Page 14 of Sheltering Hollis

I sat up straight, panicked. “Oh my god, Monday. It was Monday. It’s been days. She was expecting me home.” My hands started to shake. There wasn’t even enough food in the apartment for that many days. “Holy shit.”

“Focus, baby. How old is she?” Dimitri asked, his voice steady and calm as he leaned forward on his knees. “Where do you live?”

“She’s nine. She’s still a little girl,” I sobbed. “Santee in California.”

“Does she have a phone?” he asked, almost as if he were worried, but that didn’t make sense. He handed me the cell phone. “Call.” His mouth was set in a severe look.

I nodded. She did have one; it was a cheap model, and she wasn’t allowed to use it except to take my calls or text me, but we didn’t have a landline, and since I worked late hours and she took the bus, she needed one.

I dialed the number with trembling fingers, my heart pounding as the phone rang. Each ring felt like an eternity, and I prayed that Olive would pick up. The thought of her alone and scared made my stomach churn.

"Hello?" Olive's voice was a small, uncertain whisper on the other end of the line.

"Olive, sweetheart, it's Mom," I said, my voice breaking. Tears welled up in my eyes as relief washed over me.

"Mom? Mom! Oh my god! Where are you? Where have you been? I was so worried," she cried, her voice trembling. “Are you home?” I heard doors opening, and then she sobbed. “Mom? Where are you?” Her cries punctuated the line.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to leave, but I’m okay, baby. I'm safe," I tried to reassure her through my tears, trying to keep my voice steady. "I'm sorry I couldn't call sooner. Something bad happened, but I'm doing everything possible to get back to you."

“I want you to come home, momma,” Olive pleaded, her voice cracking with emotion. “I need you to come home.”

"I will, I promise," I said, glancing at Dimitri, who was watching me intently. "Just hang in there a little longer, okay? Are you safe? Do you have enough food?"

"Yeah, I've been eating the snacks you left," Olive replied, still shaky. “On Monday, when you didn’t come home with dinner, I thought maybe,” she sniffed. “That you had to work late, so I had some cereal and did my homework, but when you hadn’t been home in the morning. I didn’t know what to do.” Her words trailed off.

“You must have been so scared, sweetheart.” My heart was crumbling for her, alone and thinking I’d left her for nearly a week. Anything could have happened to her.

“I thought about calling the police or even Grandma,” she whispered as if she were saying a bad word. “Instead, I went to school hoping you’d be home each day. It was hard to pretend,” she sniffed. I couldn’t even imagine her sitting at home alone in the evenings, trying to pretend everything was fine when her mother was missing, agonizing over what to do. “Mrs. Hooper saw me yesterday at the park. She invited me to dinner.” Olive cried harder into the phone. “I told her you were working a lot, but I was hungry.”

“You did good, Olive. Mrs. Hooper is a good lady. I’m so sorry,” I repeated. How could I ever make this right? “Can you stay with her for the next few days?” I asked, my voice thick with emotion as the tears slipped down my cheeks. “But I’m coming home. Just a couple of days.” I looked to Dimitri, injecting every ounce of conviction into my voice. Come hell or high water, I was returning to my daughter.

“She said she’d stay with me and make me something to eat,” Olive said.

I felt a wave of relief. Mrs. Hooper was a kind, older woman who lived next door. She had always been fond of Olive and often looked out for her when I worked late. "That's good. Mrs. Hooper is a very nice lady. I'm glad you're with her."

"She made me dinner yesterday, and she said she’d make me dinner tonight, and she helped me with my homework," Olive continued. "She said she could stay as long as I needed her to."

"That's wonderful, baby. I'm so grateful to her," I said, tears streaming down my face. "Can you put Mrs. Hooper on the phone? Is she there? I want to thank her."

"Okay, hold on," Olive said. I heard her footsteps as she went to find Mrs. Hooper.

A moment later, a warm, familiar voice came on the line. "Hello, Hollis. Is that you?” Mrs. Hooper was the perfect grandma, the sort of neighbor you see in your apartment building every other Wednesday. She’d bring you half a lemon cake or a small plant on Mother’s Day. Both Olive and I liked her and tried to make a point of inviting her for a meal once a month. I knew she had family back East, but they were estranged.

"Yeah, it's me," I replied, my voice shaking with gratitude. "Thank you so much for looking out for Olive. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Don't mention it, dear. You know I love Olive. I couldn't leave her hungry,” Mrs. Hooper said warmly. "But, Hollis, where are you? Something happened?”

"It's... complicated," I said, glancing at Dimitri, still watching me with curiosity and concern. "I got caught up in something dangerous, but I'm safe now and doing everything I can to return to Olive."

Mrs. Hooper sighed. "Well, you just focus on getting back safely. Olive is fine. I’ll stay over at your apartment until you get back. I had no idea you weren’t home. That girl is such a firecracker she didn’t even let on. She's strong, but she misses you terribly."

"I miss her too," I said, wiping my tears. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Please tell her I love her, and I’ll call again when I can.”

"I will, dear," Mrs. Hooper promised. "And don't worry about a thing. We made a trip to the store and have the cupboards full. I think she conned me into some sugary cereal you wouldn’t buy, but I couldn’t say no. Olive is safe with me. Take care of yourself, Hollis. We’ll be here when you get back.”

"Thank you, Mrs. Hooper. I can't tell you how much this means to me," I said thick with emotion. There weren’t words to express how much it meant that Olive was safe and cared for. I didn’t trust my mother. Our relationship was too complicated, but I would have called her. This was better.

"Just come back safe," she replied softly. "Goodbye for now, dear. Call again if you can.”

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