I took a deep smoke filled breath. My feet reached the concrete as I climbed out of the cab. I handed the driver a wad of cash as I blinked from my eyes tearing up. I had never been to this part of the city; my mother told me never to go here, but my mother also never told me that our city had cabs.
Or should I say, my 'adoptive mother' - my legal mother.
I slipped my hands into my worn out jeans pocket and my fingers met a worn out sheet of notebook paper. I pulled it out and read the address, then looked up, searching for the street name written on my sheet of notebook paper. There wasn't any sort of sign. I noticed an older woman sitting on a bench just outside a thrift store-the source of the smoke. I walked up to her as my dark, wavy hair flowed in the wind.
"Excuse me," I said, lightly tapping on her shoulder from behind.
"Yes?" she asked as soon as she turned and met my eyes.
The woman looked like she had dedicated her life to reversing the cycle of aging. I could tell she was old, but her skin showed very little. Her eye lids were heavily dosed with purple eye shadow and her lips were a bloody red. She wore a velvet purple hat with a lavender bow wrapped around it, underneath were her voluminous platinum blonde curls. She was dressed in a midnight black dress that contoured her hips and was very low cut. Her eyes were a deep overpowering brown that caused chills to run up and down my spine.
"Do you know who lives at this address?" I asked, handing her the sheet of paper.
"Oh, why yes, I do! Karli is such a lovely woman and her husband Peirce-oh my. If I was fifty years younger, I'd give Karli a run for her money," She winked and giggled. "If you know what I mean."
I smiled politely, "Yes, I am sure I do. Do you think you can lead me to Karli and Peirce's home?"
She jumped up off the bench. "Of course! I haven't paid them a visit in a while. I am Athena. And who are you?" she asked, eagerly grabbing and shaking my hand.
"My name is Sanae," I replied, slipping my hand out of her grip.
"What a lovely name. I haven't seen you around this side of town before. Where are you from?"
"I live about half an hour away from here-the other side of the city," I replied, trying to keep up with her long strides. I had short legs and shortness of breath to prove it.
"Aw," she sung. "The city. We are turning left here, darling."
We were out of the parking lot of the thrift store and walking onto a dirt road. "What do you mean by 'The City'? Don't you own a car?"
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with smoke and let it out slowly. "Of course not. I lived in a time and place where cars were something that you only got from game shows. And, if you haven't noticed already, this part of-what you call city-is . . . different than where you are from. This might as well be a totally different town. Oh my! I can't believe I haven't told you about Karli's four-oh now it is five-lovely children. I consider them my grandchildren and they are just so wonder-"
"Five children?" I interrupted. I couldn't believe my ears!
"Yes . . . is there something wrong?" Athena arched her right eyebrow as she breathed in another smoke.
I shook my head, "Just making sure I heard right."
"Oh, darling! Isn't that such a lovely house?" Athena pointed to a modest two story town house painted tan with red trimming. The front lawn was decorated in white, yellow and red roses and brightly colored tulips. The grass was a perfect green. The house looked like it had stepped out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
Athena walked up to the front door. I watched her as she did so and was stunned at how she managed to walk like a normal human in her seven inch sparkling sliver stilettos. She knocked on the red painted door and motioned me to come and stand next to her as we waited for an answer. Through the door, I could hear children laughing and running all over the home. Athena smiled
A man answered. He was tall and dark haired. His cheekbones were well defined and it was hard to not notice his light blue eyes. He was nicely dressed in black slacks and a white button down shirt. His collar was slightly opened, as if he had just got home from work.
"Hello Peirce," Athena purred and started to bat her eyelashes.
Peirce chuckled as he motioned us to enter into his home, ?Nice to see you Athena. Who is your guest today?"
Athena took her eyes off of Peirce for a moment to look at me.
"Oh, she asked me if I knew where this address was. And it ended up being yours. I graciously lead her here. Where is your wife? I assume she was looking for you two." She looked at me, and I nodded in agreement. "Karli is in the middle of making bread in the-" Athena walked off before he could finish. "Kitchen," he finished.
"I'm Sanae." I pulled out my hand and shook his.
"Peirce," he replied. "Say, Sanae. Have we met before? You look like very familiar. . ."
"Well, maybe so," I rushed. "Can I meet Karli?
"Of course. Follow me. ?
I followed Peirce through the hallway to the kitchen. The walls were decorated pictures of the family in black frames. Karli was obviously art driven because the photographs looked as if they were taken during a photo shoot. One I noticed was a picture of very young looking Karli and Peirce, looking at a new born baby longingly. I felt my heart began to ache.
I saw Karli with her back turned to the opened oven. Her dark brown hair was curly and short and she was tall and lean. She wore jeans and a light blue shirt. Over her clothing, she wore an apron that was lime green and polka dotted with feminine looking ruffles sewed on at the sides. She turned around with a glass pan filled with freshly made bread. I then met her chocolate eyes. "Oh my," she gasped, dropping the bread. The glass shattered into a million pieces across the tile floor.
