Page 82 - It Ends with Us

do n’t really know an ythi ng ab out hi m or why he do esn’t hav e a plac e to live. I

would just as k hi m, but I’m not sure if he real ly trusts me yet. He seems to hav e
trust issues an d I guess I can ’t blam e hi m.
I’m wor ried ab out hi m. It star ted getting real ly cold thi s week an d it’s
supposed to be even colde r next week. If he do esn’t hav e electricity, that mean s
he do esn’t hav e a he at er. I ho pe he at leas t has blan kets. Do you know ho w
aw ful I would feel if he froze to de at h? Pretty freak ing aw ful, Ellen.

I’ll find some blan kets thi s week an d give the m to hi m.
—Li ly

Dear Ellen,
It’s going to star t snowing soon so I de cide d to har vest my garde n today. I
had al ready pulled the radi she s so I just wan ted to put some mulch an d
compost do wn, whi ch wouldn ’t hav e tak en me long, but Atlas insisted on

he lping.
He as ked me a lot of questions ab out garde ning an d I liked that he seemed
interested in my interests. I sho wed hi m ho w to lay the compost and mulch to
cover the ground so that the snow wouldn ’t do too much dam ag e. My garde n is
smal l compared to most garde ns. May be ten feet by twelve feet. Bu t it’s al l my

dad will let me use of the bac kyard.
Atlas covered the who le thi ng whi le I sat cross-legged in the gras s an d
wat che d hi m. I was n’t being laz y, he just took over an d wan ted to do it so I let
hi m. I can tell he ’s a har d worker. I wonde r if may be keeping hi mself busy tak es
hi s mind of f of thi ngs an d that ’s why he al way s wan ts to he lp me so much.
Whe n he was finishe d, he wal ked over an d dropped do wn next to me on the
gras s.

“What made you wan t to grow thi ngs?” he as ked.
I glanced over at hi m an d he was sitting cross-legged, looking at me
curiously. I real ized in that moment that he ’s probab ly the best friend I’ve ever
had, an d we barely know an ythi ng ab out eac h othe r. I hav e friends at scho ol,
but the y’re never al lowed to come over to my ho use for obvious reas ons. My
mothe r is al way s wor ried somethi ng might hap pen with my fat he r an d word

might get out ab out hi s temper. I al so never real ly get to go to othe r people’s
ho uses but I’m not sure why. May be my fat he r do esn’t wan t me stay ing over at
friends ’ ho uses becau se I might witness ho w a good hu sban d is supposed to
treat hi s wife. He probab ly wan ts me to believe the way he treat s my mothe r is
normal .