I landed in Memphis, Tennessee.
You may wonder why I was there.
There are people who have no homes. And I wanted to help. That’s the reason that convinced my dad to allow me to go. He even made a donation to the Homes from the Heart Summer Program for Teens.
Somewhere near baggage reclaim, I started looking for a sign with my name on it. I collected my suitcase, but there was no sign.
Instinctively, I reached into my backpack, looking for the little compartment designed to hold my cell phone. It was empty.
It’s one of the rules for all teen volunteers: no cell phones. But even if I’d taken my cell phone to Tennessee, who would I call to ask for help? I was standing in the middle of the huge arrivals hall and I didn’t know anybody. Finally, I saw it: H. EVANS.
The man holding the sign was tall with red hair and a red beard. I walked towards him and introduced myself. “I’m Harper Evans.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Linus.” He stuck out his hand, and I shook it. “Welcome to Memphis. I’m your group leader for the summer,” he said.
I knew this already. I had read the short paragraph about him that had come with the paperwork. Linus Devereaux. I learned that he’d built homes in Alaska, Mississippi, the Florida Gulf Coast, South Dakota, Haiti, and the Congo.
We walked through the terminal until we reached the baggage reclaim area for another airline, and then Linus took out a sign that said F. GREGORY.
“We’ve got lots of city kids coming. Kids from all over the world,” he told me. “There’s plenty to learn, but we’ll help you at any stage. We’ll be on the road soon, but we’ve just got to wait for two more volunteers.”
Dad and I have an arrangement. Whenever I go somewhere, I call to tell him that I arrived safely. I sat down on my suitcase and grabbed my backpack. And again I reached for the phone that wasn’t there. It was a reflex. An addiction.
Linus noticed what I’d done and pulled out a cell phone from the leather case attached to his belt, and threw it to me. I caught it one-handed.
“Call your father,” he said.
That was impressive! I hadn’t said a word about it. I was just thinking about how I needed to call dad.
I stepped outside into the Tennessee heat. Dad answered straight away and sounded relieved when he heard my voice.
Na podstawie: Dana Reinhardt, How to Build a House, New York 2008.