Chapter 7

    “It was a construction site or something. Maybe they were renovating it, I don't know. There were a lot of big cement pipe things just laying around. Bev told us to stop and she would go and check.”
    Jeremy just sat and listened. He wondered what it would be like to go to those kinds of places. The only place her really went to was town. The clubs were places like the party house they left. That or one of the bars. The few times he went to one of those, he just wound up watching people he knew get drunk. It wasn't a social scene, it was sad more than anything else.
    “I wanted to just go, I was pretty damn close to telling Dee to get us out of there. But we couldn't just leave Bev in the middle of a place like that in the middle of the night. She would wind up in jail or worse. We didn't need to say anything so we just sat there like morons, waiting for Bev.”

    Bev showed up, waving her arms, yelling into the night while some guy tried to get her to keep her damn mouth closed. It must have been 'her man', seems like he was the only one in the area who wanted to put up with her. They wanted to go, leave Bev there, but they couldn't just leave her there. Somebody had to go and make sure that she was alright. Somebody to get her home safe. Well, safe-ish. Katrina didn't want to go over and see what was going on by herself. Miki didn't want to sit in the van by herself so they parked the van by the lot in an alley.
    It was a hell of a place to party, if that's what it was. All they saw at first look was half built concrete walls with rebar sticking out. The ground was rough, still not ready for the floor. Bev introduced them to the greatest guy on the planet, Earl. He had hockey teeth, when he grinned it looked like his tongue was in jail. He had that pissy, yellow stink of old pot. Katrina guessed that it was part of his charm. Women like Bev were drawn to guys like Earl. He lead them to a concrete hole that looked like a well, it rose up about a foot out of the ground. On top of that, a grate of rebar with a lock that was hung unlocked. There was a string of Christmas lights hung from the top, it went all the way down to the floor. It had to be at least fifty feet top to bottom.
    They could hear the tinny sound of a small stereo making its way from somewhere down there. That should have been enough to get them moving, to take Bev by the elbows and march her to the van. She was already leading Earl down the aluminium ladder that was riveted to the sidewall of the concrete tube. Bev got to the bottom and shouted up that they had to go and see. Katrina and Dee looked at each other, Miki shook her head when they looked at her. She shrugged her shoulders and was the first to start her way down the ladder.
    The hole lead down into an unfinished parkade that was being built for a mall across the street. There wasn't much light so it didn't reach the walls. It just looked they descended down into existence that wasn't finished yet. There were pillars lit from a central set of construction lamps. The lamps pointed to the bottom of the ladder so it was a island of light spread out into the dark. The floor was still dirt, but smoothed and ready for concrete. The ceiling was already done, ready for lighting, but none of them were powered. The dim light of a blue strand of more Christmas lights went in a large circle around the ladder. The music that was playing came from somewhere out in the darkness. Off in the distance, there was a hum of a generator.
    When they finally took in the surroundings, they were surprised. There was a few couches sitting in a loose 'V' shape off in the dim light. There were people sitting there, they were talking and laughing in a casual quietness. There wasn't as many people as they thought there would be. Maybe twenty-five at most, all of them seemed to know each other. The didn't do much more than look up to see the new people in their group. They were curious, but didn't seem to mind them.
    There were outsiders at the little gathering, but it was Earl and Bev. They were too loud and obnoxious and people kept their distance. It wasn't long before Katrina, Dee, and Miki were chatting and laughing with one of the groups of people. One of the people sitting at the couches brought them around to introduce them to the others there.
    For the first time, they felt comfortable in the city. Sure, the clubs were a lot of fun, but they always felt like outsiders. There, with those people, in the darkness, they felt like they were at the rez. The thing was, they were all kinds of different people. Their races spanned the entire country. The only thing that seemed to be common among them was their dress. Even that, they mocked themselves for it, evening wear goth. Not all leathers and such, but there was a lot of black.
    On the drive, to drop Bev off before heading home, Katrina and Bev started in on arguing again. Katrina took to defending the people they'd just met. To her, they were people who actually made somewhere feel like home, Bev just called them a stupid goth drinking club. Bev's loud and brash laugh seemed to shake something loose in Katrina. It got pretty close to Katrina kicking and punching Bev as hard, and as long, as she could. Dee had to yell into the back of the van that they were there, and that Bev's aunt was stomping down the sidewalk.
    As much as they didn't like it, Bev had to be a part of their group. At first, because Earl would be the one to let them know where they were meeting. After that, because ditching her because they  didn't need her anymore would just be rude. They'd gotten on regular speaking terms with the guy who as at all those parties.

    “We wound up just moving to the city. At first, for about three months, we all had some kind of job that we didn't need. It was just so the people on the rez would see we weren't walking the street for money.” Katrina could only see a reflection of the radio's lights in one of Jeremy's eyes.
    “Kind of scared to ask, but why didn't you need jobs?” Jeremy could feel his face flush, he was asking about money.
    “Well, we got in tighter and tighter with them. Mostly just me, Dee, and Miki. Bev always just called them a goth drinking club. They weren't goth. Hell, a couple found each other there one time. A long married couple. He thought she was cheating on her so he thought he would go out and have a good time. She wasn't cheating, she just felt at home. He was at the same party for an hour and a half before they even saw each other. They're both in their fifties. Hope they are.”
    “Hope?”
    “I'm getting there. If they're,” Katrina looked down at the floor, “safe, then yeah, I hope so.”
    Jeremy only nodded, he heard a lot, but they were getting to the part that Katrina didn't want to tell, but had to. So he fell back into his quiet self. Only listened and didn't talk much.
    “S**t, one night, damn it, look,” Katrina pulled the handle to make her seat pop back up, “I really have to go to the bathroom.” She laughed.
    “Oh, okay.”
    Katrina reached over and opened the glove compartment, it was nearly empty except for the insurance papers and a roll of toilet paper. Jeremy reached down and handed it over. She opened her door and then looked over. “Well? Come on, it's pitch black out there and I'm not going to be out there by myself.”
    Jeremy looked over and shook his head then opened his door, he wanted to laugh. He heard Katrina walking through a few bushes, then she swore and laughed.
    “Okay, cover your ears, I don't want you to hear.” Her voice drifted out of the dark. “My damn feet are soaked, I think I stepped in the lake.”
    Jeremy could only laugh with his hands over his ears. He was still chuckling when a finger jabbed him in the ribs. Katrina was standing there with with her arms crossed.
    “Get in the driver's side.” She pointed.
    The interior light was on, Katrina was hunched over and undoing the laces on her shoes. Socks plopped onto the floor. Then she lifted the center console back and shoved her feet underneath Jeremy's leg.
    “What? They're cold!” Katrina hit the light.
    Jeremy started the car and Katrina continued her story.

    The way it seemed to go, the parties were a way for people to bond. By the time they were told about getting in deeper, they were finding out that they were part of a larger group that had been growing for the past fifteen years or so. The people that were invited further into the more and more secretive group learned more. Where the people who no longer went to the street parties wound up going. There were gathering, just a higher quality of party it wound up being. The four of them were invited to one of those parties. Bev complained all day about not getting to bring Earl along. After all, without him, they wouldn't be there. Since she could turn down the one time offer, she shut her mouth when she found out that Katrina, Dee, and Miki were going with or without her.

    It was in a closed gate community, there were people in that neighbourhood that they actually heard of on the news. Local politicians, sports stars, local celebrities, people that they would only meet by chance. They were told to show up the way they were, it wasn't a formal affair. They were in a giggling mood when they stood at the front door, arguing about who should ring the doorbell.
    They burst out laughing when a voice came out of an intercom. Just telling them to go on in, the door was already open. It was needless to say that they were stepping into another world. One of wealth and power, it invaded their senses when they saw the house. Everything sparkled, everything clean, everything they hadn't seen before with their own eyes. There was no music, there was no sound of conversation and laughter. Just a man sitting on a leather chair, motioning for them to find a seat.    Since they already knew the man and had many friendly conversations with him, they thought nothing of the situation.