Page 100 of Ash Fall

"I also know which one of them snores and I know who is sleeping with who but you’re right." She stubs out her cigarette and tosses it in a can set there for just that. "I'm in. What can I do to help?"

"I need Clayton to say yes so it's their party too, not just ours."

Gigi pulls the scarf off her head and shakes out her hair. "Then let's go be diplomats."

The visitor centre stairs come up into the cafeteria, and the view through that two-storey glass wall isn’t pretty to look at anymore. Ash slides down the outside of it in dirty grey sheets. The parking lot beyond is a smooth field of the stuff, and the light coming through it makes everything look dull.

Clayton is at a table near the window with a clipboard and a cup of coffee. He stands when he sees us, and his handshake arrives before his hello does like he needs to charm us for a vote. "Ladies. What can I do for you?"

I explain about the party I want us to have here in the cafeteria with both groups tonight to help people get to know each other and celebrate our new home. Clayton nods the whole time I'm talking, which I should feel good about but somehow it feels like he’s just humoring me.

"A morale boosting event." He repeats it back in the tone of a man filling in a form. "That's good thinking. Very good thinking. We used to have a supper and dance at the community hall a few times a year to bring the community together. We’d get some pretty good turnouts for them."

"So that's a yes?"

"That's a yes from me." He spreads his hands. "I'll pass the word down to our folks. People have been low after everything they’ve lost. There’s no denying that."

"That's what I'm hoping to fix."

"You know, when I was Mayor..." he trails off when Marlene comes up behind us with a stack of photocopies clutched in her hands and a quick glance at them shows me it’s bible passages that she must have printed out on the copier machine we left in the one office. I feel the whole room change temperature at her arrival.

"A party." She sets the pages down on the next table without taking her eyes off me. "With everything the Lord has shown us these past days, that's what's being planned? Dancing and carousing?"

Gigi makes a small sound beside me.

"It's a supper, and maybe some music, a little bit of fun to help us all get to know each other," I tell her. "That's all it is."

"That's how it starts." Marlene folds her hands. "Carousing leads to fornication. It always has."

"Listen." Gigi says sweet enough to pour on pancakes. "Don't make me be mean, alright? I've got a pocket full of sunshine I don't want to waste today."

"Gigi."

"I'm just saying."

"There is no shortage of fornication in this building already by you without encouraging more with a party." Marlene's chin comes up. "Not with the example being set for the young people around here. Some of us still have standards, even now."

"Oh my God." Gigi presses a hand flat to her chest. "Somebody get me some pearls to clutch."

"You take His name in vain in front of me?" Marlene snarls at her.

"Lady, I take His name in vain in front of everybody, it's very inclusive of me." Gigi steps forward, and every bit of the sweetness drops off her. "Now listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this the polite way once. You can do all things through Christ except try me. You keep coming at my granddaughter and you'll be dealing with His relative from down south instead, and that one doesn't do forgiveness."

Marlene's mouth drops open in shock and outrage, but she doesn’t say anything. Her whole face pinches in on itself, sour and tight around the lips like she has a lemon stuck in there.

"Marlene." Clayton takes her arm. "Go on down and see if Andrea needs help with the little ones."

"Clayton." She protests but he cuts her off.

"Go on now."

She gathers up her scripture pages, and the look she gives me on the way past has nothing holy in it at all.

Clayton waits until her steps fade on the stairs. "I apologize for my sister. I'll speak with her."

Gigi takes a deep breath and spears him with a look. "That’s not the first time she’s made nasty remarks about people here. She’s been spreading her misplaced judgement around to anyone who will listen."

I duck my head and look at my feet hearing that and I feel my face getting red with embarrassment. I never told anyone what that woman said to me, but I should have known that if she was willing to say it to my face, she would say it behind my back. Of course, Gigi would have heard about it. She thrives on gossip.