She put herself at risk just by being there, just by talking to me, just by wearing what she wore. She didn’t tell me that until we were done. What if someone recognised her? What if word got back? What if she’s followed?
I didn’t know I was wearing them, but she pulled off my shades and handed me glasses. She took off my headphones and handed me hearing-aids.
She nervously looked down at her hands as she spoke about her inspiration. At first, she would look up at me when she wanted to make her point clear, but often her eyes would dart away when things got hard to say. Quickly she became more passionate with every new word that slid off her tongue. In her mind, even though she was far from where they could get to her, what she was telling me could still cause her trouble. Anything she said could put her family in danger. She didn’t say it, but her face reflected it.
She forced the thoughts out of her mind as the questions continued. She started to look me in the eyes. She kept them focused on me. The questions got harder, and her answers were vigilant, but she was determined to tell the truth. That is her purpose. Her reason for being is to spread the truth; though for that moment, it was just for an audience of two.
Her eyes welled up with tears as she spoke about the tragedies of the past and her fears of the future. Not a single drop fell. My eyes started to dart away. I had to take a break, not because I thought she was going to cry, but because I thought I was going to cry. I stopped; she continued.
I ran out of questions, but she continued to speak with fervour. She spoke with her hands as people do when they are emotional. The tears receded but her cheeks were flushed with a shade that almost matched her sweater. She needed to get out as much as she could. She needed to know that someone knew, someone cared, someone was willing to listen.
There were no windows in the room, but we all knew it was dark outside. We needed to wrap up and so we did. As she left, I hoped that she would make it home safely. Although her journey to her new home was safe relative to a journey to her old home, I couldn’t help but think “what if?”
