Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
THE COMMITTEE
Audrey is full of favors.
First, she asks me to stay and close with her, which isn’t a big deal at all. I’ve closed the cafe many times. And we’re not open until late into the afternoon or evening like a traditional restaurant.
We close at three in the afternoon.
I keep an eye on my phone, for alerts, but there are none.
Collecting receipts has its moments of weird joy and utter grossness.
I know my son is home with Paige right now, and there’s a chance my husband is there too. I already know what’s going on. There’s no taking that back. No changing. The beds have been made, and messed up.
“Looks clean to me,” Audrey says, scaring me.
I smile at her. “Sorry.”
“You’ve been scrubbing that same spot for a good five minutes. You okay?”
“No.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No,” I repeat.
“Need you to stay after we get this place cleaned up. Neighborhood planning meeting.”
I swallow hard.
“Six neighbors, Claire,” Audrey says. “Coffee. Donuts. Clipboards. Chaos.”
“After I just cleaned this all up,” I say.
“We sit in the back corner table,” Audrey says. “And I will personally clean it all up. But you should be here. For more than one reason.”
She turns and walks away, leaving me with my thoughts.
Leaving me wondering what that last sentence implies.
Of course my gut tells me to say no.
I want to get home. To my son.
To… what else?
I realize staying and seeing our local neighbors is a good thing. It’s more eyes, ears, more community for myself. For myself and Noah.
The exact thing Gavin doesn’t have.
The first person to arrive is Dean.
I feel my face get a little flush, wondering if Audrey’s comment has to do with Dean being here.
He’s there with a large box of supplies. And a notebook that’s way too organized for a simple neighborhood block party.
“I’ve got it all in here, Claire,” he says to me. “Every note and detail.”
“Do you have the answers to life in there?” I ask.
Dean sighs. “Oh, I wish I did. But I think those answers are in our heads and hearts.”
“That’s a difficult place to to exist, Dean.”
“Don’t I know it.”
There’s a moment of silence.
“Uh,” I say. “You know, you’re so organized you could work in operations.”
“Who's to say I haven’t?”
Now my face turns red. “Oh…”
Dean laughs. “Believe it or not, I used to wear a suit and tie. I used to run departments and manage people and all that.”
“I can’t picture it,” I say.
“Neither could I. Which is why I quit. Started doing my own thing. And people think I’m crazy.
Giving up a lucrative career where I could live in any modest-sized city and have a good life.
But it wasn’t good for me. Now I just tinker and help people out and enjoy things like planning the neighborhood block party. ”
I’m fascinated now. Truly fascinated.
He’s like a man full of mystery, but not the kind that would tell me he’d hire a nanny, get a nanny cam, and then kiss her and…
I stop myself.
I help set up the coffee and donuts and watch as the chaos slowly rolls in.
Five other neighbors are there.
Three I know their names: Betty Donahue, Sarah Allans, and Jacob Shetter.
The other two are more distantly familiar. I’ve seen their faces, waved, maybe said hello on a walk.
The first is Marie (I don’t catch her last name) but she remembers me.
“You have that adorable boy with the big smile,” she says to me. “You used to take a lot of walks. Well, I would assume now that he’s a little older he doesn’t like to be kept up in a stroller, huh?”
“Once they start crawling, forget about it,” I say.
The second person is Bill.
That’s what everyone calls him.
He’s the legal and finance expert of the group, ensuring ordinances are followed, permits are in place, among other things.
I find myself sort of stepping back and watching their dynamic.
Everyone has opinions.
Movie choice arguments. Kids. Parking. The fire pit. The choice of music.
Marie is extremely conservative and suggests only folk music be played.
Sarah jokes and says a little loud guitars never hurt anyone.
Jacob chimes in that he doesn’t want to hear any music about the devil.
Betty is about to turn ninety and she makes pretend horns on her head and playfully hisses at Jacob.
Everyone at the table laughs, except Bill.
He’s far too serious, stating there’s an exact time the music has to be turned down and then turned off.
Marie gives a suggestion about a movie that takes place in the Midwest from a long time ago when it was just people on wagons. Stating it’ll be fun and educational for the kids.
Betty—who is in an obviously feisty mood—starts to pretend to snore, as if she’s fallen asleep from boredom.
Then the conversation takes an interesting turn.
Marie wags a finger. “You think I’m foolish, but it’s all these little things that change the neighborhood. You know, we used to have local teenagers help out with babysitting. Now we have this nanny prancing around in her tight workout pants and her… everything else.”
“Oh, I’ve seen her around,” Betty says. “What’s her name? Book? Chapter?”
“Paige?” I ask.
They all look at me.
“That’s the one,” Betty says.
“Yeah,” Jacob says. “The pretty blonde. Terrible to see her walking around. Am I right, Bill?”
Bill glances at Jacob, no desire to engage in the conversation.
“She’s a flirt,” Sarah says. “I’ve seen her talking to a few of the husbands. I mean, maybe she’s just looking for extra work.”
“Yeah, extra work,” Betty says, rolling her eyes.
There’s no accusations against Gavin, but…
It does make me wonder.
Has Paige always hunted for attention?
Dean changes the course of the conversation back to normalcy.
He gives his rundown of electrical cords, the projector, tables, generators, and everything else he’s contained in his organized notebook.
He even has a few drawings, which he shows to Bill, letting him know all the cords will be secured together and hidden, so there is no risk of anyone tripping, falling, breaking a bone, or someone grabbing a cord and getting electrocuted.
Bill smiles. The only times he smiles during the meeting.
Right around the ninety-minute mark, Betty announces that if she misses the early bird dinner at Donny’s Diner, she’s going to raise hell.
Just like that, the meeting is over.
We all share a cordial goodbye, including myself and Dean.
As he’s about to turn away, he winks and says, “Remember, half a turn.”
I thank Audrey for making me stay and on the ride home I feel full. I feel like I’m part of something. I feel like I belong.
I drive by the spot where the block party will take place.
Families. Neighbors.
One shared evening.
One giant screen.
I then picture not a movie night.
I picture the truth.
I don’t know what I’m exactly going to do.
Not yet.
But looking at that spot.
Imagining the projector.
Imagining the screen.
Imagining all the people there…
For the first time revenge doesn’t feel impossible to me.
It feels logistical.