Isaiah went to the back room to start a fire in the backup wood furnace. The brightening morning pushed through the small windows on the east and north walls of the building, lighting the main room where the men gathered. Each sat on a plastic chair, waiting for the space to warm before getting to work.
“We gonna have any major meltdowns today?” Evan asked.
“Hope not,” said Terry.
Roughly 100 people came every week for food. When you multiplied that with the number of people back in their homes that was about a quarter of the community’s population. The others still had enough, with their own stockpiles of frozen meat and canned food gathered and bought before the blackout in the fall.
Evan and Tyler went to the back to get boxes of canned ham and peas and hauled them to the front, placing them behind the white tables that would become the weekly dole station. They repeated this until they had eight hundred cans ready to go.
“I dunno how these people can eat this shit,” muttered Tyler, setting down a case of canned ham. It was a generic brand, also known as “rez food.” Only the most impoverished ate it — those with a little more money or hunting and fishing skills took pride in being able to avoid it. But now, few could afford to be picky.
“I dunno man, fry it up and put some mustard on it, and it’s not too bad,” said Evan.
“That’s sick.”
“What kind of snob are you, anyway? Don’t forget, you’re rez, man!”
“Yeah, but until everything goes back to normal, I can take care of myself.”
“What do you mean ‘back to normal’?”
“When the power’s back on and everything.”
Evan said nothing. He couldn’t tell if his friend was naïve or in denial. He thought it was likely the latter: maybe it was the trauma of his younger brother Kevin’s story of escaping the collapse of the city. Maybe Tyler just didn’t want to accept it.
When they returned with the last of the cans for the week, Amanda was at the table, poring over a handwritten chart and making an inventory of what was going out. The front door opened again, letting a blast of cold air in, and Sydney, Cam’s partner, walked in. “Mino gizheb. How you guys doing this morning?”
Amanda looked up at her niece and smiled. “Oh hi, my girl! Nice to see you. We’re doing good, thanks. You here for some miijim?”
“Yeah, if you got some.” She pulled two large canvas bags out of her parka pockets and walked up to the table. “Miigwech, I really appreciate it.”
“How’s my nephew doing?” Evan asked.
“Oh, he’s good. He loves being with his grandma and grandpa all the time now.”
That was news to Evan. “He’s with your mom and dad?” he asked. He knew they stayed there regularly, but this sounded permanent.
“Yeah. I am too.”
“How long you been there?”
“Almost a week now.”
“Oh yeah? How come?”
“I didn’t want Jordan to be around those people anymore.”
Scott and his followers. The rumours had only grown since their last confrontation. Evan realized, with a jolt and some shame, that he had been avoiding his brother. Sydney’s stern tone and blank face scared and disturbed him.
“Is Cam with you at your parents’?” he asked.
“He drops in once in a while,” she replied, as she helped Amanda load her bags with the cans.
“What do you mean?”
“You should probably find your brother and talk to him.”
Sensing the tension rising, Amanda changed the topic. “Do you guys have any flour left over at your mom and dad’s?”
“Yeah, a couple bags.”
“You should probably use it up soon. Do you know how old it is? It might start going bad. Fry up some bread and freeze it for later. These cans won’t keep you full.”
“Okay, thanks, Auntie. Yeah, I made some bannock, but I also got some bags of it frozen too. I’ll do the rest today.”
She picked up the heavy bags in each hand, and turned back to the door.
“Do you need a hand with that?” Evan asked.
Sydney turned to look at him. “No, I’m good thanks. It’s a good workout. It’s gonna be beach season again soon so I gotta stay in shape.” She chuckled and smiled at him, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. He remembered her younger sister Tara, frozen in the ditch months earlier.
“Bring Nic and the kids by my mom and dad’s place sometime,” she said.
“For sure, that’d be nice.”
“K, see you guys later.”
Evan watched her leave and thought about his brother. What the hell is he up to? he thought. Is he hanging around Scott? He should really know better.
“Hey, I think there’s a couple more boxes we gotta get.” Isaiah broke into Evan’s reverie and motioned to the back of the shop. Evan followed Isaiah through the door and into the dark storage area, where Isaiah turned to him with a worried look. “What she said reminded me of something.”
“What’s that?”
“I saw Nick on the road yesterday afternoon when I was going from Candace’s to my dad’s.”
“Oh yeah? What was he doing?”
The disastrous party at Cam’s flashed into Evan’s mind. Since then he had rarely seen his younger brother’s friend.
“He didn’t look good.”
“Really?”
“No, he was kind of pale. He looked real skinny. His cheeks were sunken in.”
“Is he sick?”
“Maybe. Maybe he’s just hungry.”
“Weird. Why isn’t he out snaring rabbits? Why doesn’t his uncle share his stash of food with him at least? Donny should have enough if he has the Northern’s inventory squirrelled away like they say.”
Isaiah shrugged. “He said something really weird to me too.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“He said that he had just seen Scott walking down the road.”
The mere mention of the man made Evan’s fingers curl into fists.
Isaiah continued. “He said that Scott stopped him and started asking him weird questions, like about how hungry he was. He said Scott had told him that he knew where to get extra food if he needed it.”
“What the hell?”
“Yeah, he said then Scott tried to get him to go with him. He said he almost went, but he got creeped out. He was walking back home when I saw him.”
“Jesus.” Evan took off his toque and scratched his unwashed hair. “What kinda shit do you think Scott’s up to? Is he hunting and black marketing meat? What’s he taking for payment? That guy does nothin’ for free.”
“Fuck if I know.” Isaiah’s shoulders slumped as he headed back into the light where a lineup of restless people was forming.
Twenty-Five
Darkness seeped into the house as the sun set. Nicole pinched the tiny copper wheel to turn up the wick of the glass lamp and lit it with a black lighter. The corner of the kitchen was revealed as the flame caught. She picked up the stack of colouring books and moved them to a lower shelf, in case they became a fire hazard. The children had coloured everything in them but they still enjoyed looking at them from time to time. Nicole was conscious that sometime soon, even this light source would disappear with their supply of kerosene.
Nangohns and Maiingan sat on the floor in front of Dan. Their grandfather relaxed back into the soft chair. Nicole stepped to the couch and sat down between Evan and Patricia. It was story time.
Dan leaned forward and cleared his throat. He looked deep into the children’s eyes. Maiingan flashed a smile missing baby teeth in the bottom row. They loved hearing stories — especially from their grandfather.