BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Dedication2
  5. 1994
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 2006
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 2018
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. Acknowledgements

‘You have to tell them,’ Greta said. ‘It’s fucking rude if you don’t. Jesus. We’re not animals.’ The names meant nothing to Greta and Peggy – they didn’t feel discrete – but they helped them blend in. People liked that they had different names. Some people thought they could tell them apart. They couldn’t. Not even Heidi, not even now she’d fucked up her face. The names were interchangeable, but it helped if they each stuck to one, if they corrected people when they got it wrong. It drew less attention to it. Peggy had drawn attention to it. ‘You’ve got to tell them,’ Greta said again, under her breath.

Peggy opened her mouth to try and explain but then Kitty came and sat next to her and said hi and started talking about how hard the coffee job was. Kitty and Erin had gone straight to the meeting from the picnic but they were getting a ride home in the van with Kadie.

The meeting was a speaker meeting, so one person spoke for a while, then they had a break. Kitty sighed to show how hard the coffee job really was when everyone came back for the second half, where sobriety chips were handed out and the chair started picking people to share. People shared, then they closed the meeting and it took ages for Kitty to clean up and for everyone to leave. Peggy and Greta helped with the dishes, so they got to hear Kitty exasperated about everything she had to do. Of course, she didn’t do much. Peggy and Greta did most of everything and Kitty complained about how much there was to do. That’s how it went.

Finally, Kadie was ready to drop everyone off.

‘Where did you four go?’ Kitty asked when they were in the van. Like she’d only just remembered they’d left the picnic. Peggy shrugged and Greta replied, ‘Home.’

‘Oh,’ said Kitty. She didn’t really care, but it was nice to ask after people, and maybe something interesting had happened. She hadn’t really noticed anything because she’d been looking at a man who was playing volleyball.

When they got home, everyone was exhausted. Sometimes they would have a cuppa together after the meeting but really, what with the sunshine and the excitement and the late meeting, they were all ready for bed.

‘Goodnight,’ Peggy and Greta said to Heidi and Dell.

‘Goodnight,’ said Heidi and Dell to Peggy and Greta.