Blue (20 page)

Tabitha nodded alongside most of the other girls, and she looked down at her arms that were streaked with dirt. She could now see that her attempts to thoroughly bathe herself in the bathroom sink, in the minimal light at their last home, hadn’t proven to be very successful. She hoped that their next home wouldn’t sacrifice comfort for security.

Dr. Hance pulled the door of the truck down behind him, and the engine started as the bed of the truck vibrated beneath the feet of the girls. Tabitha leaned her head against Alyssa’s shoulder and tried to go to sleep. The bumps in the road smoothed out, and Tabitha guessed that they had made it to the highway.

Tabitha offered to switch places with one of the girls who was sitting on the rug. She agreed, and Tabitha curled up into a fetal position, resting her head on top of her arm. She felt the bumps of the road underneath the side of her body as they lulled her to sleep.

Tabitha was awakened by the sudden, jarring stop of the truck, and she looked around to see that most of the other girls in the truck were sleeping too. The truck kept moving, but it was obvious that they had pulled off the highway long ago. Some of the girls around Tabitha started to open their eyes as the terrain underneath the tires of the truck changed from smooth asphalt to rocky gravel. The truck bounced a bit over the bumps as the gravel road pounded the tires underneath them for over half an hour. The gravel slowly seemed to turn to dirt terrain and jarring potholes every few feet, some so deep that it would knock the wind out of them. Tabitha decided that attempting to sleep would be futile, and she sat up and crossed her legs on the floor of the truck.

They continued on the bumpy terrain for what seemed like another half hour at an unbearably slow pace, until the truck finally screeched to a halt. The rest of the girls were awakened by the sound of the brakes, and everyone in the truck sat up stretching and yawning as the door to the truck opened.

“Okay, as soon as we set up the ramp, we’ll file everyone out single-file to your new home!” Dr. Hance said excitedly.

The sky outside was still dark, but Tabitha could tell that the morning would be upon them soon. The girls all stood beside their seats as the ones on the carpet in the middle began to walk out in a line, down the ramp and onto the dusty ground below them.

Tabitha filed out of the truck looking to her left to see what looked like endless desert, as far as the night took her eye. She then turned her head to the right and drew in a breath at the sight of what had to be their new residence. It was still dark, but Tabitha could make out the peaks of the roofs of what looked like dozens of large houses against the stars in the night sky. Directly in front of them was a huge, metal gate, more than two stories tall, with thick bars over three inches in diameter. Tabitha could make out its outline as she looked up through the bars at the sky behind it.

The gate opened slowly, and Dr. Hance began to usher the girls through. As Tabitha walked through, she saw that at the edge of the gate stood a guard with a machine gun watching their every move. She nodded at him as if to say “thanks” as she went inside.

The rest of the girls filed through, and the gate closed sharply behind them. The dusty ground outside turned into what looked like a pavement of bricks under their feet. The girls huddled together in front of a large building as Dr. Hance stood in front of them with a small flashlight, holding a small stack of papers.

“Okay, we’ll have time for you girls to look around the main hall tomorrow, and we’ll meet here tomorrow for breakfast,” Dr. Hance said, pointing at the building behind him. “Feel free to come up to eat any time tomorrow. We want you guys to enjoy your new rooms and beds and get the rest you deserve after the horrid ride here. For now, though, we are going to be showing you to your rooms. It is crucial that you stay there until at least 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. There will be guards roaming around, and we will be putting tape on the outside of your doors to ensure that no one leaves their room before then. I have the list of room numbers for you guys, and we will have one of the staff escort each of you to your own dorm and room. Try to get some rest. Welcome home.”

Tabitha waited, clutching Alyssa’s arm until her name was called.

“Alyssa,” Dr. Hance said. “Dorm D, Room 3.”

Alyssa walked over to the staff member who was shining her flashlight on a piece of paper with a large letter “D” written on it.

“Tabitha,” Dr. Hance said. “Dorm D, Room 4.”

Tabitha walked over and grabbed Alyssa’s arm again happily.

“So glad we’re in the same dorm,” Alyssa said, squeezing Tabitha’s hand.

Once the rest of the names had been called for Dorm D, the woman with the “D” sign from the staff turned around and asked the girls to follow her. The light of her flashlight shone on the pathway made of red bricks, with what looked like lush, green grass on both sides. Tabitha looked at the buildings as they passed by the first few dorms, and though she couldn’t make out much of their design with the little light there was, she could tell that they were stately houses with intricate roof peaks, each standing over two stories high.

As they reached their building, the woman with the flashlight shined her light up on the wall, exposing an ornate, metal letter “D” beside the stately wooden door.

“This is your new dorm, ladies. We’re pretty certain that it will make up for how awful your last place was,” the woman said.

She pushed open the door and a flood of dim light spilled out over the brick pathway and steps where the girls stood. Alyssa gasped as they got their first look inside, and she squeezed Tabitha’s arm tightly in excitement. The woman stepped aside, and pulled the wooden door back, gesturing for the girls to enter.

Tabitha walked through the large doorway and into the foyer of the dorm. She wouldn’t exactly call it a dorm; it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The foyer had shining tile floors with large mirrors on either side of the entryway. The entryway led into a large living area with leather couches and a television set above a fireplace. There were windows all around the room, but they had all been covered with thick draperies so no light had been able to escape outside. Directly in front of them were two curved staircases, one on either side of the room. At the top was a balcony with a long hallway that led all the way to the back of the building.

“All of your rooms are upstairs. Since we don’t want anyone moving around too much tonight, everyone go up and find your room. I’ll be up to check that you are in your room in ten minutes, and I’ll tape your door closed. Try to get some rest. There will be plenty of time to explore tomorrow,” the woman said.

The girls darted up the staircases and each of them found the door with their assigned number on it. Tabitha found the door labeled “Room 4” and she turned the knob, pushing the door open. The room was dark, so she reached over and slid her hand against the wall until she found the light switch, and flicked it upward.

The room filled with dim light and Tabitha’s jaw dropped as she took a quick breath in. She walked slowly into the room, looking all around and trying to comprehend where she had found herself. The doorway led into the most beautiful bedroom that Tabitha could have imagined. The bed was large and plush, with a dark cherry, carved wood post at every corner. Each post was connected to the next at the top by a wooden beam, and over the bed was a canopy of white, wispy fabric. The mattress was covered with a thick, floral comforter, and the head of the bed was covered with plush pillows. Beside the bed was a nightstand with drawers covered in mirrors, and atop the nightstand was a lamp with a white shade, next to an alarm clock and a bouquet of silk flowers.

Tabitha sat down on the bed, looking around the room trying to take it all in. Across from her, in the light of the lamp, she could see a reflection of herself in the mirror atop a beautiful dressing table. Tabitha got up from the bed and walked over to the dressing table, running her fingers across the smooth, carved edges. She let her hand fall to her side as she looked up to see the first glimpse of her reflection that she had seen in months.

She knew that her hair had grown significantly, but upon seeing it for the first time in almost a year, she reached up to touch it. It was matted and unkempt, but it was long, falling down almost to the middle of her neck. As she touched her hair, she noticed that her body had changed dramatically since she had seen it last. Curves in her hips had formed, and her breasts were more full. She tried to look past the dirt that was caked onto her to see what beautiful changes had happened in her body in the last few months, but the grime made her barely recognizable.

“Okay, I’m going to come back around in about ten minutes. Many of the girls have decided to take a quick shower before going to sleep. If you want to shower, that’s fine. Just make it quick and go now, and then go straight to bed,” the woman with the flashlight said, peeking her head in the door. “Your bathroom is right off of the bedroom through that door.”

Tabitha nodded and walked over to the door. She opened it, reaching her hand along the inside of the wall to turn on the light. In front of her was a clean, white bathroom with a large walk-in shower with glazed, white glass walls. She walked in, closed the door behind her, and took off her clothes, not even waiting to see where the towels or washcloths might be.

To the right of the shower was a tall closet. She opened the door to see a white, fluffy robe hanging on the back of the door and on the shelves an endless supply of thick, white towels and washcloths. She pulled a towel out of the closet and hung it over the bar beside the shower, then opened the shower door. On the shelves in the shower were bottles of soap, and a puffy sponge hung from a hook below the showerhead. Tabitha turned on the faucet and held her arm under the cool water to wait for it to turn hot. Steam began to rise from the stream of water, and Tabitha walked underneath the stream and let the water pour over her face and hair. She could see streaks of dirt swirling down the drain under her feet as she took a step to read the bottles on the shelf.

The first bottle she saw was a bottle of shampoo and she grabbed it. She poured a huge amount into her hands and lathered it into her hair, scratching her scalp and rinsing her head under the water as the filth of the last months poured down the drain. She then took the loofah and poured some body wash onto it, lathering it up and scrubbing down her entire body, ridding it of every bit of dirt that she could see. She rinsed herself off, letting her face be covered in the steady stream of water. She stood there for a moment under the stream trying not to think about how this new place seemed much too good to be true.

She turned off the water, reached for the towel on the bar beside the shower, and dried off, wrapping the towel around her hair. She then reached for the robe on the inside of the door, wrapped it around her small frame, tying the belt around her waist, and walked back into the bedroom.

“Okay, lights out,” the woman said, tapping on her door with her flashlight. “I’m locking you in.”

Tabitha watched as the door closed in front of her, and she heard the sound of a piece of tape being ripped off a roll and pressed against her door. Though she knew that she had so many reasons to be skeptical of this new place, she couldn’t help jumping happily into the softness of the bed and laying her head down amongst the pillows. She unwrapped the towel on her head and ran her fingers through her hair, rubbing her feet beneath the sheets and feeling the weight of the comforter over her body.

She sighed and rubbed the tassel on the corner of one of the pillows on her bed as her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.

C h a p t e r 
17

Anytha stood looking at herself in the mirror of her apartment. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the last year. To think that a year ago today, at this time, she had been sitting in front of the dressing table in her bedroom, letting her mother curl her hair for her activation party. Now she was curling her own hair, in her own bathroom, in her own apartment, over an hour away from her parents and the Practice of Blue.

Anytha ran some balm over her lips and tousled her hair to let the curls separate and fall down around her waist. Ari was coming to pick her up for an all-day birthday celebration together in Johannesburg; and after the rough few weeks that she had been through at school, she was ready to get out of town, even if just for the day. She pursed her lips together as she heard the sound of a car door closing outside in the parking lot of her apartment complex, and then heard a knock at her door.

She opened the door and flung her arms around Ari’s neck, kissing him firmly on the lips.

“Well, good morning!” Ari said, wrapping his arms around her waist as she looked him in the eye, blushing. “Wasn’t exactly expecting that kind of greeting.”

“I’m just happy to be able to spend the day with you,” Anytha said, as she locked the door of her apartment behind her, grabbing his hand as they walked to the car together.

“You remember that I have to run by the opening of that clinic for my research project, before we go to lunch, right?” Ari asked, opening her door.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Anytha said, dipping her head down and getting into the car.

Ari got into the driver’s seat, turned the key and backed out of the parking space. He headed down the road as they held hands and swapped stories all the way to Johannesburg.

The two of them pulled up in front of a small brick building. Outside a small group of people had gathered, and a couple of news cameras were being set up in the parking lot in front of the entrance. At the entrance of the building, Anytha could see a podium had been set up, and the majority of the front wall had been covered up completely with large sheets of brown paper.

“So, what exactly is your project about, and why are we here again?” Anytha asked Ari, who was pulling a tape recorder out of his pocket.

“It’s a current events project for my civics class. We were supposed to do a report on a controversial subject in our society, so I’m doing it on abortion and the new implementation of the Termination of Pregnancy Act. This is the first clinic that is being opened specifically for the implementation of it,” Ari said, pulling a camera out of his pocket.

Anytha stood on her toes to see over the crowd of people that had formed in front of the clinic. A man in a white coat walked out of the clinic and stood at the podium as the crowd erupted into applause.

“Thank you. Thank you,” the man said, motioning for the crowd to settle down. “For those of you that don’t know, I’m Dr. Prescott, one of the physicians that will be practicing in this clinic. We are so pleased to be able to open our doors tomorrow with the implementation of the new Termination of Pregnancy Act, to be able to provide our community with a service of which it was in desperate need. Not only will we be able to provide contraceptive services to the women in this community, but we will also be one of the first clinics in the entire country to be able to help women in making crucial family planning decisions. We will be able to offer women all across our community a safe haven, where they can come, without judgment, to make the decision that is best for themselves and their families. Whether it be a pregnancy test, an adoption referral, or the information that they need to obtain a safe, legal termination of their pregnancy, we are so pleased to be the place that these women can turn in one of the most difficult times in their lives. We are so happy to be the sanctuary for these women, and it is my pleasure to be able to practice here at the Johannesburg Women’s Health Clinic.”