Piece 2 of Life as a Mosaic: Ella and the traveller
Brigitte Deneck
5.30. Ella is lying on the sofa, about to fall asleep in front of the TV.
It is raining today. The delivery is late.
The bell rings. That must be it. She gets up and opens the door.
In front of her a young man stands, carrying a rucksack on his back.
Will she just close the door?
She looks at him and while she listens to his first words,
she remembers the baseball bat in the garage - to defend herself if she must.
He is wearing a badge. Time to say: “Sorry, I don’t need anything. Thank you.”
and close the door. Yet she doesn’t.
His tone catches her attention: “Could I show you what I have? This, this and this:
sponges, towels, some utensils. It’s a bit difficult at the moment,
especially when you have a criminal record.”
“What did you do?”
“Do you you really want to know? There was a group following me
like they were going to beat me up. I reached home and took an iron bar.
The police caught me with it and I was arrested. I got 3 months jail.
Prison changes things you know.
So you want to help me?”
“I have no cash”.
“You can pay to my bank account.”
“Let me see if my husband has cash”. Close the door while she goes upstairs?
Not at his face. She trusts him. Comes back down with a few pounds.
This is not enough. She will do a transfer.
“Thank you. I am trying so hard. I have a baby too.
You have my details. We are friends now.”
“All the best. You should be wearing a mask, going from door to door.”
He just looks at her. She realises a mask would not help.
And something else is happening right now.
In the space between him and her, there is no man, no woman, no young, no old.
Just human.
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