The Nightworld - Jack Blaine [43]
“Kath and I thought it would be fun for us all to eat like it used to be—at the table, you know?” She laughs. “Except me and Brian hardly ever ate at the table, and neither did Zeke’s family, and Kath says they only did at holidays.”
I smile, but I don’t say anything. I’m remembering how Dad used to be sure to eat with me every morning and every night after Mom died, until we both got so wrapped up in our own stuff. I miss those mealtimes. I bet everyone here is missing something like that. Wondering if they’ll ever do it again.
Kath comes to the table with the foiled pancake mountain. Zeke follows with some syrup.
“Let’s eat!” Zeke helps himself to five cakes.
We pass the plate around, and I smother my pancakes in maple syrup. They taste delicious. I eat mine slowly, savoring the flavor. None of us talk much over the meal. It seems like just the act of sitting together around the table is enough.
“Any plans for today?” I mop up the last of the syrup off my plate.
“I was hoping we could just lay low today.” Lara looks at Zeke. “It would be nice just to spend some time together.”
He raises both hands up at her. “I’ve got no beef with that.”
Lara looks relieved. I think about what it must be like to wait here while Zeke goes out to get supplies, wondering if he’ll ever come back.
“I’d like to get some wash done.” Kath raises her eyebrows at Zeke, and he laughs.
“I guess I know what I’m doing today.” Zeke shakes his head at Kath, but he’s clearly happy to help her.
After we’ve cleaned our plates, we stack them on the counter next to the sink. Lara fills one side of the double sink with water from a bucket and adds some dish soap.
“Want to wash or dry?” She holds out a towel.
“I’ll wash,” I say. “Why are we using water from buckets?” I nod toward the bucket.
“That’s from the balcony—rainwater, like I was telling you.” Lara takes the plate I hand her and dries it. “We try to use it for everything except cooking. We have several buckets now, and we have some netting that Zeke brought home from one of his forays. We put the netting on top to keep bugs out of the water. I wish we had some big old rubber bands. I’m using shoelaces knotted together to hold the netting over the buckets.”
I nod and keep washing. The things we’re going to have to become accustomed to in this new, dark world . . . I wonder how many other changes are in store.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Lara seems to know, once again, what I’m thinking.
I nod. “Yeah. I mean, here we are, dressed in five layers of clothes, doing dishes in cold rainwater in the dark, scared to step out onto the street, wondering where our meals are coming from and how long we can hold out up here. It’s really weird.”
We just stand there, staring at each other for the longest moment. I want to ask Lara about leaving this place, but we get interrupted.
“Whoa.” Kath walks up behind us. “Downer city in here, huh?”
Lara and I both laugh a little. “I guess so,” I say.
“Well, Zeke and me are going to brave the laundry room on the seventh floor. So will one of you come lock the stairwell after us?”
“Do you guys have to go down there?” Lara looks worried. “Can’t you just use our machine?”
“As long as the electricity holds out, I want to try to wash some jeans and stuff. We can use all the machines down there at once and get everything done if we’re lucky.” Kath smiles. “You know how long it takes with just one machine.”
“Okay.” Lara still looks worried. “But just the washing—bring everything up here to hang dry, right?”
“Right. Now come on!” Kath whirls and heads out of the kitchen.
“Want to come?” Lara dries the last dish. I follow her out to the living room, where Zeke is waiting by the door with two baskets full of laundry. Kath joins us almost immediately with another basket and a jar of quarters.
“Ready?” Zeke raises his eyebrows at Kath.
“Of course.” She gestures like a queen. “Onward, my prince.”
“Prince of dirty clothes.” Zeke holds