Sophie's Heart (4 page)

“Everyone here thinks I am stupid woman. I am not. I have read laws. You must give me full break. I need full break.”

To Sophie’s amazement, Mr. Markham’s mouth stretched into a smile, his eyes alive with genuine amusement.

“Take your break,” he said simply, and Sophie had to give herself a little shake in order to turn and go back to the table.

“Everything all right?” Janet asked.

“Everything is fine,” Sophie told her sincerely.

“Can you come to lunch?”

“I would like that.”

“Here,” Janet said as she drew out some paper and a pen from her purse. “Give me your phone number.”

Sophie beamed at them. She had had a phone for just one week and was feeling very pleased. The time together finished with an exchange of phone numbers and addresses.

“What did you think of her?” Janet asked David as they drove home.

“She’s nice,” he said, then hesitated. He, too, had seen something special in Sophie, but it wasn’t easy to put into words.

“I can’t wait to have her over. I don’t think she has much fellowship.”

“I think you’re probably right,” David replied, as he stifled a yawn.

“I’ve never met anyone who seemed so capable and yet vulnerable. Did that make sense?”

“Uh-huh. I get the impression that she stood up to her boss for the first time and felt pretty good about it.”

Janet answered him, but for the moment David was not attending. His mind was on Sophie and then Alec. He wasn’t matchmaking. Actually, he didn’t know what he was thinking, but the two kept coming to mind. David couldn’t shake the idea that Sophie might become very involved in their family before it was all over. He then told himself he was too tired to be giving it this much thought, and concentrated on getting them home safely.

Three

T
en days later Sophie awoke to her day off. She was going to Janet’s for lunch that day, but she had plenty of time before she had to leave. From the cot that served as her bed, she reached for the Bible that lay on the floor and opened to the book of Isaiah. After paging to the last verses of chapter 40, she read aloud softly:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?” Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

I am so glad that You never tire, Lord
, Sophie now prayed in her heart.
I am so often weary of my life here. Please forgive my lack of praise. Thank You for my job and this roof over my head. Please bless those at work. Help me to show You in my life. In Your will and in Your time, Father, please take me from this place. While I am here, I will serve You, but you know, Father, how I long for a quieter place.

Sophie’s thoughts then turned to her grandmother and the small apartment in Prague. She lifted the older woman in prayer for a long time before lying quietly and thinking about the day to come. There really was much to be thankful for—Janet for one. She had had so little contact with other believers since coming to America that Sophie felt a bit starved.

It was so unlike their dreams. America was to have been the land of opportunity. Sophie had not as yet been able to bring herself to tell her grandmother just how different it all was. She didn’t have the heart to tell her that people thought you were stupid if you didn’t speak perfect English. In Sophie’s heart she dreamed that somehow her grandmother would join her someday, but she knew the older woman’s English to be even more heavily accented than her own. She was afraid of doing anything that might hinder their being together again. Sophie saw it for the pipe dream that it was, but she wished for it nonetheless and would do nothing that might make her grandmother hesitate should the opportunity ever arrive.

Sophie gave a huge sigh and then had to confess her lack of faith. If God wanted her grandmother here, she would come. She lay still for a moment longer, her heart asking God to bless her day, before rising to get some things done.

“So to leave Czechoslovakia you must put your name on a list?”

“That is right,” Sophie agreed. “But my grandmother was ill, and we did not think…”

Sophie finished with a helpless shrug, and Janet wisely let the subject drop. Lunch was over, but Janet did not have to pick up her kids for another hour, so they had plenty of time to converse in Janet’s elegant living room.

Sophia Velikonja was one of the most fascinating people Janet had ever met. She was kind and gentle, and the more relaxed she became, the easier she was to understand. However, Janet had not really learned very much about her. She knew that Sophie had left her homeland by choice and that her grandmother had remained behind. But even though she had answered all questions asked of her, Sophie’s reserved air did not lend to pressing her overly much.

“These are your children?” Sophie now asked, gesturing to the portraits on the top of the piano, her eyes caressing the instrument as well.

“Yes. We have two boys and a girl. Brian is the oldest, he’s 16. Then Jeremy, he’s 14, and Bethany is 11.”

“Bethany is a beautiful name.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Janet agreed with a smile. “They all go to the Christian school on Park Avenue.”

“How wonderful for them. Do they enjoy it?”

“For the most part. Christian schools are not without their problems, but the academic standard is excellent, and having Christ at the center of the classroom is an added blessing. Our local public schools are good as well, but we started Brian at Park when he went to kindergarten, and each and every year the Lord provided the funds for one more year, so we’ve stayed with it.”

They talked on for some time, and then Sophie thanked Janet for the delicious lunch and told her she really should be going. Janet felt rescued since it was time to get the kids, and she hadn’t known how to cut things off. Janet walked her to the door and out onto the porch, telling her she looked forward to seeing her at Bible study.

“Or will I see you at church?” Janet suddenly thought.

Sophie gave a reluctant shake of her head. “On Saturdays I work very late and then again on Sunday night, so I am not able to be at church.”

Janet then remembered that she’d told them at Tony’s how well she liked the morning. “It would be great if you could get a day job.”

Sophie looked thoughtful. “That would be good, but mostly I wish I could move to a quiet place. Chicago is noisy.”

Janet nodded with understanding, and with a wave Sophie started down the driveway. She was quite a distance away when Janet realized she was not walking to a car.

“Sophie,” she called to her as she started forward. “Where is your car?”

Sophie stopped. “I do not have car. I do not drive.”

“How did you get here?”

“The bus,” she stated simply.

“But the bus doesn’t come this far.”

Sophie had to hide a smile over Janet’s concerned look. “It is not far to walk.”

Janet was feeling so flustered that she didn’t know what to say. She never dreamed when she asked Sophie to lunch that she didn’t have a car. Every woman she knew had a vehicle at her disposal, and Janet knew then that she’d taken such a luxury for granted. She was still working on a reply when David pulled in.

Both Janet and Sophie moved out of the way and waited for him to park and emerge from the depths of a green Pontiac Bonneville. He was dressed in a light-gray suit, and he approached the women with a briefcase in his hand.

“Hello, dear,” Janet greeted him.

David kissed her cheek and held his hand out to Sophie.

“It’s good to see you again, Sophie.”

“Hello, David.”

“David,” Janet began before the other two had even finished their handshake, “is there any chance you could pick up the kids?”

“Sure. Right now?”

“Yes. I want to run Sophie home.”

“Oh, Janet,” the younger woman immediately cut in. “There is no need.”

“I want to, Sophie.”

“I do the buses always,” she was swiftly growing embarrassed, so her English was failing. “And my feet, that is, I walk always too. Please, Janet.”

But Janet was already walking away, saying over her shoulder that she was going for her car keys. Sophie helplessly watched her until she felt David’s eyes on her. He was smiling and Sophie couldn’t help but smile in return.

“She wants to take care of you.”

Sophie nodded. “Mothers do that.”

“So you really don’t mind?”

“I do not wish to be problem.”

“It’s no problem. Janet’s used to having a car, so I think the idea of the bus is a little daunting to her.”

“David,” Sophie now became very serious, “what is this ‘dawning’?”

“Daunting?”

“Yes. Daunting.”

“Uh, let’s see. I guess it means a lowering of courage. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, it does. It is word I could have used often.”

David smiled gently. “There are probably many things you could say to describe yourself, Sophie, but I doubt if a lack of courage has ever been one of them.”

Sophie smiled at the kind words, but said nothing. He couldn’t know how cowardly she had been at times.

Sophie looked over then to see Janet backing a minivan from the garage. She thanked David and walked to the new-looking vehicle.

“Okay, Sophie,” Janet said, once Sophie had buckled up and Janet had backed to the end of the driveway. “Which direction?”

“Well, I live on Conner Street.”

“Conner Street?”

“Yes. In an apartment behind a grocery store that has big pig face on it.”

“The Piggley Wiggley?”

“Is that how you say it?”

“Yes, and I know just where it is.”

It was the time of day when traffic was just beginning to back up, so there was little conversation as Janet negotiated her way toward Sophie’s home. It took over 20 minutes to arrive and, when they did, Janet had to fight down her emotions. It was all so shabby: the building, the parking lot—in fact, the entire street. It looked to her as if the apartment building itself had not been painted in years. The windows, if they depicted the interior of this place, showed a lack of care as well, since many sported no drapes. The curtains Janet did see were torn and stained.

“Thank you for a ride, Janet, and again for lunch.”

“You’re welcome, Sophie.”

Janet somehow felt compelled to get out when Sophie did and walk her to her door. There was a group of teens eyeing the van, so Janet followed her friend with some trepidation.

“I’ll see you at Bible study,” Janet said when Sophie stopped before one of the downstairs doors.

“Yes. I will be there.”

Impulsively, Janet reached forward and hugged Sophie. Sophie squeezed her tightly. When Janet stepped back, she was smiling—a smile that died when she saw the tears in Sophie’s eyes.