by H. Mattern
“I’m learning to,” she said.
“Good. I can accept that.” Blake winked at her and went back to his ramen, devouring every bit of it, including the broth, which he slurped without shame.
He picked up the dark painting, took it out of the room and came back with it inside a frame. In the kitchen, he pulled a hammer and nail out of what he called his “junk drawer”. Right there, beside the pantry, on empty wall space, he hung up her painting.
“So we never forget.” Blake looked at Katie and once again she smiled.
It was the same smile that kept making his heart race.
CHAPTER
8
It wasn’t long after Blake finished hanging Katie’s painting on the wall that a vehicle could be heard approaching their property. They looked at each other surprised and anxious to see who arrived.
We’re saved, was the first thought that ran through Katie’s mind, but as the vehicle got closer, her hopes were dented; it sounded more like a motorcycle than a car. She knew it had to be one of Blake’s friends approaching. But even then, the hum from the bike’s motor seemed a bit different than the typical motorcycle engine Katie had heard across the drive in the past. She wasn’t sure what to think. She hoped that it might be someone coming to help clear the debris.
Blake stood with a big grin on his face, which brought a frown to Katie’s. If he knows the guy, then it can’t be the road crew. She felt some of her hopes become dashed. Oh well, she thought. Even if it wasn’t the road crew, Katie was still anxious to hear news from what seemed like the outside world right now, regardless of the bearer.
Katie hurried to the front door with Micah, who had just woken up from her nap, waddling behind her. The little girl clung to her mother’s legs once they were on the front porch. Katie waited and watched as she attempted to focus her gaze on their visitor. She realized the noise wasn’t coming from what used to be their driveway entrance, but from the woods to the left of the house.
Usually Katie felt glad that they lived on so much land. The trees were often welcoming because they were her tribe, a source of friendship and comfort to her in the past. She wasn’t sure the same feeling would ever return, though. She wasn’t sure she could ever look at nature in the same way again. Nature had become dangerous. Those things that once made her thankful for her privacy, thankful for little critters that would often come to visit, thankful to not be in a cookie-cutter neighborhood or have to deal with association dues . . . these now seemed unimportant and made her wish for other human communication.
Katie made her way toward the sounds of a high-pitched throttle, and began to make out the vehicle. It was indeed a motorcycle, but it had different tires. Katie guessed this would be what her husband used to refer to as a “dirt bike.” She remembered him trying to explain the difference to her once after talking her into a visit to their local motorcycle shop. He tried to get her to change her mind about the dangerous “hooligan” machines because the neighbor had gotten it into his crazy head that he might enjoy having one of his own. It hadn’t worked on her.
It wasn’t that she was scared of the bikes themselves back then; it was all the other people on the road she worried about. From what Katie understood, it was rarely the motorcyclist’s fault when it came to their accidents, but that didn’t help her husband’s cause. It’s as if people just aren’t trained to see bikers on the road, and one little mistake is often deadly.
He never got to ride a motorcycle like he had wanted, and yet a motorcycle still caused his death. All the negative feelings began boiling inside of Katie once again.
This dirt bike was blue and white with the word “Yamaha” stuck on different parts of it. The man who was riding it had hopped off, unhooked his helmet, which matched his bike perfectly, and placed it over the handlebar. He also seemed to have some sort of brace on, over his chest and back. Katie wasn’t sure what this was, but figured it was some sort of protective gear, just like the high top boots with plastic buckles.
Blake, who had also come out to the porch, walked on over to him. “The two men greeted each other with a handshake that pulled into an embrace, and finished off with masculine pats on the back.”
It’s a hug, dudes, just embrace it as such, Katie wanted to say, but thought better of it. She didn’t know the guy or why he was here. She decided to play nice since he was some connection to the outside world. Perhaps he would know what time frame they were looking at for getting back to normal life. Well, as normal as it can be after everything that’s happened.
Blake stood there talking to the man, not even acknowledging Katie. She felt invisible. She didn’t attempt to make her way toward the men but simply watched. The grey clouds had begun to lift, there was a hopeful breeze in the air, and in this moment Katie felt quite content and comfortable on the sidelines. She saw the two men point over to where her house had once stood as they continued their conversation. Blake must be filling the man in on all the drama, she thought. Katie was surprised at the expression on the man’s face, which didn’t seem one bit surprised about the scene before him.
The man came over to Katie; his long black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. He looked older than Blake, although at that moment Katie realized she had no clue as to Blake’s age. It wasn’t like that conversation mattered much in the midst of things. Nonetheless, she guessed this guy was at least ten years Blake’s senior, and Blake appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, if she had to guess. The dirt bike dude reached out to shake Katie’s hand.
“Hi, I’m Don. I live about 15 miles or so from here; I’m glad to see you guys are okay.”
“I don’t think I’d say that we’re okay. Alive, yes, but ‘okay’? That’s a stretch.”
The man let out a laugh, and smacked Katie’s shoulder, like men usually do to one another. “At least you’ve got a bit of humor in ya,” he said just as Katie bent over, reached for her shoulder and screamed out in pain. It was only then that Don noticed the bandage on her shoulder, and the blood that immediately began soaking through.
“Seriously, dude!” Blake said aloud as he ran over to Katie, helped her up, and quickly led her and Micah back inside so he could take a look at the wound. Blake was certain some of the stitches must have come loose by the sight of the fresh blood. Katie felt dizzy all of a sudden; her knees became weak as if they would buckle underneath her. She feared passing out, and was glad that Blake had a hold of her or else she was convinced she would have ended up on the ground.
Once inside, Micah became distracted with the dog. For this, Katie was grateful.
It was obvious the poor dirt bike guy felt bad about his mistake. He sat anxiously on a chair at the kitchen table and watched as Blake took off the bandage and surveyed the damage. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve paid better attention. I’m so sorry.”
He kept going on and on, and Katie, although upset and in pain, knew it wasn’t purposeful. “It’s fine. You guys can’t help yourselves. Just forget about it.”
“Seriously though, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” He said again watching as Katie winced while Blake had to re-stitch the wound. Katie was glad that this time she was wearing Blake’s short sleeve shirt and could avoid having to be stitched up without a top again. She wished Blake had offered her another shot of tequila before working. No such luck this time. She began to feel dizzy and shaky and knew she needed a distraction, something to keep her coherent.
“Don—is that what you said your name was? Would you mind getting me some juice from the fridge?”
Katie watched, hoping the man would move quickly so the emptiness in her stomach would be filled and the shaky feelings would stop. He seemed to scramble around the kitchen a bit before finding a cup and then poured the juice and brought it over to her. Katie attempted to sip her juice without giving away her condition.
Bla
ke kept glancing up at her as he worked. “Deep, slow breaths, Katie,” he said.
Katie forced a smile, “I’m fine,” but she had a feeling Blake knew she was lying.
It didn’t take long for Blake to finish and have her bandaged back up. The area looked more tender and inflamed than it had been before. From Blake’s expression, it was clear that he didn’t like the look of it.
“It might not be a bad idea for you to try the painkillers,” he said to her.
Katie shook her head; she wasn’t going to have it. She’d rather deal with the pain than have to run to the bathroom with cramps all day. Micah walked over to Katie and pointed at the bandage and said, “Mommy, boo boo.”
The dirt bike guest looked at the little girl and winked at her. “Hi there, what’s your name?”
“Mya,”
Katie smiled. “Her name is Micah.”
“Well, aren’t you a little cutie. My name is Mr. Don; I’m Mr. Blake’s friend.”
Micah toddled over to Blake and reached her arms up to him.
“Looks like you’ve found a new friend.”
Blake blushed, and gave his friend a dirty look; he knew Don was insinuating more than what met the eye. He picked Micah up and suggested they move to the living room. Once they were seated comfortably on the couch, Blake asked, ‘So, how bad is it, Don?’
The man looked down at the two sitting on the couch.
“Look, Blake, I know you can handle the truth, but . . . the chick—not so sure. Perhaps you and I should talk about it in private,” he said.
Katie stood up, walked into the kitchen to rinse out her juice cup, and returned with three mugs of coffee. She offered the mugs to the men, and said, “Look. My name is Katie, not ‘Chick,’ and I’m stronger than I look. Just tell us how bad it is.”
Don accepted the cup of coffee, took a swig, and began, “It’s so hard to even comprehend. All the houses in my neighborhood are gone. Even mine. The wife and I heard the wind getting crazy strong outside, the lights began flickering on and off, and so we decided to run to the basement closet. Everything moved so fast around us after that. When it was all over and we walked back up the stairs, everything was gone. Gone. Our house, our car, our pets, all gone, all except the dirt bike. How does that happen?”
Katie crossed both of her arms together in an attempt to warm the chills that were brought on as Don retold his story.
“My neighbor—he was in tears; he couldn’t find any of his family. He was running around, franticly searching, calling to them like you would call your runaway pet. I would’ve been here sooner but, well, he needed me. It’s going to be a long time before things in Phil Campbell will ever be the same again.” Don continued.
Katie could tell the man fought to keep tears held back.
“I drove my wife on the back of the dirt bike, to her sister’s house just before coming here. They’ve offered to let us stay with them until our house is back up. It’s not far from here so I thought I’d attempt to come check on you. I was thrilled to see your house was still standing, it’s been the best news I’ve heard since all of this mess started.”
Blake didn’t look thrilled. He rubbed his head with his hand, as if hearing this new was almost too much for him. He’s the lucky one; why is his look so somber—disappointed, even? Katie wondered.
“Yeah, I don’t understand how things like that happen. So, you haven’t heard from any of the other guys, yet?” Blake asked his friend.
Don shook his head, “Nope, I keep trying to get through, but I just get busy signals.”
They all sat silently sipping their coffee for a moment, just taking in the new information. Don laughed to himself and it brought them back to the present.
“I see the generator ended up being worth it. I told you it would be.”
Blake smiled, “I’ll admit: for once you were right about something. Not sure how long the fuel will last, but it’s definitely proven to be worth the investment.” Blake tried to explain, since Katie had a look of confusion plastered on her face. “Don convinced me to get the bigger generator for our bike races. I told him we would never need that much power. He’s gloating now.”
Katie hated small talk; it was actually one of her biggest pet peeves, especially in times like this when they should at least be figuring out a plan of action. She had to make herself useful. She smiled at Blake’s little story and then noticed the lunch dishes were still sitting in the sink, piling up—another one of her pet peeves and the perfect excuse to leave the present conversation and be productive. She couldn’t just sit there.
“Are you hungry? We just ate lunch, but I’d gladly fix you a sandwich if you like,” Katie surprised herself at the suggestion and her own hospitality.
“I’d love that, I’m starving.”
Katie walked to the kitchen and threw together a quick ham and cheese sandwich. She and Blake had already finished the ramen, or else she would have offered him that. Not sure if the man liked mustard, mayonnaise, or other things on it, she stuck with the simple ham, cheese, and lettuce. Her hospitality only went so far. Besides, it was a free meal, so how picky could he be?
Don took the plate and ate as he continued chatting with Blake. Katie walked back to the kitchen to take care of the ramen pan, the bowls, and other dishes that sat waiting in the sink. This was one small mess that she could tackle.
Katie picked up one bowl and spoon, turned the water to hot and waited. She remembered how her sink took a while to heat up just like this. Waiting, she began to think of how she and her husband used to argue over the silliest things when he was alive. They argued all the time about the dishes.
Katie now missed those silly little arguments that used to drive her crazy, things like the way he’d argue over what he considered the proper way to rinse a dish before loading it in the dishwasher. She remembered him jokingly attempting to teach her again and again, and she’d remind him that it was the dishwasher’s job to do the washing. Whenever she heard the phrase, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” it made her think of him.
The water seemed to be taking way too long to turn to hot. Once it did kick on though, it could scald. Katie was jolted back to her purpose by the exact scalding water that she remembered, and dropped the glass that was in her hands.
Blake was quickly at her side. “Are you OK? Did you cut yourself?”
Katie glanced at her hands, flipping them over and over to inspect. No blood. Just broken glass in the sink.
“I’m fine, I just broke one of your glasses; sorry.”
Blake asked Katie to take Micah from him while he cleaned up the glass and the rest of the dishes.
Katie hated being treated like a child, and whenever she was around Blake she couldn’t help but feel as though that’s how he viewed her: as a dependent little kid. She so desperately wanted to prove to him that she was capable of taking care of herself.
“Just so you know, the water is really hot,” Katie said as she reclaimed Micah and walked out of the room.
Katie found Don still sitting on the chair facing the living room. All was quiet, she felt as though you could hear a pin drop, should that have happened. Katie wasn’t great with starting conversations, and most people avoid the deeper topics that would usually peak her interest.
“So, what do you do Don?” she finally asked.
“Oh, I’m a social worker,” he replied.
Katie found this humorous, with his long hair and scruffy face; “social worker” would have been the last job that she’d ever guess the man sitting here would have.
“Are you serious?”
Their guest burst out laughing, “Totally. What, I don’t look like a social worker to you? So tell me, what are they supposed to look like?”
Katie laughed also, realizing t
hat they were people, just like her. She wondered, did she, herself, look like a teacher. Just because, in her mind, a social worker wore suits and were clean-shaven, didn’t mean that it was the reality.
Just then, Blake came back into the room. “Are you sure you didn’t cut yourself?” He asked again coming over to Katie to inspect each of her fingers.
Katie rolled her hazel eyes at him. “I’m sure.”
Don stood up and told them that he should be getting back to his wife. He didn’t want to push his luck by staying out too long. He reached out to shake Katie’s hand. “It was nice to finally meet you, Katie, I look forward to seeing you around.”
“What did he mean, ‘finally meet’ me?” she wondered.
Blake walked his friend outside and Katie watched them through the window, wondering what they were jabbering about. In one moment their conversation appeared to be serious and in the next they’d be laughing. She watched as they did their awkward man hug, just before Don started to suit up. She was surprised at how quickly he was able to get all that gear on. Before she knew it their visitor was headed back into the woods, climbing over twig and brush.
CHAPTER
9
Katie stood at the sink and thought about Don, his wife, and the neighbor who might still be screaming out the names of his family members. Her thoughts then moved to Jill. Panic filled her heart at the concept of losing someone else that she cared for. She just couldn’t handle another person that she loved being taken away.
“Oh please, please be OK.” she said, determined to try the phone again whenever Blake came back inside the house. It didn’t take long for Katie to question Blake when he returned.
