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Chapter 17 of Velma the Vegan Vampire: ‘Thunderstorm’ continues from yesterday:
Velma stepped onto the number 57 bus. She was going to the next town over, to a community meeting at the local tech. It was one of many community meetings that Dairy-GB were holding all over the country. They wanted to set the record straight (their words not hers) about the nutritional value of milk because there were a lot of milk myths (their words again) going around. Two other people got on the bus at the same stop as her and all of them were glad to get out of the rain. It would take about an hour to get there.
Velma was hungry again. She’d never eaten at a community meeting before but she was doing things differently these days. If the government intended to keep vampires a secret, she had to go all out to get as many witnesses as possible. Eating in public went against all her instincts but it was the only way she was going to get her message across. Disguise was more important than ever now. People knowing vampires were real was one thing. People knowing she was one of them was quite another. She couldn’t help thinking it would be good if they had more vampires on the team. They’d be harder to track down if they were in several places at once. But she didn’t know how to find a vampire any more than anyone else did. And it would be risky anyway, to tell another vampire what she was doing. They might be angry about her going public. Then again, the other vampires must already know what she’s done and no one had yet sought her out to tell her that. But of course they don’t know the vampire in question is her. Her mind went back and forth through these thoughts until the bus stopped outside Merville Technical College.
Thankfully the rain had stopped. She got off the bus, entered the college and followed the signs to the gym where the meeting was being held. She took a seat in the sparsely-populated front row and looked around at the other attendees. It was quite a good turnout. She noticed the man who’d got on the bus with her. That was unfortunate. She didn’t want to be recognised by anyone from her home town. Mind you, her Margaret disguise should protect her from that. What a weird coincidence though, that someone else who lived an hour away would come all this way for this meeting. She knew for a fact that there had been an identical one much closer to home two nights ago. He’d probably had other plans that night. Good grief woman, who cares?!
A couple of minutes later a woman wearing a royal blue T-shirt with a white Dairy-GB logo on it, walked onto the stage. Velma already knew this woman was Ivy Menkel.
“Thank you for coming, I’m so glad you could make it tonight.” Ivy addressed the seventy eight members of her audience. “I’m going to tell you a little bit about what we do and why we do it, and then I’ll explain the nutritional benefits of milk and other dairy products.” She shuffled her notes and took a mouthful of water. “Can everybody hear me okay? Can you hear me at the back?”
A couple on the back row nodded and waved, and there were a few shouted or mumbled yesses from other attendees.
“Great.” Ivy smiled and switched on her PowerPoint presentation. The first slide, showing on the screen behind her, was an infographic of the organisation. Using a long stick to point to different sections of the graphic, she told the audience “We operate in a number of key areas. First and foremost, we promote the nutrition and health benefits of dairy.” Looking up at her viewers she told them, “dairy foods are part of dietary guidelines worldwide.”
She pointed to another colour block on the graphic to explain that Dairy-GB was committed to sustainability in terms of not just the environment, but also the economy and society as a whole. And then she started talking about how many jobs the industry created and what kind of jobs they were.
Velma was bored already and she had to be out in time for the last bus in less than an hour. She needed to move things along so she put up her hand.
“I’ll take questions at the end,” Ivy told her.
Ivy then went on to point to their commitment to food safety, explaining that they work with organisations such as the Food Standards Agency and National Milk Laboratories to ensure that the dairy foods produced by their members meet the highest standards.
Velma put up her hand again.
Ivy grinned. “Ooh, you’re a keen one aren’t you?” she joked, “and I promise you I will answer your questions at the end. Just let me finish my presentation first will you?”
Velma stood up. “No, sorry, I can’t stay ’til the end. Got a bus to catch. I’ve just got one quick question.”
Ivy liked things to be done in the proper pre-prepared order but she nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”
“You’re here to tell people it’s not true that dairy causes mucus, and acne, and type 1 diabetes, etc, etc. And to tell them that dairy’s better than vegetables for getting vitamins and minerals.”
Ivy knew what was coming and she was ready for it. She was annoyed that she hadn’t been given the opportunity to raise these points in her own good time, but she was ready to respond. “And you disagree?” she asked. “Because I have a folder full of nutritionist testimony to back me up if you’d like to see it.”
Velma nodded. “I’m sure you have, yes, but let’s face it, these days you can get ‘expert testimony‘ to back up any point of view.”
Ivy rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. “What’s your question?”
Velma stepped up onto the stage. “My question is – why do you kill babies?”
Ivy backed away. “Please get down from the stage.” She signalled her associates at the back of the hall.
Velma was unperturbed. “You’re a baby killer aren’t you Ivy? And I object to that.”
“Get down from the stage! Barry! Carl! Some help here please!”
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Chapter 17 continues tomorrow, unless you’d rather read it now 😀
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