March 4, 1984

            Chloe hardly remembered when the fighting began. It was a couple of months past her eighth birthday, but that was it. But she clearly remembered how she felt, the confusion that turned to fear when those muddy men showed up in their dusty trucks. The day itself was fairly normal.

“No mamma! I don’t want to go to school! You can’t make me!” Chloe clung to her mother’s skirts. Her mother sighed, trying to coax her daughter to come along with her. “Look sweetheart, why do you do this every morning? The bus is going to be here in ten minutes. If you miss it you’re going to have to walk to school. Now you can’t be late again.”

“Uh-uh.”

Her mother just stood there, narrowing her eyes at her daughter and frowning. Chloe didn’t want to go, as there would be a test, and she didn’t want to get in trouble with her teacher again for failing. At the same time, she knew better than to push her mother further.

Her mother sighed, having enough of Chloe’s games. “Look, if I come to the bus stop with you, will you go?” Chloe felt a little bit relieved that her mother would at least walk with her. She thought about it for a moment, and then nodded yes.

Her mother went inside and grabbed an umbrella then they went downstairs and out the door of their flat. It always comforted Chloe to be around her. While her mother, Vida, was always very firm, she had a playful energy to her. Even after her sternest lectures her mother could never stay mad at her. As they walked to the bus stop Vida said “You know Chloe, I’m not always going to walk you to the bus stop.”

“Why not, mamma? You’re here, aren’t you?”

Her mother gave a wry, amused smile, the kind she did whenever she was about to explain something. Oh no, another lecture. “It’s just a part of growing up.”

Chloe thought about it for a little while, then said “Well, I don’t want to grow up then.”

Her mother’s smile broke into a laugh and she tousled Chloe’s hair, which made her feel better. “Well, you will one day. Before you know it, you’ll be able to do everything by yourself.”

As the town was not particularly large it only took them a few blocks to reach the bus stop. It was right in front of the grocery store so sometimes the grocer would give out small fruits and candy to the children as they waited for the bus to arrive. When they got there they saw the old school bus already picking up a group of kids with the grocer standing nearby. He waved at Vida. “Morning Mrs. Farjan!”

She just gave a brief nod, as if he wasn’t worth her attention, and turned her attention to her daughter. “Okay now, you need to get going!” she said, giving her daughter a little shove. Chloe was disappointed but not surprised. No treats today. As the child hesitated Vida said, “Come on, be brave Chloe.” Chloe nodded and her mother waved as the small pale child climbed on board the bus.

The grocer called out to her, “Hey, kid, you forgot this!” and tossed a bag of hard candy her way. Chloe smiled. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad.

~

Later that afternoon, the door to the family garden shop swung open as Chloe slowly sulked in. She found her father, Darius, watering flowers. “Oh hey, you’re back.” He looked up, noticing her stooping with her head down as she walked toward the stairs.

“Everything alright at school today?”

Chloe just looked at him and continued toward the door. “Hey, tell me, what’s wrong?” Her father went over to her.

“School was lousy.” she said, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. “We had a math quiz today. I failed.”

Darius looked at the paper. “Hmm, I see. Well, we’ll take a look at it after dinner.”

“I hate school. Why do they make me go?” Chloe fumed.

“Hey, everyone gets things wrong. It’s not the end of the world.”

Chloe shook her head. “I don’t get it. The teacher’s so mean. She keeps getting me in trouble.” she pouted.

Her father knelt down to her. “Hey, don’t be like that. Life’s too short to be grumpy all the time.” As Chloe headed upstairs her father gave a jovial smile. “Hey, I know! Why don’t you help me with these roses in the meantime?”

Eager to put off her homework as ever, Chloe agreed and set her bag down. As she helped arrange the flowers Darius explained the math problems to her. “Multiplication is easy. See how many pots are on the side of the table there?”

Chloe nodded. “Five.”

“And how many across it in that row?”

“Ten.”

“Okay, now if you have five rows with ten each, ten plus ten five times is…?”

Chloe mulled it over for a moment, counting silently to herself, then said. “Fifty?”

“Good. Can you make sure each table has fifty of one kind of flower? I’ve got to tend to a customer.”

Working with her father always felt natural. As far back as she could remember he always seemed to be surrounded with green and growing things. He was the one who taught her the names of every kind of flower, herb, tree, and shrub. The whole shop was filled with all kinds of colors and shapes of flowers. It was no wonder the shop was always like her family’s own private garden. As the two kept working, Chloe watched Darius chat with the customers, as he often did. Vida sometimes complained that he spent more time doing this than actually selling things. Darius would always answer by saying “Customers are like plants. If you tend to ‘em properly they’ll grow big and valuable.” In reality he loved people as much as his garden shop.

People would come in for soil, tools, or flowers and Darius would simply chat them up for several minutes at a time, with only the next customer to prod him on. He spent a particularly long time with a large lady at the counter. Chloe noticed that she spoke in a way she didn’t recognize. It was much harsher in tone with a slight lilt. She also noticed the worn and concerned look on her face. This woman was definitely not from town, or at least not native to it. “So, anyway, how are things? I mean, what with what’s been going on and all.” Darius said.

“Oh, I’ve been fine. I mean most of it isn’t even close.”

“Yes,” Darius interrupted, “But what of your family?”

“Well, they’re fine, but I worry about the younger ones sometimes. They don’t have a good head on their shoulders and might get into trouble.” Chloe tried to follow along as she sorted the flowers, but she had a hard time understanding. What trouble could her kids really get into? Were they really that misbehaved? The lady looked perfectly fine. She wasn’t worried but more confused than anything else. Her father always seemed to know more about people than she did.

“Chloe, would you kindly fetch this lady some red and white tulips? Make it three of each, okay?” Chloe nodded and brought the flowers to the counter. “Here you are ma’am. That will be $3.55.” The lady thanked Darius then looked at Chloe. “Ah, and who is this?”

Darius beamed. “That’s my daughter.” The woman leaned forward and extended her hand. Chloe stepped back, not knowing what to think of her.

"Now Chloe, don’t be shy. Say hello.” Chloe reluctantly leaned forward and shook her hand.

“Such an adorable child.” the lady chuckled, making Darius smile. “Yeah, she’s a lot like her mother.” the lady said.

“Haha! That she is. But she’s got her grandfathers spunk.” Darius said, patting her on the shoulder. “She may be quiet, but it’s always the long fuses that blow up the biggest.” Darius laughed at his own joke, but Chloe didn’t find it funny. The lady thanked her father, then left.

“Ahem, speaking of her mother…” They both turned around to see Vida in the doorway to the stairs. “Chloe, don’t you have homework to do?” Chloe sighed, which prompted her mother to flash her a stern look. “Come up and do your homework. Dinner will be ready in an hour. Then you can goof off all you want.”