Cui Bono

II

Katherine sighed as she strode up the street from the café, coffee tray in one hand, bag of baked goods in the other. Vancouver's members of The Children of Abraham were out, passing out fliers.

A child, dressed up like a member of The Children of Abraham, approached Katherine, and gave her a flier; Katherine sneered as she glanced at it.

"Will you vote Howard Winston for mayor?"

Katherine looked up at a young woman she recognized as Ruth Carleton. "Fuck, no. He's a dingbat who lets his religious beliefs make all of his decisions for him. Now get lost—I have to get back to work."

"Pray, how old are you?"

Katherine snorted. "Does that matter?"

"Are you married? Do you have children?"

"None of that is any of your business. Now fuck off."

"You poor soul. Perhaps if you made God the centre of your life instead of yourself, you'd have a husband and children, and you'd thus be fulfilled and happy."

"You're right. I envy you. I feel bad about being almost thirty and still single, while you, at all of twenty-five, have been, for seven years, with some guy with a superiority complex who gets himself off at your expense, and all you have to show for it is six mewling mouths to feed, with another on the way, which you, because you're female, have the joy of looking after and devoting every moment of your life to, with very little help from him." Katherine sneered at Ruth for a few minutes—as Ruth gaped at her—then continued on to Tekahionwake Cooperative, a publishing firm which published and distributed books, films, and video games.

She approached the reception desk. "Anything for me, Lily?"

Lily Hester, the head receptionist at the Cooperative, shook her head, then Katherine continued to her office, where her second-in-command, Julie McGuff, greeted her.

"What the hell is that?" Julie demanded.

Katherine showed her the flier. "Apparently, ol' Howie Winston's running for mayor."

Julie sighed as she looked at the flier. "You aren't kidding."

"Do you honestly think I would joke about something like this?"

"Come on—let's go work on the fundraiser. Oh, I hope you don't mind, but Nate's joining us—he has what I think is an awesome idea for the fundraiser."

"Sounds good."

Nate Silverman, the head of the Cooperative's film studio, was already in the boardroom when Katherine and Julie arrived. "Took you long enough, ladies."

Katherine smirked at Nate, then set the tray and bag down; Julie took the bag, and placed the contents on a plate, and the plate on the table.

"Shall we begin?"

"I was thinking, for this year's fundraiser," Nate began, "that we can include a film festival, which showcases works by new filmmakers, and have the audience vote for the best ones, and we distribute the ones which get the most votes."

"Are we offering prizes?" Julie asked.

"I assume distribution is the prize," Katherine said.

"The price of admission goes to the ranch," Nate offered.

Katherine nodded. "I like it."