by A. American
“It’s alright. You’re all here now.”
“Let’s go see mom,” I said.
“Good idea,” Dad replied and we all started towards his house.
“What are you carrying there?” Sarge asked.
Dad looked at the little carbine tucked under his arm. “It’s the Circuit Judge, a .410 and .45 long Colt.”
Sarge laughed. “That’s a hell of a combo!”
“Yeah. You ain’t always got the gun you want. You gotta use the one you brought. And this is what I had.”
“Ain’t that the damn truth!”
Dad looked over at Sarge, “You in the 101st?”
The old man nodded, “Retired. You?”
“I arrived in Vietnam right after Tet. Spent most of my time up in the A Sầu Valley at Camp Eagle.”
“That was an ugly place. What was your MOS?”
“Crew chief and door gunner on a LOACH.”
Sarge reached out and slapped Dad on the back, “I knew I liked you! That was a hell of a job. How many of those have you had shot out from under you?”
“Three.”
“And made it out alive. That’s a hell of an accomplishment.”
“How did you two meet?” Dad asked as we turned onto his street.
I laughed, “That’s a long story. Way more than we could cover on this short walk.”
“Like hell!” Sarge barked. “I saved his ass! And it’s all I’ve been doing since then!”
“I forgot to tell you something,” I said. “Don’t believe a word he says. He’s so full of shit he doesn’t even see reality.”
Sarge put his arm around Dad’s shoulders. “I don’t know how you did it. But it must have been a hell of a job to turn him into what he is today. I can’t imagine what it was like trying to raise his ignorant ass.”
“Say what you want, old man. You wouldn’t have a place to live if it weren’t for me,” I said.
Before Sarge could explode, Dad reached over and tapped the star on my chest. “What’s this?”
“Another long story,” I said.
Sarge jabbed a thumb at me and said, “He’s the Sheriff of the north half of Lake county.”
“How the hell did you pull that off?”
“Wasn’t my idea,” I replied. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about all this shit. It’s been a hell of a ride since the Day.”
Turning up Dad’s driveway, I said, “Let me go up there and just walk in.”
“No, no. Your mom isn’t the same as she used to be. She’s got a gun and won’t hesitate to use it. And she’s not going to recognize you with that beard.”
I nodded. “Yeah, guess I should let you go first.”
We waited under the carport to get out of the sun as Dad opened the door and called Mom, telling her to come outside. Then he stepped back and stood beside me. The door opened, and Mom looked out. Surprised, she stood there for a minute looking at everyone.
Her eyes worked across everyone’s face. Then her eyes landed on me and she asked, “Morgan?”
I stepped towards her and replied, “Yeah.”
She rushed out and wrapped me up in a strong hug. She cried hard as she held me tight. And it made me cry as well. She held me for a long time before finally letting go enough that I could look at her. Her eyes were full of tears and she looked smaller than I remembered.
Shakily, I managed to say, “Sorry it took so long for me to get here.”
“I didn’t think we’d ever see you again,” she sobbed.
“I’m here now,” I replied as I hugged her tightly.
She hugged me firmly again. “I’m just so happy to see you. We talked about you often, wondering where you were, how you and the girls were doing. We were so worried.”
“We’ve been fortunate. Very fortunate.”
“You guys want something to drink?” Dad asked.
“I’m good,” I replied and that was echoed by Sarge and Danny.
I took a quick minute to introduce the old man to mom. “Mom, this is Linus.” I started to reverse it, saying, Linus, this is Mom. But I’d never used his given name and it just felt, well, weird.
He smiled and held out his hand, “Linus Mitchell, ma’am, pleasure.”
“Karen,” she replied. Then asked, “You’re staying for dinner aren’t you?”
“I figure we’d stay the night,” I replied. “But, there’s something we need to talk about.”
“What?” Dad asked.
Several lawn chairs were sitting in the shade of the carport. It was just too damn hot to sit inside, so most people lived in the shade outside.
“Let’s just sit down for a minute.”
We all took a seat and Mom and Dad looked at me expectantly. Before I could say anything, Mom asked, “Are Mel and the girls ok?”
“Yeah, yeah, they’re all fine,” I said and looked at Danny. “We’ve had some losses. But for the most part, we’re alright.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Dad asked.
“I’d like you guys to come back with us. Looking at you both, I can tell things are hard. At home, we have food, lots of it. We have power and vehicles with fuel. Things aren’t as hard there and I want you to come with us. That’s the reason we came, to check on you, but really to bring you back with us.” Dad looked at Mom, but neither replied. “I want you guys to be there with the girls. I don’t want to leave here and it be another year before I see you again.”
“But, we have friends here,” Mom said. “We’ve all been working together, and it’s not been easy.”
“Trust me, we can relate. It’s not been easy for us and I know we had more going for us than you did. I realize you’ve got friends here. You’ve lived here forever. But you’ve got family that needs you guys too. I need you. I need to know you’re alright.”
“Butch,” Sarge started. “We’ve had some seriously hard times. You asked how I met Morgan. He was carried into my house unconscious. He’d been shot in the head and a couple of his friends brought him to me.”
Mom looked at me, her eyes wide as saucers. “I was in Tallahassee when this all started and had to walk home.”
“You walked home from Tallahassee?” Mom asked. I simply nodded.
“How’d you get shot?” Dad asked.
“It was an accident. One of the people that carried me to Linus’s house, a young woman, got scared and pulled the trigger. Luckily, it wasn’t major.”
Dad looked at Mom and said, “I know we have a lot of friends here, but Morgan is right. We have family and things aren’t getting easier here. That last attack by the raiders nearly got in here. We may not be able to hold them off next time.”
“You’ve been attacked here?” Sarge asked.
Dad nodded. “Yeah, twice. Everything was fine for a long time. No one bothered us. But we’ve been hit twice in the last month. Last time, they almost made it in. All we have is a bunch of old folks here.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sarge replied. “And I hate to say it, but it’s all the more reason you should come with us.”
Dad looked at Mom and she shrugged. “I would like to see the girls, but I’d hate to leave everyone here,” she hesitated for a moment.
“I get it, Mom. I understand community. If it weren’t for the one we’ve built, we wouldn’t be here now. As important as community is, the basis of it is family.”
“You’re right,” Dad said. He looked at Mom and took her hand. “I think we should go.” He looked over at me and then back at mom and continued. “I can’t imagine what it took for them to get here and it may not be possible for Morgan to get to us again. I think we should go.”
Mom looked around, “We have so much here. What do we do with it? How much can we take?”
It made me smile. The way her mind worked. Her first concern was for her house. Mom and Dad aren’t very materialistic. They have things they need, and everything they have has a purpose. So, Mom was curious what she was going to do with it all.
“So, you want to leave in the morning?” Dad asked. I nodded. He took a deep breath and thought for a minute. Looking at his watch, he said, “We’ve got a couple of hours before supper. Why don’t you fill us in on what happened.”
“It’ll take a couple of hours,” I replied.
Mel placed the jar of broth and homemade crackers into a small basket. Kay handed her a small Altoids tin filled with butter, saying, “Take this too. She could use the fat.”
“Good idea. I know the crackers will be appreciated. They worked for me when I was pregnant.”
Kay laughed, “It was hot pastrami sandwiches and ice cream that worked for me.”
“I don’t think we’re going to find either of those,” Mel replied with a smile.
Kay paused and leaned against the counter. “Why not?”
“I don’t know how to make pastrami,” Mel started before Kay cut her off.
Waving her comment off, Kay said, “Not the pastrami. The ice cream! Think about it. We have whole milk, real whole milk. We have sugar and we have some bottles of vanilla that we brought back from the houses here, and we have ice. We have everything we need!”
“But how would we make it? We don’t have a churn.”
“Oh, honey,” Kay smiled, “there’s more than one way to skin that cat. You don’t need one of those silly little churns. We can make it with a blender.”
“I never thought of that. But I think you’re right; it could work.”
With a hearty chuckle, Kay replied, “I know it will work because I’ve done it!”
Mel was getting excited at the prospect. “Let me take this to Fred and I’ll be back so we can get started. But let’s keep it a secret; it’ll be a big surprise.”
Kay gripped Mel’s arm in a conspiratorial embrace, “That’s a fantastic idea. I say we save it for when Morgan gets home.”
“Besides,” Mel replied, “It’ll probably take a couple of days to make enough for everyone.”
“It might. Go on, take that and get back here.”
Picking up the basket, Mel replied, “Ok. I’m taking Ashley with me. Can you watch the other two?”
“Go on. I can handle those two.”
Mel went out onto the porch and called for Ash, who came running immediately. “What’s in the basket,” she asked.
“Some things for Fred. You want to walk to her house with me?”
“Yes,” Ashley replied and took Mel’s hand. “She’s going to have a baby, isn’t she?”
“She is.”
“I can’t wait. Babies are so cute!” Ashley gushed.
“They are cute. You were very cute when you were a baby. Everyone said so.”
Assuming a very upright stride, Ashley announced, “I’m still cute!”
“Yes, you are,” Mel replied with a smile.
As they rounded the corner at the end of the road, a large Lubber grasshopper was walking across the now nearly grass-covered bed of the disused road. There was so little vehicle traffic back here now that the grasses and weeds were retaking what was once theirs. Seeing the insect, Ashley shrieked with excitement and ran towards the large lumbering arthropod.
Finding a stick, she knelt down and began to try and get it to crawl up onto it. As she talked to the large bug, it suddenly started to hiss. With a scream Ashley jumped up and ran back to Mel, who was waiting for her. It was good to indulge a child’s curiosity of the natural world. Especially now that they lived so much closer to it.
“Did you remember what Daddy said about when they hiss?” Mel asked.
“Yeah! He was about to spit at me!”
Tussling Ashley’s hair, Mel replied, “That’s right. You’re a smart girl.”
The little girl looked up at her mother and added, “And cute!”
“Yes, you are indeed.”
Aric was outside cutting back some large weeds from the walkway leading to the house. He paused and wiped sweat from his forehead with a rag pulled from a pocket. “Hey, Mel, Ashley. What brings you out this way?”
Holding the basket up, Mel replied, “Bringing some things over for Fred. How’s she doing?”
Fred appeared at the top of the steps leading to the porch and replied, “I’m fine. I was just sitting in the shade up here. Too hot to be out there. Come up and sit on the swing with me.”
Looking up at Fred, Aric replied, “Yeah, too hot,” as he swung a machete.
“You hurry up and finish that and you can come sit in the shade,” Fred replied. Aric wasn’t smiling, he just shook his head and went back to chopping.
Harkening back to another era, Mel went up onto the porch and sat on the wide swing hanging from chains tied to the ceiling. Ashley preferred to help Aric with his work. “I hope she doesn’t get in his way,” Mel said.
“He needs the experience,” Fred replied. Patting her belly, she added, “He’s about to have that full time.”
Mel looked Fred over. She was wearing a simple sun dress, the type of thing a lady would just pull over. She was barefoot, and her hair was up in a ponytail. “You look comfortable at least. How are you doing?”
With both hands, Fred rubbed her protruding belly. “I’m ready to evict,” she replied with a smile.
“I can remember that. But at least you’re not having to try and work while this is going on.”
“Work? I’m lucky to be able to walk out here and sit down! I can’t imagine trying to work.” She stared at her belly as she spoke, then looked at Mel and asked, “Is it always like this? Is pregnancy always this miserable?”
“No. It’ll be easier next time.”
“Pffftttt, there won’t be a next time. Nope, one and done!”
“Yes, there will be!” Aric shouted. He was obscured by a large unruly hedge that had taken over the front of the house.
“One and done!” Fred shouted back.
Mel grinned and said, “It’ll be easier next time.”
The fire burned down enough that the rolling boil stopped. Jess used a large slotted spoon to scoop the scum from the top of the broth. Once the top was cleaned, she used a plastic pitcher to transfer the broth to a clean five-gallon bucket. The kettle was just too big to tip and pour. Once the bucket was about half full, she carried it inside.
Chris Yates, the medic that took the lead after the rocket attack, was tending to the wounded when Jess came in with the bucket. She told him what it was and asked where he wanted it.
“Put it on this bench over here,” he replied, pointing to a long bench against one wall. “This will be great. Whose idea was this?”
“Mine. I figured since they would be out there smoking that beef all day, I could use the time to make this broth. It’s really good for you and these people in here need all the help they can get.”
“You’re right about that,” Chris replied. “Hang on a sec. I’ve got something for this.”
He disappeared and returned a moment later with a plastic bag full of Styrofoam cups. “I found these in a desk drawer the other day. Figured they’d come in handy.” He pulled a rolling cart over and Jess started filling the cups with broth and placing them on the cart. Once they were out of broth, Chris started to wheel the cart around the gym, offering broth to anyone that wanted it.
In some cases, it was a family member that took it to slowly and carefully feed a loved one. It was eagerly accepted by all and soon there were calls for more! The poor people in the gym were only eating what their family members could bring or what the limited staff could come up with. All they were able to muster was one meager meal a day and it was having a severe impact on those trying to recover. So, the broth was having a tremendous effect on all.
“I think they’re liking it,” Jess said.
“They’ll like anything they can get right now,” Chris replied.
“I have more out there and I’m going to start another batch. You want to throw some pieces of m
eat in this one? We have plenty. The guys are out there smoking some, but that will be a while before it’s ready.”
“If it’s cut small; these people can’t handle big hunks of beef. But I can, and I can’t wait for some of that beef to be done! I haven’t had beef since The Day and my stomach is grumbling for it. I’m not even going to go out there. If I smell it, I’m done.”
“I gotcha,” Jess said and picked up the bucket and left the gym. She went out to the smoker and leaned on the table where the guys were deboning and said, “Is there any way you guys can get a small piece, or a few small pieces, and like grill them? The staff in there is really hungry. It’d be nice to give them a little something.”
“Sure thing, Miss Jess.” Cecil said. “I’ll cut a few pieces and cook them over the firebox. Have them ready shortly.”
“Can I also get some small scraps to throw in the broth?”
Thad smiled broadly, “You just causing all kinds of work.”
“It’s for the people inside, Thad. I just feel so bad for them.”
“I know who it’s for and it’s not a problem. Give me a few minutes and I’ll chop a couple of pounds up.”
“Great! I’m going to take the rest of what’s ready inside and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
We walked down the street towards the clubhouse. It was supper time and Mom and Dad were hungry. “We have community meals,” Dad said. “It’s just easier that way. I do a lot of fishing and we have a couple of nets we made. It keeps us in fish. There were gators early on, but I haven’t seen one in months. But we do get turtles from time to time too.”
“You’re lucky to have the river. I lived on Suwannee when it all went down, and the river kept me and my neighbors fed as well,” Sarge said.
“When we had to move out to Alexander, the river fed us pretty well too,” Danny added.
“Yeah, I kind of miss those mullet,” I said.
Getting to the clubhouse created quite a stir. Everyone there wanted to talk to us, to hear what we’ve seen and heard. We were swarmed by people. An old man ushered us to the front of the line, saying, “Here, you boys go first.”
