I stood, wringing my hands together, and said nothing. They’d already done me such kindness by giving me a place to stay and clothes; I didn’t want to eat their food too.
“I’m thinking scrambled eggs with Cheetos sprinkled on top,” he mused. He grabbed a carton of eggs from the refrigerator and laid them on the counter. He glanced at me as he rifled through a cabinet for a frying pan. “I know you must be hungry. No need to be shy.”
I crossed my arms over my chest nervously. “Anything you can offer me would be nice.”
He set the frying pan on the stove and braced his hands on the counter. He turned his head to the side, narrowing his brown eyes on me.
“You seem awfully jumpy for a homeless person.”
“Ollie,” Talia scolded, appearing in the bedroom doorway with a few items of clothing clutched to her chest.
“What?” Ollie said innocently and swept a hand in my direction. “Don’t you agree? Most people we help aren’t so scared. They’ve lived on the streets for a while and they’re hardened. But not you.” He stared squarely at me. “What are you? Some sort of runaway?”
I stiffened at this. “I’m eighteen. I don’t think that makes me a runaway.”
He shrugged. “We’re all running from something.”
My breath left me in a shaky burst.
Talia looked at me quizzically and then glanced at Ollie. They seemed to be communicating silently.
“I’ll…um…I’ll go shower now,” I muttered, desperate to remove myself from the uncomfortable situation.
Talia handed me the clothes, and I scurried into the bathroom, locking it behind me.
I’d been stupid and naïve to accept their kindness, but what choice did I have? Talia was right; if I’d stayed on the streets there was no telling what might have happened to me, but something told me these people were going to try to dig and find out more about where I came from. I couldn’t tell them anything.
Behind the closed door I heard them speaking in hushed tones about how they could help me. I wanted to open the door and tell them there was nothing they could do, but people didn’t like to hear that. People wanted to believe they could make a difference.
Ollie and Talia couldn’t have been much older than I was, and from the looks of their place, money was tight. What they were doing for me was already kindness enough.
I turned the shower on and removed the grimy clothes I’d been wearing.
The shower rejuvenated me, and when I emerged, I felt like a whole new person.
Ollie and Talia were sitting at a small two-person table eating a plate of scrambled eggs. Ollie’s had Cheetos on top. I hadn’t believed him when he said that.
“There’s a plate for you.” He pointed to the counter, and I looked to see a heaping plate filled with enough scrambled eggs for five people and two pieces of toast. There was even a glass of water waiting.
I stood by the counter and ate slowly even though I wanted to stuff the whole thing in my mouth in one bite.
“I’ll be out of your way tomorrow,” I told them, taking a sip of water.
Talia shook her head. “Please, don’t leave so soon. We don’t have the room for you to stay here long-term, but we’re trying to work something out.”
“I’ll be fine,” I tried to assure her, but the three of us knew the chances of me being fine on my own were slim. Out on the streets I would be easy-pickings for the wrong kinds of people.
“No, you won’t,” Ollie said bluntly, his eyes full of remorse. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but we want to help. Let us do what we can. Please.”
“I’m beyond help,” I muttered, glaring down at the half-eaten plate of eggs in front of me.
“That’s not true.” Talia was adamant.
“I literally have nothing,” I told her with a dramatic swing of my arm.
“We all start out with nothing,” she argued, “and we all have the power to build something out of it. One step at a time.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I need to find a job,” I admitted. Although, I didn’t know how that would work when I had no ID or work history.