weird.’
Eve laughed and gave him a friendly rub on the back. ‘That’s the spirit, James. Do you want to serve again?’
*
James hung out in the community hall for two hours, following the girls between volleyball, soccer and the trampoline. When it got to nine o’clock, a couple of adult Survivors came in and switched off most of the lights. Everyone in the hall formed two circles, tired little kids in the inner circle and older kids and teenagers outside. Lauren’s counsellor Mary stepped into the centre of the circle holding a guitar.
James’ instincts told him that sitting in a big circle with a bunch of guitar-playing religious nuts was lame, but the Survivor girls who’d all been smiling, chatting, rubbing his back and hugging him for the past two hours dragged him into the circle and James couldn’t help laughing and smiling back. He felt really good as he sat cross-legged on the floor. Eve grinned, held his hand and sat so close that her toes were touching his knee.
Mary strummed the guitar. James was expecting her to start singing some dreary hymn, but she played a few bars and then chanted.
‘Boogie, woogie, woogie, woo!’
Everyone chanted back noisily. ‘Boogie, woogie, woogie, woo!’
The next line was, ‘La de, la de, la de, la!’
And everyone chanted back. This chanting went on for ten minutes and James couldn’t help getting into the stupidity of it all, with the two girls sitting on either side of him grinning and putting their arms around him. He looked over at Lauren and noticed she seemed to be having a ball too.
At the end of it, Mary played a longer and much more dramatic version of the chanting song, getting faster and faster until all the lights got switched back on. She screamed out, ‘Are you angels?’
And the kids, especially the little ones in the inner circle, jumped up and answered, ‘Yes we’re angels.’
Mary shouted back, ‘Little angels go to bed.’
All the little kids began running happily out of the room. A few of them split off and joined parents who’d filed into the gym while the lights had been dimmed, but most were commune members and they headed up a disused escalator to the living quarters.
James couldn’t help laughing as Mary called him and Lauren across to the centre.
‘Did you enjoy yourselves?’ she asked. ‘Are you glad you came?’
It was half nine and James was sweaty and tired after all the exercise, but he felt jubilant.
‘Yeah,’ James nodded. ‘It was a good laugh.’
Lauren was smiling too. Abigail wandered out from the group of adults at the back of the hall.
‘Hi kids,’ she said.
‘Hey, Mum,’ James said. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I ended up staying here and talking to Elliot,’ Abigail said. ‘I’m thinking about enrolling in one of the counselling sessions for single parents.’
‘Well I certainly hope you all come back,’ Mary said. ‘You seem like such a nice family.’
Elliot joined them again. He was holding a carrier bag stuffed with goodies. ‘I’ll walk you to your car,’ he said, as he handed Abigail the carrier. ‘Those are the books and CDs I spoke to you about and I put in a bag of our Nicaraguan Roast and a few slices of cake for the kids.’
Abigail looked at all the stuff inside the bag. ‘I must owe you money for some of this.’
‘I wouldn’t hear of it,’ Elliot said. ‘Just promise that you’ll give me a call if there’s anything you want to talk about.’
As James, Lauren and Abigail headed down the mall corridor towards the main entrance, Elliot, Eve, Ruth, Mary and a couple of younger girls Lauren had befriended walked with them. They followed through the automatic doors and stood around the car.
Even though it was dark, it was still extremely hot and Abigail reached inside the stifling car and turned on the air conditioning. They waited outside for a minute while the interior cooled down.
Eve smiled at James. ‘You’ll be coming back to see us again, won’t
Eve laughed and gave him a friendly rub on the back. ‘That’s the spirit, James. Do you want to serve again?’
*
James hung out in the community hall for two hours, following the girls between volleyball, soccer and the trampoline. When it got to nine o’clock, a couple of adult Survivors came in and switched off most of the lights. Everyone in the hall formed two circles, tired little kids in the inner circle and older kids and teenagers outside. Lauren’s counsellor Mary stepped into the centre of the circle holding a guitar.
James’ instincts told him that sitting in a big circle with a bunch of guitar-playing religious nuts was lame, but the Survivor girls who’d all been smiling, chatting, rubbing his back and hugging him for the past two hours dragged him into the circle and James couldn’t help laughing and smiling back. He felt really good as he sat cross-legged on the floor. Eve grinned, held his hand and sat so close that her toes were touching his knee.
Mary strummed the guitar. James was expecting her to start singing some dreary hymn, but she played a few bars and then chanted.
‘Boogie, woogie, woogie, woo!’
Everyone chanted back noisily. ‘Boogie, woogie, woogie, woo!’
The next line was, ‘La de, la de, la de, la!’
And everyone chanted back. This chanting went on for ten minutes and James couldn’t help getting into the stupidity of it all, with the two girls sitting on either side of him grinning and putting their arms around him. He looked over at Lauren and noticed she seemed to be having a ball too.
At the end of it, Mary played a longer and much more dramatic version of the chanting song, getting faster and faster until all the lights got switched back on. She screamed out, ‘Are you angels?’
And the kids, especially the little ones in the inner circle, jumped up and answered, ‘Yes we’re angels.’
Mary shouted back, ‘Little angels go to bed.’
All the little kids began running happily out of the room. A few of them split off and joined parents who’d filed into the gym while the lights had been dimmed, but most were commune members and they headed up a disused escalator to the living quarters.
James couldn’t help laughing as Mary called him and Lauren across to the centre.
‘Did you enjoy yourselves?’ she asked. ‘Are you glad you came?’
It was half nine and James was sweaty and tired after all the exercise, but he felt jubilant.
‘Yeah,’ James nodded. ‘It was a good laugh.’
Lauren was smiling too. Abigail wandered out from the group of adults at the back of the hall.
‘Hi kids,’ she said.
‘Hey, Mum,’ James said. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I ended up staying here and talking to Elliot,’ Abigail said. ‘I’m thinking about enrolling in one of the counselling sessions for single parents.’
‘Well I certainly hope you all come back,’ Mary said. ‘You seem like such a nice family.’
Elliot joined them again. He was holding a carrier bag stuffed with goodies. ‘I’ll walk you to your car,’ he said, as he handed Abigail the carrier. ‘Those are the books and CDs I spoke to you about and I put in a bag of our Nicaraguan Roast and a few slices of cake for the kids.’
Abigail looked at all the stuff inside the bag. ‘I must owe you money for some of this.’
‘I wouldn’t hear of it,’ Elliot said. ‘Just promise that you’ll give me a call if there’s anything you want to talk about.’
As James, Lauren and Abigail headed down the mall corridor towards the main entrance, Elliot, Eve, Ruth, Mary and a couple of younger girls Lauren had befriended walked with them. They followed through the automatic doors and stood around the car.
Even though it was dark, it was still extremely hot and Abigail reached inside the stifling car and turned on the air conditioning. They waited outside for a minute while the interior cooled down.
Eve smiled at James. ‘You’ll be coming back to see us again, won’t
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