Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold!, but someday, when I'm a millionaire... I still won't.
Song of the Angels
Part IV
The Mantra of Wistful Reflection
"Mommy!"
Helga was awoken with her daughter next to her jumping up and down on the bed. Hannah was on her knees and excitedly pulling herself up and down, causing Helga to slightly bounce along with the mattress.
"Mommy! Up, up!"
Helga groaned and shifted her weight to her other side. Hannah stopped and after a moment of waiting for her mother to get up, she began to pout.
"Mama...." she whined. Clumsily she put her hands on the bed and crawled over to Helga. She then sat up and leaned over her body to look at Helga's drowsy facial expression. Seeing no response, the girl took both hands and put them to her mother's cheeks. She pulled her hands together, causing Helga's face to squish together. Hannah giggled childishly when she noticed her mother looked like a fish.
That woke Helga up. She quickly pulled away from the small hands and opened her eyes. "What..." she moaned sluggishly.
Hannah then turned and jumped off the bed. The short, skinny girl had only a tank top and underwear on.
"Mama, I can't find my dress." Helga propped herself up onto an elbow as she looked at her young, half dressed daughter.
"Hannah, we haven't even unpacked yet." She didn't respond, so Helga sighed deeply and slowly got out of bed. She saw Hannah's pajamas scattered on the floor and remembered they'd gotten rid of most of their belongings before they left. "We didn't bring our clothes, remember? I don't know where your dress is." She picked up the pajamas and went to put them on the dresser of the room they'd rented from the local Bed & Breakfast. "Did you put them in the laundry downstairs?" The small girl was still quite young, but at four years old it was impressive how she could take care of so many things herself if she wanted to. Hannah did mature at an alarming rate, but mostly it was because she had no choice. Life had dealt the two some pretty challenging circumstances, and they dealt with it. Despite her own self-reliance, Hannah was still dependent for many things.
"I couldn't reach the doorknob so I came back up." Helga looked around the room to see where their clothes were. They were going to wear what they'd had on the day before since they hadn't gone shopping for clothes yet.
"Here they are." Helga went and got the clothes which had been hidden under the covers kicked off one side of the bed. "Come here." Hannah walked over to her and raised her arms in the air. Helga pulled the dress over her daughter's head, and when her small face emerged, her blond hair played around her face messily. After Helga got ready and pulled Hannah's hair into a small ponytail, she grabbed the key and together they headed outside.
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"Okay, now remember what I told you," Helga emphasized quietly to Hannah.
"I know, Mama. Close all the locks and don't answer the door. Only ask who's there when I hear the secret knock." They reviewed the routine as Helga prepared to leave the young girl alone in the room.
On the way home from the store, they had walked past Phoebe's apartment building. Helga stopped once more to gaze up at the area she knew her old friend was staying at. There was the same lingering, thought-provoking silence that was there when she'd stood in the same spot earlier with Arnold. Hannah waited patiently for Helga to come out of her nostalgic trance before they continued home. As their conversation ceased for the rest of the walk, Helga decided it was time to see Phoebe. She nervously thought about it while they walked home hand in hand with their bags down the streets. Helga was completely oblivious to the cold and uninviting aura of the roads and alleys since she was absorbed in her thoughts.
Now, as Helga was garbed in her old tan coat and slightly tattered scarf, she spoke quietly to Hannah to prevent anyone from overhearing that the child would be alone. They had dealt with worse crime rates before, so the procedure was quite standard, if not a little drastically played out in such an unpopulated area. It was, however, crucial to the safety of the four year old. It was a good thing Social Services hadn't known about Helga's or Hannah's way of doing things because to many people, leaving such a young child along would certainly bring up controversy. It wasn't like Hannah would be in danger from sticking foreign objects in her mouth or playing in the oven; she'd never had stages like that. And how they lived was just their way of doing things. Life went on, and they dealt with it.
"Okay. Be careful now. We've got some food in the fridge, but save some for me; that's all we've got. I'm not sure if the cable works but you can try."
"Don't worry, don't worry, Mama, it's getting late, just go." They hugged and Helga left. She could hear the clicks on the door behind her as she walked down the hallway.
The old building got bigger and bigger as Helga walked towards it, and so did the knot in her stomach. Several times she would stop, contemplating whether the confrontation was really worth it. Phoebe might just be angry with her, and the unspoken grudge that had built up within them would probably just flare up and ruin Helga's stay in town. The painful memories between them might just be beyond repair. Besides, what would she say? She had to think of something. If not, she'd probably just get kicked out from her friend's doorstep and be rejected, just like Phoebe herself had been rejected so many years ago. But soon it was too late. Helga found herself standing in front of the door with the ominous letters on the door-Phoebe's door-glaring back at her.
She knocked on the door and her mind scrambled to think of something to say. At least, to think of an excuse for her being here. But she was still trying to figure out why, herself. However, the moment came too soon when the young woman opened the door. A beautiful, slender, dark haired woman. She was sickeningly familiar, yet unrecognizable to Helga's heart. Either way, she was standing there, staring back at her. By the look on her face, she'd had no problem recognizing Helga, unlike Arnold's encounter.
The eye contact drained all words from each woman's throat, casting a deafening, awkward silence. Helga's heart throbbed as she struggled for words. Her breath returned, and she said all she could think of.
"I'm sorry..."
It wasn't known if Phoebe had heard it, or if she was even listening, because she quickly wrapped her arms around Helga's neck and hugged her with a firm and grateful grip. Helga could do nothing but hug her back. In that one moment, the giant canyon that had been created between them for so many years slowly mended together. After all that time...
Helga heard a wet sniffle over her shoulder, so she gently brought them apart. Phoebe looked back at her with a sad but relieved-looking smile.
"Come in," she offered. They walked into the apartment and Helga closed the door behind her.
Phoebe went to the kitchen to make green tea and Helga sat quietly on the sofa. She drummed her fingers on her knees, which were draped in a new deep blue skirt that reached her ankles. She had gotten a white blouse to match it when they were shopping.
Helga looked around the living room and studied the unfamiliar surroundings. There weren't many decorations other than framed pictures; there was a vase, an occasional lamp upon an old dusty side table placed randomly aside in the room to fill in empty spaces. Helga studied the photographs hanging on the wall. There was a rather current one with Phoebe standing alone in front of a café with a happy smile on her face. Another one from a few years back with her and Gerald posing for a prom picture hung beside it. A few more contained images of people she didn't recognize.
Helga noticed on a bookshelf high against the wall, next to a row of dusty books, there sat a photo of her and Phoebe. She remembered it from middle school during a field trip to the marina. Phoebe had had many interests, being the "brainiac" she was, but that marina field trip was unbearably dull and unexciting for the both of them. They goofed off the entire time and ended up being sent to the main office so they would stop distracting the other students and start behaving. They'd taken the less-than-satisfactory quality photograph themselves, so they couldn't get the camera more than an arm's length away. However, there was enough room in the picture to see the mounted shark's head atop Helga's head so it was "eating her," and Phoebe's face was filled with laughter. Helga's face had that same mischievous and happy smile on her face that she'd had for so many years. Her spirit shone through her face with that trademark grin. However, not long after that, her spirit of youth died along with that smile.
Helga looked back down at her knees because she hated dwelling about the past, especially during those years she was still an innocent kid. Or at least, she'd still felt like one.
Phoebe entered the living room with a teapot and coffee cups upon a tray. She carefully set it down on the coffee table with stamina she'd picked up from her waitressing days and took a seat next to Helga.
"So..." Phoebe began in an attempt to start a conversation. "...What have you been up to?" Phoebe unnoticeably cringed at how stupid she thought she sounded at the question. She thought hastily.
Helga didn't seem terribly comfortable with the inquisition, but she didn't mind. She just laughed before drinking her tea.
"More than you could ever imagine," was all Helga could say. She tried to tell herself there was nothing wrong with spilling her guts about it. After all, this was Phoebe. But Helga couldn't bring herself to talk about anything. She never was one for venting. "What about you? What are you still doing around these parts? I'd have thought you'd be in some exquisite university studying to be a doctor, like you've always dreamed of." Phoebe smiled at the silliness of the idea.
"No money," she explained after a while. Anyone else might have inquired further about funding or a scholarship, wondering why she never made an effort to leave. But Helga just nodded, knowing full well that life doesn't do what you ask it to. However, it was peculiar that Phoebe didn't seem as if she had put up a fight for it. She wasn't one to quit like that.
"Well, I do have my own little shop now," Phoebe said as she diverted the subject.
"Oh, so that's what that is," Helga said aloud. Phoebe saw her looking at the picture on the wall and smiled.
"Yeah. Not exactly a busy place, but I get by." She studied the steaming liquid in the cup she held in her hands and added, "Mostly truckers."
Then, Helga remembered that Phoebe didn't know about Hannah, so she casually mentioned to her friend about her little girl.
"Oh, really?" Phoebe asked in surprise. Questions filled her mind about the sudden change in information, especially since it probably outlined a lot about Helga's past.
"When did you... well, how old is she?" Phoebe asked anxiously. Helga smiled at her sparked curiosity.
"Had her a little after I left, actually," she answered. "Four years old now... she sure is growing up fast."
"I see." Phoebe kept the rest of her irking questions to herself as not to seem rude about her curiosity.
"You can meet her tomorrow," Helga reassured her.
Phoebe couldn't help but ask, "Where is she now?" She seemed a bit surprised to hear the girl was home alone, but it didn't bother her. After a moment, they continued talking about other things.
After a while, Phoebe cautiously asked, "Did you... see Arnold yet?"
"Yeah." Helga didn't bother explaining it.
Phoebe nodded, but was unsure if they had patched up their friendship yet. Probably not, because they didn't really have much of a friendship before Helga left, anyway. Then again, neither did they.
An empty teapot and a few hours later, Helga noticed it was pretty late and decided it was best to head home. Phoebe offered her a car ride home, seeing as it wasn't such a great idea to walk home in the dark. Helga hesitantly accepted the favor, and they headed back to Helga's place.
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It wasn't a very long drive before Phoebe pulled up to the old place. Her headlights shone on the Bed & Breakfast as she pulled into the parking lot.
"Thanks a lot, Phoebs," Helga said, reviving the old nickname as she leaned down to look at Phoebe.
"No problem. It was good to see you again. Call me tomorrow, okay?" Helga nodded and waved the small scrap of paper with Phoebe's number scribbled on it in confirmation, then shut the door. The stones crunched under the wheels as the car pulled away, leaving Helga with nothing more than the light from the moon. She headed inside.
Helga tapped a short, rhythmic knock on the door, but there was no answer.
"Oh, Hannah, please don't be asleep," she muttered to herself. She knocked again and after a long pause, finally heard a shuffle inside.
"Who is it?" the child's muffled voice asked.
"Mama Bear," Helga replied. It didn't exactly suit her, but nevertheless Hannah had picked the name out when she was younger. A few clicks on the door rattled before it opened to reveal a groggy looking Hannah.
"Hi, Mama."
They walked back into the room and Hannah closed the door behind her mother, who was by that point more drunk with sleep than she was. Yet Helga still managed to notice the state of the rooms.
"Wow, you cleaned up," she noted aloud. Hannah became more awake with her arrival and bounced over.
"Yup! Your pajamas are on the bed, on the bed," she said with her occasionally repetitive sentences.
"Thanks, Hannah." She went into the bedroom to change and Hannah followed behind.
"Mama, I fixed us food but you were gone a long time," the girl said to Helga, who was pulling her shirt from her back.
"I'm sorry. I'll go heat it up after I change." She pulled her pajama shirt over her head. "You've got your new pajamas on."
"Yup! Yup!" Hannah replied. She twirled around gracefully to display her new bedtime outfit.
"Beautiful..." Helga cooed, instinctively giving her daughter the attention and love she'd never had. Hannah's face beamed.
They went to the kitchen to reheat whatever frozen food sat on the old, reused table.
"Oh yeah, Mama, that man called and wanted to ask you if you would go out to lunch with him," Hannah remarked during the meal. Helga stopped eating and looked at her.
"Arnold?" she asked, more to herself than Hannah. The girl didn't respond, but she hadn't known the man's name anyway. She just looked back at Helga as she took another bite of her food.
"How did he get my number?"
Hannah politely finished chewing before she answered.
"There's only three residential quarters." The girl struggled to pronounce the words with her childlike dialect, but was no stranger to big words nonetheless. Helga thought about it for a moment and eventually figured it out.
She continued eating.
Song of the Angels
Part IV
The Mantra of Wistful Reflection
"Mommy!"
Helga was awoken with her daughter next to her jumping up and down on the bed. Hannah was on her knees and excitedly pulling herself up and down, causing Helga to slightly bounce along with the mattress.
"Mommy! Up, up!"
Helga groaned and shifted her weight to her other side. Hannah stopped and after a moment of waiting for her mother to get up, she began to pout.
"Mama...." she whined. Clumsily she put her hands on the bed and crawled over to Helga. She then sat up and leaned over her body to look at Helga's drowsy facial expression. Seeing no response, the girl took both hands and put them to her mother's cheeks. She pulled her hands together, causing Helga's face to squish together. Hannah giggled childishly when she noticed her mother looked like a fish.
That woke Helga up. She quickly pulled away from the small hands and opened her eyes. "What..." she moaned sluggishly.
Hannah then turned and jumped off the bed. The short, skinny girl had only a tank top and underwear on.
"Mama, I can't find my dress." Helga propped herself up onto an elbow as she looked at her young, half dressed daughter.
"Hannah, we haven't even unpacked yet." She didn't respond, so Helga sighed deeply and slowly got out of bed. She saw Hannah's pajamas scattered on the floor and remembered they'd gotten rid of most of their belongings before they left. "We didn't bring our clothes, remember? I don't know where your dress is." She picked up the pajamas and went to put them on the dresser of the room they'd rented from the local Bed & Breakfast. "Did you put them in the laundry downstairs?" The small girl was still quite young, but at four years old it was impressive how she could take care of so many things herself if she wanted to. Hannah did mature at an alarming rate, but mostly it was because she had no choice. Life had dealt the two some pretty challenging circumstances, and they dealt with it. Despite her own self-reliance, Hannah was still dependent for many things.
"I couldn't reach the doorknob so I came back up." Helga looked around the room to see where their clothes were. They were going to wear what they'd had on the day before since they hadn't gone shopping for clothes yet.
"Here they are." Helga went and got the clothes which had been hidden under the covers kicked off one side of the bed. "Come here." Hannah walked over to her and raised her arms in the air. Helga pulled the dress over her daughter's head, and when her small face emerged, her blond hair played around her face messily. After Helga got ready and pulled Hannah's hair into a small ponytail, she grabbed the key and together they headed outside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Okay, now remember what I told you," Helga emphasized quietly to Hannah.
"I know, Mama. Close all the locks and don't answer the door. Only ask who's there when I hear the secret knock." They reviewed the routine as Helga prepared to leave the young girl alone in the room.
On the way home from the store, they had walked past Phoebe's apartment building. Helga stopped once more to gaze up at the area she knew her old friend was staying at. There was the same lingering, thought-provoking silence that was there when she'd stood in the same spot earlier with Arnold. Hannah waited patiently for Helga to come out of her nostalgic trance before they continued home. As their conversation ceased for the rest of the walk, Helga decided it was time to see Phoebe. She nervously thought about it while they walked home hand in hand with their bags down the streets. Helga was completely oblivious to the cold and uninviting aura of the roads and alleys since she was absorbed in her thoughts.
Now, as Helga was garbed in her old tan coat and slightly tattered scarf, she spoke quietly to Hannah to prevent anyone from overhearing that the child would be alone. They had dealt with worse crime rates before, so the procedure was quite standard, if not a little drastically played out in such an unpopulated area. It was, however, crucial to the safety of the four year old. It was a good thing Social Services hadn't known about Helga's or Hannah's way of doing things because to many people, leaving such a young child along would certainly bring up controversy. It wasn't like Hannah would be in danger from sticking foreign objects in her mouth or playing in the oven; she'd never had stages like that. And how they lived was just their way of doing things. Life went on, and they dealt with it.
"Okay. Be careful now. We've got some food in the fridge, but save some for me; that's all we've got. I'm not sure if the cable works but you can try."
"Don't worry, don't worry, Mama, it's getting late, just go." They hugged and Helga left. She could hear the clicks on the door behind her as she walked down the hallway.
The old building got bigger and bigger as Helga walked towards it, and so did the knot in her stomach. Several times she would stop, contemplating whether the confrontation was really worth it. Phoebe might just be angry with her, and the unspoken grudge that had built up within them would probably just flare up and ruin Helga's stay in town. The painful memories between them might just be beyond repair. Besides, what would she say? She had to think of something. If not, she'd probably just get kicked out from her friend's doorstep and be rejected, just like Phoebe herself had been rejected so many years ago. But soon it was too late. Helga found herself standing in front of the door with the ominous letters on the door-Phoebe's door-glaring back at her.
She knocked on the door and her mind scrambled to think of something to say. At least, to think of an excuse for her being here. But she was still trying to figure out why, herself. However, the moment came too soon when the young woman opened the door. A beautiful, slender, dark haired woman. She was sickeningly familiar, yet unrecognizable to Helga's heart. Either way, she was standing there, staring back at her. By the look on her face, she'd had no problem recognizing Helga, unlike Arnold's encounter.
The eye contact drained all words from each woman's throat, casting a deafening, awkward silence. Helga's heart throbbed as she struggled for words. Her breath returned, and she said all she could think of.
"I'm sorry..."
It wasn't known if Phoebe had heard it, or if she was even listening, because she quickly wrapped her arms around Helga's neck and hugged her with a firm and grateful grip. Helga could do nothing but hug her back. In that one moment, the giant canyon that had been created between them for so many years slowly mended together. After all that time...
Helga heard a wet sniffle over her shoulder, so she gently brought them apart. Phoebe looked back at her with a sad but relieved-looking smile.
"Come in," she offered. They walked into the apartment and Helga closed the door behind her.
Phoebe went to the kitchen to make green tea and Helga sat quietly on the sofa. She drummed her fingers on her knees, which were draped in a new deep blue skirt that reached her ankles. She had gotten a white blouse to match it when they were shopping.
Helga looked around the living room and studied the unfamiliar surroundings. There weren't many decorations other than framed pictures; there was a vase, an occasional lamp upon an old dusty side table placed randomly aside in the room to fill in empty spaces. Helga studied the photographs hanging on the wall. There was a rather current one with Phoebe standing alone in front of a café with a happy smile on her face. Another one from a few years back with her and Gerald posing for a prom picture hung beside it. A few more contained images of people she didn't recognize.
Helga noticed on a bookshelf high against the wall, next to a row of dusty books, there sat a photo of her and Phoebe. She remembered it from middle school during a field trip to the marina. Phoebe had had many interests, being the "brainiac" she was, but that marina field trip was unbearably dull and unexciting for the both of them. They goofed off the entire time and ended up being sent to the main office so they would stop distracting the other students and start behaving. They'd taken the less-than-satisfactory quality photograph themselves, so they couldn't get the camera more than an arm's length away. However, there was enough room in the picture to see the mounted shark's head atop Helga's head so it was "eating her," and Phoebe's face was filled with laughter. Helga's face had that same mischievous and happy smile on her face that she'd had for so many years. Her spirit shone through her face with that trademark grin. However, not long after that, her spirit of youth died along with that smile.
Helga looked back down at her knees because she hated dwelling about the past, especially during those years she was still an innocent kid. Or at least, she'd still felt like one.
Phoebe entered the living room with a teapot and coffee cups upon a tray. She carefully set it down on the coffee table with stamina she'd picked up from her waitressing days and took a seat next to Helga.
"So..." Phoebe began in an attempt to start a conversation. "...What have you been up to?" Phoebe unnoticeably cringed at how stupid she thought she sounded at the question. She thought hastily.
Helga didn't seem terribly comfortable with the inquisition, but she didn't mind. She just laughed before drinking her tea.
"More than you could ever imagine," was all Helga could say. She tried to tell herself there was nothing wrong with spilling her guts about it. After all, this was Phoebe. But Helga couldn't bring herself to talk about anything. She never was one for venting. "What about you? What are you still doing around these parts? I'd have thought you'd be in some exquisite university studying to be a doctor, like you've always dreamed of." Phoebe smiled at the silliness of the idea.
"No money," she explained after a while. Anyone else might have inquired further about funding or a scholarship, wondering why she never made an effort to leave. But Helga just nodded, knowing full well that life doesn't do what you ask it to. However, it was peculiar that Phoebe didn't seem as if she had put up a fight for it. She wasn't one to quit like that.
"Well, I do have my own little shop now," Phoebe said as she diverted the subject.
"Oh, so that's what that is," Helga said aloud. Phoebe saw her looking at the picture on the wall and smiled.
"Yeah. Not exactly a busy place, but I get by." She studied the steaming liquid in the cup she held in her hands and added, "Mostly truckers."
Then, Helga remembered that Phoebe didn't know about Hannah, so she casually mentioned to her friend about her little girl.
"Oh, really?" Phoebe asked in surprise. Questions filled her mind about the sudden change in information, especially since it probably outlined a lot about Helga's past.
"When did you... well, how old is she?" Phoebe asked anxiously. Helga smiled at her sparked curiosity.
"Had her a little after I left, actually," she answered. "Four years old now... she sure is growing up fast."
"I see." Phoebe kept the rest of her irking questions to herself as not to seem rude about her curiosity.
"You can meet her tomorrow," Helga reassured her.
Phoebe couldn't help but ask, "Where is she now?" She seemed a bit surprised to hear the girl was home alone, but it didn't bother her. After a moment, they continued talking about other things.
After a while, Phoebe cautiously asked, "Did you... see Arnold yet?"
"Yeah." Helga didn't bother explaining it.
Phoebe nodded, but was unsure if they had patched up their friendship yet. Probably not, because they didn't really have much of a friendship before Helga left, anyway. Then again, neither did they.
An empty teapot and a few hours later, Helga noticed it was pretty late and decided it was best to head home. Phoebe offered her a car ride home, seeing as it wasn't such a great idea to walk home in the dark. Helga hesitantly accepted the favor, and they headed back to Helga's place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It wasn't a very long drive before Phoebe pulled up to the old place. Her headlights shone on the Bed & Breakfast as she pulled into the parking lot.
"Thanks a lot, Phoebs," Helga said, reviving the old nickname as she leaned down to look at Phoebe.
"No problem. It was good to see you again. Call me tomorrow, okay?" Helga nodded and waved the small scrap of paper with Phoebe's number scribbled on it in confirmation, then shut the door. The stones crunched under the wheels as the car pulled away, leaving Helga with nothing more than the light from the moon. She headed inside.
Helga tapped a short, rhythmic knock on the door, but there was no answer.
"Oh, Hannah, please don't be asleep," she muttered to herself. She knocked again and after a long pause, finally heard a shuffle inside.
"Who is it?" the child's muffled voice asked.
"Mama Bear," Helga replied. It didn't exactly suit her, but nevertheless Hannah had picked the name out when she was younger. A few clicks on the door rattled before it opened to reveal a groggy looking Hannah.
"Hi, Mama."
They walked back into the room and Hannah closed the door behind her mother, who was by that point more drunk with sleep than she was. Yet Helga still managed to notice the state of the rooms.
"Wow, you cleaned up," she noted aloud. Hannah became more awake with her arrival and bounced over.
"Yup! Your pajamas are on the bed, on the bed," she said with her occasionally repetitive sentences.
"Thanks, Hannah." She went into the bedroom to change and Hannah followed behind.
"Mama, I fixed us food but you were gone a long time," the girl said to Helga, who was pulling her shirt from her back.
"I'm sorry. I'll go heat it up after I change." She pulled her pajama shirt over her head. "You've got your new pajamas on."
"Yup! Yup!" Hannah replied. She twirled around gracefully to display her new bedtime outfit.
"Beautiful..." Helga cooed, instinctively giving her daughter the attention and love she'd never had. Hannah's face beamed.
They went to the kitchen to reheat whatever frozen food sat on the old, reused table.
"Oh yeah, Mama, that man called and wanted to ask you if you would go out to lunch with him," Hannah remarked during the meal. Helga stopped eating and looked at her.
"Arnold?" she asked, more to herself than Hannah. The girl didn't respond, but she hadn't known the man's name anyway. She just looked back at Helga as she took another bite of her food.
"How did he get my number?"
Hannah politely finished chewing before she answered.
"There's only three residential quarters." The girl struggled to pronounce the words with her childlike dialect, but was no stranger to big words nonetheless. Helga thought about it for a moment and eventually figured it out.
She continued eating.
