Chapter 9 - THE DUST

It was a long, arduous way through the crowd.

Kassia walked ahead of Ada, pulling her by the hand towards their goal with lazer focus, pushing through people like the sturdy bow of a boat ripping through the waves.

The artisan stalls were on the opposite end of the market. They were the smallest in the area, but also the most eye-catching, with colourful tents and decorations that matched the objects they were selling. The rows were wider and cleaner there as well, specially when compared to the ones in the centre of the market, where food and animals were sold.

And Kassia was right, there were a lot fewer people there. Sure, they both still had to negotiate their way through tight groups and engrossed customers gathered around the more popular stalls, but it was a lot more manageable and not nearly as claustrophobic as it was anywhere else in the market.

But more than that, the energy there was different. There was still chatter and music, sure, but it was soft enough that Ada could parse the sounds out and hear herself think.

There weren't a lot of men there either, mostly older looking women running their respective stalls, all wide smiles and belly laughs at their customers and neighbours. And there were a lot more children there as well, running around and in between stalls, laughing and screeching whenever one of the older women's flip flops got too close to grazing their backs or legs.

Some of these kids were also really small.

That's why, not even a minute after they'd made their way there, Ada, who had her eyes focused on Kassia's back, trying not to lose the girl in the crowd, felt something crash straight into her legs.

Ada managed to keep her balance, but the small boy wasn't so lucky. He fell to the ground so hard it raised a cloud of dust around his body. He looked dazed, staring wide-eyed at the sky even as Ada picked him up in one fell swoop, setting him back on his feet.

"I'm so sorry," the teenage girl said with a wince, kneeling down to dust the dirt off the boy's shirt and shorts. Noticing the child had no bruises or cuts, she relaxed and tried giving him a warm smile. "There, all better."

Then the little kid erupted into tears.

His loud, high-pitched cries ripped through every other noise around them, getting the attention of everyone on that side of the market.

"Oh, no, I'm so sorry! Please, don't cry. Look, it's okay, I, hum..." Ada stumbled over her words, eyes wide and hands fluttering over the child, unsure of where to put them or what to do to calm him down.

"Ada?"

Her head shot up, eyes locking with the confused stare of her friend.

Flustered, Ada gave the older girl her best pleading look, motioning at the crying boy.

Kassia only smiled in return, looking like she was stifling a laugh.

But before any of them could say or do anything, a dozen kids swarmed Ada. The younger teen was only able to glimpse an older kid grabbing the crying boy's hand and pulling him away, before her whole attention was highjacked by small hands tugging and pulling at her.

Even as she got up, attempting to get her upper body out of reach, the children wouldn't relent. The taller ones jumped to try and bring her down again, hands eager to touch her bald head, while the shorter ones patted her lower back, stomach and waist, yelling strange words she didn't understand to monopolize her attention.

"Hey!" A much bigger hand grabbed Ada's wrist and pulled her back, pushing some of the kids back with the other hand. "Back off, you snotty little brats."

A dazed Ada glanced over her shoulder, a wave of relief washing over her when she recognised the pissed-off expression of the older girl. But the relief was immediately replaced by a hot flash of shock and a embarrassing squeak when Kassia pressed herself flush against Ada's back and thrusted her hands into the pockets of her shorts.

"Look. This girl. No money," the older girl said, tone snappy as she pulled out the empty insides of Ada's pockets.

"Over there, see?"

She pointed at the next row of stalls and both the children and Ada followed her line of sight to two older-looking white women examining a dark, wooden statue.

"Nice English couple there," Kassia said. In a seamless transition, she then switched to a different language, similar to the one the kids were using, words flowing from her tongue with an odd, more open and pleasant rise and fall.

The children seemed to understand her perfectly. A couple of them grinned before storming off towards said couple, leaving a trail of giggles in their wake. Some hesitated or lingered behind, narrowed eyes flitting across Kassia's face, others still throwing curious glances at Ada, one of the smaller ones even attempting to hold her hand again.

Kassia shooed the rest of them away with a couple firmer, more snappish words in that other language, before switching back, tone lower but equally irritated. "Yeah, that's right. Go bother the rich tourists. Damn brats."

She sighed then, breath ghosting over the tips of Ada's ears, making the skin there heat up. Then, without any warning, the same hands that had been in her pockets jumped to her shoulders. With a tight grip, Kassia spun her body around to face her straight on.

"Come on, Ada, you gotta be more careful in a place like this. You're like fresh meat in a den of lions. You have to be vigilant and not trust anyone, okay?"

"But... they're just kids."

"The kids are even worse! Don't let those little angelic faces fool you. They'll rob you blind in a second if you let them. I've seen them do it."

The younger teen gave a slow blink, unsure of how seriously she was supposed to take those warnings. Kassia's increasingly ridiculous tone and over-dramatic expressions seemed to indicate the older girl was at least half-joking. But something didn't sit right.

"What do they want money for?" Ada asked.

It was the other girl's turn to slowly blink at her. It took a while for her to answer, almost as if the question had never occurred to her.

After a while, the girl eventually let go of her shoulders and shrugged, averting her gaze.

"Well, food, clothes and toys. You know... stuff."

"Why don't we just give it to them, then? You and your dad have a lot of it, right?"

"I..." Kassia bit her lip. She cast a tired glance at their surroundings and let out a deep sigh, before turning back to her. "It's not that simple."

Nothing in this life is ever that simple, I'm afraid.

Ada flinched, pressing a hand against her temple. Fortunately, Kassia didn't seem to have noticed, having moved to sling an arm over her shoulders and gently push her forward into a slow walk down the row of stalls.

"Look, I get it," she said, voice low and close, words clearly meant just for them. "I really do. I'd like to help these people out too."

Kassia's eyes drifted off to the stalls and the people around them, then further beyond, to the town, it's roads and buildings. This close, it was hard to miss the way Kassia's lips twitched, stuck half way between a smile and a frown, warring emotions battling for space in her round, brown eyes.

"My mom... she came from a place like this, you know."

Ada's eyes widened and her breath hitched. There was something about the other girl's revelation that made her heart beat faster. The way she'd said it... it felt like she'd just shared a secret, and Ada couldn't help the warm flutter in her chest at the thought that the older girl had trusted her with it.

The moment carried a meaningful weight that she didn't want to ruin. So, even though she had a lot of questions, Ada kept her mouth shut, leaving Kassia to set her own pace.

But the moment was sadly short lived. Those faint traces of wistful remembrance on the older girl's face were swiped under the rug, like dust that wasn't meant to settle. What replaced it was that torn, tired expression from before.

"But feelings aren't enough," Kassia said, glaring at the ground ahead. "You can't just throw money at the problem and expect it to go away."

She dropped her hand from Ada's shoulders then, putting enough distance between them to be able to look at her in the eye as she talked.

"First, showing that you have that much money to spare is dangerous in a place like this." A finger came up to dig into the middle of Ada's flat chest. "It makes you a target. And it makes the people you give the money to a target as well. It might seem like it helps in the short run, but, trust me, it only ends up causing more trouble than if you did nothing. Specially now, when there's threat of a war and tensions are high."

Ada perked up at the word 'war', eyebrows shooting up in alarm, a question dangling from the tip of her tongue. But Kassia was looking straight ahead again and pressed on.

"What people need is actual change, opportunities and peace. We can't give them that, because we don't have power over those things. And the sad truth is, those who do just don't care enough."

Something deep, heavy and empty settled at the bottom of Ada's stomach. Frowning, she stopped in the middle of that row of stalls. Kassia noticed a second later, stopping as well to face her.

"Then, what?" Ada asked, hands balled into fists at her sides, narrowed eyes trained on the ground. "We just ... ignore it? Do nothing?"

Kassia sighed again, also averting her eyes as she gripped her forearm, arm pressed tight against her side in an awkward stance.

"We can't do anything, Ada. Nothing that actually matters anyway. Worrying or stressing over it doesn't help anyone either. It just eats at you, until you have nothing to give but anger and spite."

The older girl had to pause there, rendered breathless by the sudden force behind her last words. When she gathered herself, both her voice and gaze had wavered into something weak and uncertain.

"So... yeah, it's hard. But I guess sometimes you just have to..." Kassia shrugged, biting her lip. "Let it go, you know?"

Are you really ready to let go, Ada?

The same sharp pain, but the young teen stood still, paralysed by this sinking feeling threatening to swallow her whole. As she sunk her nails into the palms of her hands, she realised that the pain helped. That it was the only thing keeping her from going under and drowning.

"Come on."

A hand gripped her wrist, making Ada jump. When she looked up, Kassia was right there, peering up at her, head tilted just so as she threw her a small, soft smile, in a way that was growing distressingly familiar and comforting.

"This is supposed to be our girl's day out." With gentle prodding fingers, the older girl slowly got her to loosen up her fists, hand unfurling until they could be held tightly in hers. "Let's leave the depressing conversations for another day, alright?"

For a couple of seconds, Ada didn't answer, part of her wanting to be stubborn, to hold onto that heat, buzzing and thrumming underneath her skin. But the longer she looked into Kassia's pleading eyes, the more that feeling cooled down, until it was nothing but a faded whisper, too weak to be worth the fight.

Slowly, she nodded, lips pressed tight in petty defeat.

"Come one, turn that frown upside down!"

Without any warning, Kassia grabbed her cheeks, fingers pressing into the corners of her lips to tug them upwards into a much too wide smile.

The older girl made a face, feigning disgust in an over-the-top expression. "Or you know what, maybe not. You gotta look tough and less naive. Give me your best 'I will beat your ass' look."

Ada chuckled, despite herself, the sound leaving her throat unbidden. Weak against Kassia's eager, excited expression, she went along with it. It was surprisingly easy to steel her face into a glare, even as a giggle threatened to spill out of her lips.

"That's it! Oooh, dangerous Ada, I like it. Now no one is gonna want to mess with you."

Even Kassia was unable to keep a straight face after that. They broke down into laughter, holding onto each other until their sides stopped hurting long enough to stand up straight again.

The giggles were still coming, like light aftershocks, when they resumed walking, Kassia guiding her closer to the stalls so they could start perusing through the artisan's work.

"What was that language you were speaking back there with the kids?" Ada asked the other girl as soon as she felt she wasn't going to break down into another fit of giggles.

"Oh, that was Ovimbundu. Learned it from my mom. Almost everyone in this town speaks it. Want me to teach you a few words?"

Ada smiled, taking in the older girl's excited grin. "Sure."

She tried her best to focus on Kassia's explanations and translations, even as other voices whispered in the back of her mind.

You can leave it all behind.

Let it become echoes and dust.

Ignore it, until you can't anymore.