I noticed that a lot of people were shaking with laughter, Sam included, but all I could do was stare at the guy.
“You should see her when we’re at the store, and they’ve got a pack of cans held together by one of those plastic holders,” Jackson told him seriously. “I didn’t realize how many turtles and birds they killed a year, but even I look at them like they’re the devil now.”
The officer took a step inside the room and sat in the chair closest to the door. “I saw a program on television about that. I’ve been cutting them with a knife when I toss them out since, but I think maybe I need to rethink buying products with them altogether.”
“Same goes for things like cigarettes and plastic straws,” Sam muttered. “I smoked when I was a kid because I was an asshole, now I feel like shit ‘cause the butts are probably out there killing animals as I say this.”
“I hate those cardboard straws,” Marcus spoke up, alerting me to his presence.
When did he get here?
Then again, when did most of these people get here? The room was almost full, and all of them were linked to our families.
“Get the bamboo or metal ones,” Benny told him as he walked over to pat me on the head before sitting next to Dad. “The paper ones go soggy and weird, but the bamboo ones can be reused, just like the metal ones can.”
“I used to use paper plates,” Malcolm admitted, making me gasp in horror. “Mainly because I couldn’t ever be bothered to wash dishes, and she made me feel guilty for using electricity and household appliances.” He pointed at me, this time getting a growl out of me.
“I told you to wait until you had a full load of laundry or the dishwasher was actually full, instead of just turning it on because you wanted one or two items.”
Ignoring me, he continued, “Now I use these bamboo plates made out of recycled materials, and they’re easy to wash. I’ve also got disposable wooden cutlery that can be recycled over and over again.”
“I’m down for making changes,” Hurst shrugged. “But I draw the line at that reusable toilet paper. That shit’s just nasty.”
Jackson’s brother Jesse glared at his grandad. “You’re lying, old man. No one would come up with that crap.”
Smiling smugly at his grandson, Hurst pulled his phone out, hit the screen a few times, and then sat back and waited. A beep sounded from all of their phones, and they pulled them out to see what he’d sent.
One by one, their faces all went from confusion to disgust.
“They sell it on Amazon?” Ronnie screeched. “I buy our normal paper off there, and this has never shown up once for me. Am I not good enough to show the weird stuff to anymore?”
“That’s…” Jesse shuddered. “That’s just wrong. What if you went over to someone’s house and used the bathroom, not realizing they’d used what you were wiping with already?”
I was all for recycling and doing the best for the planet, but even I drew the line at that.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jackson clipped as he glared at me. “I’ve made changes. I recycle now, I don’t leave lights on, and I changed my bulbs for more energy efficient ones. I even keep changing products for the ones with ‘eco’ on them, even though they cost five times what the normal ones do. I’m not reusing toilet paper or putting it in the machine to wash shit off it with my t-shirts in there, too.”
I don’t know if I was losing it or if it was just a funny moment, but the laughter that burst out of me at that moment, even though doctors were fighting to save my dad’s life, hurt with the force of it.
By the time it left me, I had tears again—good ones this time—and was holding my side because I had a cramp in it, while some of the other occupants watched me with concern. The ones not doing that watched me with smiles on their faces, Sam included.
And, when the doctor came through two hours later to tell us that Ryan had made it through surgery but that they hadn’t been able to save his arm, I did it feeling like I could make this work for him.
I’d do what Jackson had done for me all of those months ago and buy out a disability aid shop with things that’d make life easier for him. I’d stock up on movies and pillows for him. Nothing was impossible, so long as his heart kept beating and he kept breathing.
But then he added that they’d had to put him into the ICU to recover and that they just didn’t know what the outcome would be due to blood loss, and the fact they’d had to restart his heart twice in surgery.