The Resistance

Chapter 4

As soon as I came into the help center, I was greeted by multiple people. Some I've seen before, some new faces.

My grandfather might be a lot of things, but generous can be one of them. He donated thousands of dollars to this place in the form of beds.

"Hello Jahmir! Long time no see!"

The owner of the help center came out the kitchen. Her jaw dropped when she seen all the bags I had sitting on the floor. I went a little crazy in Walmart. Honestly, I think it's impossible to go in Walmart and spend less than ten dollars.

"All of this is for us?!" She seemed so overwhelmed.

"Yes of course. I got some clothes too. I'll let you sort through the clothes while I put the food away."

I went into the kitchen and started putting the food up. Since I didn't know how much they had in the fridge, I tried to get multiple things that didn't need to be refrigerated. That included multiple boxes of noodles. I couldn't resist getting some candy too. Sadly there are a lot of little kiddos that have to come here.

When I was done, I went back to the lobby area. There I see the owner, Kelly, standing there holding a small pink jacket. She had tears rolling down her face, and I'm not too sure why.

"If it's too small I can go get a bigger size. I'll go back now if..."

"No way. It's perfect Jahmir." She wiped her tears away. "I was so upset because I didn't have a jacket for this one little girl. Now she'll have the prettiest one of them all. Thank you so much."

She hugged me, and I couldn't help but to lightly smile. It's amazing how much simple, nice gestures can make someone's day. That jacket only costed fifteen dollars. I waste way more than that, so why not pay it foward? Some say there's no reward in doing so, but why should that matter? If you're giving, you shouldn't expect anything in return anyway. Nothing physical at least. I know that if I was less fortunate, I would be grateful to have a bit of help.

"How have you been Jahmir? Every time I ask Your grandad about you, he talks about how busy you keep yourself."

"I'm okay." I lightly shrugged. I'm assuming that's true. I just have so much on my mind lately.

"Mind helping a old lady out? Do you have time?"

It's not like I have a best friend to do anything with today. Faye made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to be bothered today.

"Of course I have time for you Miss Kelly."

We went into the kitchen and she went over to the fridge. She got sandwich meat and cheese. From the top, she grabbedtwo loaves of bread.

"Because of you, I can serve way more sandwiches today! Will you help me make them?"

"Yeah, sure. But do you have something I can tie my hair with?"

Any other time I would have a few on my wrists. I don't know why I wear them like jewelry, but I do.

She nodded then left the kitchen. Seconds later, she came back with two purple hair bands.

"Sorry, I only have girly ones. No black ones."

I've used plenty of girly things to put my hair up with. Especially when I was in the ninth grade and had gym.

"It's cool. I'll be right back."

I went into the bathroom and attempted to put my hair in a neat ponytail. It's only right that I tried to get it out the way. If someone was dealing with my food, I wouldn't want them to have their hair down and in the way.

After washing my hands, I went back in the kitchen. Kelly was already putting chips in sandwich bags.

"Not everyone likes cheese, so I figure we could make some with cheese and some without. We should separate them though, so we know which is which."

I nodded then laid a bunch of paper towels down. Instead of making each sandwich individual, I thought he would make more since you make multiple at the same time.

"So Jahmir, I hear that you're about to be a senior. That's so crazy, I remember when you were way younger. Do you have any plans after school? College?"

Her asking that brings up something else that's been on my mind. I don't think Gramps would admit it, but I think he really wants me to be a firefighter. His son was, and it would probably mean a lot to him if his son's son was one. It's just the things that he says sometimes that makes me think he's hinting around to me being one. He isn't the only one that thinks that either.

That's not who I want to be. They are/were brave souls, and not only that, but they are/were very poweful. I'm neither one of those things. I hate to sound like a punk or a little bitch, but I've been terrified of fire since my dad passed away.

"Uh, I'm not sure really."

"It's okay." She smiled. "I'm sure everything will fall into place."

We worked in silence after that.

As I was putting the top pieces of bread on them, I just felt like I was being stared at. Sure enough, Kelly's eyes were glued to me.

"Is something wrong?" I questioned as she handed me sandwich bags.

She helped me store all the sandwhiches, then she started helping me make some.

"Yes. But you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just trying to figure out why my kids couldn't be more like you in this aspect. No, you aren't here every single weekend, but when you do come, you pass on a blessing. I've been hungry before, borderline starving, but I was able to get help. I was able to get off the streets and into my very own business. That business does good enough so that I can give back to people. Someone helped my family out, and they can't even give up one little day to come and help out. I don't understand."

Now that she mentioned it, I don't remember ever seeing her kids before. I just remember her telling me that all of her kids were grown. Guess it could be one or two things. Either they should humble themselves and not forget where they came from, or maybe they have their own families to take care of.

Since I didn't really know what to say, I was happy when a lady came in the kitchen.  She let Kellys know that there was already a long line of people waiting. I stayed in the kitchen and continued to work, while others went to serve them.

If I didn't come here today, I would have probably just sat at home doing nothing all day, so I think I did the right thing.