Chapter Twelve O: Questions with Names
The first resident to enter the library meeting room was a retired mechanic named Edwin Marsh.
He carried a plastic folder containing his medication instructions and a list of bus routes.
“I don’t need somebody to tell me I’m resilient,” he announced.
“I need to know how to get to my doctor on Thursday.”
Emily wrote his name and question in the notebook.
“Do you want us to call the transit office together?” she asked.
Edwin sat down.
“Yes,” he said.
“But I want to hear the answer myself.”
They called the office on speakerphone.
A dispatcher explained that the nearest accessible stop was three blocks from the temporary residence.
Edwin said he could not walk that distance with his damaged hip.
The dispatcher offered a paratransit number and described the application process.
Emily wrote the number down, then handed the phone to Edwin so he could ask about the earliest available appointment.
When the call ended, he checked her notes.
“You wrote the wrong street,” he said.
Emily corrected it immediately.
“Thank you,” she replied.
Edwin folded the paper and stood.
“Now I can make another call,” he said.
The next visitor was a mother who needed a quiet room for her son to study.
A third wanted to know whether pets could remain with their owners.
A fourth had lost her work uniform during the evacuation and needed a replacement before her next shift.
Emily wrote each question beneath the person’s name and asked permission before sharing contact details.
By late afternoon, the notebook was half full.
Samuel returned carrying tea and looked at the pages.
“You have been busy,” he said.
“People have specific problems,” Emily answered.
“Most of them don’t need speeches.”
Samuel sat beside her.
“Did anybody ask about the buses?”
“Almost everyone,” Emily said.
“They want to know who decides where they go.”
Samuel studied the list.
“We should bring these questions to the county office,” he said.
Emily closed the notebook.
“We should bring the people who asked them,” she replied.
Samuel looked up.
“You’re right,” he said.
“They can speak for themselves.”
Emily gathered the papers into a folder.
She felt tired, but the tiredness was different from the exhaustion she remembered after closing shifts at the diner.
At least she could see which questions had answers and which still needed work.
Chapter Twelve P: The Diner Window
Two days later, Emily passed the diner on her way to a job interview.
The front windows had been cleaned, and a new sign advertised breakfast specials.
Grant stood behind the counter speaking with a delivery driver.
He noticed Emily through the glass and lifted one hand.
She stopped beneath the awning but did not go inside.
Grant came out carrying a small envelope.
“I found something in the employee drawer,” he said.
“Your old bus pass.”
Emily took the envelope and opened it.
The pass had expired the previous week.
“Thanks,” she said.
Grant shifted his weight.
“The deputy came back yesterday,” he told her.
“She asked about the man with the anchor tattoo.”
“Did you answer her questions?” Emily asked.
“Yes,” Grant said.
“All of them.”
Emily nodded.
A customer pushed open the diner door and asked whether the kitchen was serving lunch.
Grant turned and told him it would be ready in ten minutes.
The customer went inside.
“I hired another waitress,” Grant said.
“She’s good.”
“I hope you treat her better,” Emily replied.
Grant accepted the words without arguing.
“I told her she can give someone a meal if they need one,” he said.
“She doesn’t have to ask first.”
Emily looked at him.
“Then make sure the rule survives when business is slow,” she answered.
Grant glanced toward the kitchen.
“I’m trying,” he said.
Emily stepped away from the awning.
She did not feel that the conversation had repaired what happened.
She did feel that she had said everything she needed to say.
At the bus stop, she found a message from Maribel containing a photograph of Tomas holding Alma outside the hospital.
Both were smiling, and the baby wore a yellow knitted hat.
Emily saved the photograph and put her phone away.
When the bus arrived, she climbed aboard and took a seat near the front.
She had an interview to attend and a notebook of questions waiting for her afterward.
