Burn District 1 (3 page)

Everyone stood back while I hugged my dad. We hadn’t seen each other in long time, since before my mother died. He looked great to me, young and fit and healthy. We spent the next minutes emptying the trailer and getting it parked where he wanted it to be, out of sight. In spite of being a mile off the road, the house and outbuildings were in clear view because the land was so flat. “If anything’s going to get ripped off it’ll be this trailer,” Steve told Mike. “I might even booby trap it, just to be safe.” The boys started laughing hysterically, the word for the day
booby trap
.

“So, are you ready to see your new home?” he asked me. It was a three-bedroom singlewide. Kelly and my in-laws knew they were going to have to share the fifth wheel with my dad because the house was barely big enough for a family of six. The kids would double up; I was nervous about its condition. But when we got inside, I saw that my dad had spruced it up with new mattresses and upholstered pieces.

“When’d you get this stuff?” I asked.

“I shopped as soon as I got here. A few of the stores were still open last week.” The rest of the furniture was all the same stuff we had thirty years ago; Formica table with vinyl chairs and bamboo bar stools, step tables from the fifties and a colonial-style rocker I remembered my mother sitting in, reading to us. The lamps on the step tables were horrors from the fifties;
Oriental
ladies with wooden yokes across their backs like water buffalo, a small bucket holding a dusty plastic plant at the end of each one.

“Oh my god, these lamps!” I cried. “I remember when Mom bought the pair from some guy at the flea market.” Everyone joined in the derision of the lamps. It was therapeutic at the expense of my mother’s decorating.

“You laugh, but I saw them on eBay for four hundred bucks,” Steve said defensively.

“Well, you better list them right away,” Randy said.

“Nope, I think I’ll hold on to ‘em, let the kids fight over ‘em after I croak.”
Croak
, another word added to my son’s lexicon, their laughter and giggling sounding wonderful.

The kitchen had a harvest gold refrigerator and stove, a gold enameled sink, aluminum canisters. Elise and Carin were in heaven.

“This is exactly the kind of kitchen I’d have in my own place,” Elise said. Steve put his arm around her shoulder.

“You’re the first woman besides your grandmother who ever said she liked it, so you can have it when you grow up.” We all laughed. I wasn’t sure if she was just being polite, or if she really meant it, but when I saw her running her hands over the beige counters with turquoise and pink boomerangs, I thought she might have been serious about it.

“I even like the floor,” she said, looking at the bright red faux brick vinyl.

“I replaced the old linoleum with that about thirty years ago,” Steve said.

“Well, this is going to be a fine place to live while we’re here,” I said, kissing his cheek. “Thank you, Dad.”

“Come on, let’s go look at my rig.” We followed him out to the fifth wheel. It was new, shiny and modern. The kitchen was nicer than my kitchen at home, with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

He’d fixed up the master suite for Randy and Carol, who were moved at his generosity. They had a television and reading lights; plenty of space to be alone.

“Kelly, you get the front berth. It’s private and spacious, if you don’t mind climbing up this little ladder.” He’d allotted the big space to my friend just because she was my friend.

“Thank you so much,” she said, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be very comfortable up there. It’s like a private cave.”

“Dad, where are you going to sleep?” He pointed to the bunk beds in a separate slide out. There were two sets of bunks.

“If the kids ever want to stay with us, I have all this room.” Each berth had its own DVD player that came out of the bunk above it.

“I’ll stay with grandpa,” Ned said.

There was also a large dinette booth and a recliner loveseat. They’d be very comfortable. The only problem I saw was the bathroom situation, but the trailer had two bathrooms, so they were welcome to come to our house anytime.

“Well, I’m beat,” my dad said. “I imagine you all are about ready to keel over.” Randy was already lying on the bed, playing with the TV remote.

“If it’s okay with you, Steve, I’ll cook dinner tonight. I need to do something normal,” Carol said. I was worried about her, but didn’t say anything.

“Yes, normal would be nice,” I said.

“Whatever you want to do is fine. I don’t want to take it for granted that the women will take over the kitchen, but I’d prefer it if you want to.” We filed out of the fifth wheel while Mike went back to the trailer to take a nap. An outbuilding had outdoor furniture in it that my dad and the rest of us started to unload, arranging chairs around the fire pit. We wanted a place to hang out together in the evening.

“We need to go to the grocery store,” Carin said. “We have enough canned tuna for a year. And Vienna sausages. Mom, what were you thinking?”

“Dad likes them,” I said laughing.

“I’ll take you shopping after we get settled,” Kelly said then turning to me. “You okay with that, Mom?”

“Dad, what do you think? Will three women be okay alone?” I’d temporarily forgotten that danger lurked everywhere as long as there was a sky overhead. I listened for airplane engines.

“It’s safe here,” he said. “Safer than where you come from. Just don’t talk to strangers.”

“We can rest this afternoon and go tomorrow,” Kelly said. I realized it was going to be nice having so many of my usual responsibilities divided up with other women. I was grateful my daughters were taking control of the kitchen, too.

With everyone staking their claim to territory, my father and I sat down together and watched the traffic on the road in the distance.

“In years past, I’d be nervous if I saw more than a car a day drive down that road,” he said. “Now, we have a steady stream.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with what’s going on back east?”

“I’m afraid so,” he admitted. “Haven’t had a chance to talk to any locals yet. I know it’s getting built up around here, but not this much, this fast.”

“Did you see a lot of burned areas on your way?” I looked over my shoulder, knowing I was being paranoid, that no one could hear me.

My dad sunk down low in his chair, minimizing his stature. I thought of how our situation had beaten us up in such a short time, even my dad, a decorated war hero from the Persian Gulf was frightened by what was happening. “I did,” he said softly. “When I drove at night, along I 10, I could see fires in the distance. I knew they bombed cities, but this looked like farms and small, isolated places. I don’t understand.” Nodding my head in agreement, I was too tired to get into an in-depth conversation with him about what I believed was happening, that it was genocide at its worst. He wouldn’t understand. My dad was a Marine for thirty years, just recently retired. The leaders of the country he served with love wouldn’t be capable of such a thing.

“I’m glad Stephanie is gone,” he said referring to my mom. “I can’t see her able to cope with it.”

“Me either. She’d be so angry. She’d definitely be a leader of the rebellion.” Steve looked at me.

“Do you think so?”

“Oh, yes. Mom concealed who she really was because it wasn’t considered feminine. I saw her in action many times. Once at her work she’d taken me with her for an emergency. You were overseas somewhere. The call person wasn’t answering their phone and there was a big trauma case pending. ‘I can come but I have to bring my kid with me,’ she said.

‘Now you have to be good,’ she told me. ‘Jenna is staying with the Martin’s, but I want you to come with me.’ Later, she told me Jenna was old enough to leave if Mr. Martin started to drink, but since I was only six, she didn’t trust them with me. When we got to the hospital, she dressed me in the smallest scrubs they had, but they were still gigantic. I loved it! She put a hair cap and shoe covers on me. I felt like a real operating room nurse. I sat at the control desk all night while she worked; peeking out the door at me from time to time to make sure I was okay. I think it’s why I decided never to practice nursing.” We started laughing.

“It was hard on your mother when I had to leave,” Steve said.

“Well, that’s not why she got sick, Dad. You know that, right? I mean, don’t take on guilt because she was mentally ill.” I noticed traffic had slowed down, not a car in sight for a long while.

“I didn’t see it coming.”

“She did fine when you were gone. We never felt unsafe. I asked Jenna once and she said she had no idea there was a problem until Mom ran away.”

“You know I had to tell Jenna, in case Stephanie showed up at her door.” My poor dad. My mother took off while he was deployed. Ned was a baby, so I couldn’t go. Poor Jenna was in the midst of a bitter divorce. My dad had to go to his commanding officer, the general and tell him his crazy wife ran away from home and he needed time off to look for her. It was a difficult time for him.

“Dad, I’m really sorry.”

He cracked a laugh. “If it was the worst thing I ever have to do I would’ve been the luckiest guy in the world. Look what you and Mike had to go through.” I honestly didn’t know what he was talking about and the realization hit me.

“You mean Junior? Oh lord, Dad, he’s a treasure! I can’t imagine how dull my life would be without all my kids and Junior was a good one to have first. He is so happy! He just makes me want to smile.” Steve nodded his head.

“I know. He makes me smile, too. But it’s still a worry.” I grabbed his hand.

“Dad, don’t, okay? As soon as we’re settled, my goal is to find something for Junior to do. He needs some direction but not a dotting mother and father breathing down his back. Independent living would be the best thing for Junior, but that isn’t happening now.” If the nation’s situation didn’t resolve soon, my kids would have a very different life than we imagined for them. There wouldn’t be college or careers or group homes for Junior unless something drastic happened.

Could we go on trying to have a normal life while our government was murdering people around us? I didn’t know. It wouldn’t be moral. Didn’t we have to find a way to fight? We avoided answering the question because it would make us responsible. What was the right thing to do?

“It was so cold at home, we had to wear our winter coats and boots,” I said, hoping to change the subject.

“You won’t need anything like that here. As a matter of fact, that reminds me; I got a solar panel. It’s just one, but it’ll be a place to start. If we really want to be off the grid, we need to do solar. The sun shines three hundred and fifty days a year.”

“Well that’s a benefit, I think.” I didn’t reply
if we stay here in Tulip.
“Better go find out what the boys are up to and scrounge up something for lunch. Come with me, Dad. Kelly made fried chicken.”

“Okay, I’m hungry now you mention it. So tell me about Kelly. How old is she?” I turned to look at him to see if he was pulling my leg.

“You want to know how old Kelly is? Maybe having her sleep in your rig wasn’t the best idea.” It actually made me sick, the thought of my dad with Kelly.

“I might be old but I’m not dead,” he said. “Okay if you don’t want to tell me. I’ll ask her myself.”

“She’s over forty,” I answered quickly. “But a lady doesn’t divulge the age of another lady.”

Laughing, my dad nodded his head. “I gotcha. Is she available?” I stopped walking toward the trailer and looked at him carefully. Who was this man?

“She’s not married, if that’s what you’re asking. Why so interested? She doesn’t seem like your type.” My dad sighed.

“My type is a woman who can speak English, isn’t a drunk, a skeleton or a doper.”

“I didn’t know you were looking,” I replied. My premonition when we were on the road about Kelly and my father-in-law came back to me; it was just about a different father.

“Mom’s been gone two years,” he said. “I’ve been doing the online dating thing for six months, and if you knew what I have been through, you wouldn’t be so stingy with your friends. Now, of course, I doubt there will be anything like online dating in the new world.” I thought about what he was saying and it hit me, hard. The New World.

“Dad, that’s not the point. If you start anything with her and it doesn’t work out, then what do we do? We can’t abandon Kelly because you decide she isn’t for you.” He chuckled, and I could see he was embarrassed and understood what I was getting at.

“So, tell me about your dates.”

“How much time do you have?” he said. I peeked in the front door and the boys were watching a
Pirates of the Caribbean
DVD while Mike snoozed in my dad’s old recliner. Closing the door again, I pointed back at the fire pit, forgetting about our lunch.

“We have the rest of our lives. Let’s go sit down again and you can tell me all about it.” Steve pulled a cooler out of the back of his truck and dragged it over to the fire pit.

“Beer?” He held one up but I shook my head.

“If I start drinking now I’ll be sleeping by dinner time. Get on with the story, please.”

“Okay, well before I tell you the dating stories, let me clear the air about another matter. After you sent me the link for the forums, I went online to read and decided it was a bunch of bull crap.” I started to protest but he put his hand on my arm. “Let me finish.”

“Remember that fishing trip I went on with my brother Dave last month? To the Outer Banks?”

“I think I remember. What about it?”

“Dave and I left for home after dinner that Sunday, and by the time we got to Florence, we needed gas, so we got off the interstate. There are no rest stops with stations along that stretch of highway.” I wondered where my dad was going with this and stifled a yawn. “Dave got out to pump the gas. He knocked on the window and pointed toward the road. It was like a race had started. Out of nowhere, cars took off from the light and were racing toward the entrance to the highway, jockeying for position.

“I rolled down my window and shouted for him to hurry. I’d just read in the forums about a burn outside of Baltimore and witnesses said the same thing had happened; all of a sudden, people were fleeing, and within minutes, the city was bombed.” I grabbed my father’s arm.