Dragonfly by Jaxn Hill
Chapter Six
A couple miles more, and we came to her church, a little oasis of green lawn with a shining white church building. It was lit with street lamps and floodlights for a carnival. Some games, some kiddy rides, some cotton candy and saltwater taffy, and a little petting zoo. In the center was a big “Fellowship Tent” with tables and benches and punch and cookies, and a bake sale.
Maggie asked for a volunteer to go see the carnival with her and Sully, and Bruiser went. He said he wanted to ride the bumper cars! Who’d figure him for a big kid? He was at least 50 years old because he’d been collecting from my dad 20 years back ...
Torstein sat down at one of the tables in the “Fellowship Tent,” and my brother and I went to get drinks and cookies for us all. The pastor came running up to us, calling, “Welcome!” He introduced himself, Pastor Ruiz, and told us to make ourselves at home. Torstein already had: he was offering sunflower seeds to several people who had joined him at the table.
He was telling them what a fine carnival this was, and what a nice looking church, and although he still had on his bright green jacket, somehow he didn’t look as eccentric as he normally did.
Sitting under the “Fellowship Tent” where the punch and cookies were free, offering sunflower seeds to everyone seemed quite normal. And his sunny smile was reflected in bright faces all around him. It was almost as if it took this specific atmosphere to make Torstein look at home. Back in our neighborhood, he was just the freak in the green coat trying to get strangers to eat sunflower seeds, the madman with the sort of manic passion to share with everyone who passed by. Under the “Fellowship Tent,” there were no strangers, and sharing was the norm. The sort of complete, happy acceptance of everyone that bubbled out of Torstein at all times seemed to bubble out of all the people under this tent.
We stayed until the carnival ended at 9 p.m., then we helped Pastor Ruiz and his team tear down and load up anything that had to be sent away from the grounds that night. He offered to drive us back to the city in the church van, but when Torstein told him we were enjoying our walk, he offered to let us sleep in the basement of the church.
The next morning, the “Fellowship Tent” was still there, but now the people from the church were serving breakfast. It was Saturday morning, and apparently they dished up a free breakfast for the homeless (and anyone else) every Saturday. They invited us to eat, which we were happy to do, and Torstein made them take $100 to help with the costs. Ferdy protested harder than Pastor Ruiz did, but in the end Maggie, my brother and I split the cost from our own pockets. We didn’t mind. It was a good breakfast and there were at least 20 of us eating — maybe 25, so that was cheap for breakfast. And they packed a snack for Sully to take with him too.
Sully didn’t want to leave. I think he thought the basement was a fine place to live, and the carnival happened every night. Pastor Ruiz explained that the carnival had just been a special event on Friday night, but that Sully was welcome to come back to have breakfast any Saturday ... Sully sulked a bit, but since he had that box lunch to take with him, he consented to go along with us. He wasn't happy about it, but he went. He'd really enjoyed the cotton candy and the bumper cars.
