Finally, the carnival was over. There werestill handfuls of people chit-chatting here and there, with kidsrunning to and fro. It had been the longest day for Elizabeth. Shecould not believe that in the midst of all that hard work, she hadpicked a fight with Nancy Beemer, and that her depression wascreeping back in. She hoped she could attribute it to her extremefatigue. She would find a way to soothe Nancy without groveling.She would go home, take a hot bath and drink a glass of wine. Shewould finally relax. But first, she had hours of work to do todismantle the carnival and clean up. She hoped the people who hadvolunteered for clean-up duty would show. If Peter and the kidswere still here, she would press them into service aswell.
Glancing around the gym, it looked as though abomb had gone off. Green and white crepe streamers hung limply fromthe walls, drawing attention to the cinder blocks and mats ratherthan disguising them. Long pieces of tape floated in betweenchairs, having been torn as people disregarded the lanes the tapecreated. Metal folding chairs, once neatly placed, were now strewnthroughout, some even tipped over. Elizabeth was relieved thatthere appeared to be a relatively large crew starting the clean-up.She was responsible for clean-up, while Julia was responsible forcounting the money. As far as she could tell, the carnival had beena success, and Nancy would have no reason to be upset withher.
Elizabeth almost smacked her own head. Just afew hours ago, she had realized that Nancy was no better than she,and had no right to judge anyone. Now here she was, seeking thatapproval. Elizabeth stopped and squared her shoulders. She could dothis. She didn't need the approval of others to be assured that shewas a good and capable person. Elizabeth knew that she had valuewithout anyone else telling her so.
The renewed confidence gave Elizabeth thestrength and energy to tackle the fallen streamers. She begantearing them down and balling them up, having a surprising amountof fun doing it. It helped her work out some of the aggression thatdealing with Nancy had built up. She carried the large andcumbersome armful out into the hall where the large, gray trashbarrel was.
Satisfied that the job was complete, Elizabeththen tackled moving the music stands back into the band room downthe hall. It had been a brilliant idea to use the music stands topost the names and ticket prices for the games, but now it meantthat many more items that needed to be put away before school onMonday. She picked up two and carried them down the desertedhallway. Turning left into the band room, she was startled to seeNancy in there and almost dropped the stands. Nancy was staringaimlessly out the window, her arms wrapped around her body, andwith a forlorn look upon her face. For the first time, Elizabethwas able to see Nancy as a middle-aged woman, tired and sad. Nolonger polished, she was run-down and haggard, just like the restof them.
CHAPTER NINE: June 2, 2012
Nancy barely glanced up at Elizabeth. "Oh, it'syou."
Elizabeth wanted to reply with a snarky orbiting comment. She had never been quick-witted enough to pull thatoff. Then she really looked at Nancy, who appeared to have comeapart at the seams. Elizabeth had been around enough mean girls toknow that a biting comment right now would be kicking Nancy whileshe was down. Elizabeth had been on the receiving end too manytimes to take a turn on the giving end. She would rise above.Elizabeth set the black metal stands down and walked over to Nancy.She leaned against the windowsill, perching slightly. "Are you allright?"
Nancy sighed. She closed her eyes, obviouslyfighting tears and shook her head. Her mascara already betrayed herwith tell-tale signs of crying.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Elizabethasked, just wanting this woman to feel better. She had never seenNancy so open, so raw and vulnerable, and it unnerved Elizabeth. IfNancy could crack, then no one could stay put together.
Nancy shrugged, still unable to find her voicewithout breaking into full-on tears. "I don't think so."
"You just wanna talk about it? Just vent. Itmight make you feel better to get it off your chest, even thoughthere may not be a solution."
Nancy looked at Elizabeth. "Maybe you're right.It's the book."
"Okay –" Elizabeth could not figure out whythis book was getting to Nancy so much. "Why is it bothering you somuch?"
"I, um, it's just, no, it's stupid," Nancystammered.
"Obviously it's not stupid. It's obviouslybothering you a whole lot."
"Archie says it's stupid."
"Well, Archie is a man, and therefore has poorjudgment in this kind of situation naturally. I'll tell you if it'sstupid, and you can go with my opinion," she offered with a winkand a smile. Elizabeth suddenly felt brazen. Here she was,comforting Nancy. Nancy was no longer some demigod of mothers. Shewas a mere mortal, flawed and insecure, just like Elizabeth. Theywere equals.
Nancy returned Elizabeth's smile slightly."Okay, you tell me if I'm being stupid. I just feel so foolish,"Nancy began. "I mean, I really thought, oh I don't know ..." Shebroke off.
"Did he tell you what it was about before itcame out?"
"No, not really. He said it was a departurefrom his typical stuff."
"I'll say."
"I know, right? He was nervous when heapproached me about it. I've never seen him so nervous before, atleast not about his writing. He was always so confident. I justthought he was worried about stepping outside his comfortzone."
"That's to be expected, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. So then,after hemming and hawing and dancing around the issue, he finallyasked me if he could use me for some research."
Elizabeth was not expecting this. What kind ofresearch exactly? Was Nancy the one who was
