Part 10 (2/2)
”Are you sure you want to go in there? I see that there are paramedics in there with your neighbors now,” Selma said. They all knew she was thinking that finding Heather and Robbie's bodies would undo Bob Ray. ”Yes, ma'am. My family may need me, and I have to try to get to them before any more time pa.s.ses.”
”Of course.” Selma parked over at the side of the boulevard, and Bob Ray jerked the door open before she'd come to a complete stop.
”I'm in a corner lot, the first street on the left,” he called over his shoulder before he turned and sprinted into the night, frantically shouting Heather's and Robbie's names. When the women finally caught up to him, Bob Ray was standing, his shoulders hunched, his hands cradling his temples. ”I don't even know where to begin.” There was a terrible panic in his voice, coupled with helpless confusion and grief. The mountain of refuse that had been his home was broken in two piles. One half was over in Mrs. Carmichael's yard. The other was strewn all over the neighborhood. Their clothing, towels, and bedding were shredded and fluttering in the remaining branches of stripped down and toppled trees.
”How . . .” he faltered as tears overwhelmed him. ”How could anything survive?”
His closest neighbor, Mrs. Carmichael limped over to their group to talk about his place being mostly over in her place now. ”Don't worry, honey,” she told Bob Ray in her raspy voice, and pointed out to the road with her cigarette. ”They wasn't home when the storm hit. I seen 'em leave, so if you're lookin' for 'em here, you won't find them.”
Relief had Bob Ray's head roll back on his shoulders as he exhaled thanksgiving at the sky. ”Did Heather say where they were going?”
”Yeah, she was outta milk. So I'm guessing she went over to Safeway, cuz she had the baby in his stroller. I gave her a few bucks to buy me a lottery ticket and one of those barbecued chicken pizzas in the black box I like so much. I had a coupon. Said I'd share it with her and her visitor, since you had to work.”
”She had a visitor?”
”Yeah, some guy in a pickup truck came by. Can't say I know him. Big guy. Silver crew cut. Came to fix your toilet and tub. By the way, they're over at my place, if ya want 'em back.” She coughed up some reedy cackles.
Bob Ray sighed. ”Nah. Thanks though. Did the guy say his name was Danny?”
”Could be. My memory ain't what it used to be.”
”Thanks, Mrs. Carmichael. How are the neighbors?” he asked, running his hands through his hair and turning to survey his street.
”Totaled. The whole park. Pretty much totaled. Everybody made it to the big shelter down on Morton Street though, as far as we know. Lotta folks weren't home.”
Selma and Guadalupe moved through the wreckage and began to gather some clothing for him and Heather and their baby. When Guadalupe's purse was stuffed to its oversized gills, they loaded Selma's.
”Look at this,” Selma said as she pulled a rag off a pointed limb and aimed her tiny key light at the sc.r.a.p. She held it up for Guadalupe to examine. ”Isn't this . . .”
”Mm-hum,” Guadalupe said. ”Danny's Bible cover. This is the one Jen was showing to us at the store this afternoon, I'm sure.”
”So he was the visitor. Probably left in a hurry once the storm started up. No doubt wanted to be with that baby of his. Though . . . it's odd for him to leave this behind.” Brows knit, Selma studied the tattered sc.r.a.p. ”I'll give this back when I see him again.”
Elsa took the fabric and pressed it to her damp cheeks. Selma slipped an arm around her waist. ”How are you doing, honey? Do I need to get you back to my house so that you can get to bed?”
Giving her head an emphatic shake, Elsa adjusted her slipping tiara. Her words were halting as she said, ”I don't think I could sleep. Maybe not ever again.”
Selma nodded. ”Good enough. I feel just the same way. You and me? We can stay up all night and play cards and watch movies and do facials. What do you say?”
Elsa sniffed. ”Sounds real good.”
”Okay, but, if you're going to hang with me, I can't chance having you fall. Hold still now.” Selma bent down and grabbed the torn hem of Elsa's skirt and yanked it off. She tucked the remnant into her purse.
Bob Ray stepped back to make room for Selma and Elsa. ”Mrs. Carmichael was just telling me that they're saying the Red Cross has set up an information booth in the hospital parking lot. They might know something about my wife and baby.”
Selma liked that. His wife and baby. That was a good sign. ”Come on, girls! Let's go. We're off to the hospital.”
14.
2:00 a.m.
Abigail was wedged between Isuzu and Justin in the back seat of the police cruiser on the way to the hospital. Chaz rode shotgun while one at a time, the policeman answered their questions.
”I'm really sorry it took so long to get out to you all tonight, but we just don't have enough help yet. I've been transporting folks all evening long. We didn't expect an EF5. Mowed right through the middle of Rawston like Gulliver's lawnmower. Took neighborhoods and businesses alike. I'm talking gone. So many places . . . just,” he choked up as he spoke, ”gone. People are wandering down the streets, sh.e.l.l-shocked. I saw some of the same stuff back when I was in Iraq. It's just like a war zone here. Not to be indelicate ladies, but there are body parts and cadavers and injured people everywhere, so brace yourselves.”
Abigail stared with horror at Justin and Isuzu.
”We've got medical teams from other states arriving with supplies. The hospital was not hit too badly. Regular citizens have been coming in from Fisher's Mill and Souths.h.i.+re and even as far away as Antonito and Midpoint to transport people and help folks dig the injured and dead out of the rubble. Everybody's pitching in to help each other out. It brings tears to your eyes, know what I mean?”
”This has to have been the weirdest day of my life,” Abigail whispered to Justin.
He glanced first at her, then at Zuzu, then back at her with a weary smile. ”And just think. I was a big part of it.”
Abigail lifted her eyes and their exhausted gazes caught. ”Can you believe you delivered a baby tonight?”
Justin snorted. ”No. But I can tell you that for once I'm going to hog the conversation at Christmas this year.”
Abigail smiled. ”Your sister-in-law is going to be impressed, I'll bet.”
”Oh, yeah. I'm sure she's never delivered a baby in the middle of a tornado-ravaged parking lot before.”
”You were brave. My hands were shaking and all I had to do was hold the light.”
”If I was brave, it's only because Bernie was there and Isuzu was praying like a foghorn in my ear.”
”Bernie. Was he for real?” Abigail mused aloud. ”I wonder where he went. And why do you think he didn't want to get help?”
Justin lifted and dropped a shoulder. ”Probably thinks he doesn't deserve it. Plus, he's used to living outside.”
”That's so sad.”
As they pulled up to the Rawston Legacy Hospital, the first thing Abigail noticed was the stunned and bloodied crowd milling around the debris-strewn parking lot. Children and adults alike cried and looked to each other for solace for their pain and grief. Others frantically searched for loved ones and pets. Some simply sat eyes gla.s.sy, in wordless shock. A large truck, generally used to haul furniture, had a big sign attached to the side: MORGUE UNIT. Just outside the truck's back doors, gurneys were lined up, loaded with bodies draped in sheets.
Abigail gasped, and Justin shot her an empathetic glance.
A generator had been set up and bright lights on tall poles illuminated storm victims by the dozens. They stood around drinking coffee, or sat on the curb, or gathered on blankets and in groups of folding chairs. The Salvation Army was already ministering to the walking-wounded and displaced ma.s.ses, and the Souths.h.i.+re Red Cross had a table set up as an impromptu information center on local shelters for the newly homeless.
The police officer drove them down to a temporary off-loading zone. ”Here we are,” he announced and twisted around in his seat. ”Check the lists here for your friend, Danny. If he hasn't voluntarily signed in here, he could be at a hospital in Souths.h.i.+re or Fisher's Mill or even farther away. Due to the family privacy laws, you might find yourself frustrated. But don't worry. A lot of people will turn up in the morning, when the sun's up.”
”Thank you,” Abigail said, heartened by his encouraging words. With a gentle nudge to wake Isuzu, the weary foursome climbed out of the police car and stepped into the crowd. A flat screen TV was perched on a card table under a portable awning, and people crowded around to watch the latest on the traumatic storm.
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