Chapter Seven

A little while later, the two of them got cleaned up and dressed and then finished their breakfast. Food was something no one wasted in The City. It was for the best anyway, as Esteban wasn’t quite up to seeing anyone yet.

“I didn’t mean to wear you out,” Gaylen said, trying to make his voice light and casual, but his lover could tell he was worried. “I was trying to do most of the work.”

Esteban almost choked on his cup of water. Now that the deed was done, he felt almost prudish about it, like it wasn’t something fit to be discussed over a meal. “I’m okay,” he insisted. “I think I just needed to rest up a little.”

Gaylen nodded. “You’re not back to a hundred percent yet. We should have waited.”

“No, really,” Esteban said with a smile. “If I’d had to wait anymore, I think I would have burst.”

It was Gaylen’s turn to choke, and then the two of them laughed until Esteban’s chest hurt. They took their time and finished their breakfast and then found a spare shirt for Esteban to put on. Both of his had been ruined by the lion, the sweater having been left behind completely. They’d put him in the loosest thing Gaylen had since Esteban’s shoulders were so much wider.

“How’s that feel?” the lankier man asked. “It’s not too tight against the wound, is it?”

“No, I think it’s okay,” Esteban asked, trying not to wince.

“First things first, is getting you some more clothes.”

“Chani’s not going to like that I ruined the first set already.”

“No.”

They were right. As the two of them walked in to the old library, Esteban wearing bloody jeans and Gaylen’s shirt, Chani stepped toward them, hands on her hips and shaking her head.

“I take it you wouldn’t mind something else to wear?” she sassed.

“Um, yes, that would be nice,” he stammered.

She slowly smiled, though the sight didn’t do anything to ease his nerves. “I think I should make you work for it.”

In the corner of the room where she was sewing away, Kat giggled.

“Come on, Chani. It’s not his fault. He almost died,” Gaylen insisted.

“Your mother’s the generous one, remember?” she countered. “I want to see you both in here this afternoon. Yes, you too, Gaylen. He was supposed to be your responsibility. Now, go pick a couple of things out,” she said with a gesture at Esteban.

He nodded and disappeared behind a large mountain of clothing on one of the tables. As he tried to figure out how to pull something out of it without toppling it completely, he felt someone tug at his sleeve.

“Those haven’t been fixed and sorted yet,” Kat informed him. Then she looked him over and waved for him to follow, leading him to section of clothing that would more or less fit him.

As Esteban searched, Chani eyeballed Gaylen, and finally said, “I’d expected the two of you in sooner. Get caught up in...other things?” Her smile deepened and a mischievousness came into her eyes.

Esteban’s head snapped up and he was glad no one could see his blush. He looked back and forth from Chani to Gaylen but neither of them looked like they were giving an inch. Gaylen, the picture of nonchalantness, simply shrugged without a hint of a blush. As he watched, the old woman started laughing, a deep hearty belly laugh, and clapped her hands together.

“What’s she talking about?” he heard Kat ask behind him.

Esteban’s eyes widened in horror and he slowly turned. He plastered a smile on his face and shook his head. “I have no idea.” He could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t believe him, but he quickly turned back to the shirt he’d found like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

A little while later, the two of them walked out. Esteban had found a pair of faded gray jeans and left the patched brown ones to be cleaned. Chani had insisted that clothing was too precious for a little blood to ruin something. He’d also found another sweater that had probably been red at one time, but had faded to a pink. He thought it suited his dark skin and picked it up as well as finding a button up shirt. Gaylen warned him that he’d be forever looking for new buttons for it, but he’d taken it anyway.

As the two of them walked back across the square, they were suddenly stopped by the appearance of Rani. She was in a red outfit of her own, one that Esteban could have sworn was brand new. She stood in front of them like something dire and important had happened. The two of them glanced at one another nervously.

When Rani knew she had them properly worked up, her face relaxed into a kind smile. “I have a surprise for you two. Follow me.” With that, she simply turned and began walking the other direction.

Gaylen and Esteban looked at one another again and then followed her. She led them south of the square, passed the community house, to a narrow side street a bit like the one on the west where she’d led Esteban his first day there. This one was different, though. It was quiet, even more so than Gaylen’s courtyard, and the alley narrower. The street looked even more ancient than the rest of the city. It had been paved with stones, and the buildings were an old, weathered brick.

“I thought we kept this closed off because it was too dangerous?” Gaylen pointed out.

“Yes, but I know you used to play back here,” Rani teased. “You loved this place, with its close buildings, creeping vines, and this,” she said, stepping aside and pushing open an old, rusty, wrought iron gate.

Gaylen pushed it the rest of the way open, revealing another courtyard. As Esteban peeked in from behind him, his eyes widened. Where Gaylen’s courtyard had simply been an open square between two buildings, with some wild plants that had taken over, this place was a true courtyard. In the middle was a small fountain. It no longer worked, and maybe never had as the pool at the bottom had been converted to a planter. Other planters sat here and there, most of them having been taken over by weeds or left barren, and one tree, clinging to life, sat on the opposite side. The ground had been paved over with the same stones as the alley but weeds and grasses had forced their way in here too.

The two of them stepped into the courtyard, closely followed by Rani. Gaylen looked over the low brick buildings. Like the rest of the square, they were only two story, but each had once had a balcony that ran the distance of the buildings on each side.

“The balconies were destroyed in the war,” he said, shaking his head and pointing toward the building nearest him. The balcony was intact. “How did you do this?”

“We’ve been working. Well, not me personally,” Rani added with a laugh. We’ve reinforced the buildings, rebricked, mortared and the like. This was the only one safe enough to put the balcony back on. I figured you could use the courtyard for your plants or put in another greenhouse. That building, over there,” she said, pointing to the one opposite the one with the balcony, “we knocked the second floor out of it, just the way you like.” She laughed at his expression. “We finished it up while you were gone.”

When Gaylen was able to think again, he shook his head. “I can’t take this. It’s too much for one person.”

“It’s not just for you, silly. It’s for Esteban too, and your plants. Plus, the buildings in the back are almost fit for someone to move in to so you’ll have neighbors soon. Just take the building with the balcony if nothing else. The greenhouse is for everyone. When you really get it going, I want everyone to come and help. I want it to be a community garden, just like we talked about.”

Esteban looked over at the old woman, not having realized that she’d meant for him to live there too. It seems the entire community knew what the two of them had grown to become.

She noticed his look and attempt to hide it and smiled warmly. “You’ve become an important addition to this community,” she said. “Few people have tried so hard to contribute, and certainly not so quickly.” She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “I had a feeling the two of you would be good for each other. My son’s been alone for a long time. I’m glad he’s finally found someone. It’s not easy out here, and it’s not like the choices are endless.”

Esteban smiled back, but felt a strange sensation. The self-consciousness he’d had when he first found himself a part of this community returned. He could only hope to live up to the faith she’d placed in him.

“I’ve never really done anything like this,” he blurted out, though his voice was as quiet as hers had been.

“Living in a real house? Having your own life?”

“Well, that too,” Esteban replied with a chuckle. “I meant...having a relationship, though.”

“Ah, that.” Rani smiled a knowing smile and patted him on the arm. “I think you’ll do just fine.”

He gave her a grateful nod and then followed Gaylen into the courtyard. He looked at what was once an incredibly beautiful space, and in his mind, he could see how it could be again. Though the Sanctuary had many plants, he’d never seen a full-sized tree before, and moved over to it. It looked ancient, the trunk gnarled by years of drought and poisoned air. He had the impression that it might have been close to death many times but it looked like it was all right now and the ground above its roots was damp from recent rains.

After running a hand along its trunk and touching its leaves, Esteban glanced back at Rani but she was already gone. He turned his gaze toward Gaylen instead, a smile crossing his face to see the man so happy. Gaylen was going over each planter, looking at the plants that were still alive, digging in the soil of the ones that were empty. Esteban stepped over to him, feeling almost like he was intruding.

“We have a lot more room for the vegetables now, don’t we?” he commented.

Gaylen shook his head and the look on his face was something Esteban hadn’t seen before. He looked slightly mischievous, but he also looked like he might cry at any moment.

“No,” he finally said, his voice thick. “These are for something else, flowers and grasses. We’re going to make this place beautiful again. We’ll turn this other building into another greenhouse. We’ll gather more seeds, figure out more planters. Maybe we’ll even have twice as many plants. No need to move the other plants over here. It’s not that far to go to take care of them.”

“I guess your project’s not going to be a secret for much longer,” Esteban teased.

“I guess not.”

The two of them found it difficult to tear themselves away from the courtyard but their eyes slowly drifted toward the building Rani had gifted them. Though anyone in the community was, technically, allowed to live anywhere they wanted, the two of them had the feeling that there was more to this than that. They glanced at one another and then crossed the courtyard to the first building. The complex was a quadrangle of six attached buildings, with a front and back entrance into a courtyard in the middle. Their building was the first one on the right, made of brown brick, with a tall, arched entry way and the salvaged wrought iron balcony.

“This is even more beautiful than the houses we found in the outskirts of the city,” Esteban commented.

Gaylen put his arm around him and nodded. Then he opened the door, not knowing what to expect. Inside was a small entryway with more empty planters. It was whitewashed, with an open airy feeling, and led to a set of stairs, the railing topped with more bricks, on one side, and a living room and kitchen on the other. The décor was sparse, but it was plenty for them.

Gaylen laughed and shook his head at the sight of the kitchen. “What are we going to do with this? We spend most of our time eating at the community house. This is much too grand.”

Esteban agreed, but he held his finger up with an idea. “What about your herbs? This would be a good place to grow them, dry them, mix up your medicines...” He let the words hang in the air and watched as Gaylen’s face lit up.

“Yes!” he answered.

After looking around the open kitchen, separated from the living room by only a bar in the middle, the two of them rushed up the stairs to see what else they could find. There was evidence of repair work here and there but little to indicate what the building had been through. Upstairs turned out to be a luxuriously sized bedroom, a bathroom with a composting toilet, and another room for them to use as they pleased.

“I can’t believe what they’ve done with the place. I didn’t realize masonry and construction were skills people had here,” Esteban said. He stopped himself from adding, We could have used them in the Sanctuary. He felt embarrassed for even thinking it.

Gaylen seemed to sense the internal conflict because he answered, “We’ve had to do a lot of building things for ourselves up here too. At first, it was something a few people taught themselves. There was a lot of trial and error. Then, over a couple of generations, the carpenters and masons and so on, have taken on apprentices and passed their knowledge down.”

Esteban smiled. He liked the thought of people teaching one another, of the hands on learning, and the thought of people deciding for themselves what they were going to do with their lives. After a moment, he started, realizing that by joining Gaylen in his horticulture experiment, he’d done exactly the same thing. The hot sting of tears welled up in his eyes so he turned away and stepped over to the balcony. It sat outside a pair of French doors in the bedroom, overlooking the courtyard below. He opened the doors, feeling a bit of trepidation to actually step out onto the platform. For a moment, he just took in the view instead. It was the skyline of the old city, though most of the buildings were too tall for him to see over.

“That must have been downtown,” Gaylen commented as he came up behind Esteban.

“That’s where they found me,” Esteban said quietly. “In that direction anyway, somewhere beyond those buildings.”

Gaylen wrapped an arm around him, resting his cheek against the man’s temple. Then he gently whispered in his ear, “Welcome home.”