Chapter 20 - Everyone on the List
The new Harbor House gathering took place under ordinary ceiling lights, not crystal chandeliers. Parents brought food. Luis set up the computers. Alma counted chairs twice because people kept arriving with neighbors.
There was no velvet rope and no revised guest list.
Nina wore a plain blue shirt and helped an older woman find a seat near the front. The woman thanked her, then asked if she was one of the organizers.
"I help with the numbers," Nina said.
"Good. Somebody has to."
At the microphone, Alma announced that evening classes would continue through the winter. Some of the money came from a temporary grant, some from recovered funds and some from small neighborhood donations. The center still had work to do. Nobody pretended otherwise.
Sebastian sat in the third row. Brandon wasn't there. Nina respected that; he had work to do away from the stage before anyone trusted him with another one.
Luis waved her over to the computer lab. A girl of about ten was staring at a form and turning a pencil between her fingers.
"It asks for a parent's email," she said. "My dad doesn't have one. Do I have to leave?"
"No," Nina answered. "We can help you make one together."
She pulled a chair closer.
From the doorway Nina could hear laughter and plates being moved across the long tables. Months earlier, someone had tried to reduce her to a uniform. Now she was doing work she understood, surrounded by people who knew her name.
She opened the form and pointed to the first line.
May you like
"Let's start here," she said.
Outside, Boston traffic moved through the cold night. Inside, the doors stayed open.
