Sugar Doll's Hurricane Blues (21 page)

“I want to take a look outside.” Mona said to Mr. Renair.

“Be careful, I’m gonna stay put. Folks say the hurricane is dangerous. I say it’s the time after that.”

“Why do you say that?” Mona asked mildly alarmed.

“Well besides all of the infections and diseases you can catch, there are the looters and thieves out looking for an easy score. It’s better if they don’t know about you.” Mr. Reniar sat back sipping his coffee.

Mona thought of her bar then. Would the French Quarters be protected? As she opened her front door she again saw the debris but not the severe amount of damage she’d heard reported on the radio. It must be in outlying areas.

“Several dead bodies have been found in New Orleans’ East.” The radio reported. Mona closed the door. The heat enveloped her. She wanted to open a window but they were all boarded up giving the house the effect of evening time.

“What are we going to do Mr. Renair? Mona asked.

“We wait, that’s what. Wait until it’s all over.” Mr. Renair seemed to have a lot of time to wait.

Mona was restless and wanted to check on her bar. She resolved to go out to check on her place. As she changed into jeans and water boots she kept seeing Tony’s face. “He’s gone now, stop that.” She cajoled herself.

Dauphine Street had mostly wind damage. To Mona it looked like Godzilla had walked through and blew down little things. Shingles, tree branches and glass littered the road and the sidewalk but none of it matched the horror she’d heard on the radio. She arrived at her bar with much less effort than she had had to walk home in the two nights before.

“Hey Mona, are you going to be open for business?” Benny greeted her with his usual friendliness.

“Now Benny, how am I going to do that with no power?” Mona smiled at her friend.

“A few people here have emergency generators. I could sure use a beer.” Benny was an old regular resident of the Quarters.

“C’mon in and let’s see what we can get for you.” Mona invited Benny in as she took out her keys. They heard the noise as soon as they walked into the darkened bar.

“Hey someone’s coming in!” Came an urgent whisper.

“Ssssh! Stupid!” The second voice warned.

Benny pushed Mona behind him.

“C’mon outta there, we can hear you.” Benny called to the invaders.

Silence. “We are coming in and we are armed.” Benny called again. Mona punched his shoulder.

“All right Mister, don’t shoot. We were just hungry that’s all.” A young girl of about ten stepped out of the shadows.

“How did you get in here?” Mona yelled in spite of herself. There was a brief scrambling and then the sound of broken glass crunching under someone’s feet. Mona moved quickly past the young girl to the back of the bar into the storage room. The service window stood broken and a small boy of about six years old was trying to climb out onto the street. His hands had blood on them.

“What are you doing?” Mona ran to the boy and grabbed him around the waist. She pulled him back into the room. He started to cry. She felt fists on her back.

“Leave him alone, he ain’t doing you nothing!” Screamed the little girl.

Benny came quickly and picked her up as she kicked and screamed.

“Where did you kids come from?” Mona asked as she cleaned off the boy’s hands. It looked as though he’s just pounded his hands against the service window and cut both hands badly.

“Our mother died in the storm.” The little girl offered.

“Oh?” Mona was shocked by this information.

“We had to swim and then this man gave us a ride to the police but they didn’t have time for us so we came here.” The girl continued.

“Why did you come here?” Mona asked.

“Our momma’s name was Mona.” The little girl cried. Mona’s heart melted and she hugged the girl.

Mona went to the freezer and although it had been off for two days the food hadn’t spoiled. She took out a few steak chops a container of potato salad and set about preparing a meal for the children. Benny was already at the bar having a beer.

“Are they still cold?” Mona asked not minding the idea of a cold one herself.

“They’ll do.” Benny said and handed her one.

Eddie, Sugar Doll and Remy guided the canoe toward the Superdome. The cars on the street were all flooded. People waded by them looking dazed and afraid. As they approached the Superdome the three passengers realized that they had taken on a huge task.

“We’ve got to come up with some sort of plan to divide up and find our family and friends. Remy suggested.

“Well, we can’t leave the boat behind, somebody will steal it.” Sugar Doll worried about getting back to the Quarters.

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Remy said flatly.

“Maybe we can hide it somewhere.” Eddie suggested. They began looking around for hiding spaces as soon as he’d said it.

There was a small space next to the dome which seemed abandoned. They stowed the boat there and waded into the water which was waist deep. The water did nothing to cool them off as it was as hot as the humid summer air. Eddie was anxious to see his family so he jogged ahead of Remy and Sugar Doll.

“Do we split up and meet back somewhere or what?” Sugar Doll asked.

“No dahling, we are going to stay together that’s all. If we don’t find her today we will find her in time. Don’t worry.” Remy comforted her.

“Mona probably doesn’t know that the Quarters are safe again. Especially looking at all of this.” Sugar Doll bit her lip.

“We’ll find her.” Remy said.

They approached the building with trepidation. Eddie had already disappeared into the building.

The building was hot, perhaps hotter than outside if that was possible.

“Hey man, you don’t want to go in there man!” A young boy sat next to the entrance looking out hopefully.

“Thanks for the tip.” Remy said as he took Sugar Doll’s hand to lead her to the inside of the stadium.

They were unprepared for the mass of humanity there. People were everywhere. The stale unventilated air assaulted their noses. It would take a month to locate anyone in this building. They descended the first level of stairs looking on both aisles. They didn’t have a photo of Mona to show so they had to depend on just seeing her. Remy glanced at Sugar Doll knowing that their chances of finding Mona in this mess were very low. As they ascended the stairs they noticed a particular trend. Many people who were from across the river had been there in one section at the beginning of the storm. The new arrivals were on the other side of the building.

“Yeah baby, if your momma came from Charity Hospital they probably have her on the other side of the building. We been here for a few days.” A woman who sat with her five children told them. “I heard that they are getting buses to take us out of here before they run out of food and water. Luckily we brought our own.” She nodded.

Sugar Doll thanked the woman and walked away.

As they walked toward the area with newcomers Sugar Doll saw someone in the distance who looked familiar. She touched Remy’s arm.

“Do you see her?” Remy asked surprised.

“No, but I think I see one of the girls I came up here with. Let’s go there to check; maybe they’ve seen my mother as well.” Sugar Doll said hopefully. They ran back up the stairs toward the opening of the stadium.

“Elise?” Sugar Doll yelled as soon as she came out of the building. Both girls turned at the call.

“Sugar Doll!” They yelled in unison.

The girls ran to each other in an embrace.

“Girl we were worried about you. Did you go to your momma’s?” Elise asked excitedly.

“Yes, but then I was at my…” Sugar Doll hesitated.

“She was at her boyfriend’s house.” Remy walked up behind her and kissed her on the neck.

“Oh, oh…look out!” Patrice laughed.

“You dating a white boy?” Elise blurted out.”

“Elise!” Patrice admonished.

“It’s all right, I am white.” Remy laughed

“He’s cute girl.” Elise winked and managed to flash a smile at Bobby Joe.

Bobby Joe looked away.

“Where are ya’ll going?” Sugar Doll asked.

“We were just asking ourselves that.” Patrice said.

“Why don’t you just stay here until they release people?” Sugar Doll asked.

“It’s dangerous in there and hot and smelly. We were sitting next to a dead body of a girl. We have to bounce.” Patrice said.

“A man attacked Patrice!” Elise blurted out.

“What?” Sugar Doll and Remy said in unison.

“I’m fine. Big Elise here fell on the man and the entire bathroom came to my rescue.” Patrice rolled her eyes at Elise.

“He still attacked you.” Elise said.

Remy and Sugar Doll exchanged a glance.

“Mona’s in there.” Sugar Doll said worried.

“You couldn’t pay me money to go back.” Patrice said.

“I heard that Gretna wasn’t affected at all. If we can just get to the bridge we can all go over to my cousin’s house in Harvey.” Tommy piped up.

“We have to try to find Mona.” Sugar Doll said sadly.

“Okay well we wish ya’ll good luck.” Bobby Joe said.

Patrice gave Sugar Doll another squeeze.

“I can’t do it girl, I can’t go back in there. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I understand. Remy’s apartment in the Quarters wasn’t damaged. We’ll go back there after we find her or get tired of looking.”

“There’s no electricity and from what I heard the water isn’t safe to drink.” Patrice said.

“We’ll be all right for a few days until things clear up. We spent the day trying to help people get down off of their rooftops. If you ask me it’s no better out in the city.” Sugar Doll said.

People were passing them wading through the water trying to make it back to their homes.

“Okay, but there’s one way to find out. Let’s go.” Tommy said.

“Be careful.” Patrice warned Sugar Doll.

“I will.” Sugar Doll promised. The friends parted ways. Remy took Sugar Doll’s hand and they went back into the Superdome to look for Mona.

“Our momma couldn’t swim.” Shonda told Mona. “She sent us to swim classes since we were babies but never had the time to learn herself.” She cried.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” Mona said as she cleared away the plates.

“What’s your brother’s name? He hasn’t said a word.” Mona asked.

“John.” Came the simple answer.

The children had been through a lot. Mona felt something she wasn’t used to feeling, pity.

“Well, I’m going back to my apartment and wait for the power to come on honey.” Benny said rising to leave.

“All right Benny, you’ve been good company. Come back tomorrow if you get bored. I might need your help.” Mona smiled.

“Why sure. The job ain’t there no mo’ so I’m available and at your service…for a beer or two.” He winked and walked out of the door.

“Good ole Benny.” Mona smiled. He had been a regular customer for years.

“Ya’ll want to come to my house until we can find your relatives?” Mona asked.

“Yes.” Shonda smiled knowing that she had made the right choice.