by HJ Lawson
Gérard quickly inspects the car and Ali. “Guys, we’re all going to have to lift up the car. Zak, you’ll need to pull Ali out once we do. Quickly… go around to the other side; we need to lift this section.” Everyone follows Gérard's instructions; even Kyra gets up to help.
“Kyra, sit down,” Victoria orders.
“No!”
Other people see what is happening and start to come over. People we don’t even know... and several are covered in blood. It’s nice to know there are still some good people out there.
“After three,” Gérard announces. “One, two, three!”
We all push upwards at once… it’s working!
“ARHH!” Ali yells out in pain. My arms begin to shake uncontrollably, and sweat trickles down my face. I cannot hold it for much longer.
“Now, Zak, pull him out!” Gérard shouts.
Ali hollers again. He must be really hurting!
“Quickly, Zak, I cannot hold it for much longer!” I yell. Please, Lord, don’t let me drop it.
Ali lets out a final cry as Zak pulls him out… he’s free!
“Got ‘em… he’s safe!” Zak yells. Instantly we all release our grips, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Ali, are you okay?” we all ask at the same time.
“Yeah, thanks to you guys,” he says, rubbing his leg.
“Zak, help support your brother; we have to get off the bridge,” Gérard says.
Zak places his arm around Ali, but manages to also hold my hand.
Kyra takes Ali’s other arm. “Hi, beautiful. I missed you,” he says to her.
Even in pain, Ali is still a smooth talker.
Chapter 22
My Father Will Rain Down On You.
ETHAN
Today is Memorial Day. Soon, they will remember this day for something else — the day their freedom was taken from them!
Chapter 23
Explosive Date.
ANNABEL
My body flies forward, crashing into Brandon's arm and against the handrail, as the ferry comes to an abrupt halt. “What’s going on?” Brandon yells out.
Brushing my hair from my eyes, I look over at the bridge… sections of it are falling into the waiting river.
“Are you okay?” he asks, staring at me in shock.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure about them.” I point over to the blaze on the bridge, and everyone else on the boat is looking over as well. “It looks bigger than a car crash. And look… the cars are on fire in different spots.”
“I was thinking the same… how come so many are on fire? That seems really weird!” Brandon exclaims.
“Do you think it's the prisoners?” I ask.
“It could be; it sure doesn’t look like an accident.”
“The police are going to be all over there. By the time we get into the city, there won’t be any left to bother with us.” Brandon smiles at me. Well, I guess that’s one silver lining here.
A mumbled voice rings over the speaker system on the boat.
“What did he say?” I ask Brandon.
“Mumble, mumble, boat, mumble, Brooklyn Bridge, mumble, fire,” he says.
“Ha ha… cute.” I jump as I feel a tap on my on my shoulder. I spin around to see who it is.
“Excuse me, did you hear what he said?” a terrified girl asks. She must be a few years older than I am.
“Mumble, mumble, boat, bridge, fire,” Brandon repeats.
“Not now, Brandon,” I whisper loudly. This poor girl is terrified. Now is not the time for jokes.
“Do you think it was a terrorist attack?” she quietly stutters.
“Don’t know,” Brandon answers softly. “Let me go find out.”
Before Brandon can get to the stairs, a man appears. He’s wearing a blue polo shirt with the boat’s name embroidered on it, like he works here. Brandon speaks with him for a moment, and then heads back to his seat.
The girl leans in between us. “What’s happening?”
“He’s going to tell us now,” Brandon explains.
“There have been several explosions on Brooklyn Bridge. Because of this, we cannot continue our journey, for safety reasons,” the boatman informs us.
“What do you mean, you cannot continue with your journey? I have to get to work! I have a very important meeting today, and I can’t miss it!” a man in the back yells out.
“Yeah!” a crowd of businessmen shout in agreement. These rich yuppies can be a right pain in the ass!
“And, sir, if you let me finish, I was going to say we are changing the schedule and will be dropping you off downtown!” the boatman finishes.
“Downtown! With all this shit going on, it's going to take me hours to get to 34th street!” the passenger yells back.
“Sir, if you are going to be a problem, we can escort you and the rest of the passengers off the boat in Brooklyn!”
Oh, the boatman is playing hardball! Everyone turns to the yelling man and glares.
“Whatever,” the man yells, waving his arms. He pushes in his ear plugs to indicate the conversation is over. With that, the boatman heads back downstairs.
“Did you hear what he said?” I ask.
“Yeah, we are going downtown. It’s fine, we can walk.”
“Not that, the bit where he said there’ve been explosions,” I say. The engine of the boat begins to roar, and we are moving, heading straight for the city. The whistling sound of the summer breeze rings in my ears again.
“Yeah, wonder what’s going on? I’m glad we’re not going back to Brooklyn!” Brandon nibbles down on his thumbnail, like he’s deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?”
“Just trying to work out where Louis will be,” he says.
“Who’s Louis?”
“The guy that lives under Penn Station… I’m guessing he’ll be collecting bottles by the dumpsters.”
A lot of homeless people collect plastic bottles and cans; they push big shopping carts around the city, filling them up. You can get about $10.00 per day doing that, but it takes hours, unless you strike it lucky.
“Do you think you’ll be able to find him?”
“Yeah, someone will know where he is.”
We are almost at the dock, and I’m glad we decided not to walk over the bridge today. This boat trip is quicker and, obviously, much safer.
Resting my head on Brandon’s arm, I close my eyes for a moment, savoring the calm before we enter the city. Brandon’s hand moves backwards and forward across my hair in sync with the rhythm of the waves.
The boat turns as it prepares to dock; Brandon squeezes me tightly, as if he doesn’t want the moment to end.
I hear the rustling behind me as people gather their belongings, ready to make a rush for the exit. I don’t want to get off the boat; I like the idea of floating around the river for the rest of my life, just me and Brandon.
The ferry comes to a stop, crushing my daydream. “Come on, you… time to leave.”
“Do we have to?” I protest. Everyone else has disembarked; we remain alone on top of the boat.
“Yep.”
“Damn.” I get up and slowly head toward the stairs.
“I got a bit of action on this date, but not the type I was looking for,” Brandon says, and winks at me.
He suddenly grabs hold of my waist and pulls me toward him, making our bodies touch.
Our eyes lock together for a split second, both of us unable to hold back our desire for each other. Brandon softly kisses me on my mouth, and my body tingles from my lips to my toes. I want more. Brandon kisses me harder, more passionately, as if he's reading my mind.
A coughing sound breaks our kiss. We ignore it, and then it sounds again, louder.
Brandon breaks away from our embrace and snaps, “What?”
The boatman from before is standing there with a small smile. “You have to get off the boat.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy here?” Brandon waves his arms in frustration, and
I blush.
“Sorry, kid. Captain’s orders.”
We head down the ramp to the dock. “Cigarette break,” I say, once we reach dry land.
“Yeah.” Brandon points over to a bench.
Inhaling the nicotine, I feel instantly at ease as it flows into my lungs. It’s funny how something that is poisoning me is keeping me calm.
Thump – thump, the calmness is broken by the spinning of helicopter blades, as the sky fills with news reporters. NEEEEEeeeeeeNAAAAaaaaaaaNEEEEeeeeNAAAaa...rings out from several ambulance sirens.
We stare silently out toward the river and at the fire on the bridge. I hope they get there in time to help those people.
I can feel Brandon watching me. I look over at him, and he has a silly grin on his face. I laugh back.
“When are we going to get some private time?” he asks.
“Ha, we are homeless. We have no private time.” Damn.
“I’m going to have to take you right here then!” Brandon laughs as he throws his cigarette butt on the ground and dives for me. He swoops me down off the bench seat, cradling my head as I lie back on the grass.
“You are my prisoner now,” he says in a husky voice. “I hear you have been a naughty girl.”
“That’s not funny!” Stupid prick! Prison is the last thing I want to be thinking about!
“What’s up with you? I’m just playing… don't be so touchy!” Brandon climbs off me and walks over to the railing by the river.
I let out a deep sigh and stand up, brushing off my legs.
“Sorry,” I say, as I join him. “It’s just, you know, the idea of prison terrifies me.”
Brandon clenches his jaw and fixes his gaze on the bridge. “Sorry, yeah, bad choice of words.”
I move closer to him, placing my hand into the back pocket of his jeans and gently squeezing his rear.
Brandon cocks his eyebrow and kisses me on the lips. Then he suddenly jerks his head away. “Oh shit!”
“What, what is it?”
Brandon points over to the bridge. “Another car is on fire.” Just as he says that, we hear another explosion.
People around us rush toward the railing for a better look. Then, one after another, more cars explode. There is more screaming. More chaos.
It’s like we are in the middle of an apocalyptic horror movie. Except this is really happening.
My God, what is going on?
Chapter 24
Paper Planes, We Are Just God’s Toys.
JADA
There is a massive bang, as if the bridge is screaming in pain while it’s being ripped apart.
Once again, the blast knocks me off my feet and onto the ground, tearing me from the safety of Zak’s hand. But this time it doesn’t knock me unconscious… I wish it had.
It all happens in slow motion, like in the action movies. Like it isn’t really real.
Cars begin to fly in the air like paper planes. They float and flip, and I’m mesmerized by their elegant movements.
My body is frozen to the ground, as if I’ve planted my roots in the war zone.
I can see Zak screaming at me, his eyes bulging with fear. Now Ali is yelling too, as they all run toward me.
“She’s in shock,” Gérard says, as he picks me up from the ground like a rag doll and continues running with me over his shoulder.
Me, in shock?
As Gérard runs, more car bombs go off behind us.
“Gérard, put me down; I can run,” I say, and I wiggle free from his arms. Soon I am sprinting alongside the others. We are all running like a hungry pack of wolves, chasing its prey.
I turn around quickly and see Victoria several yards behind us. She’s running as fast as she can, but we are faster. I can clearly see the anger and determination on her face.
Suddenly a shadow darkens her figure. We both look up.
“No!”
Everyone turns just in time to see the large car crash down on top of Victoria, crushing her.
“Mommy!” Kyra screams out. “Mommy, no!”
She takes off running toward her mother. We all do.
“Come back,” Gérard shouts.
“We have to see if she’s still alive,” I yell back to him.
“Mommy, Mommy… answer me, Mommy” Kyra kneels beside the part of her mother’s body that is sticking out from under the car, and takes her hand.
Frantically, we crouch down to look under the car. Victoria is not moving and not yelling orders at us. She is silent.
Her crushed skull is facing toward Zak and me, and she’s almost unrecognizable. But she is very clearly dead.
Zak turns to the others and sadly shakes his head.
“Gérard, help her, we have to lift up the car,” Kyra begs.
I shake my head toward Gérard, as I slump down to the ground.
“Let me take her pulse,” Gérard says. He takes Victoria’s limp hand from Kyra, and we all sit there in silence, waiting for the inevitable response.
Kyra’s eyes burn into Gérard, waiting… hoping…
Haytham is sitting on the ground with his head buried in his knees. Sometimes I forget how young he is.
Zak wraps his arm around me; I rest my head on his shoulder and silently sob, as my best friend’s heart breaks.
Gérard shakes his head toward Kyra.
“No… Gérard, she is not dead! Lift the car!” Kyra screams. “Ali, help me.”
Ali looks at her blankly, unable to express the words to comfort her.
“Why are you guys not helping me?” Kyra’s voice cracks as she turns to me. “Jada, help me!”
When I don’t move, Kyra beings to try to lift the car on her own. “Why are you not helping?” she sobs, and I place my arms around her.
“Jada… Please help me.” I hold her tighter. “Tell me it's not true… it cannot be true.”
Kyra’s body begins to shake as she cries uncontrollably. We both do. I cry for her, but I also cry for my mother, my brother, Tilly, and everyone else I have lost.
I try to compose myself, drawing air into my lungs quickly, and steadying myself from the sadness of my emotions. That is when I hear it.
“GET OFF THE BRIDGE! It's about to go!” Gérard yells at the top of his lungs.
The steel cables attached to the bridge begin to wiggle free, and then they snap loose, angrily flying into the sky.
“Kyra, let’s go!”
“I’m not leaving my mother here,” she protests.
“And I’m not leaving you here to die,” Ali states, as he picks her up and takes off running, limping as he goes.
“Mommy, I’m sorry,” Kyra yells out.
Zak pushes me to the side, nearly knocking me to the ground. A huge cable flies in front of me. It's close enough for me to see the hundreds of strands of metal wire woven together inside. Had it hit me, it would for sure have knocked me down… maybe even killed me.
The ground beneath my feet begins to move, and cracks begin to appear on the road, as if God is drawing the lines with a fine paint brush.
“Zak, jump quickly!” Together we leap over the expanding crevice, taking extra steps back away from it. Mesmerized, we stare, as it gets bigger and bigger.
“Come on, you two,” Gérard yells.
“Mommy, Mommy,” a young boy cries out. He looks about the same age as my brother, Lucas. And he is stuck on the wrong side of the growing crack. At any moment, that section of the bridge is going to break off and plummet into the East River, taking anyone on it to their probable death.
“Wake up, Mommy.” The young boy is kneeling by a woman who is on the ground and not moving.
But I know she’s never waking up. I don’t even think twice.
“Jada, no!” both Gérard and Zak yell at me as I jump.
I make the mistake of glancing down, and I can see the river’s waves jumping up and down as if they are applauding us for what we have done to the planet. They look excited to have new souls joining them for eternity. They are n
ot taking mine!
“Hey, what’s your name?” I quickly ask the boy. He raises his wide-eyed, tear-stained face.
“Mmm, Ashton,” he whispers, almost as if he isn’t really sure.
“Hey, Ashton, I’m Jada. Your mother asked me to look after you.”
Ashton looks up at me, all confused.
The bridge begins to roar with anger, as if it’s upset that I’m going to take this soul with me. The steel cables fly around the sky in a rage.
“Jada, get out of there, it's going to go,” Zak yells. He and Gérard are standing on the edge of the gap, contemplating whether to jump over and get me.
“Stay there, I’m coming,” I yell to them. People are running past us, screaming in fear, leaping to safety.
“Hey, Ashton, we have to go now.” I put on my stern big-sister voice, which I haven’t done in a while. Not since Lucas died.
“Okay, but what about Mommy?”
“She’ll be okay… God will look after her.” Ha! God is not looking after anyone!
Taking Ashton by the hand, I quickly lead him away as the ground begins to shake violently, knocking us over.
“Jada, get up!” Zak yells.
“IT’S GOING TO GO!” Gérard screams.
I grab Ashton off the ground, and he holds on to me for dear life. The gap grew with the last movement of the bridge, and the river is raging beneath us.
Zak’s face is ghost-white. He doesn’t think I can make the jump.
“You have to catch Ashton,” I calmly inform them.
“What?” Ashton asks.
“They will catch you,” I try to reassure him. Please, Lord, don’t let me drop him.
I take two steps back “After three…One, two, three!” I hold my breath as I throw Ashton through the air.
What have I done?
My heart stops for a moment, pressure fills my lungs, and I cannot breathe. A moment later I’m exhaling with great relief when Gérard catches him. I did it! I saved him!
Two steps back… that’s all I have time for. I sprint as quickly as possible with the small amount of space I have.
