke on the day after that. She decided to just lay around in her pajamas all day and read.

She was just starting to think about making lunch when she heard a knock on her door. She got up, opened it and saw her father.

"You've got a visitor, down in the kitchen."

"Who is it?"

"Omar."

"Oh. Well, tell him to come on up."

Alvin scratched the side of his neck. "Well, ya see, I suggested just that, but he was, I guess you'd say, reticent."

Hannah scowled. "He's got some old fashioned ideas, I guess."

"I don't think that's it," Alvin said, "So much as he isn't sure of his footing and doesn't want to make any mistakes."

"Okay, well you tell him that as my father, you approve of me coming down to see him after I throw some clothes on."

"Suppose I'll go down the wharf and see what Nita is up to."

"You don't have to leave, Papa."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Yes."

"Well, alright then."

Hannah had a brand new yellow sundress she had not worn yet. She hurriedly put it on, quickly ran a brush through her hair, then scampered down the stairs. She stopped in the mudroom, took a few deep breaths, then casually strolled into the kitchen, in no hurry at all.

Omar sat at the table, sipping a glass of ice tea. He stood when Hannah entered the room. "I brought this for you," he said, picking up a single stalk of purple lupine from the table.

"Thank you." She took the flower, sniffed it, then got a glass from the cupboard, filed it with water and put the flower in it.

"I know they are not special," he said, "I see them all around, but in the fields you look at them all, and when you choose just one, it becomes even more beautiful to you. Because it is the one you have chosen. Don't you agree?"

Hannah blushed and set the glass down on the table. "Yes," she said, "I think that's a lovely thought." She went to the refrigerator and brought out the pitcher of ice tea. She poured a glass for herself and refilled Omar's.

"Your father was most kind. He gave me this tea and offered me food. I was grateful, but told him that I had eaten."

"Yes, he is," Hannah said, "But Omar, I am an adult woman. I can do as I please. You don't have to ask my father if you can see me."

Omar shook his head. "I do understand that. But I do not want your father to feel disrespected."

"That's fine, but in the future, if you want to visit me, you should come knock on my door, not ask his permission. Okay?"

"Yes, okay." He grinned. "I am not so antiqued as you might think."

Hannah smiled. "I don't think antiqued is the word you want, but I understand what you mean."

"I did live for several years in France. I learned about a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like French girls," he grinned.

They made small talk for a while. Hannah got some cookies from the cupboard and they nibbled on them while she answered Omar's questions about the varieties of wildflowers that grew around the farm.

"So much grows here," he told her, "It amazes me. I think I could just spend my life watching things grow."

Hannah suggested that they go into town to see a movie. When they got into her car, Omar moved his seat back as far as it would go, but his knees still bumped under the dashboard. Hannah wondered if she was fated to never be interested in a man who had his own car.

"We ought to get some popcorn," Hannah said as they entered the theater lobby. "I didn't really have any lunch."

"If you would like, I would be willing to try it."

"You've never had popcorn?"

Omar shook his head. "You see," he said, "You have much to show me."

The movie wasn't very good, but Omar enjoyed the popcorn, and when Hannah laid her hand on his arm, he took it in his, and held it until the final credits. As they walked back to the car, he took it again, and when she dropped him off at his home, he leaned across the console and kissed her. It was barely a kiss, quick and glancing, but Hannah felt as if the whole world had changed.

Both the days and the kisses grew longer and warmer as spring turned to summer. Hannah and Omar continued their lunches together in the grove, and in the evenings, they would often stroll around town, occasionally going to the movies, sometimes stopping in Hurley's Bar and Grill for a coffee and a snack. Hannah learned that while Omar's adherence to his faith was largely a matter of deference to his family, he did strictly obey it's prohibition against alcohol.

They took a day trip to Acadia, and Hannah showed him the spot at the peak of Cadillac Mountain where her father had proposed to her mother. On a shopping excursion to Freeport, she helped him pick out new clothes. They sailed to Monhegan with Bonita and Jamie and watched as a whale passed beneath the boat.

On the Fourth of July, Hannah packed a picnic basket with cheese and melon slices and sugar molasses cookies. She picked up Omar and they drove down to Lincolnville Beach. It was only supper time, but the crowd was already starting to fill the sandy stretch of beach, sitting on blankets or in canvas folding chairs. Dozens of children were running and playing in the gently lapping surf.

Hannah spread a blanket on the sand, and they sat watching the children and the sea birds and the last ferry of the day as it crossed from Islesboro to settle in at the dock for the night.

The Lincolnville Town Band played patriotic tunes until the sun went down. Omar listened to America The Beautiful and This Land Is Your Land and said to Hannah, "When I am ready to apply for my citizenship, I will need a good teacher to help me."

Hannah took his hand. "I hope I will be a good teacher." She hesitated, then added, "I will help you, if you are still here."

"Of course I will be here. I have no family except for Adeer Yusef and Eedo Jamilla." He looked into Hannah's eyes. "And there are other reasons to stay here."

Hannah kissed him, then turned and rested her back against him. As he wrapped his arms around her, she felt a great sense of contentment. She realized how relieved she was at the knowledge that, one way or another, Omar would be a part of her future.

The beach grew crowded and when the first firework streaked into the sky and exploded into color, the applause was as loud as the explosion. Omar sat forward in excitement. Hannah watched his face while he watched the fireworks. It's the face of an excited child, she thought, the face of someone who had experienced far to much hardship and travail in their life, finally free to allow themselves to feel unencumbered joy.

He sprang to his feet during the grand finale, no longer able to contain his excitement. Hannah rose beside him and took hold of his hand. He shook it back and forth.

"It is all so beautiful," he shouted to her over the cacophony, "It is all so wonderful."

When the last sparks had spiraled down to fizzle out on the water's surface, they walked, hand in hand, back to the car. A long line of vehicles were already lined up to get out of the parking lot.

"It might take us a while to get out of here," Hannah said, lifting herself up to sit on the hood of the car. Omar stood in front of her. She raised her hands to his shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I am not in a hurry," he said.

"Good, because I have something to ask you."

"And what is that?"

"Will you come home with me and spend the night?"

Omar looked off into the distance.

"Why don't you want to sleep with me?" she said, feeling herself on the verge of tears.

"I want very much to sleep with you," he said, "But I have fear that when we do, things will change."

"They will change for the better."

"Do you know that?"

"No, I don't. But Omar, do you know the expression, 'take a leap of faith'?"

"I do not think I have heard that." He rubbed his chin. "But I understand what it means."

"Omar, I am in love with you and I believe with all my heart that you are in love with me. I am willing to take a leap of faith that our feelings will only grow stronger."

Omar smiled. "You are the teacher."

Hannah looked around the parking lot. Most of the cars had gone. "Okay, then," she said, "let's go to school."

As they drove back to Londonderry, Omar's knees were shaking.

"Are you nervous?" Hannah asked.

"Excited. Anxious, I think."

She put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. "I'm the one who should be anxious. I have to compete with all those French girls."

Omar laughed. "You are not like them."

They arrived at the farm and parked in the dooryard. Light shone from the living room windows.

"Your parents will know we are here," Omar said as they exited the car.

"That's alright," Hannah said, taking his hand, "They aren't paying attention, and if they did, I'm pretty sure they like you."