The old woman rocked gently back and forth in time to the tune she softly hummed.
A slight stirring of the air caught her attention. Without hesitation in hum or rock she measured the amount of air that had been displaced.
"Shanti, come in here and let me have a look at you."
"Nana! How do you.."
"I may be old and blind but I am not dead. Now, come and let me see."
Shanti crouched beside the rocker, took the old woman's hands in her own, kissed them then sat unmoving while they slowly moved over her face and hair.
"You are a beautiful Shanti and red is your color."
"How do you know that I am wearing red tonight?"
"Because you are radiant tonight."
"No, really, Nana, how do you know? You can't see me but you know this dress is red. How?"
The old woman held Shanti's smooth, manicured hands in her own. She felt the young woman's long, slender fingers against her own wrinkled skin and gnarled knuckles.
"The same way that I know that right now you are looking at the differences between our hands." The statment startled Shanti and she pulled her hands away. "You don't need eyes to see what's true. It's not hard; you can do it, too."
"No, Nana, you have a gift. I could never see things the way you do."
"Sure you can. Here, sit here." The old woman rocked herself forward and out of the chair. As she moved to the dresser, Shanti perched on the edge of the rocker. "Sit back and close your eyes."
Shanti eased back, relaxed and closed her eyes. The old woman opened a drawer and removed something before moving back alongside the rocker.
"Hold out your hands." She felt along the arm of the chair and located Shanti's open hands. She placed the object into the young woman's hands and gently folded Shanti's fingers around it.
"What color is it?" she asked.
"I don't know..."
"Then we will just sit here until you do know."
"But Nana, I can't stay..."
"Yes, I know, you have a date with Raymond. Tell me about Raymond."
Shanti absently rolled the object in her hands. "Raymond is wonderful." She smiled a secret smile but the old woman knew it was there. "He is handsome, and funny, and kind, and..."
"And your father doesn't approve."
Shanti's smile disappeared. "No."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Because Raymond is white. Daddy, for as much as he talks about integration and equality, does not want me dating a white man."
"But you are beyond dating, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Raymond didn't ask you to marry him. Maybe even tonight."
"Oh, Nana, what would I do?"
The old woman let the question alone.
"So, what color is it?"
"I don't know, Nana, I can't see like you see."
"Then stop trying and just tell me everything you can about what you are holding."
"Well, it's round. It's smooth. And cool. It feels like glass, like a marble, only bigger. It's hard but the smoothness makes it feel soft."
Shanti rolled the object around in her hands feeling its smooth coolness.
"Now, hold it up and tell me what color it feels like."
Without hesitation Shanti said, "It's blue. Blue." She opened her eyes and looked at the sphere and it was blue. It was blue because at eye level it reflected the sky outside. As she lowered her hand it turned white as it reflected the walls of the room then the brown of her skin and, finally, the red of her dress.
"Put that in your purse. Take it with you tonight. If Raymond asks you anything you can't answer then you just take a minute, close your eyes and tell me what color you see."
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