Page 31 of A Better World

“It’s time for you to go,” Daniella added, standing at last, preparing to usher Gal out.

Gal looked to Linda, her eyes wide. “Do I have to?”

What could Linda say? This wasn’t her dinner party. It wasn’t her town, either.

“They’re making me do something I can’t do,” she pleaded. “And they say it’s for the good of everyone, but it’s not good for me or my kids. Ithurtsus. And how can I even trust they’re right? They’re crazy.”

“Stop it, Gal,” Daniella said, heading in Gal’s direction. Then Rachel was standing, too. “Don’t poison the well.”

“Please,” Gal urgently begged Linda, her words rushing together. “You’re nice. You’re so smart and nice. You’re not like them. I can tell. Don’t you know someone who can help me? A lawyer from the outside?”

“I don’t know anyone,” Linda said.

“Gal,” Daniella said. “You have to go. Now.”

Gal stood very slowly, as if still hoping someone would jump in and tell her they were just kidding. This shunning was all an elaborate test, and that test was over. They were sorry they’d put her through so much. She’d passed. She and her kids could stay. Congratulations!

“Gal,” Rachel said, her voice hard. “Get out.”

Unable to navigate the small space, Gal pushed the chair back as she stood. It toppled, legs up. There wasn’t room for her to exit, or for her to bend down and right it. So she tried to climb over it. Her ankle got caught inside the metalwork aperture between spindle and apron. She kept going and the chair came with her, slamming the table from beneath. Linda stood, but everything was swimming. Crouching, she held the chair down by its stile and rear leg. Her efforts backfired. Like a bird, Gal thrashed harder. She lost her balance and fell.

She spun as she came down, landing in a straddle, right leg bent under her on the hard ground, the other still trapped. She might have twisted her knee, too. She didn’t move at first. It was the kind of injury that hurts so much your body goes still in response, from the shock.

“Oh-my-God-are-you-okay?” Linda cried in a rush. The chair was still between them.

With a terrible grunt, Gal freed herself and started crawling, hurt left leg dragging and leaden.

“I’m so sorry,” Linda said. Tears burned her eyes.

Oblivious to Linda’s words, Gal kept going on hands and knees. She reached the door and went for the wood grilles to hoist herself up. But there wasn’t enough purchase. She fell back down and crawled out.

The door stayed open to the hall, the sounds of chatter and music and metal on pottery pushing into their small room and echoing around. Rachel reached back and closed it. Everything got quiet again.

“Holy shit,” Linda said. “I tripped her.”

“She tripped herself, the goddamned oaf,” Rachel said.

“Will she be okay?” Linda asked. “Should I go after her?”

“She agreed to the rules just like the rest of us,” Anouk said. “But now that they stopped suiting her, she wants to tear it all down. I refuse to feel bad.”

Daniella didn’t flash one of her tight smiles and act like everything was perfectly under control. She looked just as sad as Rachel. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Linda. I let her stay because I didn’t want her to cause a scene. You’re new and you don’t deserve that. But she always causes a scene. It’s the one thing about her that’s predictable.”

Linda wiped her eyes. “She can’t be twenty-five. She’s a kid.”

“We were all twenty-five. None of us acted like that or we wouldn’t be here,” Daniella said.

“Gal’s got epigenetic trauma. The stress carried through to her children and made them sick. Anyone can see it, and it’s not her fault. She can’t help her lineage. Not everyone has a pure line. But what’s happening to Gal and her family isn’t our fault, either. We didn’t hurt them,” Anouk said, having raised her chin and lips from the protection of her shawl.

“Fuck. That was bad,” Rachel said, her cheeks flushed and sweaty. She lifted her drink, knocked the whole thing back.

It was as if they were all coming down from a state of shock. The lights felt too bright, the sounds too loud. Everything was sharp and hard.

Daniella’s voice trembled. “We can’t help everyone. We have the clinic, and we have board seats to secure. We have a mission, and that’s what matters.” She ran her index fingers under her eyelids to dry them and keep the mascara from running. “Where are the entrees? I said they should take a leisurely pace, but this is negligent.”

“What did she do to get kicked out early?” Linda asked.

“Gal?” Daniella asked. “She did everything. Every single thing.”

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