“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks,” she gave him a nod and turned to head back to the stairs that led up to the third floor to her room.
“Evie!” shouted Susie from the doorway of the common room.
The people walking in looked around at each other, then the little girl. One mumbled something about wondering what language she was using today.
Jack looked at the little girl confused, “Hey, Susie. What do you need?”
“I want Evie to come sit with me for lunch! Mrs. Tate got the big table for us,” she answered.
“Who?” he asked confused.
“Evie,” she laughed at him like he said a joke. Then she ran over to grab Mac’s hand, and pulled her into the room with the rest of them.
She took her over to a table where another kid already sat, waiting patiently.
“This is Timmy. It’s his birthday today,” Susie explained as she took her seat next to the boy.
“Happy Birthday, Timmy,” Mac said giving him a little smile. “How old are you now?”
“I’m ten,” he answered without looking at her, but was folding a cloth napkin over on itself. “That’s a decade.”
“Yes, it is,” Mac said with a smirk.
“Here, sit next to me,” Susie patted the seat on the left of her, as she saddled up to Timmy.
Mac did what she was told, then started taking in the room. It was filling up. About thirty people were taking their seats at plastic topped tables with plastic chairs. Occasionally one of them would do a double take as they spotted her, then quickly turn away, and whisper something to the closest person in their vicinity. There were a few people she hadn’t seen yet, too. Honestly, it looked like she missed a whole family who was sitting at the table behind them.
“Has everyone here started eating together?” Mac asked as Jack, and the boy who was shadowing him sat at their table.
Susie thought for a moment, “A lot of us eat together most of the time. Especially the kids, but the whole school only really does when it’s someone’s birthday or some special day.” She leaned a little closer with a big smile on her face, “Mrs. Tate makes a big pot of soup on special days, and sometimes there will be a treat if they find some.”
“Wow, that sounds very nice. I’m glad to be here on Timmy’s special day,” Mac said loud enough for him to hear.
He didn’t look up from what he was attempting to do with the napkin, but she saw a smile cross his face.
The youngest from the family sitting behind them came over suddenly, and put something wrapped in one of the cloth napkins in front of Timmy. He looked up to see where it came from, and then his eyes widen as he saw the other boy’s face standing above him.
“Happy Birthday!” the other boy said.
Timmy immediately started to pull at the corners of the napkin with extreme care. Inside the cloth was a perfectly rendered working model of a ferris wheel…made of toothpicks. It was remarkable, and delicate. Each seat teetering a bit with the movement of the children's breath as they put their little faces up to it.
“Wow!” Timmy exclaimed, “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” the boy said shyly with a giant smile on his face, and he turned to walk back to his family.
“Sunny,” Susie shouted after him. Then she began to rattle off something to him in another language, making him smile as he sat in his seat. His mother proudly wrapped her arms around him, and whispered in his ear.
“That’s enough of that talk, Ms. Susie Q.”
Mac turned to the sound of a chair sliding across the floor, and saw Joe lowering himself into it, taking a space at the table. Cara followed after and joined as well, taking a seat next to him.
Susie looked at him with a little frown on her face.
“You don’t need to know that one,” he said as he settled into his seat, leaning on his forearms on top of the tables surface. “Stick to Español, pequeña.”
Looking a little defeated, she mumbled, “Evie lo sabe también…” Susie looked up slowly at Joe.
He looked around confused, “Who the hell is Evie?”
A sneaky smile slid across her face, and she started giggling. Everyone but Joe was looking at her with a smile thinking she was messing with him. Even though Jack just found out the answer to that question himself, he was amused too.
“She is, duh!” Susie teased, pointing at Mac who had never taken her eyes off him since he got there, her expression stoic.
“Huh?” Joe was so confused, it seemed he had lost the ability to formulate words.
“Evangeline McNamara from Royal Pines, North Carolina,” Susie stated matter of factly. “She knows how to speak it too.”
Joe’s face tightened into a look of extreme seriousness just as Nate walked in, and took the chair next to Cara at the table.
“Oh yeah?” Joe asked in an unsettlingly calm manner, a shadow spreading over his face. “So how does Ms. Evangeline McNamara know how to speak Pakistani?”
Nate looked around the table trying to find clues to the situation he just sat down in. He leaned to the side a few inches from Cara’s ear.
“Who?” but every adult at the table was stuck in the rising tension.
“It’s not Pakistani, Joe,” Susie corrected not realizing he was still just staring back at Mac. “It’s Punjabi, and she lived in Pakistan.”
“And why was Ms. Evangeline McNamara living in Pakistan?” Joe asked with unsettling calm as he continued to stare back at Mac with an angry suspicion.
“Cause she was just like you!” Joe turned his head slightly at Susie when she said that, and raised an eyebrow at her. “Jose Ruiz, Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. Evangeline McNamara, Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Oohrah!” she said proudly looking at Joe.
Slowly a look of confusion crossed her little face, not understanding why Joe looked mad. He always loved it when she did the oohrah with him. She started looking at all of the other grownups at the table. Each had a look that didn’t make her feel good, though only Joe looked angry. Lastly, she turned slowly to look at Mac by her side.
“Evie?” she asked in a whisper.
Evie put her hand gently on her shoulder, but never looking away from Joe whose stare was now seething.
Suddenly Nate burst out laughing. Everyone’s head swung over to him in surprise at his sudden hysterics. Cara looked at him.
“Nate!” she said slapping his arm. “What is wrong with you?”
He was doubled over now, banging occasionally on the table. Eventually, he regained some composure, though still choking on a chuckle here and there. He took a huge breath, wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, and looked at Cara while the rest of the table looked at him.
“Sorry, it’s just-“ he stifled back more laughter, trying to finish his thought. “It’s just that it seems Joe is now outranked.”
Right then the sound of a pot being struck in the tiny kitchen rang out across the room. Mrs. Tate was banging a wooden spoon on a large pot sitting next to a few stacks of plastic bowls fit for any cafeteria. Everyone started to rise to their feet, and line up by her.
“Come on Timmy! You get to go to the front of the line!” Susie said excitedly, pulling on his sleeve. They both ran off together.
Nate stood up, back straight as a rod, arms at his side, and stone faced.
“Sergeant!” he said giving Mac a stiff salute, then pivoted towards the line for lunch. As he walked away you could see his face melt into a wide mouth grin as he chuckled to himself, slapping his hands together and whooping in the middle of the packed common room.
Cara tried to stifle her grin by clearing her throat and covering her mouth as she rose from the table to join Nate in line. Then she suddenly turned back and waved for Mac to join her, taking a quick glance at Joe.
“Come on. Don’t want to miss a nice loaded bowl now do we,” she winked at her as she stood waiting.
Mac gave her a nod, and got up from the table to follow her to the line. But
in her head she was deciding whether to make up an excuse to go back to her room once she got her soup. She didn’t want to waste her time or breath on a man like Joe. Their anger and ignorance could suck the patience right out of any room. Plus, this was a kid’s birthday party so to speak. As much of one as they’d get nowadays. Then her thoughts went back to Susie, and she knew she couldn’t just leave. So she took her place behind Cara, and shuffled forward with them as the line moved. She watched as Nate would break out into laughter again, and Cara would let a bit of a guffaw out as she slapped him on the back to stop. She appreciated the fact they never once turned around and asked her anymore about what they had just learned.
Jack started to leave his seat, patting the boy on the back that had been accompanying him the whole time.
“Come on, Ryan. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”
They both started their way over to the rest of the hungry people, but as Ryan went off to wait in line, Joe firmly grabbed Jack’s wrist as he passed. Stopping him in his tracks.
“That bitch can’t be going around lying about shit like that, do you hear me?” Joe fumed.
“She’s not lying,” Jack said looking him dead in the eye, the heat of anger starting to rise up his body.
Joe’s grip loosened a bit as he was caught off guard by his response, his forehead knitting together. Jack yanked his arm away with one hard pull, and joined Ryan in line.
Eventually Joe rose too, taking his spot, last in line. Most of the people were already back in their seats slurping on the warm soup. When they all returned to their tables with their meals, Liam had joined them. He took up the last empty seat, right after Mrs. Tate who was free from serving the kids, and could finally sit.
Everyone chattered away, mainly to Timmy, giving him happy birthdays, and other pleasantries. Then Joe arrived back, dropping down hard in his seat, but never looking away from his bowl. Everyone was happy to ignore him.
“Do you like the soup, Evie?” Susie asked as she sucked a thin noodle into her mouth.
Mac looked down at her bowl. It was good. You couldn’t really complain about a warm meal that actually had flavor to it at this point. She noticed as soon as she got it that it was a mish-mosh of ingredients. Some canned vegetables, maybe some frozen ones. She would bet that there was also a packet or two of good old ramen. The noodles were broken up into tiny pieces, she assumed so that is would stretch its servings amongst the Block.
“It’s very good,” she said looking at Susie then at Mrs. Tate who smiled at her, then returned to her food.
“I’m sorry… Evie?” Liam said looking, around at everyone, his spoon held up in the air, a drop of broth splashing off of it onto the table.
Joe loudly dropped his spoon into his bowl and sucked his teeth as he leaned back into his seat with his arms crossed against his chest.
“Yeah, didn’t you know? Ms. Mac over here goes by the name Evangeline McNamara, and is apparently a sergeant in the Marines.”
Liam just looked back and forth from him to Mac, a slight grin on his face waiting for someone to clarify or deny or do anything. Mac just kept right on eating her soup, and so did everyone else once they gave her a little look too. The kids just kept on being kids.
“Yeah she was an MP, that’s military police, but she got moved to SRT,” Susie said the letters slowly trying to remember what they stood for, “Special Re- umm…”
“Bullshit, you fucking liar!” Joe shouted across the table.
“Jose!” Mrs. Tate scolded.
He looked around the room, and saw everyone was staring at him and the kids at the table looked scared. He lowered his voice as a sly smile crossed his face.
“She’s lying,” he said with a look of complete pleasure. “No bitch- sorry,” he said as Mrs. Tate and Cara both shot pissed off looks at him. “Women aren’t allowed in the SRT!” he returned to his soup, a smug look across his face as he looked at Mac.
Just as before, she continued eating her soup, not looking up at anyone.
“Evie?” Susie asked meekly, “Is that true?”
Mac turned to her and gave her a tiny smile, “It is true. Woman aren’t supposed to be on the Special Reaction Team.”
“So you weren’t in the SRT?” Susie asked looking crestfallen at the possible betrayal.
“No, sweetheart. I was,” and then she turned back to her soup.
Susie smiled, “Oh, ok.” Apparently all she needed was Mac’s reassurances, though everyone else at the table was completely unsure of what to make of any of it.
“Special Reaction Team? Is that like the SRR?” Liam interrupted surprising everyone with his input before Joe could spout off on her again.
“The Special Reconnaissance Regime…” he continued, pausing to look at everyones blank stares. “It’s the British version, I suppose. A few years ago they just opened it to women, at least that’s what they released, or at least made it public it was open to women. It’s a pretty dodgy field in a dodgy line of work, if I do say so. So who’s to say what goes on when the public’s not looking or who’s actually doing it. Whatever they need to do, I suppose. There isn’t a limit to those black redaction lines,” he said, finishing his own thought and crammed an overflowing spoonful of food into his mouth, and with bulging cheeks give a grin at Mac.
She smirked at him, and kept right along eating her soup.
“So you’re saying she had something to offer at a level like that, besides a good bounce in a bunk!” Joe laughed right in Liam’s face making him gulp hard, and look down at his bowl.
“Ok, that’s enough!” Cara said turning her little body to Joe’s huge frame, and looked him hard in the eye. “This is a new low even for you. Your little feelings hurt, because a woman outranks you? So now we have to hear about it all goddamn day?”
“No, she’s lying! She-“ Cara cut him off.
“Just get your ass out of here,” she said pointing to the door.
Joe glared at Mac who was collecting the remains of broth from the bottom of her bowl, not once looking up.
“Now!” Cara yelled as she put her face right in his, cutting off his view.
He knocked his empty bowl to the ground, and shot up from his chair. It slid behind him until it finally toppled over. He angrily mumbled under his breath strings of obscenities as he headed for the exit. Everyone else in the room was trying not to catch his eye, but was watching him go.
Just as he was about to leave Nate shouted after him, “You better watch out there, Joe. You’ll be written up for insubordination, not saluting a ranking officer like that before leaving.”
Joe spun around, and took a quick angry step back towards them before catching himself. The whole room had quieted, and was staring at him openly now, but right in front of him sat Magda whose unblinking gaze drilled straight into him. His chest was heaving as he turned back to the door, pushing it so hard it slammed against the wall causing half the room to jump.
The room’s sudden silence was heavy for only a moment. Nate’s hysterical laughter rose up and filled every corner, echoing from the rafters. People slowly went back to their conversations, and a few others shook their heads. Doug was off sitting alone, still looking shell shocked from the day he first met Mac, but he watched the scene too.
“Come on kids!” Mrs. Tate said to the three at the table, also turning to get Sunny’s attention. “I have something special for Timmy in the kitchen, and I think he might just share some with you,” she said giving them all a sneaky smile.
The four kids took off for the kitchen, and Mrs. Tate turned back to the table giving them all a side eye and a disapproving shake of her head and she went to follow them.
Nate put his hands up in a stance of innocence still chuckling, “What?”
Cara slapped him upside the head, “You better watch yourself. He'll be gunning for you the hardest now that he feels he has something to prove." She was trying to be serious but Nate’s laughter was contagious, and she started laughin
g too. Her face reddened as she tried to hold it in. She turned her face into her arm, her shoulders rising up and down as her body shook. Nate laughed even harder, pushing off from the table to bend down and rest his elbows on his knees, doubled over with it. Jack couldn't help it either, letting a smile sweep across his face, his chest bouncing with the absurdity of it all. Liam was just looking at them all a bit confused, but still grinning.
”I think I must be missing something.”
That made them all laugh even harder. Mac got up from the table carrying her bowl with the spoon sliding around with each step. She went towards the kitchen where small stacks were starting to form on the counter. She placed hers on top of the shortest one and spotted the kids eating what looked to be some sort of cinnamon sugar bread, their little grinning mouths crusted at the corners with the stuff. She winked at Susie when she looked over at her then turned for the door leading back out to the hallway. Three steps along her way, a hand gently tapped her on the good shoulder.
“Hey, Mac,” greeted Laila with a friendly expression. “I just saw you were heading out, and wondered if you could bring this down to Christina, the nurse. She always gets wrapped up in inventory and stuff. Ends up with cold and old leftovers. Not that it ever stops her from eating it though. Just this winter she basically drained the whole Block of its orange juice concentrate, then moved on to all of the frozen spinach and kale we had stocked up from the garden’s harvest. Though nobody seemed to care as much about the last one,” Laila looked a bit nervous as she gently lifted a filled bowl up to Mac. “She’d be happy to see it. She now seems to be into beans, and Mrs. Tate sure loaded them up in here.”
Mac took the bowl from her, careful not to spill. “So how’d she rope you into this?” Mac asked directly.
Laila gave her a confused look, “What do you mean?”
“How did she get you to agree to help her get me down to see her? So she could check on me.”
A huge smile spread across her face, “For the record, I told her it wouldn’t work, but let’s just say I’m the messenger.” She slowly backed away with her hands up in surrender. She sat back down at her table with Magda, Charlie, and Harrison. As Mac walked by, Harrison looked up from his food, some broth dripping down his chin when he smiled at her.
Evangeline, Alone. (Book 1): Evangeline, Alone Page 8
