by Laura Dragon
Once the cameras were set up again, the crew filmed all of the children playing in the yard—all except for Algie, who still refused. After the shoot, they went inside so that Mr. Hathaway could wrap up the segment. While the crew gathered the children around Mr. Hathaway, Hollis sneaked a peek at the monitor and saw that the camera was zoomed in on Harry Hathaway’s face.
“Yes, Alex,” he said. “Katrina devastated New Orleans, but perhaps the most distressing thing I’ve seen is the children who have lost the ones they love the most.”
Kiki poked Hollis in the side. “He means us,” she said.
Hollis rolled his eyes.
“The ones who were supposed to take care of them, who just couldn’t hang on in that terrible wind.”
When Hollis glanced over at Kiki, he saw tears on her cheeks. Tears jumped into his eyes as well. He swiped a hand across his face.
“They were scattered to the farthest ends of the country,” Mr. Hathaway continued. “We’ve seen them in Atlanta, in Houston, and in Memphis. Children caring for other children, lost in an inconceivable monster. Storm Children or, if you will, Katrina’s Kids.”
Hollis watched the monitor as the camera pulled back to show the children clustered around Mr. Hathaway. Into this warm picture of unity entered a seething little Fury—Algie, dragging Gnomie by his hat. Hollis froze, but his jaw dropped as he watched Algie march up to the CNN newscaster.
“We ain’t Katrina’s kids, mister,” Algie yelled. “We’re Gee Gaudet’s kids.” He swung Gnomie, whose pointed red hat right landed between Harry Hathaway’s legs.
Hollis tore his eyes from the monitor and got himself moving, sprinting to grab his brother and pull him back. He apologized to Mr. Hathaway as the man moaned and sank into a squat. Mr. Hathaway waved his hand and forced a grin.
“Yes, yes, Alex,” he wheezed through gritted teeth. “Apparently, I said the wrong thing.” He tried to pat a glaring Algie on the head, but Algie ducked away. Hollis held him tight. Harry Hathaway laughed, allowing his hand to drop. “Cute little boy. Gee Gaudet, wherever you are, come get your child—for all our sakes. I’m Harry Hathaway for CNN.”
Everyone laughed as the lights went off. Algie tried to retrieve Gnomie, who had fallen from his arms when Hollis grabbed him, but Hollis pulled him several feet back and held him fast.
The cameraman walked up to Harry Hathaway. “We can edit that out if you want.”
Hathaway shook his head and bounced up and down in his squat, grunting. Finally, he straightened, picked up Algie’s garden gnome, and strolled a bit crookedly over to Hollis and Algie. Squatting down in front of the little boy, he handed him the gnome. Algie clutched Gnomie to his chest.
“I hope your mother sees the segment.”
Hollis gave Algie’s arm a shake. Algie frowned. “Our m-mama’s dead. Gee’s our grandmother.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mr. Hathaway said. “I didn’t know. I hope you find her.”
Algie nodded. “Sorry we hit you.”
Mr. Hathaway grinned. “Actually, it was good. That little routine will get us both—” he glanced at Gnomie, “—er, all noticed. The network’ll play it over and over. I ought to thank you two for doing it.”
Algie cocked his head. “Want us to do it again?”
Chapter 25
Critical Conditions
Miss Violet sat in the children’s corner, a smile on her face. “I have something to tell you all,” she said. “I just found a Web site called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where pictures of missing New Orleans children are being posted. It gives us another way to get your faces out to the public. Isn’t that great?”
The children nodded. “Sounds terrific, Miss Violet,” Kiki said.
“They’ve been around for a long time,” Miss Violet went on, “but I only just found them today. As most of you know, I’m learning about all of this as I go on, and I just want to say that I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner.”
“That’s okay, Miss Violet,” Kiki said. “We know you’re trying.”
“Well, we just have to get one of those digital cameras, and you’ll be online for your families to find in no time.”
“Miss Violet?” a volunteer called from across the room. “Telephone! They say it’s urgent. I think it’s about one of the kids.”
Miss Violet scurried over and took the phone. A few minutes later, she placed her hand over the receiver and said, “Hollis? It’s for you.”
Everyone scrambled to their feet. Hollis and Leta looked at each other, Hollis hesitating.
“Go on!” Leta said, urging him with a wave of her arms.
“What if . . . ” Hollis began, his heart pounding. “What if it’s bad news?”
“It’s news!” Eden said. “Go!”
Dragging his feet, Hollis crossed the room and took the receiver with a shaking hand.
Kiki and Calaya both skittered across to Leta, huddling with her and grabbing her hands. Everyone stared as Hollis spoke for a short time and handed the phone back to Miss Violet. He turned and trudged back toward the waiting group.
“He doesn’t look happy,” Leta said. “Oh no—Hollis! What’s going on?”
Hollis looked at the floor. “Gee’s in a coma.”
As the children sat in a circle, Hollis was reminded of the day he, Leta, and Algie had joined the group. Of course, the conversation now was completely different.
“What’s a c-coma?” Algie asked.
Leta hugged him. “It means Gee’s in the hospital and can’t wake up.”
“So your grandmama’s in Memphis? Did you talk to her doctor?” Eden asked.
Hollis shook his head. “I talked to the Jacksons, the man and woman she was rescued with. They had Jonas on threeway, so I talked to him too, but only for a minute. I didn’t even get a chance to ask him what happened. He’s in Houston at the Astrodome. We’re all gonna meet up in Memphis.”
“Wish I could talk to someone in my family,” Dray said.
“When are you going?” Kiki asked.
“They said tomorrow,” Hollis said.
Kiki sniffled. “Well, that’s great!” A tear trickled down her cheek.
“Yeah,” Calaya said in a wobbly voice. “We’re so happy for you.” She gulped and gave a tearful snort.
“I don’t see why everybody is so upset,” Maleeki said. “I can’t wait ’til they get outta here.”
“Shut up, Maleeki,” Eden said.
“I can’t believe it’s all happening so fast,” said Leta. “They’ll find your families soon! And it’ll be just like this for you!”
“I’ll miss you.” Calaya said, sniffling. “It’s like I’m losin’ part of my family again.” She put her arm around Leta, who leaned against her. Kiki joined them.
Hollis nodded, his throat tight. He looked at Leta in a knot of hugs with Calaya and Kiki.
Leta’s gonna miss all the girly stuff they do here—the hair, the nails, the gossip. Gee never has time for that. I hope she can keep in touch with Kiki and Calaya. I’ve never seen her so happy, all things considered.
“Miss Violet gave us the phone number here, so we can call,” he said, his voice cracking even though he had cleared his throat.
“Can we take Lolo with us?” Algie asked, clutching his gnome.
“No, Algie,” Hollis said with a smile. “I’d like to take them all with us, too. But Miss Violet says that they’ll find Lolo’s family soon.”
Eden nodded and gave Hollis a hug. “I’ll miss you most of all. Don’t forget me.”
Tears kept him from replying, but he knew he’d never forget. He didn’t want to lose touch with Eden, either. Without knowing it, she had helped him change the most.
They sat a while longer, trying to think of other things to say. Finally, Miss Violet came to take them outside. None of them talked about it anymore, but they were subdued and stayed close together until it was time for bed.
The next morning, Hollis, Leta, and Algie hugged
everyone goodbye again before climbing into a cab with Miss Violet. When the cab turned onto the highway and Hollis could no longer see the others waving to him, he, Leta, and Algie turned around in their seats.
“It was good to talk to Jonas last night,” said Leta. “Thank goodness he’s not dead. Don’t have to worry about anyone anymore!”
Hollis sighed. “About Jonas, at least. Gee’s still unconscious.”
Leta nodded.
And I still haven’t figured out what to say to Gee about Dad.
Chapter 26
Right Direction
Hollis peeled his forehead off the airplane’s window, and Leta replaced it with hers as she leaned across his chest to see out.
“Do you see the airport?” she asked. “Is that Memphis? The pilot says we’re landin’ soon.” She turned. “That means it’s almost over, Algie.” He sat next to her in the aisle seat holding Gnomie. “So are you gonna eat now?”
“W-when I see Gee,” Algie declared, his eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes fierce. He lay his cheek against the gnome’s red cone hat. “I d-don’t like this r-ride. I d-didn’t like the helichopper basket, and I d-don’t like this. I’m n-never gonna f-fly again.”
“C’mon, Algie, it’s not that bad,” Hollis said.
“That’s ’cause you d-didn’t barf.”
Hollis sighed. “I still don’t know what all that yellow stuff was that you threw up.”
“Orange j-juice,” Algie grumbled.
Leta smacked herself in the head. “Juice! That’s why you didn’t keel over!”
“I drank lots. It k-kept me from gettin’ hungry.”
A stewardess appeared and leaned over their seats.
“Are your seat belts fastened?” she asked.
“Is the b-bouncin’ g-gonna start again?” Algie shot back, glaring at her.
She reached into the pocket on the back of the seat and pulled out a small bag. “If you feel sick this time, use this.”
“I t-t-told you. That’s not gonna help,” Algie said, his expression growing more threatening. “D-don’t you have a b-bowl?” He glanced at the bag. “A b-big bowl?”
Leta took the bag from the woman. “I’ll take care of him. Sorry about the mess.”
With an uncertain look, the woman moved on to the next set of seats.
Miss Violet turned around from the row in front of them. “He okay?”
Leta nodded. “He’s still mad about the plane.”
“Algie,” Miss Violet said, “if CNN hadn’t gotten these seats, we’d have had to go by bus. It would have taken a whole day to get to your grandmother instead of three hours.”
Algie sucked on his bottom lip. “Planes are okay,” he said at last.
Miss Violet turned back around, and Hollis and Leta sighed.
Hollis and Leta staggered together down the skyway and hung onto Algie, who kept trying to wriggle from their grasp. Miss Violet followed.
“Stop, Algie,” Hollis said in a hoarse whisper as he struggled to hold on to the squirming boy. “I told you, there’s no reason to run. The car will wait for us, and we won’t see Gee until it takes us to the hospital.”
“But Jonas’s gonna be here! I wanna see him!”
“But we don’t know if he’s even here yet.”
“He’s here! I see him! Jonas!” Algie wriggled even harder. “He’s over there!” He broke loose just as they reached the waiting area, and he ran across the room with Gnomie in his arms to be enveloped in the arms of his oldest brother.
Jonas straightened as the others approached. Algie, refusing to let go, changed his hold from around Jonas’s neck to around his waist.
“Hollis!” Algie crowed. “Jonas lost his braids.”
Jonas smiled and rubbed his short hair. “They got in my way.”
Leta joined Algie in the hug, but Hollis hung back, glaring at his older brother.
“No hug, Blues?” Jonas asked. “I missed you.”
“I guess I got in your way, too,” Hollis said.
Jonas frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You tricked me. I felt like an idiot when I got back to the roof and you weren’t with me.”
“You know where I went. I figured you’d be glad I took care of it.”
“I wanted to help. Why couldn’t you have let me help?”
“I promised Gee I’d bring you straight back. I lived up to that promise. I didn’t promise I’d come back right away. So I figured I could go get it done and be right back.”
“You didn’t come back at all! Gee got sick. We didn’t know what to do.”
“Sorry—it wasn’t on purpose. She didn’t have her medicine?”
Leta shook her head.
“I thought she always had it in her pocket. Listen, Hollis, I didn’t know. And when I got the baby out, it was sick. You had it right. Too hot for him in that attic. Too hot for all of them. They had a blow-up swimmin’ pool so we pulled it out and pumped it up, and then we floated down the street to the Claiborne bridge. There were cops there who took the family, but when I tried to go back to y’all, they wouldn’t let me. They had to cuff me, I was fightin’ so hard. I ended up at the airport with the family and the baby.”
“Why’d they send you to the airport?” asked Leta. “Shouldn’t they have taken them to the hospital?”
“They did. The airport was the hospital. They flew the family out to a hospital in North Dakota, and I helped take care of patients comin’ into the airport for a couple days and then got put on a bus to the Astrodome. That’s where I was when I saw you on CNN. You should have been there, Hollis. When Algie hit that guy, everyone in the TV room went crazy.”
“I was there,” Hollis said. “Really there. It was embarrassing. That Hathaway guy’s nice, though.”
“I know. He’s the one who got me out here. Need to thank him when I see him. But Hollis, it was still funny. And everyone in that room needed a laugh. And I probably wouldn’t have seen it at all if it hadn’t been funny. I was only in there because the whole stadium was talkin’ about it. They were playin’ it every five minutes. Algie’s famous in Texas.”
Algie grinned.
“Besides,” Jonas continued, “you two got Gee to a hospital somehow. Seems like you did a pretty good job. Anyone got the latest on how she’s doin’?”
Hollis shook his head and at last joined the other three in their hug.
Once they found the car to take them to the hospital, Miss Violet knelt in front of the kids to see them at eye level. “Goodbye, Algie. Someday I want you to try tuna noodle casserole, and when you do, think of me.”
Algie’s scowl at the mention of tuna noodle casserole faded into a grin. He threw his arm around her neck.
“And Gnomie, take care of Algie for me.”
Algie bobbed the figure forward and back, as though it were nodding.
“Leta,” she said, “you keep studying that geography. I expect big things.”
Leta nodded and hugged her.
“And Hollis. You keep working on those leadership skills and brilliant ideas, and you’ll go far.”
Hollis hugged her while enjoying Jonas’s flabbergasted expression.
They all watched as Miss Violet disappeared down the flyway, on her way back to Charleston.
“Brilliant ideas, Blues? You holdin’ out on me?”
Hollis shook his head.
“And at some point, someone’s gonna have to tell me how Algie got his very own attack vampire garden gnome.”
Hollis laughed. “I’ll let Algie tell you about that.”
The elevator stopped on the seventh floor of the hospital. Hollis, Jonas, Leta, and Algie exited next to the nurse’s station. A nurse, holding a phone to her ear, glanced at them as they stepped out of the elevator. Hollis spied Miz Jackson sitting in a wheelchair next to the nurse and waved. Instead of waving back, she pointed at him.
“That’s them!”
The nurse slammed down the phone and hurried toward them.
“You the people with the news crew?” asked the nurse, whose name tag said “Joyce.”
As Hollis opened his mouth to deny knowledge of any news crew, Harry Hathaway emerged from a waiting room, spotted Hollis, and waved.
Chapter 27
The Vote
“You can’t take a news crew into ICU,” Joyce said to Jonas as she folded her arms and turned her back on Harry Hathaway.
“We aren’t trying to break any rules,” Mr. Hathaway began, but Hollis broke in.
“Is my grandmother okay?”
All eyes flew to the nurse. She put her hand on Hollis’s shoulder and escorted him and his siblings down the hall to an office, leaving Harry Hathaway and his crew behind. She swung open the door, and Hollis saw a man sitting there. “Dr. Paine? The Williams children are here.”
The doctor stood as Joyce and the children crowded into the office. “Well, I know how worried you are about your grandmother. But there’s some good news.”
Leta gave a tiny squeak of excitement at the words.
“Your grandmother had a small stroke when she first got here. We had to induce a coma while we made sure she was going to be okay. Yesterday evening, we brought her out of it. Her condition is still guarded, but she seems to be healing very well.”
“So she’s okay?” Hollis asked, bewildered.
“Basically, yes. She’s being moved into a private room right now. When she’s settled, you can see her.”
Hollis, his brothers, and his sister broke into a noisy celebration.
Joyce waited for them to quiet down, then escorted them back down to the ICU. “Sit down and relax,” she said. “We’ll get you in as soon as we can.”
The four children gathered outside Gee’s room, the three youngest waiting for the oldest to open the door. Jonas caught Hollis’s eye and gulped. “Wanna go in first, Blues?”
