Weeds

  Anna put the shopping bag down onto the large suede ottoman in her walk-in wardrobe. Hundreds of high-end clothing items, shoes, and accessories surrounded her, but in the bag were her very first second-hand items. She put them on one by one and inspected herself in the full-length mirror. The black dress had a broken seam in the hem, the strappy black shoes had large scuff marks from their previous owners, but at least the old pearl necklace was nice. I wish she could see me now, Anna thought.

Some time ago, Anna gave up offering Honey, her gardener, a shopping trip. “I have enough clothes,” Honey would always say. Anna remembered seeing her spin around in a shoulder pad-stuffed pink blazer from the ‘80s and chime “You can’t get stuff like this brand new! It deserves a second chance.” Anna felt stupid now for never offering to go to the thrift store with her instead.

Anna stuffed her clutch purse with silk handkerchiefs, put dark sunglasses on and met with her driver, Michael, who was waiting outside. Once inside the dark Lexus, Anna noticed a large bouquet of variegated pink & white roses was carefully strapped in the back seat with a seat belt. Honey tended similar ones in Anna’s garden, as well as hippeastrums, lilies, even imported lotuses in the pond. One year you could smell the pink daphne before you could even see the manor. “I’d like to stop to get some flowers on the way, if you don’t mind.”

“Yes ma’am, there’s a good florist not far from the parlour.”

“No, no, I have another place in mind. I’ll direct you there.” Anna hoped her choice was worth the extra twenty minutes. They arrived at the abandoned lot she had in mind, and Anna was inwardly thankful that Michael stayed in the car. She had maintained the image of ‘immaculate employer’ right up until this moment.

The neglected lot before her hadn’t been mowed in months. Grasshoppers and ladybeetles could be seen through the haze of pollen, jumping from weed to weed. Anna was scared something would bite her in the waist-high greenery, but this was something she just had to do. She cautiously strode in, and found her prize – a patch of dandelions. When she got back into the car, Michael saw her legs were red with scratches and her nose was starting to run, and the stems of a small bouquet of the golden flowers were leaking sticky white latex onto her hands and dress. He had all sorts of questions written on his face but knew it wasn’t his place to ask.

He drove them in silence to the funeral parlour, and struggled to find a park. Despite the detour they were still early, but the place was already crowded with Honey’s many friends and family members. Directors were ushering mourners into the main hall to place their blooms around the casket before the ceremony. Anna felt out of place waiting in the line. She didn’t recognise many people there, and all their bouquets were like Michael’s: wrapped in clear plastic with fancy ribbons, emanating fine perfume, and generously dropping petals of all bright colours imaginable.

What am I even doing here? I was only her employer, Anna thought. Though, she admitted to herself it wasn’t a professional setting where they first met. She was on a difficult hike and slipped over trying to take a photo of a waterfall. Honey was the one passerby brave enough to climb down and help her up. She even kept her company at the hospital while they checked her ankle for breaks. Giving her a job was the least Anna could do after that.

Anna looked down at the dandelions and tried to remember what her garden looked like before she hired Honey. It was difficult to remember something so plain; there were short box hedges, and lots of grass. That was it. Now there’s a lush Eden and not a blade of grass in sight. Frog song came out from the pond at night, bird song fell like diamonds from the trees by day, and ivy caressed the stone walls of the manor. People started to ask if they could come in and stroll through the botanical wonderland, offering to pay for the privilege of taking in all the seasonal colours and scents. Anna would take every opportunity to stroll through it with Honey, too. Their conversations together would always brighten her day.

“Pardon me,” a greyed man interrupted Anna’s thoughts. “how did you know my daughter?”

This must be Honey’s father. Anna had heard a lot about him, and wondered if he has heard a lot about her in turn. “I’m Anna, her boss. She worked wonders on my garden, sir.”

“Yes, she loved working for you, you know. She could put her green thumbs to use.” Anna got the impression that if he had tears left she’d be seeing some now. “I see you brought her favourite flowers. Thank you.”

These words brought a mascara-stained tear out from behind Anna’s sunglasses. “They’re soft and powerful, like her.” She hugged Honey’s father and let him go greet other loved ones. No longer feeling out of place, Anna placed the dandelions lovingly by the casket and sat with Michael for the ceremony. The eulogies were poignant. Though nobody mentioned the drunk driver who took Honey’s short life, the rage in their voices was tangible. When the hearse took Honey to her final destination, Anna felt she was watching the purest part of her life leave forever.

***

In time, the garden started to require maintenance again. It felt too soon, but Anna needed to hire a new gardener. The new guy, Ben, came highly recommended. Anna had left him instructions, to keep the garden as Honey had left it, with one extra stipulation. He met with Anna to discuss it.

“Is this correct? You want this section of pavement to have weeds? Did you happen to mean ‘weeded’?”

“No, let the weeds come up from between the cracks as they may.”

“Sorry ma’am, but may I ask why?”

Anna looked up at him and took a deep breath. She could tell him about how Honey admired the resilience of weeds, their nutritional value, and how they represent defiance in the face of gentrification. She could go on about how uprooting something that’s unwanted just because it’s ‘lowly’ reminds her of how Honey’s life was uprooted too soon. “The children who visit like to make wishes by blowing the dandelion seeds.”

Ben wrote it off as just another weird request from another rich person with too much time on their hands. “Yes ma'am, as you wish.”