It was purely by accident that she ended up where she belonged. Ever since she could remember the world had been moving around her. Or perhaps the word didn't move at all, and it was simply her that kept packing up and leaving. Memories of the road were all she had. Home had always been the people around her, never bricks or windows. Her brothers and sisters remembered it better, always sharing stories from before she was born. She was the youngest of six. And significantly younger too. Sometimes she resented that she had a different father. That there had been this entire life that her whole family had shared without her. But it was easy to forget her woes when they packed into the mini bus and moved on to the next commune.
Simeon was the oldest. He was the first to leave the life they had behind and plant some roots in the place where he left his heart. She had missed him at first, but then she realised it was just the child in her that longed for the missing piece in her daily life. Once she realised he was happy where he was, she didn't miss him anymore. Leon was two years younger. And even though he tried to leave along the way, he would always end up back in the mini bus with his latest solo journey behind him. Then came Caleb. Sometimes it seemed as if they were the same person. He wanted the same things she wanted. He was afraid to leave the family fold, but he knew he would someday. Kendra was her only sister. The second to leave. Married a man twice her age at the commune they had lived at in Ohio. She missed her, and not just because she wasn't there. She missed her dearly. And then Ezra. Who was still six years older than her. He wanted more than any of them to quit the road and put down some roots. But he was going blind in both eyes, and he knew his time was coming. She cried the most when she said goodbye to him.
"Wont you come with us? Atleast until we get to Jacksonville?" Her Mother had requested.
"No, I think I'll see how it goes here." She had replied, tearfully.
"Serendipity." Her Mother said, extending a hand out the mini bus to window to place on her daughter's face.
"Please Mom..." She corrected, " Call me Seren."
But her Mother only smiled and nodded. And knew the time had come for her youngest to try and make her way in the world. Perhaps she would be like Leon, and come back once she'd had enough. But somehow she didn't think so.
"I can't go to auditions if I'm on the road." She admitted to her Mother, who had only ever known hippy communes and campsites as her home.
"I know." Her Mother replied, reluctantly starting up the mini bus without her youngest daughter in the back. "Promise me that once you're settled you will call me, write me, anything?"
Seren nodded sincerely and watched her Mother and the brothers who remained with her drive away. Behind her was the future and she walked towards it willingly. There were flickering lights hanging in the night sky, and she got closer she began to see the buildings around them rising from the ground. She pulled the folded napkin from her back pocket and read the address she had scribbled on it again. She was tired and hungry, and instead of searching the city at night she decided to hail a taxi and go directly there. It was easier to take it all in from the safety of the cab. It had been quite random, the fact she was here now. Rolling down the freeway, a map in her hand, she'd thought about the commune in Jacksonville and recoiled at the thought of another six months there. Not because she hated it. But because she'd reached the age of 20 and never known anyone long enough to make a true friend. Something in her had snapped.
New York was where she had come. With the address she sought clutched tightly in her hand. When the cab stopped outside their destination, she didn't know what to do. Sweaty palms had smudged the writing and as she tried to make out the apartment number the cab driver coughed expectantly.
" We're here." He announced gruffly.
"Sorry. " Seren said, gathering her things before handing over most of the little money she had.
The cab had driven off before she could check that she was in the right place. She didn't need to wonder long.
"Hey! Seren!" She heard the voice boom down from a few floors above.
From one of the tiny windows she caught sight of the arms waving wildly down to her, and the familiar shock of red hair.
"Wait, I'll come down."
The street was lined with tree's. Each of the houses and apartment blocks had the staircases leading up to them that she had seen in movies. It was neat and tidy, everybody in their own personal living space. It was almost more than she could take. She'd never had her own room. She'd never had any room before. Before she could contemplate further, the door flew open and India flew into her arms.
"I can't believe you're here!" She proclaimed, holding Seren tight.
It felt good to see her cousin again. And she hugged her back with the same warmth.
"Had to happen sometime." She lamented.
India looked at her one bag. "Travel light these days?" She remarked.
"Can't exactly move around with alot of baggage. I brought clothes and some photos and stuff." Seren shrugged, still taking in her new surroundings.
"I guess not. So let's get you upstairs. Then you can fill your room with so much stuff you'll never go anywhere again!"
India was excitable. But it was to be expected. The last minute phone call had been recieved to screams of delight that her cousin was coming to stay. There had been a time when they had all lived together once. Seren's Mother had insisted on staying an entire year at the commune where her sister lived, and together there was twelve children between them. India was the youngest of her brood too. And even though it had been years since she left that life behind, there was nothing she loved more than the rare visits from family that always reminded her of her childhood. Seren being there was more than she could have asked for.
The apartment so light and airy. The tiny window she had seen from the front belonged in the bathroom, the second bathroom. This made Seren dizzy. The other windows, on the other side over looked central park and panned across the entire wall of the apartment. There was a flat screen tv on the wall opposite, a huge corner sofa facing it and an open plan kitchen around the L shaped corner.
"The bedrooms are over there. I cleaned out the guest room as best I could but there's still no bed. I put a bunk in there, we'll sort that out later."
But she didn't mind. She was used to sleeping on floors.
"This place is amazing." Seren remarked, her eyes scanning the marble work surfaces that gleamed in the shafts of light coming from the street lamps outside. House plants adorned every corner, she guessed in light of the fact there was no garden it was India's way of bringing some of it inside.
"How do you afford this place?" She asked, any sense of formality gone. In their world, questions like these weren't frowned upon.
"Well, I didn't always live somewhere this nice. My first place was practically a slum. But since I got my new job it's been pretty sweet."
She wondered what kind of jobs existed that meant she could afford a place like this.
"I work for the editor of a magazine. I'm her personal assistant. Anything from coffee to paperwork. Which means I'm hardly here. Which almost seems a shame that I live here really. If I can't really enjoy it. But you can now."
She couldn't imagine India as a personal assistant. Her quirky cousin had always been outspoken and independant, never one to take orders. And then it dawned on her that maybe she would have to change too to survive here.
"So when is your first audition?" India asked, breaking into her thoughts.
She almost didn't want to say. "I kinda don't have one." She confessed.
India nodded slowly, as if she was disappointed. "It's dog eat dog out there. Actors are like ten a penny here, it's hard to find a really good one. If you want to make this work, you'll have to work your ass off to get recognised. You need an agent."
The India standing before her now wasn't the girl she had grown up with. She had educated herself so well in city life it almost scared her to think of how little she knew. Perhaps she'd made a mistake. Jacksonville suddenly seemed like the sweeter deal.
"Don't worry." India soothed, picking up on Seren's mood. "With your looks, you'll land audition after audition."
Seren checked herself in the reflection of the windows. "Why do you say that?"
"Are you kidding me? Blonde hair, figure to die for. Kooky style. This bohemian thing you've got going on is all the rage."
Seren shrugged. She'd always dressed like this. Preffering to go barefoot than wear shoes. She only owned two pairs. One for summer, one for winter. She knew instinctively this wasn't a barefoot city. Pulling her fingers through the waves of blonde hair, she decided India was right. And hoped she wouldn't have to change herself too much to get by.
"Thankyou." She said randomly, sighing deeply before falling down onto the edge of the sofa. "I couldn't do this without you. I wouldn't know where to start."
India smiled. "And it is just the start."
No comments:
Post a Comment