Chapter XII

The meeting begins with Taylor shouting at everyone to quiet down, as usual. Rory sits fidgeting next to Lorelai in her fold-up chair, and her mother's palm comes to rest reassuringly on her knee. Then Lorelai wrenches away the large coin envelope clutched tightly in Rory's right hand, before the wrinkles emerging from her anxious grip consume the entire thing. Now Rory feels how her hands are empty, and her mother's hold both the envelope and the large glass jar.

The first order of business is a new sign for the bookstore. Andrew protests from the back that the sign is perfectly sufficient, but Taylor argues that tourists will not want to enter the shop with such advertisement. He takes the opportunity to comment that it is not false advertising, since the inside of the store is as dingy as its sign, but customers should be able to see that for themselves. If the bookstore were better organized, like Doose's Market perhaps, Taylor suggests wryly. Rory wants to stand up and contribute on this point, but her throat feels dry and hollow. Actually, the physical organization of the store is fine, but the catalog system is what needs adjusting. Her suggestion sinks into the pit of her stomach, though, and Taylor continues on.

The next order of business is the bench and pole outside of Doose's. The bench is completely destroyed, obliterated in fact, Taylor proclaims ruefully. Miss Patty asks why they should care about his bench, and he announces that it is for the benefit of the town if a fund is started to replace it. Many chuckle at the idea, but Rory could not be less amused. Taylor tries to argue that since unfortunately, the good-for-nothing punk who mowed down his bench will not be offering compensation, something has to be done.

Finally, after the bench replacement initiative fails, Taylor announces that Miss Rory Gilmore is going to speak next about an undisclosed topic. She went to the market before school to ask Taylor if she could speak at the meeting, and while it was 'certainly last-minute', he was sure he could 'squeeze her in'. Now, it certainly feels like she is being squeezed in, like the air is thickening into walls that are pressing in on her from all sides. Slowly, she rises from her seat, feeling the envelope being wedged back into her hand by Lorelai. She takes the glass jar and holds it against her hip. Her knees threaten to buckle under her, but she quiets them by taking the few steps out into the aisle. As she moves up to the stage, she can hear whispers, catching snippets like 'Poor Rory' and 'hospital' and 'cast' and a handful of unpleasant nicknames for Jess. All the miniature discussions slam to a halt when she finally reaches the microphone. She opens her mouth, and a cracking "I-" comes out with no other words following, and the awful noise reverberates through the studio. Rory swallows, and the microphone seems to pick that up too. Then, she begins to relay -recite actually - the speech she has been planning since the evening before, stopping just short of writing a script. Her own voice sounds foreign to her ears.

"Good evening, everybody. I promise not to take up too much of your time. As I'm guessing you all know, I got into a car accident a couple days ago. Hence, the discussion of the Doose's Market bench. Anywho, I was in my car with Jess, Luke's nephew. I'm sure you guys know him."

A wave of discontented grumbles responds, as if to say, 'How could we not?'

Rory takes a deep breath before continuing, "Jess is still at the hospital in Hartford, and he's going to be there for the next few days. He's… really hurt, which is why he has to stay there so long. I know what all of you are going to say, what you've already been saying. But I need you to believe me when I tell you that it wasn't his fault. Even if you can't accept that, then at least accept that he doesn't deserve to be in the hospital."

She stops and sees Lorelai nod at her to continue. When she surveys the room, she observes a couple of other nods as well. "I'm up here tonight because I have something to ask of you. The hospital bills are piling up, and Luke is going to go into debt. I need your help. All of you. If all of us chip in, even just $5 or $10 or $20, we can do it. I don't have the exact number, but it's big. Jess needs our help. Luke needs our help."

Rory cradles the jar in her arm, holding it on display. Its title is in huge black letters with puffy paint and stickers to embolden the appearance. "This is the Jess Jar. It's going to be at Luke's 24/7 next to the register, so if you get food from there, give a little extra thanks. The diner has given us awesome food for years, so tip your server and throw in a bit more for Jess when you pay at the front. You can do other cash and checks too, in person or by mail, whatever works."

At Rory's pause, whispers and conversations buzz throughout the room, creating vibrations in Rory's ears like a fly only inches away. She clears her throat and says, "As we speak, Jess is in the hospital in a non-private room. If I know anything about him, it's that he's miserable sharing a room with sick people, unable to escape. If we start this tonight, he can move to a private room and be comfortable. Luke will visit and not feel awkward. I can visit and not feel awkward."

Most of the attendees continue to look doubtful, exactly what Rory feared. Their downturned lips and furrowed brows are nudging Rory towards the next part of her speech, her next plea. "I know you don't want to help Jess. I know you think he doesn't deserve it, but… Do it for Luke. He's one of us, and he is the most loyal, stand-up person in this town. You don't have to like Jess. You can hate him forever and name a tornado after him, but think about Luke. He's in need, and I can't ignore that. I have an obligation to Luke. We all have an obligation to Luke. And Luke has an obligation to Jess, so let's do the right thing."

Rory hears a small gasp, and realizes that it came from Lorelai. She doesn't know why she sounds surprised; maybe Rory switched up the words too much. After a quick swing of her gaze around the room, she looks down because she can't bear the indignant, silent resistance on the faces of her fellow townspeople. That was supposed to be the end of it, but no one is making a move, saying a word. Pulling out the five hundred dollars, just cashed that afternoon, Rory feels tears coming to her eyes. This is Jess's money, and he gave it to her, his earnings from some job in New York. Where he could be returning. Any day now. Just the idea ties her stomach into knots, pushes a couple of the droplets out of her eyes. Dean, her parents, Babette, Miss Patty, Taylor, this town… they're wrong about him. They don't know him. How much does she know him? What if she won't have the chance? The five Benjamins are staring up at her, as if to encourage her but only succeeding in stirring up her desperation. She whips her neck up, and feeling the tears trickling down her cheeks, she whispers into the microphone, "Please, I can't do this by myself."

Amidst the sympathetic faces and nodding heads and uncomfortable shifts, Lorelai rises suddenly, declaring, "I'll help."

She strides onto the stage to sling an arm around her daughter. While Rory wipes away at the water on her cheeks, Lorelai announces, "Rory is putting in $500 and I'm putting in $50. You can add tonight's contributions in this envelope here. Our overall goal is $5000, maybe more, and I've seen this town spend double on some festival for some holiday whose origins no one knows. Except Taylor. We can do this, people! Let's help Luke! Either that or we can pay for a new Doose's bench."

She slips her check into the envelope, and Rory's bills follow close behind. As Rory descends the stage, there are already people approaching. Maybe she got through to them. Maybe they need a cause.

Meanwhile, Lorelai continues to make announcements into the microphone, "Cash and check are accepted. Please make all checks out to Lucas Danes. Tell your friends and family and neighbors. Bring all contributions to us or Luke, but he is usually busy at the hospital. And don't forget to throw your change into the Jess Jar when you're at the diner!"

Lorelai's voice continues in the background with more logistics, putting her business classes to use, but Rory is too shocked to keep listening. People are helping. People are dropping in bills and writing checks, right in front of her eyes. $20 from Babette and Mory, since she 'gave such a good speech, tutz, even though we don't like that New Yorker'. $15 from Miss Patty, as Luke's debt-ridden wrath is a force to be reckoned with. $30 from Andrew, who admits to having conversations with Jess at the bookstore, most recently a debate over War and Peace v. Anna Karenina. Rory herself is stuck with that one, though she has an inkling of which side Jess was on. Marie the bank teller drops in a $10 bill, citing Luke's hatred of banks and loans, with which she would come face to face if this doesn't work. Each of the town elders write checks of varying amounts, none of them dropping below $20. 'We knew his father. Luke has spent too much of his life with a loved one in the hospital,' said one of them before sliding in the collection of slips. Rory manages to coax $5 from Taylor and $2 from Kirk by widening her eyes and dropping her lips into a pout. Both submit their contributions begrudgingly.

Rory and Lorelai exit the studio with a less-flat envelope, though it could not be called plump. There is still time, though. Lorelai essentially guaranteed that the word would be spread. Checks could be arriving on their doorstep and in Luke's box for days. This is definitely a start, and though neither of the Gilmores counted its contents, the envelope should contain enough to fund the Great Mariano Escape from Hartford Memorial Hospital's public sector.

As they approach the diner, Rory can see through the windows to Luke. He is standing in the dim light, wiping off the counter. She knows he is not actually paying attention as he continues to clean the same small area during their entire approach. Lorelai does not hesitate in opening the door despite its Closed sign, and Rory follows a small distance behind. Luke's tired eyes meets theirs when he looks up at the sound of the bell. He seems to have aged a decade since Friday, with crevices and grey hairs appearing in places Rory doesn't remember them being before.

All Rory says when she hands him the envelope, watching him undo the clasp, is: "I want him to have his own room."

After seeing the Gilmores off to Luke's Diner, the townspeople circle back into the dance studio. Babette and Mory, who pretended to leave with Rory and Lorelai, re-enter in conversation with Bootsy, followed by Marie and Fran. Taylor re-assumes his position at the podium while Miss Patty begrudgingly plops down into her seat once again.

"Well, everyone, that was rather unexpected. Thank you for returning for the post-meeting town meeting. As promised this should not last longer than 15 minutes."

Kirk stands abruptly as if a fire were suddenly lit under his chair. Taylor sighs. "Yes, Kirk?"

"Why are we having a post-meeting?"

"As agreed, Kirk," Taylor reminds condescendingly, "there is a post-meeting to discuss Friday night's accident in the absence of Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, and Luke Danes."

Kirk allows, "You may proceed, Taylor."

"As I was saying, we all know about the accident and what caused it. Or who caused it, rather. Now, this whole fundraiser business was not anticipated, but I say that we move forward with the town request to Luke to send that hoodlum back to New York."

Patty asks from her seat beside the podium, "Is this necessary, Taylor? I'm sure Luke knows how everyone feels about it."

He answers, "Yes, it's necessary. It is always best to have these things on paper, along with our list of complaints."

Andrew stands and says, "Have a heart, Taylor. The kid is in the hospital, and Luke needs help with the bills."

The town selectman responds, "And we can help Luke with the bills. It is a noble cause, and it will make Rory feel better about the whole incident. We help him with the bills, then he can get that street-rat out the hospital and back to the big city."

Taylor picks up a small paper from the podium and reads, "He crashed my bench, stole the bridge money - is someone getting this? - rearranged half the aisles in my market, not to mention the dead body."

"The outline of a dead body," Patty drolls, then adds on. "He tossed at least 1000 marbles onto the floor of my studio a few months ago."

Babette says, "He took Pierpont from my garden."

"He replaced Dumbo with… Showgirls at the video store," Kirk tosses out.

Someone else calls out, "He stole all the baseballs from the school. My kid is on the team!"

"And he got into a fight with my kid!"

Following that, "I think he threw the snowman contest!"

"He stole my gardening tools!"

He stole a lot more than that, he thinks. He stands in the corner with his arms crossed, clutching the cuffs of his sweater in his fists. Blurred into the shadows, he wishes he could fade away completely so he could forget the look on her face when she begged for him, shed tears for him. Sacrificed for him. For the person he despises the most.