Read In This Life for Free Online

him.
    “I didn’t do anything stupid last night, did I?” I laughed nervously, hugging my knees to my chest.
    He handed me the cup of coffee but didn’t let go until he felt my fingers close around the cup to touch his. “Well, I don’t know what you did before you got here, but no, nothing crazy with me,” he said.
    “Whew! Okay,” I said, visibly relieved. “Whose place is this?”
    “I found it three weeks ago. I asked around the village, and they told me that it was owned by a family of four before the typhoon.”
    “Where are they now? What happened to them?” I asked.
    He shrugged his shoulders. “No one knows. They say that the mother and child were lost at sea and the father and son have left the village.”
    A broken family. Just like mine. My mood turned quickly. Was today the day of the surgery? Why hadn’t I heard from my father? Did he relay my message to her?
    “Oh. I would be afraid to stay in a house marked by tragedy,” I said sadly.
    He placed his paper cup on the floor and leaned back against the wall. I worried that the floor was too uneven to hold the cup upright for very long and so I kept my eye on it while he spoke.
    “On the contrary, I feel their peace in this house. I can’t explain it, but I sense many happy times here.”
    “Don’t you live in the same house that I do?” I asked.
    Jude swatted his hand at the mosquitoes encircling the top of our heads. “I do. I go over there to take a shower and eat sometimes. But I like to stay here after a day in the village. It helps me to decompress. I like to revel in the quiet, remind myself of the beauty of the world despite all this ugliness.”
    “I know what you mean. Three days ago, we had to help try to resuscitate a baby who had just stopped breathing. He was so thin, I was afraid he would break into little pieces when I held him.” I paused. The memory of that little boy would forever be in my mind.
    He nodded his head in understanding. And then he caught me by surprise.
    “Do you do that every night? Get high like that?”
    “No.” I set my sights on the blueness in front of me. Sea and sky. Different shades, unequal depths. If I looked far enough, I could see the clouds bobbing up and down like balloons floating in the water.
    “It’s been two nights in a row.” He wasn’t going to give it up.
    “Issues,” I snapped back. I didn’t feel defensive, just irritated; if he wanted to get to the bottom of it, we would. “I was mad at my mom for something. Really angry and confused. And then I found out that she’s sick, which in a screwed up way pisses me off even more. I thought I could use the time here to get away from it all and do some good at the same time. You know, focus my energies on something else.”
    “Interesting. You leave your problems behind at home only to come to a place with bigger problems.” The glint in his eyes remained full of kindness. He wasn’t judging, he was making me think things through in my head.
    “I can make a difference here. There’s nothing I can do about the problems at home.”
    “But the people who love you, who you love, need you there. You’re pouring out your efforts on strangers. Charity starts at home, they say.”
    I didn’t bother to come up with a response. In another time, I would have lashed out, but his honesty was refreshing. He was a complete stranger to me, and already he had successfully started to chip away at the barrier.
    “Who are you?” I asked, my tone quiet and almost somber. I fidgeted with the paper cup, trying my best to avoid looking at him.
    “Sorry, I don’t mean to be so off-putting. I don’t know why but I just have this feeling that I can tell you anything and you’ll take it all in stride,” he answered sheepishly, his hand instinctively brushing over his thick black hair.
    “Then talk to me. Who are you? And is your name really Jude? Do you have another name?” I lightened my tone and nudged him with my elbow.
    “Ah.” He