When the two of them were done with their embrace, she lifted him back down to the ground before suddenly realizing I was there.
"Oh! Hello!"
Smiling at me, she shifted her eyes to Ralph in a 'please explain to me what is going on' look, to which Ralph pointed to me to introduce me.
"He is Dan. He says he lives in 204, and he waited with me for you."
Hearing his words, the woman's smile brightened 100 times as she bent down a little to take the empty cups from my hands.
"Thank you for accompanying Ralph. That is so sweet of you."
Taking off the towel from Ralph's shoulder, the woman also took mine and she told me to lead the way to my apartment.
"The two of us just moved here, so we haven't had a chance to meet any of our neighbors. Is there any way I could repay you for taking care of Ralph?"
Talking in a soft voice, I nodded to her as I led her back to our apartment. Reaching my hand out to the door knob, I was about to turn it when I heard a familiar voice. Following that voice, I saw the knob turn and the door open. On the other side of the door was my mother, who probably heard the woman's voice.
"There's no need to be so formal. Everyone needs all the help they need."
Smiling her warm but scary smile, my mother made way and silently pressured the woman to enter our house.
"But even still! It doesn't feel right to accept help for nothing!"
Incredibly nervous and slightly jittery, the woman took small steps in our house as my mother herded her into the kitchen.
Looking at Ralph, he seemed a little worried for his mother so I held his hand and dragged him into the kitchen right behind her.
"There's no need to worry about feeling right or not. We are neighbors, and neighbors help each other. Here, take some hot chocolate. It's a family recipe."
Sitting Ralph's mother down on a chair, my mother pushed a cup of hot chocolate into her hands and wrapped her shoulders with a hot towel. Following her actions, I did the same to Ralph and sat right next to him.
My mother, in her pushy kindness, sat next to the woman and held one of her hands, preventing her from escaping.
"Everyone here has faced difficulties of their own, it's no issue to reach for help. Let us help you."
Smiling warmly but with a heavy pressure, my mother patted the woman on the back and then took a sip of her own cup of hot chocolate.
"But before all that, let me introduce ourselves. I'm Elaine, and this is my son Dan. My husband's name is Van."
Looking expectedly at Ralph's mother, she fidgeted under the strong gaze before giving a small nervous sigh.
"I'm June, this is my son Ralph. The two of us just moved up from Bottom street."
Shutting her mouth there, June refused to speak more. But my mother didn't push her anymore. Instead, she let June finish her hot chocolate before speaking once more.
"Why don't you let Ralph and Dan hang out while you go to work? I'm usually home most of the time, so you don't have to worry about leaving Ralph at home alone. It'll also be good for Ralph to have a friend to show him around Middle street."
Laying her hands on June's, my mother proposed while pushing the empty cups to one side.
Obviously hesitant, June sneaked a glance to Ralph, then to me, and then gave a quick survey of the house. And although her doubts were very obvious, my mother kept up her unyielding smile until June seemed satisfied with what she had seen and had convinced herself in her head.
"If Ralph wants to stay here, he can."
Giving a half worried, half loving look to her son, June removed her hands gently from my mother's grip and gave a small bow to her.
"I hope we don't disturb your family too much."
"There's no way you'll disturb us!"
Practically glowing with happiness from June's answer, my mother pushed some of the snacks we had in our home to June and Ralph's hands before escorting them out.
"See you tomorrow! If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to tell us!"
Waving goodbye as the pair disappeared into their own apartment, my mother closed the door with a grin.
"You obviously overstepped your boundaries."
Hearing a slightly stern voice behind us, I saw my mother's shoulders tense before she turned to smile cheekily at my father.
"If I didn't do all that pressure, there's no way such a cautious and timid woman like her would accept help from us!"
Justifying her actions, she put her hands on her hips as she stared my father right in the eye. And seeing those 'innocent' eyes, he sighed and turned around with a hand on his forehead.
"What can I even say?"
"Nothing!"
Bickering lovingly back and forth, I listened to my parents 'communicate' with each other as the three of us headed back to the kitchen. Taking the plates, my father made a beeline for the sink as my mother wiped the table and I tidied the chairs.
In a flash, we cleaned the whole kitchen.
With a last goodnight hug, my parents entered their master bedroom while I entered my own personal room. Tucking myself into the sheets, I stared at the dark ceiling as the image of Ralph sitting on the stairs formed.
He looked lonely, cold, and incredibly sad from a distance. I couldn't imagine how he must have felt waiting for his mother in the cold. How he must have felt preferring to wait in the cold rather than his own apartment.
Blinking my eyes, the scene changed from the lonely Ralph, to a picture of Ralph sitting in our kitchen. He was warmer, surrounded by my family and his mother. Remembering our entwined hands, I couldn't help envisioning the melted ice that were his eyes. They were beautiful. But so fragile.
Right! Tomorrow, I will make sure to make him happy! The fact that his mother didn't mention his father at all, means that his family situation must be quite complicated. And although slightly curious, it probably would be better if I didn't ask about it.
Determined, I closed my eyes on the final image of those eyes, and maybe an illusion of his smile, and smiled myself to sleep.
The next day, as I jumped out of bed, I rushed out of the room and prepared for school. Unlike usual, I was incredibly early today. After all, the usual routine would be to visit Cameilla's house before heading to school. But today, there was an extra destination. Ralph's house!
Wiping my face with a towel, I pulled on my clothes and opened my bag. Inside were the textbooks, chalk, chalkboard and notebook I brought yesterday. The last three could stay, but some of the textbooks needed to be changed. Reaching in, I pulled out the textbooks one by one until I saw the one thing I never imagined I would forget about. The news book.
Pulling out the book, I flipped to the latest page and stared at it. Usually, I would pass on this book to my parents, who would pass it back to Daniel when he came home late at night. However, with all the commotion with Ralph and Mrs June yesterday, the whole house clearly forgot about that.
Stuffing the day's textbooks into my bag, I held the news book in my arms as I exited my room. Grabbing a remote, I turned on the television to briefly check the news channel. As usual, there was nothing interesting being talked about, that or they were still propagating the obvious lies about MDVA.
Turning the television off, I put on my shoes and shouted goodbye to my mother who was in the kitchen. Then, standing in front of my house, I deliberated on who's house to visit first. On one hand, coming from Bottom street definitely meant that Ralph knew about MDVA, considering the high rates of it there. It would probably be good to introduce him to Camellia, so that he too could get news from her. On the other hand, I didn't think Camellia would appreciate it if I just brought anyone to her house. Not after the kidnapping of her son had led to him developing MDVA and finally his euthanasian.
Thinking of the last point, I realized that there was really only one answer,and sighed. Turning right, I knocked on the Justice's apartment door and waited patiently for those slow footsteps to sound.
Pressing my ears to the door, I waited for longer than usual before I heard Camellia walking towards the door. Once she reached the door, I leaned back and prepared my smile.
"Good morning Camellia!"
Grinning at her as she opened the door, I heard her familiar loving sigh as she reached over to collect the news book from me.
"Did something happen last night? I heard some sounds late at night, and your family seemed to be really busy when Daniel came home yesterday."
Replacing the news book in my hands with a sheet of paper that had today's news clippings stapled in it, I folded the paper and kept it in my pocket as I explained the whole commotion around Ralph last night.
Furrowing her brows, Camelia's gaze flickered to the direction of Ralph's apartment before she looked at me again.
"Bottom street..."
Mumbling that under her breath, she nodded to show me thanks for telling her before she uncharacteristically turned around and closed the door silently.
That pained look on her face as she whispered those two words reminded me of the expression she would make every time she mentioned her lost son. Those eyes filled with sadness, hopelessness and anger lingered in my mind for a while before I turned away from the Justice's apartment and walked to Ralph's.
Sometimes, there were just wounds that would never fade. Regardless of how many years had passed.