28. Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
The orange light from the fire was gone, leaving only the moon and a rare lamp to lead the way home. Neither Eli nor Sam spoke while they walked. Instead, the sound of crickets chirping and gravel crunching under their feet accompanied her racing thoughts.
Inside the mountain, a line had formed, leading from the grand entrance and disappearing through the doors to the cafeteria.
Grace walked by families with small children who could barely keep their eyes open, young couples who looked stressed and confused, an elderly man who leaned on a cane with a stoic expression—so many people still waiting to be helped.
Just before Grace entered the cafeteria, someone called out to her.
“Grace!” Ali was still supporting Nik’s weight as they both stumbled forward. Despite the evening’s events, she was glad they’d had a good time celebrating Nik’s birthday. The two of them had needed a night of fun. As Ali came closer, she asked, “How can we help?”
Grace took one look at Nik with his bloodshot eyes and smiled. “Go home. Seriously. Enjoy the rest of your evening and make sure that one doesn’t have a hangover in the morning.” She tilted her chin toward Nik, and Ali held back a laugh.
“Okay. I’ll check in with you in the morning. Be safe.” Then Ali turned to Eli and added, “Take care of her.”
He shook his head like Ali was his mother, reminding him to brush his teeth before bed. Of course he would take care of her, but it was heartwarming to be considered.
When Ali had first shown up in Berland, Grace hadn’t been sure how she’d fit into her friendship with Eli.
They’d been best friends all their lives and Grace had been worried that she’d be pushed out, but that hadn’t happened at all.
Ali had accepted her immediately and Grace couldn’t be more grateful for her support.
Sam stepped forward, taking a spot next to Nik and opposite of Ali. He wrapped his arm behind Nik’s back, taking some of the weight off of Ali. “I’ll help you get him home.”
Ali quietly thanked Sam while Nik grumbled that he didn’t need help.
“He’s gonna feel that in the morning,” Eli said as they watched the group walk off toward their apartment. Grace felt the weight of his arm across her shoulders and leaned into him. He gestured with one hand toward the front of the line. “Shall we?”
Grace simply nodded.
At the front of the line, Diane and another volunteer were handling the crowd as efficiently and compassionately as they could. They stood behind a table with a tray of keys and scattered papers where a line had been stricken through half of the text.
Diane finished handing a mother and her toddler a key before she spotted Grace and Eli. “Hello, Miss Grace. Eli.”
“Hi, Diane. How are things going here? Anything we can help with?”
Diane grabbed a pencil and drew a line through another section of text on the paper in front of her.
Then she studied the list. “We’re hanging in there.
Still a lot of folks waiting and we’re going through empty units pretty quickly.
” She gestured toward the paper in front of her, which Grace now recognized as the list of available housing.
She mentally tried to tally the units that hadn’t been crossed out and compared it to the line of people still waiting for a temporary apartment.
“Will we have enough?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
Diane bit her lip and leaned in closer. “I’m not sure. Do you have a plan if we don’t?”
Grace understood the need for secrecy. If anyone realized they might not have a place to stay while power was restored, chaos would break out while people from the end of the line rushed forward to guarantee their space.
“Did my mother mention the possibility?” It seemed like something her mother would’ve considered and had a contingency plan for.
But Diane frowned and shook her head. “I think we underestimated how many people would be affected.”
Great. And Grace hadn’t seen her mother since before heading up the mountain.
Wasting no time, Grace pushed her sleeves up and stepped behind the table. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said, and hoped like hell that they wouldn’t come to it.
With the help of Grace and Eli, the line went much faster as they helped pass out keys and directed people toward their temporary homes.
Since the power was the only thing affected, they at least didn’t have to worry about extra clothing or food or any other essential items. The people could move their belongings from their old home to the new one at their convenience.
By the time they handed out the last key, the line had dwindled to only two families—a young couple with a baby and a single father with his two kids.
Grace exchanged a look with Eli, and he immediately turned to the young couple. “You can stay at my place.” Privately to Grace he said, “Assuming I can share your bed.”
She smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
On the other end of the table, the volunteer spoke up. “My place is available too. I can stay with my sister for now.”
Grace thanked the woman and so did the single father.
With that, the two families left to gather some belongings, giving Eli and the volunteer time to grab their necessities, too.
Grace rubbed her tired eyes and yawned. It had to be well past midnight by now, and her body ached to crawl into bed. But first, she’d help Eli collect his things.
Grace addressed their small group. “Thank you both so much for helping today. And thank you for offering your home,” she told the volunteer. “That was so generous of you.”
Eli made that face again, like there wasn’t a circumstance in which he’d consider not helping her.
Meanwhile, Diane reminded Grace that it was in the job description of a council member and the volunteer simply said, “You’re welcome.”
Eli and Grace made their way to his apartment and packed his clothes and hygiene items in a bag.
His cupboard didn’t have much food, but they added what little he had to another bag as well.
One of the fortunate side effects of being a newcomer meant that he had little personal items to pack up, so it didn’t take long at all before his home was cleared and ready for the other family to move in.
Eli carried the larger bags, and Grace helped by picking up one of the smaller ones. She opened the door once they made it to her home and dropped everything on the floor.
“Mom,” she called into the quiet entryway.
No response.
She headed for the stairs, but just as she climbed the first two, Theo appeared at the top of the staircase.
“Theo?” she asked, tensing at the glassy look in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mom.”