Lizzy    by Susan Scott                 Mar 2003

	

    "Ooh look! Do you think she’s dead?"
    "I don’t know… C’mon, let’s go, I’ve got the creeps!"
    The mound of ragged clothing stirred and an ancient woman peered out with confusion at
the two girls standing nearby. She was filthy, with greasy gray hair plastered to her small head
and a lined face smudged with dirt.
    When she feebly started to push herself upright they jumped back and whispered to each other.
    "Do you think she’s hungry? I could give her my candy bar." Lizzie furrowed her brow and chewed
on the tip of her mitten. "I think I have some money..."
    "Don’t be stupid Lizzie! Why waste your allowance on some old bag lady? She probably has fleas.
Let’s go!" Kelly tugged at Lizzie’s coat, but she didn’t budge.
    The woman was slumped against the alley wall, moaning softly. Her face was sunken in and she didn’t
have any teeth. Drool gathered in the corners of her mouth and slid down her chin. Her skin was deathly
white, except for her lips and the tip of her nose, which were blue.
    "She looks so cold. The chocolate would help, I think."
    "I swear Lizzie, you’re a natural born sucker." Kelly was stamping her feet to keep them warm. "C’mon
already! Mom said she’d bake brownies for us today."
    Lizzie looked from Kelly to the woman. She took a hesitant step towards the miserable looking person and
Kelly let out an impatient huff of air.
    "Fine, stay here and play with your new buddy. I’m going." She tossed her head and stomped away.
    "I’m sorry," Lizzie whispered to the woman, giving her a small smile, "I’ve gotta go."
Her eyes met the old woman’s watery red ones briefly. She wanted to say something more, but suddenly felt
alone and afraid. "Hey Kelly, wait for me!" She ran to catch up with her friend.

***

    The Forders were having dinner in the cozy and bright kitchen. Lizzie watched the relaxed faces of her
parents as they talked.
    "Really Harold, I can’t understand why you don’t fire that man!" Mrs. Forder frowned slightly as she took
a delicate sip of tea.
    Her mother was so beautiful and soft. She always reminded Lizzie of pale pink ballet shoes made of smooth
satin, thin and graceful and light as air. Lizzie looked at her little brother as he crammed food into his mouth. Talk
about clown shoes! His hair was pointing in ten different directions, and he had a lima bean stuck to his bulgy cheek.
He never worried about anything except playing and eating.
    "Mom, where do homeless people go at night?"
    Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Lizzie! What a question!"
    "Well, where do they go?"
    "There are shelters around the city Liz-bear. They give the homeless a bed and food." Mr. Forder’s eyes crinkled
in the corners when he smiled at her.
    "But do they all go to shelters?" Lizzie watched her dad’s face closely.
    Mr. Forder ran a hand through his graying hair, "Well… I guess they all can’t fit."
    "So what happens to the rest?"
    "Lizzie, finish your dinner before it gets cold. I’ve got a special dessert tonight." Mrs. Forder tucked a wisp of hair
behind her daughter’s ear, then turned back to her husband.

***

    "Mom, I’ve got to go to Kelly’s house to finish a project for school. I’ll only be an hour. Okay?" Lizzie hitched the over stuffed knapsack higher on her shoulder and leaned against the doorframe of the den.
    "I don’t think so darling. It’s already dark outside. You should have thought of that earlier."
    "But Mom, it’s due tomorrow, and me and Kelly didn’t get to finish after school today! I think we’re going to get an A
on this one." Lizzie shoved clenched fists into heavy jacket pockets and tried not to whine.
    Mrs. Forder examined her daughter’s face for a long minute. "Okay, but straight there and straight back. Only for an hour. Understand?"
    "Promise!"
    Lizzie was down the hall and out of the front door before her mother could stop her.
    The freezing wind made her eyes tear. She pulled her hat further over her ears, wrapped a long knit scarf around her nose and mouth, then hurried down the street.
    When she rounded the corner she paused, letting her eyes adjust to the shadows. The bundle of rags was still in the alley, lying on its side again. Lizzie walked softly forward, not wanting to startle the woman if she was asleep.
    "Hello?" the word came out all croaky, so Lizzie cleared her throat and tried again. "I brought you some things."
Lizzie sat down near the old woman’s head and opened her bag. She took out Tupperware dishes and a wool blanket, which she tucked around the small figure.
    "I have some soup. Tomato- I hope you like that. It’s hot too; I heated it up in the microwave. Look, here’s a spoon and a napkin." The woman didn’t seem to be interested, so Lizzie tried again. "We had pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. I brought you my piece. I had to hide it from my baby brother. He’s five years old and a real pig about food. And here’s a fork for the cake." She set the container next to the soup. Still no response from the woman.
    "And here’s a thermos of hot chocolate. It’s my lunchbox thermos, so I’ll have to take it home when you’re done. I made the hot chocolate myself- from real milk, not water." She set the thermos down and waited.
    "Ma’am, are you okay?" Lizzie reached out gingerly and shook the woman as gently as she could.
    Five minutes later, her butt was beginning to get numb. She stood up and chewed on the tip of her mitten, watching the motionless woman. "Well, I guess I’ll leave all this here. In case you get hungry later. I can always get the thermos tomorrow. I’ll tell mom I left it at school."  Lizzie had both mittens in her mouth now. "Don’t worry about the blanket. You can keep that. Mom won’t notice. Okay?"
    She shivered as a gust of wind swept through the alley, making a spooky wailing sound. "I almost forgot..." She carefully placed a chocolate bar next to the woman’s head. "I’ll leave it here, where you can reach it."
    Lizzie left the alley without looking back.

***

    "Lights out!" Mrs. Forder breezed in carrying a heavy wool blanket. She waited for Lizzie to crawl into bed and then tucked it firmly around her. "The forecasters say it’s going to drop way below 0 tonight, and I want my best girl to be nice and warm." She kissed Lizzie on the tip of her nose, "how about cranberry pancakes for breakfast?"
    "Yum!" Lizzie smiled up at her mother, trying to look excited.
    "Good girl." Mrs. Forder blew Lizzie a kiss from the doorway, and clicked off the light.
    In the dark room, Lizzie curled into a tight ball and rubbed a corner of the prickly blanket against her cheek. She lay awake a long time that night, listening to the angry wind as it whirled around the house.

©2003, Susan Scott
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