Chapter 3
Today, a lady from the Salvation Army, Major Heath, took me to Kmart and let me pick out some underwear and stuff. Ten pairs of socks. Ten pairs of knickers. A couple of bras. And two sets of pyjamas: one pair in plain blue cotton flannelette, and the other with a flower design all over them.
It was kind of fun going to Kmart and having things bought for me, even if it was a little embarrassing. Everybody noticed Major Heath’s Salvation Army uniform and paid more attention to us than normal.
We didn’t go to the Kmart in Westgardens Metro – we went to the one in the city. Since I came to the Refuge, I’ve only been out a few times. I like taking short walks around the neighbourhood, and once I walked as far as University Road. I’ve also been to the Westgardens Metro with Lyyssa and everybody else.
On the way, we passed a million shops and restaurants and saw all sorts of people with weird hair and wearing weird clothes. The University. The University Regiment. And just before we got there, on the left, a big park with a swimming pool shimmering in the afternoon sun.
Before bed, I order all my clothes in the bureau. My underwear drawer is my favourite, because all my underwear is brand new. My other clothes are second-hand, mostly jeans and jumpers. Oh, my shoes and watch are new – the nursing staff bought me a pair of trainers and a digital Casio as a goodbye present when I left the hospital.
I feel bad that the people at the hospital seemed to have got more attached to me than I was to them. A few of the nurses even cried when I left. It bothers me that I didn’t feel like crying. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel grateful that they’d taken care of me, or that I didn’t appreciate being given a pair of shoes and a watch. But I couldn’t feel sad about leaving.
I knew there was something else that I should feel even sadder about. But I didn’t know what.