Kerri E


Kerri stopped talking and rolled up to her sitting position. “We’re missing something.”

“I only checked one bag,” I said. “We sold all the copies of your-“

“No, not missing as in inventory, missing as in where were you guys when the shit was going down,” she said.

“I’ll get my shoes,” I said.

“And my backpack, please?” she called as I stood.

She was convinced that we were needed in a conference room, so we followed the red stripe (Crimson for Conference, I think) on the floor. It passed every conference room in the Center, eventually leading us to one that was a flurry of paperwork.

It looked like the DMV had blown up on the table and mice were trying to organize the piles.

Samantha saw me from across the room and headed over. A sylph standing on the table looked up from the page he was standing on to shout, “Run! While you still can!”

“Oh, ha ha,” Kerri deadpanned.

“I don’t think he saw you,” I said. “Don’t take it personally.”

Samantha explained that they were trying to figure out who Electra would have as guests on her show by sorting the applications into categories and subcategories and, at this point, sub-sub-categories.

“We can help,” I offered.

“Can I…?” Kerri paused. We both looked down at her. “I can’t really move paperwork that way. Can I just… Sketch? Record what’s going on?”

“Sure,” Sam said. I set Kerri to knuckling around the table and picked up a stack of applications. As soon as I did, someone came in with yet more sylph applications.

And Deliah came in with three plates of food.

“It’s going to be a long night,” I mused, taking a roll, “but worth it.”

I started sorting, trying to see the index card labels for the sorting piles. I saw the Fosters in one corner, but they seemed to be having a private moment during a break. I left them to it.

Kerri signaled for a pick-up now and then. I got a drawing to put in safe keeping and a brief synopsis.

After a while of sorting, Ray turned up at my elbow with a stack of his own applications. “Where’s Kerri?” he asked.

“She refers to this sort of thing as an expression-rich environment,” I said. I pointed at some places I knew she’d been. “Butters read about someone’s happy ending, she got his smile. Over there, the black nude woman stomping on someone’s story of watching their dad get flushed by a teenager. And she got Pet putting a supporting hand on Annie’s shoulder a minute ago.

“Oh, and Electra hugging that one, Pipkin, I think? She needed a hug.”

“Can I see the one with Pet and Annie?” he asked.

“Not until it’s framed,” I said. “Then you can have it.” We keep copies of everything Kerri draws, but she loves to hand the originals out.

He nodded thanks and we went on sorting.



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Index

112. Annie E

114. Electra E