1000 Paper Cranes

Chapter 38 - 7

"Remind me what we're doing here again at the crack of dawn?" Jon yawned as we pulled up to the shelter.

"This is literally an hour later than you get to school every day," I chuckled as we entered the building.

I was surprised by the amount of people already there. The place was practically bustling. As we entered, a woman with a clipboard smiled at us.

"Are you with St. Luke's?" She asked, smiling at us.

"I'm sorry?" Jon asked, unusually polite.

"St. Luke's Methodist church?" She asked, unwavering in her smile.

"Oh, uh, no," I shook my head. "We were just hoping to volunteer or something."

"Well, he was," Jonathan grunted, still tired.

"We both were," I smiled at him pointedly.

She considered us for a moment, her smile turning into a look of concentration. She surveyed her clipboard and looked back at us.

"This has been an unusual morning," She smiled. How had we made it this far without introductions?

"Usually we're begging for help," she explained. "But this morning we're overrun with volunteers."

She gestured at the chaos around her. Teenagers seemed to inhabit every space in the complex. It was like they were bumping into each other. All dressed in matching shirts and excited smiles.

"But I'm afraid we don't have enough jobs for the volunteers we've got." Something equally sad and awed sparkled in the woman's eye.

Jon and I hovered awkwardly for a moment after being dismissed. We had gotten dressed and showed up. There wasn't a place for us?

I needed to take care of Robin's sparrow that day. I would not be contented until I had helped somebody.

"Are you guys looking for something to do?" Tiffany White's cheerleader voice sang out over the bustle.

"Uh, yeah," Jon scratched his neck idly. "I guess we are."

"Well, since the shelter doesn't need us, a group of us are going to help out some of the old people in our church," she smiled.

I wasn't sure if this was an invitation or just a general statement.

"We would love some help," she added after a moment. One of us must have looked confused. Probably Jon.

"Umm," Jon was dumbstruck for a minute. "I mean, does this count?"

I considered for a moment before nodding. Robin's goal was always that we'd make somebody's life better. I thought that would count.

Tiffany led us to a guy who didn't look much older than us. He had a goatee and plastic-framed glasses. His St. Luke's Methodist Youth shirt was layered underneath a plaid shirt and he wore skinny jeans and black lace up boots. I nearly snickered at his out of place appearance, next to the relaxed clothing of the other volunteers at the shelter. He was one knit cap away from sitting at a Portland coffee shop and discussing existentialism.

"What's up guys?" He asked, smiling a friendly smile at us. "I'm Chris."

We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

"I'm so excited y'all are joining us today," he walked with us as we headed back to Jon's truck. "We've got a lot of our guys who are out to help today. Which is good because we have a lot of widows and widowers who need some help."

"Tiffany's told me about y'all," he continued with an unwavering smile. "You're the math tutor?"

I nodded. Chris didn't give us time to say anything, so we just nodded as he talked. I wasn't sure why Tiffany would have talked about us. I had never been to a church youth group; I didn't know if there was a feelings circle or something.