Page 77 of Fresh Old Bounties

“Find a seat already,” she barked.

We all swiveled to watch a young man stumble over someone in his rush to reach an open seat in the middle of the row.

“Sorry, Sonia.” He plopped down, his face crimson under the weight of our stares.

Like a well-organized flock of sheep, we all turned back toward Sonia.

She propped her cane against the table and made use of the chair. In a few economic moves, she had the first folder open and a sheaf of papers squared in front of her.

“We have a few things to discuss today. First order of business?—”

Dru elbowed me hard, and I yelped.

Sonia’s gaze bored through me so thoroughly it was a miracle I had any internal organs left. “Yes, Avery?”

“Nothing.” Dru kicked my leg, and I corrected myself. “I mean, I’d like to make a complaint.”

“Later.”

“Yes, Sonia.” I leaned into Dru and whispered, “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”

“Anything else to add, Avery?”

Ah, crap. I’d forgotten I was sitting in the first row. “No, Sonia.”

“Then shut up.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

“As I was saying, first order of business is Halloween. Has everyone approved the proofs?” She looked up from her papers and narrowed her eyes at some poor soul sitting behind me and Dru. “Yes, Bobby?”

An older man sporting a thick beard, a flannel shirt, and a mean frown was shaking his head. “I haven’t gotten it yet.”

“I sent it to the newsletter.”

Newsletter? My hand crept upward until it entered Sonia’s narrowed field of vision. “What is it, Avery?”

“I’m not on the newsletter, either.”

“Check your spam folder.”

I opened my mouth to tell her I always checked my spam folder, and I had never seen an email from the PBOA, but decided to die on Dru’s hill later on rather than this one.

“Anyone else not receive the proofs? Belinda?”

“I sent back some changes, but I’m not sure if you got them,” a woman said from the other side of the aisle.

“Do you expect me to answer every email?” Sonia asked in a dangerous voice.

“No, Sonia, but there was a mistake in our address and if it isn’t corrected then how are people going to find us?”

Sonia made a note on a paper. “I will recheck later.”

“Thank you, Sonia,” the woman said with obvious relief.

“Who is that?” I asked Dru in a low whisper.

“If you can’t be bothered learning your fellow PBOA members, Avery,” Sonia said, “don’t expect to get far in this community.”

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