Enhance 2: Chapter 9

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah Yu. I heal fast. Besides it’s been a week,” Shade said holding onto the train as he looked over at her. Shade brushed his fingers through his hair and showed the already faded scar on his forehead. “See?”

Yumi looked at it and shook her head reaching out to take his hand. He squeezed it back and the train shook as they took a turn. She stumbled forward into his chest and the look on his face made her push him off. “Glad you’re feeling better.”

He looked down at her but saw the greyish rings around her eyes and frowned hard, “You’ve been out late.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “No later than normal.”

He sighed and let it go. “So where are we going again?” he asked watching downtown float away from them and the surrounding residential area take over.

“Echo told me about this shelter, called RAST. I think it stood for Recuperation, And, Safe Transportation?” she shrugged. “The Vanguard used to be setup over there but eventually left. A lot of people have been helped because of the shelter. Echo and Rogue almost went there before we found them.”

 “Ah. And you’re trying to volunteer or give them some kind of help?” he asked and she nodded quickly. “You’re serious about this huh?”

She nodded quickly, “Yeah I am. I can’t do a lot but I can do this. You don’t have to help by the way. This is my thing more than yours.”

“It’s fine. I used to do things like this with my sister when I was a lot younger. Besides someone has to keep an eye on you.”

“Thanks Shadeow.”

The train slid to a stop and they hopped off it with Yumi using her phone to navigate for her. The sun was at least out and under the direct light of it, it was warmer despite anything that the last dregs of winters protest.

They were walking near a park, the grass a bit overgrown and the jungle gym small but there were kids running around near it. Shade watched as a girl chased a boy, looking just close enough alike that he guessed they were siblings.

Leaving the park behind Shade saw where she was going ahead of her, a large building that looked like it should have been a rec center or a gymnasium. But the area around it was rough, a bunch of buildings chained off or with windows boarded up entirely. The former rec center still looked like it had seen better days but it had some love given to it. New windows, repainted walls but still chipping away in increasing patches.

But there were a group of people coming in all of them having huge boxes in their arms and bags around their wrist. Yumi slid her phone back into her pocket and opened the glass double doors and going inside. Inside was a massive open area that was split up in obvious ways.

The far right side down the middle to all the way against the wall was lined with beds. Bunk beds, some occupied, some with blankets thrown aside and some empty but neatly made. Beyond them were benches, circles of pillows and chairs setup between them with people reading, playing cards, talking or just sitting still and resting. Those setups extended across to the other side of the facility.

Towards one corner were lines of chairs setup in front of a large TV with some movie running. A few people were watching intently while others were napping with blankets around them. Lights were bright above them and the soft cacophony of noise echoed around the area but not in a deafening type of way. Beyond that were signs indicating bathrooms.

There was another door at the far end of the room that she could see a few people coming back and forth with pots and stacks of bowls and plates. “This place is amazing,” she whispered and Shade nodded standing beside her.

“Yeah. Way more than I gave it credit for,” Shade said walking around slowly. Yumi on the other hand was just stuck in place almost overwhelmed by everything.

“Hello can I help you?”

Yumi started and whirled around, nearly losing her balance but got it together. Her cheeks warm she stared at the woman who spoke to her. She had short cropped black bob, dimpled cheeks that showed as she smiled, dark brown eyes and a rounder face. She stood a little shorter than Yumi and wider but she was warm. It may have been her smile, the tone of her voice or something she just didn’t know how to place.

Her question registered though and Yumi blinked quickly shaking her head. “Right. Um. A friend of mine told me about this place. And I wanted to see if I could volunteer. Help in any way that I can help really.”

She blinked surprised, “I can certainly find a place where you can help us. We’ve been short staffed since the winter and any extra hands are welcome. Actually, we just got a lot of supplies dropped off and we could use some help sorting it. My names Hanako by the way. Hanako Carter.”

“I’m Yumi. My boyfriend is,” she turned around quickly but Shade was nowhere to be seen and she sighed. “Well he is around. I can find him later.”

She laughed softly and took the lead walking toward the back of the facility. As she walked though she stopped and spoke to people, knowing them by their name, asking about books they had read, cross words they’d finished, or the last movie that had been showed. It took them almost ten minutes to get toward the back door which led to the kitchen.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “I like to keep track of everyone. A lot of these people don’t have someone to check on them and I love hearing about their days.”

Yumi shook her head. “It’s fine. I don’t mind it.”

Walking together to the back of the shelter they came into an in between area. On the right she could see the kitchen clearly marked and open with lights on but unoccupied at the present. In the opposite direction she could hear someone grunting and moving what she assumed were heavy boxes.

There was a table in the middle that had a few stains from having dealt with things like food and wear and tear in the middle. But currently occupying them were half a dozen garbage bags and boxes stacked together.

Hanako looked at all of them and let out a breath, “Wow, that’s a lot more than I thought we were going to get. That’s good because it means everyone will have things but it’ll be a lot to sort through. Theodore! Can you come here!”

“Coming mom!”

Yumi tilted her head slightly at the voice, screwing up her face because it sounded familiar to her. But when the owner came running forward, wearing a bandage around his nose. His twist moved, a light brown that she remembered being swamped in darkness before. But he was shorter than her at the moment but growth spurts were definitely a thing. But she remembered this kid from what felt like ages ago.

“I don’t know how Ms. Lauren did it but she brought in so much stuff. She had to be cleaning out her basement. Or kicking her son out the house or something.”

“That does sound like a nice way to get a house cleaned up,” she said thoughtfully and looked at her son. Theo noticed the look after a few minutes and paled slightly. But she smiled shaking her head, “I wouldn’t do that to. Not yet at least. Is that everything?”

“There’s a few more in the back to bring up. I think. I gotta look again,” he looked at Yumi for a second then back to his mom.

“Good. Oh my manners. This is Yumi,” she motioned to her. “She’s a new volunteer. Well hopefully at least. I need you to fill out some paperwork before we can seriously get down to business but before that would you mind helping us with this?” She motioned to the table.

Yumi nodded, “What can I do?”

“It’s a lot of things like clothes and blankets that we need to sort through. Right now, it’s just my son and I but one of our other workers should be coming by in a few hours. Once he gets here we can get the paper work all sorted out.”

“That’s straight forward. I can handle that. Wait let me call my boyfriend. Or at least tell him to meet me over here.”

“Take your time,” Hanako walked toward the back room as Yumi got her phone out.

She called Shade and he picked up on the second ring. She heard him yawn loudly and rolled her eyes, “Hey Shadeow.”

“What’s up Yu?”

“I found the lady who runs this place. I’m going to stick around and help out before getting an application setup. We’re at the back of the place now if you want to come back here too.”

“I don’t know this movie is pretty exciting and there’s an Abuela here who was in it way back when,” Yumi could hear an old woman’s laughter in the background. “I might be here for a minute. Once it’s done I’ll come find you though.”

“See ya Shadeow,” she hung up and looked at Theo who was hanging around a little awkwardly but Yumi just grinned. “Alright let’s get to work.”

Once Theo finished bringing in the last of the boxes the three of them got to it. The first thing that Hanako had them do was opening every bag and box nearby and just get all the clothes piled together. It filled up almost the entire table and was taller than all of them. Yumi and Theo were sent to grab another table and drag it over, setting it up adjacent to their clothing pile.

They then went through the process of making distinct piles. Shirts here, pants there, socks over there, and underwear somewhere in the middle. The work itself wasn’t hard, in fact it was easy enough for her to do. No different really than sorting through the laundry at home. Shade joined them after about an hour and after some light teasing he was incorporated into their system. With four pairs of hands it went by faster than even Hanako had anticipated.

She stood in front of their slightly organized piles of clothes her hands on her hips, “Well look at that. I call that a job well done, don’t you?”

“Definitely,” Yumi agreed and then elbowed Theo lightly. “Come on it can’t be that embarrassing.

“I would have thought he’d be used to it by now,” Hanako replied thoughtfully. “You’ve seen women’s underwear before now. Lots in fact.”

“Mom!” he almost shouted going a darker shade of red than before as he looked away sharply, “Can I go now?”

“Not yet. Our other volunteer still hasn’t shown up so that means you’re on duty.” He grumbled something but nodded. She faced Yumi and again that easy smile was there. “But since that’s taken care of let’s get you a formal application taken care of.”

“I’ll just stick around out here,” Shade said going toward one of the piles of clothes and getting his phone out.

Yumi followed her toward the area marked storage but beyond that was a small office around the corner that was slightly hidden away. It wasn’t anything special. A simple wooden desk with a computer and a well-kept and neat stack of papers, a rolling chair on one side and two hard chairs on the other side. A cork board hung on the wall with a couple calendars and sticky notes pinned to it. A set of drawers were against the wall and a small aquarium on top as a school of koi fish swam in circles.

Yumi stood off to the side as Hanako went through the drawers after greeting the fish. She went to the desk with a few papers and then gave Yumi a clipboard and a pen. “If you could fill those out for our records we’ll be all good.”

“Cool,” Taking a seat Yumi looked at the pages. Simple things like name, number, address and other stuff. She filled out as much as she could and as much as she remembered. For what she didn’t she was able to use her phone. As she worked, making sure she filled things out properly, she kept watch on Hanako but her face was stressed.

She was looking at the computer and frowning hard, showing lines at the sides of her mouth. “What’s wrong?” Yumi asked carefully as she set the clipboard back on the desk.

Hanako blinked slowly looking back at her and shook her head quickly. “It’s nothing. Just things to deal with. Always something. Are you finished?”

“Yeah. As much as I could at least,” she shrugged standing back up.

“Good. I’ll go over it and give you a call with a schedule. Thanks for all your help today,” A knock at the door and she looked back toward it and Theo was there. “Yes Theodore?”

“Cody just showed up,” he replied pointing behind him with his thumb.

Sighing she nodded slowly, “Yes you can go Theodore. I don’t want you getting hurt by accident again.”

He waved his hand but didn’t look toward her at all, “I’ll be okay mom. I’ll see you at home. Dad’s cooking tonight.”

“I know and I’m loosely excited. Hopefully your father doesn’t go too crazy,” They shared a smile and it was like a mirror of the two of them. A matching set of strong genetics.

Yumi stood up but before leaving the area she turned to look at Hanako. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What is it?”

She mulled over the words for a few minutes before asking, “Do you take in any people who need a place?”

“We try to. There’s some caveats,” she said slowly. “If someone has done something illegal we can give them a place to stay but we can’t stop the police from taking them. Assuming they have a warrant. Things like that.”

“What about someone who uses drugs?”

Tilting her head Hanako nodded, “We’ve had a few people stay here while recovering from addiction. A few times we’ve been able to get them help. You sound like you know someone.”

“Kinda. I don’t know if they’d even want to come but I want to try. At least tell them about this place.”

“If you do we’ll welcome them. We have an overnight group that’s a little different but just as welcome.”

Yumi smiled nodding her head quickly. “I will. I like you and this place.” That got her a laugh and a wave as she left. Walking back to the middle area she looked around but didn’t see Shade anywhere around. She did see Theo hanging around as he got his phone and headphones together. “Hey Theo. Where did Shadeow go?”

“I think he went out that way,” he pointed back toward the movie setup.

“Thanks. I’ll see you around.”

Theo looked at her skeptically for a second and then just walked toward the main door getting his phone out. She was tempted to feel annoyed by that but walked toward the movie instead. At the back of the set of chairs she sat down beside him and nudged him with her shoulder.

“Everything good?” he asked and she nodded. “Guess you’ve got something to do now huh?”

“Yes. Hopefully. She’ll call me after making sure everything checks out.”

“You going to ask Darren to help out with that?”

“Maybe. Not sure if I need to do that to be honest. Think I should?”

“Doesn’t hurt to ask them.”

“True.”

They looked at the movie screen again, watching the most recent Transformers movie. Watching Bumblebee turn into an actual VW beetle with the goofy comedy of teaching him how to hide. Shade leaned over to her and said, “So I heard some interesting gossip. You’ll love this.”

“Oh boy I love gossip.”

“Apparently a lot of the people here have claimed to have seen the vigilante. Running around, saving people, fighting off the gangs, distracting the police, or just hanging out on the rooftops.”

Yumi made a face looking at the movie and not at him, “I may or may not have heard some rumors about her existence.”

Shade shook his head, “You might be getting a fan club.”

“That’s cool right? I’m allowed to think that’s cool right?” she giggled and looked around and sighed. “I want to look for those kids from the other day.”

“The ones that you and Echo ran into?”

“Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about them for whatever reason.”

“You’re not exactly the most people of people person’s I’ve ever met Yu,” Shade ducked as she reached to hit him. “How are you going to convince them to even listen to you?”

She waved her hand back and forth, “Details details Shadeow. I’ll figure that out once I find them again. Whenever that happens. Again details. Let’s finish watching.”