Eighteen
After his father dropped him off Beck worked alone all morning in the echoes of the cold, empty church hall. Shivering, he scooped peaches into small white ceramic bowls, ladled spoonfuls of plain yogourt from a two-gallon white plastic tub over the orange fruit, then drizzled honey and sprinkled sugared pistachios on top of the yogourt. In the afternoon Melissa, Daphne, Jill and Joseph bustled in, along with a gaggle of the United Church Ladies’ Auxiliary, and the crash of folding tables being erected resounded deafeningly. Beck struggled with a growing sense of perturbation that culminated when his parents arrived, flanking Marjorie. He avoided them by ducking into the kitchen and offering to help. He felt unwell, and wondered if he was coming down with a flu bug or the first c
