Chapter 3: Learning

Sarah learns more about Leonard's story

The mid afternoon sun is hot, so the staff door is propped open.  Since it’s summer break, I sometimes get to Meals Shared early to help with food prep and cooking, before going out front to help with dishes and desserts.  It’s my first time coming on a Friday, but I’ve heard it's busier.  Leonard is sitting Outside on an old metal fold up chair, smoking with Rob and two other fine option volunteers.

I had supper with the coordinator, Bev and two volunteers, Rob and Jessie, a few weeks back, when Leonard and Edgar weren’t in. So now I get what ‘fine option’ means: paying a fine from the courts with work, instead of money.

*

Jessie is maybe 18, with short dark hair.  She always wears baggy clothes, a ball cap and bright red lipstick, all of which seem too big for her small size and features.  Earlier that day, I saw her switch her red hat to a plain black one, when she came in the door.

“Colours aren’t allowed”, she explained, seeing me watching.  I guess my confusion showed, because she added, “You know, gang colours and that.”  I nodded.

“I only got 6 hours left, Bev,” Jessie said, between spoonfuls of pasta and sauce.  It was only Jessie’s second week, but she had been coming almost every day.  “Can’t wait to get it over with”.

Bev replied, “You’re welcome back anytime, don’t need to wait for a fine to work off.”

“Yeah, I know, no more stealing,” Jessie retorted, a small smile playing on her lips.

“You’re lucky only got 36 hours,” Rob added, “Judge gave me 160.”

“S**t, what’d you do?” Jessie asked.

Rob turned a little red and his pasta suddenly captured all his attention. Looking carefully at it, he answered quietly, “Some stupid s**t.”

*

“Helping in the kitchen, today, Sarah?” Leonard asks, inhaling from his cigarette one last time before dropping it in the coffee can by the door.

“Yup.  Never been here this early, what should I do?”

"Making chicken soup.  Actually it's turkey, froze the bones at Easter when those church ladies donated the birds.  Donations pretty slim here and at the food bank in July.  Gotta stretch things out. Chopping vegetables okay?”

“Sure thing, Leonard,” I smile over my shoulder, as he follows me to the small hand sink in the kitchen.  He is walking quickly today, back leg barely pulling, so I walk a bit faster to stay ahead of him.  As we wash our hands in the tiny sink, I can smell the kitchen crew has started the bones cooking.  Someone added sage, so it almost smells like Christmas in the July heat. Noisy fans blow making the hot air a little cooler.

We settle into the kitchen work.  Leonard chops onions, sitting on his stool. I’m across the island, cutting the last of the gunny sack carrots, which Rob is peeling.  Talk turns to summer activities. I mention the lake, swimming and going up north to wire houses, which was exciting, but different. Really different for me.

“Leonard, the road is brand new, used to be an ice road, in winter only!  The lake is so clear; you can see the fish at the bottom.  One of the people my dad knows from another job took us on the boat.  He dared me to go try to catch one with my bare hands!  So I decided to try.  Had to take my life jacket off.  But I couldn’t get to the bottom and I can get to the bottom of the dive tank at the pool, which is like 6 meters deep.  So even though I could see the bottom, it was really, really, deep!”

I pause for a breath. “And some people, the really old ones never saw anyone with red hair before.  So they kept looking at me.  One very old tiny little woman came up to me outside the store and picked up my hair in her hand.  She was shouting something, in Cree.  Seemed like time to get into the store.  The lady behind the counter told me she was asking how I got that colour hair.”

Conversation rambles to many topic as we prep the vegetables. There are three pots on the stove? Probably as much as we made on the busiest winter day.  Leonard also has volunteers putting together sandwiches made from frozen deli meat on the far side of the kitchen.

“We going to be busy today?” I query.

“We make extra on Fridays.” Sometimes Leonard speaks like that.  With a period at the end.  I can hear the difference, because he usually likes questions.  When he doesn’t want me to ask anything he says it like he has just said the final word on the subject. Most of the time he tells me more later or I find out myself.

After Rob strains the bones out of the soup pots, all the meat is carefully picked off the bones and vegetables are added. Leonard declares break time, for anyone who is ready.  Someone made jello yesterday, so Rob and I each grab a bowl on the way to the dining room, where Leonard is getting coffee.

Rob starts us off: “I got to dance at the powwow this weekend.”

“Good,’’ Lenard says, “How’d you get there?”

“Uncle came to pick us up,” Rob replies.

“That go okay?”

“Yup, not bad.” Then he lights up.  “My little brother dancing now too.  Was good to dance with him.  We went back to my auntie’s after, so no trouble either.”

"That's using your head.”

A flush colours Rob’s face at Leonard’s praise and the brief smile he gives is brilliant and bright.

“Almost done my hours,” Rob tells us both.

“What are your going to do after?” Leonard asks.

“Try an’ stay outta trouble.”

“Good idea.” Leonard pulls a coin, about the size and colour of a loonie out of a pocket in his jeans.  He looks down at it, his face going dark, features hardening into a scowl.  He’s still looking down when he starts to speak. I lean forward, Leonard must be talking about something serious, because I’ve never seen him like this.

“I wasn’t always a good man,” he finally looks up, his eyebrows low, mouth down-turned, and, taking a deep breath, holds out the coin for Rob and I to see before continuing. “This is my one-year chip.  AA.  I keep it, even though I could have a five-year by now. Because I knew if I could make it to one year, I could be sober.”

It’s an old, tarnished, brassy colour.  One side has a number 1 in a triangle, the other has some writing on it.  “Alcohol cost me the most important things in my life.  My wife and sons don’t talk to me.  For good reason. It’s been more than 20 years.”

Leonard is a good man.  He’s like a grandpa and the best teacher all in one. Maybe he’s not telling the truth or exaggerating, to help Rob not get in trouble again?  Rob has a son, too, a little one.  Leonard is a good person, I know it.

Leonard hasn’t said anything else yet.  I sort of  hear Rob telling him stuff like, it’s okay, people have pasts, alcohol hard to beat.  Leonard is looking at me.  He’s usually sure of himself.  He is challenging me again, just like that first time in the kitchen. Except behind the challenge this time is…uncertainty. Sadness? Like when he told us he had been to a war zone.

I get what he is saying.  I think.

“You stopped drinking because you wanted to be a better person?” I find a question.

“Yeah, that’s about right.” A sad smile breaks the serious look on his face, “Not everyone acts like I did when I was drinking, but it catches us all someday.”

“It worked really well, Leonard!” I give him a smile, hoping he will see I mean it.

“Glad you think so, Red.  Guess we’d better go check the soup,” Leonard says, getting to his feet. A flinch crosses his face as he gets up; his hand reaching for the leg that stubbornly refuses to bend to his will.

“Sarah, want to make the Kool-Aide for today?” he asks, as we head to the kitchen, much more slowly than we had just a few hours before.

“What kind?”

“Your choice, probably only need one cooler-full.”

I happily go find some of the generic brand drink crystals, as it means we can have my favourite and that Leonard knows I am strong enough to carry the full jug to the dining room. Edgar arrives and we prep the front area together, while the kitchen finishes getting the soup and sandwiches ready for patrons to arrive.

A volunteer puts a bowl of peanut butter sandwiches and another of bruised up apples on the table where the bread bowl sometimes goes.  Except we usually don’t have a bread bowl when we have sandwiches.

“We got lots today,” Edgar tells me, “they can take a couple if they wan’.”

I nod, usually I would have questions, but my brain is still occupied.  Leonard was a drunk.  One who did such bad things his family won’t see him anymore and he believes that they are justified. How could he be so bad then and so kind now?

“You okay?” Edgar asks, as supper service is in full swing.

“Oh, yeah, just thinking.” I decide to focus on the job in front of me.

People seem to know what the sandwiches and apples are for, but some smile when I tell them they can take a few of each.  A very thin woman in tight jeans and a faded black tank top, with bleach blonde hair and a small blue star tattoo on her cheekbone, carefully wraps two sandwiches in a napkin, and puts them in her purse.  Oh!  It’s food for the weekend.  People who need to eat here Monday to Friday probably don’t have much more food on Saturday or Sunday.

As service is winding down, the volunteers start coming out to get some peanut butter sandwiches and apples from the bowls and adding them to bags that have plastic containers in them.  From the sagey smell coming from the bags, the containers are full of soup.

Bev comes out of the kitchen with two bags. One has a very large margarine container in it, the other a smaller one that used to have sour cream.

“Young ‘uns first,” Edgar states, as Bev hands him one of the bags.

“Yes, they all got some, the kitchen did a good job of stretching food this week,” Bev says thrusting a bag into his hands and adding a few apples. Then she turns and hands the smaller container to me.

“But I don’t….” I don’t need to take food home.  We have lots.  I don’t finish though, because she cuts in. Firmly.

“Everyone who volunteers on Fridays takes food home.  It’s okay. That’s one of the perks of working Fridays.”

“Thanks,” I say, accepting the package she thrusts into my hands.

Author's Note

A loonie is a Canadian coin.
For those who aren't familiar AA refers to Alcoholics Anonymous.

All constructive Feedback is welcome.

Reviews

[SweetNutmeg]

Good revision! This chapter is still kick a*s.

[Shannon]

Why thank you SN. That means a lot.

[Dave]

Shannon - more and more I'm coming to like Leonard. I'm glad you didn't tell us specifically why his family disowned him. It lends itself to the "mystery" of the man. On the other hand I can't help but to wonder how his family would feel about what he is and has been doing.

[Shannon]

Thank you Dave. I have limited this to Sara's point of view. And Leonard would not tell her nasty details. Plus I don't know, so would be speculation.

[Dave]

I don't want to tell you what to do, but I anticipate a revelation.

[Shannon]

Probably not what you are expecting

[Papaya]

This story is bringing back memories of volunteering through the United Way.
We used to (in Toronto) work at one of the kitches, myself and some co-workers.
It's amazing how much has to be stretched sometimes and the people who work there and volunteer there are from all walks of life. You've captured the human side of things here so well. Real people, real relationships and hardships.

[Shannon]

Thank you for the read and review. I think many of us don't consider the human side of the difficulty people face everyday.
I am glad that you feel I am conveying that.

[AUU]

You're capturing the day-to-day of a soup kitchen well. I honestly had no idea that was in Cananda. I may have glossed over that bit in the first chapter. I did notice "colour," which made me think it was either Canada or Europe.

I got a little lost with the present tense. I think it's because most writers tend to write in the past,so present is a bit of a struggle.

My opinion is not to worry about chapter titles.

“We going to be busy today?” I query.---I think the "I query" can be more easily written as "I asked." When I was reading and I read "I query," I was taken out of the story.

I'm interested where you're going with this!

[Shannon]

I don't think I ever specified a location. Since I am Canadian.... Well makes sense to me. And I will use Canadian references. I love present tense. Find it's easier to be in the moment. Few of mine are anything but first person present. Even poems.

I will look at query. I tend to like a variety of words. Maybe more than most people.

Thank you for continuing to read and review. Other perceptions always appreciated.

[Splatman73]

Your titles are looking good. Although if you're open to suggestions, whenever you decide to make a chapter on the people who are a bit too friendly, you could call it "The Nice Ones". Idk just an idea. This story is going strong. Keep up the good work.

[Shannon]

I always appreciate suggestions. I don't always take them, but I do consider them. And will definitely keep this in mind!
Thanks for continuing to read!

[Coyote Poetry]

A very entertaining story shared. Real life and experiences are the best tales. I like the people and the good conversations in the story. Thank you my friend for sharing the amazing story.
Coyote

[Shannon]

Thank you so much, Coyote, for reading all the chapters I have written so far. I am glad it all rings true for you, especially the conversations, as that has been a learning curve. And yes, like most of mine, this is a real life experience. And it probably more personal than any other story I have written.

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed the story. Real life stories are the best and you are welcome.

[barleygirl]

I didn't read this as being emotional, like some of your other reviewers. To me, it's just being real. People letting down their guard & showing us more about themselves, which is a natural progression for this point in their acquaintances. In a few places you do a great job of showing us more about the person with the tagline after a line of dialogue . . . like when the pasta suddenly captured all of Rob's attention and when Leonard is speaking with a period at the end like it's the final word. These little nuances help us really SEE your characters' mannerisms.

I didn't feel your descriptions were lacking details about the surroundings. I find your writing to be very balanced between dialogue, action, description, & back story. I do feel you should reveal the flavor of Kool-Aid selected, since you mentioned it was her favorite. All in all, everything is realistic for this type of conversation while working together. I must confess this chapter was a little less compelling for me. But that is true-to-life for working in a soup kitchen (not that exciting).

Here's one contradiction I felt was inherent in the food kitchen management. In the beginning you say that they make plenty on Fridays becuz it's busy & people don't have food over the weekend, so they're allowed to take double portions, etc. But then at the end, you say they did a good job of stretching the food. These two concepts seem to conflict to me. Clearly, this wasn't a day for stretching the food -- they were making plenty & being generous & even trying to give more away at the end.

Just tiny observations, nothing glaring . . . all is flowing well.

[Shannon]

Thank you barleygirl. It's very interesting to me to hear how different people are viewing this work as it processes. So I especially appreciate the readers who are still with me on this side journey.

I will reexamine the food. Maybe I need to show how the kitchen working harder to ensure the food meets the needs.

The next section I believe will have a bit more action.

[barleygirl]

Not sure what the exact differences are, but overall I felt that this rewrite helped showcase the interactions between the soup kitchen servers, thus revealing more memorable character development than before, which I remember to be more disjointed. Now it feels like the group is cohesive.

Bumps: Rob knew & remembered that Jessie had exactly 36 hrs, yet he hadn't revealed his own situation to her, so this seems unlikely to me that the two wouldn't have had a mutual reveal. Also, that Rob would remember the exact number of Jessie's hours, maybe using "thirty-something" would be more typical of people who don't seem that precise to me.

Excellent share of Leonard's AA experiences & the younger folks' reactions to it. Also excellent food details including smells.

[Shannon]

Thank you barleygirl, for all your insights. I appreciate your support and ideas as I am always learning and want more than anything to do this story justice.

[SweetNutmeg]

As Dhiman said, this chapter is more emotional. It made me cry, in fact. You did a good job with Leonard's little speech about AA, looking at the coin and the facial expressions. But the whole time I was reading, I felt there was something missing. I went back and compared this chapter to the last, and I think what was missing for me was visual references. I usually like at least one visual detail of the physical surroundings, no matter how small, in each scene, so i have something to anchor my imagination on, if that makes sense. For example when she is chopping the vegetables, a quick description of the cutting board or knife or just some little detail, would have made that more whole for me. The same for other mini scenes... grabbing jello, eating with Bev, making Kool-Aide.

Aside from the visual details, this was a kick-a*s chapter. I really liked the way you involved Rob in this chapter. You kept it pretty simple the first two chapters, not overwhelming us with a myriad of characters, but now adding in more since we have a general feel for the cast of primary characters. And I am dying to know more about pow-wows, what people do there, what it means to the community. It seems to be a family affair, from what Rob says, and it must be wholesome because Leonard approves of Rob attending.

Sometimes titles have to do with important objects that focus the story, or the theme.

[Shannon]

Thank you so much Sweet Nutmeg for the read and review. I appreciate the idea and may do some revisions. Interesting that Rob stood out, as he was brought in specifically to make that revelation happen. I might have to reconsider. Likewise, in summer, powwow a frequent topic of conversation in some communities.

That being said, I think I was so focused on the people and the revelations that I did not ground us in a space or orient the reader very well.

I really like your style of feedback. Thanks again!

[Inject Positivity]

This is no doubt the best chapter of this story and quite an emotional place to be. The most striking thing about this chapter is that you have shown the emotions through facial expressions of the characters, specially when Leonard said to Rob "That's using your head" and the best one when Leonard became emotional looking at the loonie...

I can feel the wave of thoughts that ran through Sarah's mind when she learns that her mentor was an alcoholic. You just made the scene so touching when Leonard was feeling emotional and then how it left a mark on Sarah's mind.

I really love the changes you have made from the first draft, it speaks so much now and gives the story a new dimension... Excellent work S... Your story telling stands up and shines again in this chapter...

Sincerely
Dhiman

[Shannon]

Thank you Dhiman,
This is intended to be the most emotional so far so I am glad to hear that it reads that way. The first two chapters were intended to set the scene.

Thanks for the read and review.