ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

NINE... wasteland baby

CHAPTER NINE

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When Collins arrived at the Kildare County Community Center and Shelter, she was greeted by the usual volunteers that attended regularly like her.

It was a decent building, the main reason why it was still in good shape was because they'd doubled it as the recreational building for organizational meetings, tai-chi classes for the elderly, and arts and crafts. A lot of taxpayer dollars went into this place, and a lot of it was from the people who lived on the North side of the island. That was also where most of the volunteers were from, too. They'd always been nice to her, smiled politely when she worked and thanked her for being there. Although, she'd always noticed a hint of sympathy in their smiles, like they knew she didn't belong there but would never actually say anything about it. Like she said, they were nice.

Collins made her way over to the banquet area, which had been set up with long lines of tables and chairs for the visitors to sit, along with an area designated for serving the food. She'd only come a few minutes before their actual opening, so there wasn't anyone actually eating yet, they were still getting their affairs in order.

"Hello, Collins!" A sandy blonde haired woman waved eagerly at her from across the room, Collins smiled in acknowledgment and recognition of the woman. Linda Florets was the go-to gal for all things community service in the OBX. She'd dedicated the majority of her time and pretty much her entire life in general to volunteer work. She prided herself in being the director of philanthropy for her sorority in college and carried on with her efforts after graduation, organizing pretty much every single community service event that took place on the island.

Her husband was some sort of big shot corporate lawyer whose business usually took place on the mainland, leaving Linda with plenty of time to spend by herself, which she'd chosen to use on coordinating brunches for the needy or gardening at the nursing home. And she was good at it, not to mention that she loved doing it. It was more than could be said about a lot of the other wealthy individuals that came just so they could say they did charity work at their expensive little luncheons with a bunch of other fake philanthropists.

"Hi, Mrs. Florets." Collins greeted warmly. "How's it going today?"

"We are just about ready to start. It's going to be busy, so prepare yourself. Lots of people are in a rough spot, what with the storm and all, so they'll be flocking for a hot meal." Collins nodded in understanding, mostly because she and a lot of the people waiting outside were in the same circumstances. She was just lucky enough that Charlie worked hard enough to keep them afloat, just above the surface; they weren't drowning like others were.

"Do you want me serving or running the food today?"

Glancing around her, Linda pondered over her answer for a brief moment before she did what she did best and delegated. "Let's have you serve today, you have such a kind smile, I think that's just what everyone needs."

Collins felt her face got beet red at the woman's compliment before moving to do as she was told. She began to walk over to the food tables, but was startled to see a new face to the shelter's volunteer team whom she recognized but never would've expected to see given the circumstances.

Topper Thornton was too busy chatting with his friend to notice her, or do anything that was actually productive for the matter. What was he doing here? She'd never seen him there before and there was no way he was willingly providing a service to a Pogue.

Approaching him hesitantly with each step feeling like she was having a shortness of breath, Collins averted his gaze as she came near to the table. She felt her heart jump when she spotted him looking at her from the corner of her eye, he wasn't a scary person, but she was still afraid of him. After what he did to John B at the Boneyard, his anger, his violence, Collins feared to be on the receiving end of that spite.