As the weeks turned into months frozen concrete and ice covered cobblestone finally gave way to days of endless cold rain and overcast grey skies. This also meant that there were new problems when it came to keeping warm.
She sighed before pulling up the hood of her makeshift rain coat and stepping out from behind the already worn out plywood. There was never a moment of warmth after she'd slipped out from underneath a haphazardly stacked pile of large comforters. A familiar sound of heavy footsteps pulled her attention as she turned toward the elderly man while he made his way down the broken concrete. He tips his head toward her and a smile passes between them.
Over the course of the changing season she'd visited the aging gentleman and they'd become close friends. He had taken it upon himself to try teaching her how to read, write, and speak in English' she'd made it her mission to teach him how to properly speak her native language. So far things had been going relatively well. They traded items found throughout the day and a few times a week she'd make her way to the rusted iron door to check in on him.
Life wasn't easy but it certainly wasn't difficult especially with a friend her side. He held out a weathered brown bag and a brisk wind did all the rest; sweeping the smell of fresh warm food toward the young woman who's stomach growled loudly in response.
A larger smile crept across the man's lips as his laugh echoed loudly through the deserted, graffiti ridden, concrete platform. His shoulders shook with hushed delight as a playful gleam shown triumphantly in his stormy grey eyes.
"Oh Elizabeth, that's funny. When was the last time you ate? Don't lie to me now."
Instead of answering, Elizabeth, turned around attempting to head into her homestead and avoid the situation all together. Except her dear friend had other plans as he shook the bag of food still in his outstretched hand. She sighed, uttering incoherent phrases under her breath, before turning around and sending a pointless glare that caused increased amounts of laughter.
She knew it was futile to argue so without a second thought, Elizabeth, nodded toward the bag and asked,
"How did you get this?"
She watched as her friend shrugged his shoulders and once again shook the bag in her direction without answering. He had managed to acquire something and didn't that mean she could go without the suspicion for a change.
Before he could shake the bag any farther, she reached out and took it, motioning for him to step into her tiny living space. Except he shook his head and began headed in the opposite direction toward his home.
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders at his retreating figure before opening the crawlspace entryway and sliding the plywood back into place. She placed the food on the ground, as she began peeling off the makeshift raincoat, before deciding to plop herself onto the pile of heavy comforters. The food beckoned as she became comfortable enough in the haphazard pile of heavy wool and without a second thought she opened the bag.
Unknown to her, she'd already made the biggest mistake of her life, in trusting the aging man at his word. She picked up a still warm container of cornbread and baked beans; her childhood comfort food. The black plastic balanced delicately on her knees as she peeled the clear lid away and the sweet aromas filled the enclosed space.
A real smile spread itself from the corners of her lips into her eyes as she brought the container up and drank the warm brownish juice that surrounded her favorite beans. An odd almost acidic aftertaste didn't seem to register as she devoured the remainder of the food she'd been brought. It had been weeks since anything warm had traveled either of their ways and she decided to make a mental note to repay the elderly man back as soon as possible.