Julia

Chapter 2

My lunch break finishes and in no time the afternoon rush comes. This rush is most predominate after school, most high school teens come and visit the library for study; or what looks to be study. They read some books, visit the cafe and respectfully hold themselves to the library's noise rules. I don't mind them coming in, a ruckus never occurs and they respect myself and the books. I remember what it was like in my final year of schooling, the pressure and stresses were enough to break the strongest of people. It's important that they have a place they can go to and feel safe, that even with all the pressures of your future, you can still hide yourself with a good book and some comfort food.

The day passes quite fast and sooner than expected its closing time. I finish packing away all stray books I find in their correct homes and wipe down all the tables.
"You can go home now sweety." Says Elle, as she polishes the silverware. Gordon nods his head whilst counting the profits from today.
"Are you sure Elle, I can help mop the floor tonight?" I offer, I don't like leaving them alone to do all the cleaning. I am grateful they gave me this job, the least I can do is hang round and mop every night!
"No hunny, go feed that child of yours and yourself!" She demands, a gentle smile wipes over her face.
"Thanks Elle, I will see you tomorrow! Tell Gordon goodbye for me!" I hang my apron over the hook by the back door and head towards Julia. She is fast asleep surrounded by one of the giant bean bags, her colouring in book and bag left to the side.
"Julia, wake up my darling it's time to go home." I gently rock her to wake her up. She opens her eyes and beats the sleep out of her lashes. She hangs her hands in the air and I pick her up, grabbing her bag on the accent. She hugs me and snuggles her face into my neck. I giggle at her and we head out towards the bus station.

I sit down and wait patiently, another reason I don't mind to stay behind at work. When I finish mopping the floor and grabbing Julia, by the time I walk out the door to the station the bus arrives. Instead I have a ten minute wait in the chilly weather that surrounds us. No one else remains at the station so there is no need for awkward conversation.

Having lived through my past, trusting people in day to day living is a struggle. The only people I am comfortable around and can trust fully is Elle, Gordon and Julia. Not even someone my own age. I often wonder what life would be like with a companion. It doesn't have to be a relationship but a friendship. Having someone Julia and myself can visit and feel comfortable around without fears of being judged. I worry that due to Julia only hanging around adults she is growing up too fast. I try to keep her innocence alive however that is difficult with such an intelligent child.

The bus pulls into the station and I climb aboard; Julia, handbag and Pocahontas bag in hand. I take a seat in the closest seat to the door and rest my aching back against the stuffed seating of the bus. Few people are on the bus, being 6 o'clock on a Tuesday night you would have thought there would be more but not many people are out on the town. The bus makes the seven stops before pulling into the shelter by my house. I thank the driver for his free service and give him a five dollar note. I am quite appreciative towards our bus driver, he gets us from A to B safely and with no issues. He is on time and polite as always.  He takes his hat off towards me as I step down the giant steps ensuring I don't drop Julia. I wave goodbye as he pulls away and head towards our home.

Our home is a small one with only five rooms. Two small bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, a laundry and dinning/lounge area. The paint peels off some of the walls and the soft yellow is dirty and acratxhes in some parts but hey, it's home.

I put the key inside the lock and push and pull the handle as I open it, due to the houses age the door can be temperamental when trying to unlock. I put my bag and Julia's on the ground and rest her on the couch, she stiffens at the new surface but slowly drifts back off into her nap.

I head into the kitchen and decide to prepare us something small. I open the fridge and the inside is not as promising as I thought. I search pass the bottles of water and find nothing. Sighing I look inside the pantry and see nothing that appeals to me other than some rice. I head back to the fridge and look in the meat drawer, some leftover ham pieces from Sunday's lunch! I look towards the fruit bowl and see an egg and check the freezer and notice about a cup of mix vegetables. I guess that will do. I cook the rice and ham along with the egg and vegetables. Fried rice will suit Julia nicely and I guess there may be leftover for me.

Once dinner is finished I wake Julia and ask if she is hungry, she nods her head and we head to the table, I plate up her meal and the leftover pile can be mine. I hunt around the pantry and find some soy sauce and the end of a load of bread. I sit the items on the table and Julia and I say grace.

"Bon appetite!" She exclaims munching into her rice, I break the bread and we each have half of it. I will have to go shopping tomorrow, Julia needs food.

She gobbles up her entire plateful of food and waits for me to finish.
"We're you hungry today Julia!" I say laughing, she chuckles and we wash the dishes together. I finish washing the last plate along with the benches and crockery used. Julia dashes to her room and i follow after her. She showers and I help her change into her night clothes. She climbs into bed and I read her, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." She loves this book and can read some of it.

I tuck her into bed and kiss her goodnight. She smiles and yawns, her eyes slowly closing away with all the stresses of the world. I smile at her, Julia is the one thing in my life I am proud of.

I head out of the room and make my way towards the lounge, I flip on the television to the news and start reading my collection of Wilfred Owen poems. As my thoughts become invested in Dulce Et Decorum Est, I fail to watch the weather warning blaring for tomorrow's fierce winds.