Chapter 26

The moderator leaned back in her chair and studied Starshine for a moment before turning to me and sitting upright.

“Do you want to become a member of our Society?”

“Yes,” I replied after a short pause. The question had caught me by surprise.

“Why?” Sheila asked.

“Survival,” I responded.

Sheila tilted her head to one side as her eyes widened in an expression of puzzlement. “Survival?”

“Yes, survival. We’re in the high mountains in winter. Without the warmth and safety of this place, I wouldn’t last the night out there.” I swept my arm in a broad arc and gestured at the wilderness beyond the walls of the conference room. “Survival is much more than staying alive while we wait to die.”

I rose from my chair and walked to the edge of the stage. “Most of my life has been as a solitary man with few friends. Alone but not lonely. All my best friends have been female. I have no close male friends. It could be because I was sexually abused as a kid, or perhaps it’s because I’m weird. Whatever the reason, I enjoy the company of women more than I do the companionship of men.”

I held the palms of my hands open at my side and looked into the faces of the members. “All my best friends have been women. Some relationships were sexual, and others were not. None have been with men.”

I twisted around to face Sheila and Alice. “I’ve only been here a short time,” I glanced at my wristwatch and fingered the necklace I wore, “and most of that time was alone with Alice in the dark.”

I half-laughed, brushed my thinning hair with my hand, turned sideways, and scanned the attentive faces in the auditorium.

“Since my arrival, I have made the acquaintance of some remarkable people and shared time with Sheila and Alice, many, many moments with Darlene, and a brief encounter with Starshine.” I smiled and did a slight bow of honor and appreciation to Starshine.

“You want to know if I would like to be a member of this family,” I extended my arms to embrace the membership. “I already feel like we are kin. It’s strange; from the moment I first arrived, it was as if I were returning to a home I never knew I had. The answer is most definitely, yes!” I raised my voice and nodded in the affirmative. “Yes. Yes, I would,” I spoke in a voice not much louder than a stage whisper as I returned to my seat.

I forced myself to take slow, steady breaths as my pounding heart drowned out the ringing silence of the hall. It was unnerving. I couldn’t figure from which direction the wind was blowing, and that scared the shit out of me.

“Would you care to put that question into the form of a motion?” Sheila asked Alice’s daughter.

The question appeared to take Starshine by surprise. For a brief instant, her eyes darted around the room as her courage seemed to waver. She turned to her mother for support. Her reward was a broad smile and an enthusiastic nod of approval. Her mother’s support appeared to give Starshine the resolve she needed.

Her posture became ramrod straight as she sat in her chair, took a breath, and said, “I move we let him join our society.”

“So moved. Is there a second?”

When Alice shifted in her seat, I gave her a slight head shake while mouthing the word “wait.” It would look less like a family affair if someone else besides her mother seconded her motion.

“We have a motion on the table, is there a second?” Sheila repeated as she scanned the silent meeting.

A voice called from the back of the hall. It was Brenda, the Society’s quartermaster. “Second, for discussion!”

“Moved and seconded. The question is now before us: shall Dennis Richards be admitted as a member of the Liberty Mountain Society of Sisters?”

Sheila spoke in the neutral tone of a seasoned meeting moderator. She added a little emphasis to the word “shall.” I couldn’t be sure if she were using it as a question or a command.

“Starshine, would you like to speak to the motion?”

“Huh? Er, yeah, I mean yes, Madame Moderator.”

Alice’s daughter hesitated as she rose to her feet, uncertain of the protocol of motion making. She was a typical meeting rookie. Folks making a motion for the first time are often unprepared to explain why members should support their position.