Acquiesce and The Last Homecoming

Acquiesce and The Last Homecoming
Part 1(Acquiesce)

The woman sat alone on the train at Paddington station on a cold evening in central London. She
never thought it would come down to this as she sobbed uncontrollably!
Debbie Riley was 60 years old and had lived in the city her entire life. She was a housemaid of 20
Lancaster House, home of Lady Jessica Bolton who died of old age six months back. The house
had since been sold to a Russian family who intended to demolish the dilapidated building.
Debbie had no one in this world and nowhere to go, she tried to contemplate how she was
going to spend the rest of her life while looking out of the train window.

Debbie's whole world was that house, and all her memories of the Lancaster house were what she had to carry with her wherever she went. This was quite painful as it was the only burden she wished would not have left the house upon her leaving it.

Debbie was a shy and introverted girl when she first came to the house at 15 years from an orphanage a few blocks away which Lady Jessica used to visit quite frequently. Lady Jessica took an instant liking for Debbie and her beautiful blue eyes. They first met when Debbie was just 5 years, her parents had left her at the foundling home and fled the country as well as from each other. Lady Jessica got immediately attracted to Debbie's innocence, something which never left her even when she grew up.

Debbie used to open up with Jessica just like a child would to her mother. She told Jessica about her pet peeves, especially how afraid she used to get at night at the orphanage which used to overlook a small graveyard. Jessica used to get Debbie her favorite Toblerone chocolates and used to bake a cake for her every Christmas. After a few years of getting to know each other well, Jessica decided to speak with the authorities at the foster home to adopt Debbie.

Debbie was excited and nervous to accompany her new parent to her new place of stay. She had never known what life was like outside of a foster home. Tears rolled down her cheeks as Jessica held her hand and told her," You don't need to be afraid of the dark anymore sweetheart. I'll always be there for you".

Debbie was glad that God had finally answered her prayers.

“Good evening my lady and Merry Christmas,” said the conductor politely and continued, “where
are you going?”
“I don’t have a clue,” replied Debbie nervously.

The policeman was inquisitive as all are in their profession however he couldn't resist being a little concerned to see an old woman being alone on a rather cold night.

"She should have been with her friends and family," said the officer to himself.

The sun disappeared below the horizon.

Acquiesce and The Last Homecoming
Part 2(Last Homecoming)

The sun disappeared below the horizon.
As soon as he opened the heavy five-bar iron gate, tears rolled down his eyes.
Jamie had come to his parental home after 10 years. He couldn’t even attend his mother’s funeral
as he was fighting the war in Africa. Today, he came to collect his family memorabilia before the
house was knocked down.
The front garden had planks that fell out of rotting cedar wood fence, knee-high grass, and broken
plant pots. He went near a corner of the picket fence and saw a broken bicycle wheel near the
lemon tree. It was the same bicycle that he used to ride in the neighborhood as a young boy.
Jamie used to cycle for hours and build an appetite to gorge on tasty chicken sandwiches at the
bakery near his home.
The air around where he was standing was perfumed by the heavy scent of lilies and roses. Jamie
reached out a hand to collect a few of the soft and delicate petals of lilies. Few squirrels gathered
around the lemon tree and started to chatter while flicking their tails. Jamie remembered how he
and her mother imitated the squirrels making a kuk-kuk-kuk sound sending the rodents into a
frenzy.
The roof of the house had sagged and the cedar shingles stuck up in places like wonky teeth.
Most of the glass windows had turned wary and yellow with time. The house was collapsing
inwardly on itself.
As he entered the living room, he stood transfixed while looking at the photograph on the center
table. It was taken on the day he left for Africa. He stood in the middle while Debbie sat on his left
and Lady Jessica to his right.
The two women who raised Jamie and loved him.