The woman in the fruit stand was a poor crone, and I always felt sorry for her when I walked past. I mostly stopped to talk and to buy something from her, but I was not always allowed to. Today though, no one told me I could not buy something.
I walked over to her and she smiled the way she always did when she saw me. It could be the fact that I always bought something when I came over, but I hoped that she smiled a little because she was happy to see me too.
" Hello Jacee," she started when her last customer left.
I wondered how old she really was, because she seemed so wise and looked so old, but her eyes always seemed so young and full of life. It was quite confusing.
"How are you today, dear?" She asked and pointed silently to my covered arms. I'd tried to cover them up like I always did in public, but once in a while; someone could discover my 'secret' anyways. The woman in the fruit stand had happened to see that my arms were completely bruised up, and she'd been worried every day since. I took that as a good sign. Or had to mean that she cared some for me as a person, and not just for the money.
"I am fine," I ended up saying solemnly.
Her eyes met mine for a split second and I stared. If I looked away now, she'd know that I was lying. To lie about being fine is something I'd grown quite used to do during the last few years, but my eyes weren't as easy to control. Therefore I had to put up the most credible look I could manage. Eventually she nodded unconvinced and was the first of us to look away. Relief washed over me.
There were now starting to gather a crowd of citizens around the fruit stand, and I knew that out little 'chat' was over soon.
"I'd like my usual order."
I shot a quick glance over my shoulder. There was no one I knew within sight. Not even my cousin. Luckily.
The old crone started to find what I wanted. Four apples, two bananas and some grapes and olives. I didn't really like olives, but it was sort of a sacred fruit in Athens, so I felt obliged to buy it anyway.
She said something about raising the price, but I didn't really listen. I always paid her too much, so I knew the higher price didn't really apply to me.
"Do you want anything else dear?"
She was all about business now I could hear. The rest of her customers were waiting patiently, but I knew that wouldn't last. They would soon get tired of waiting and find somewhere else to buy their fruit. Athenians were that way. Happy and polite as long as they were pleased, but when someone didn't do as they wanted, or didn't agree with them, they ended up acting like idiots. They all did.
"No, I'm sure that's enough."
I paid her a drachma and put the fruit in a woven basket I'd brought with me. It was one of the only objects I had left from my mother. My old life. She'd made it for her own use, but she gave it to me when I moved away. For her, that seemed like the only right decision, as I was her first born. I was also the only child of her that had to be married away to some distant cousin.

At the age of 13, I was sent away from my childhood home in Delos, believing I was helping my family. Telling you the truth, I think I helped my father more than my entire family. My siblings and I always got whatever we wanted, but then, all of a sudden, he started telling me that he had financial problems and that he needed help. I was also told that I had a cousin in Athens, willing to pay my father for my hand. The money he was offering, was just enough for my family to survive with, according to my father. As the loyal daughter I was, not wanting to dishonor my family, I agreed to the proposal.
This was shown to be a choice I would regret.
My mother sent me to my new home a few days too early, because somebody had to watch over the preparations. She told me that she would've left herself, but that she was too weak.
My entire family was supposed to arrive at the day of the wedding, but they never showed up, and I was left alone with a group of strangers. Not exactly the wedding of my dreams. I got a letter from my father one month later, apologizing, telling me that they would visit after their "complications" were over. Now, 4 years later, I still haven't heard anything from them.