Prologue #2
Later, she would ask Alex just exactly what kind of favors he did for his friend.
As they maneuvered through the lanes of airport traffic, Charlotte’s stomach twisted with nerves.
This wasn’t like her. She usually was able to handle everything that came her way.
Once again, Charlotte shook her head and resolved to get her mother to safety as she felt obligated to do, and then she would return to Tampa and continue her life.
It was a relief that her daughter Emma was at a soccer camp in Colorado, far away from the weather’s wrath.
The sky was a bruised palette of grays and blacks as Charlotte and Alex sped away from Tampa International Airport in Johnathan’s Ford.
They dropped Johnathan off at his shop before heading south.
Lots of thanks and promises were made. Charlotte hoped she could return the favor someday to both Johnathan and Alex.
With each mile they put behind them, the promise of safety seemed to dwindle. The truck wipers battled against the onslaught of rain that hammered down with relentless fury, a prelude to the chaos Hurricane Ivan promised to unleash.
Charlotte’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the handle of the borrowed truck, a sturdy thing that felt far too fragile against the howling winds. She glanced at Alex, his jaw set with determination as he navigated through the hundreds of vehicles that inched along once they reached the interstate.
Her mind raced as she and Alex drove across the increasingly treacherous roads. Rain lashed against the truck windows, and the wind threatened to blow them off I-75.
“Can you see all right?” Charlotte asked, squinting through the windshield as another gust of wind slapped a sheet of rain against it.
“Enough to know this isn’t going to be a smooth ride,” Alex replied briefly, flipping the wipers on high.
The road ahead was a panorama of destruction.
Power lines bowed and danced like frantic puppets before succumbing to the storm’s fury, snapping and falling across the interstate in tangled heaps of live wires sparking dangerously.
“Watch out!” Charlotte’s warning came just in time for Alex to swerve around a hulking mass that was once a billboard, now nothing more than a crumpled landmark of the hurricane’s growing wrath.
They drove on, the truck’s headlights revealing a grim procession of abandoned vehicles, some with hazard lights still blinking weakly, others silent and dark, their occupants having fled in search of safer harbor.
Each one was a reminder of the urgency of their mission; her mother needed to be removed from the assisted living center before Ivan made landfall.
Charlotte wondered if she should leave well enough alone concerning her relationship with her mother.
As much as she wanted to, she wouldn’t expose her mother or her conscience to dwelling on the past. She’d put that behavior away a long time ago.
She wasn’t that girl anymore, though there were times like now when she allowed herself to go there.
“Look over there.” Alex pointed to a line of police cars, blue and red lights strobing through the downpour. Officers in reflective vests were signaling all southbound traffic to stop. With a grimace, Alex eased the truck into the line of vehicles.
“Are they going to let us through?” Charlotte’s voice barely rose above the drumming rain.
“Let’s hope so,” Alex said, and his tone held an edge of steel. “Your mother being stranded on the island should get us through. I might have to show my Florida driver’s license to prove I’m a legal resident,” he stated.
As they inched forward, the devastation wrought by the oncoming hurricane became ever more apparent.
Trees had given way to the assault, their branches strewn about like matchsticks.
Signposts bent at unnatural angles, and farther on, a piece of someone’s shingles skittered across the road like a giant, misshapen leaf.
“Look at all this,” Charlotte murmured, her heart heavy with foreboding, not just for her mother but for all those in the path of the storm.
“Hey,” Alex said, reaching over squeezing her hand, “we’re going to make it to Sanibel, okay? I promised.” His eyes when they met hers were resolute, echoing the confidence in his grin.
“Okay,” she whispered back, trying to absorb some of his conviction. They moved up the line, the officer’s hand finally waving them through after Alex showed his driver’s license and explained their situation, the gravity of their journey.
The officer told them I-75 was closing soon, and they would need an alternate route. He suggested Highway 17, a road closer inland, one they were familiar with.
Charlotte didn’t speak much to Alex, as she could see he was concentrating on driving.
Instead, Charlotte’s thoughts focused on her history with her mother.
They never had a normal mother/daughter relationship.
She didn’t even know what a normal relationship was until she was in the fifth grade.
And this was only after she’d spent the night with her best friend, Rhonda Davies.
Rhonda’s mother was very friendly and affectionate to Charlotte.
She made them breakfast every time Charlotte spent the night, and to this day Charlotte remembers what they ate: homemade waffles with bacon.
And they drank fresh-squeezed orange juice made from Rhonda’s family’s orange trees in their backyard.
Later they’d take the bus to Gulf Coast Center Mall, where they’d spend the day shopping.
She remembered the necklaces they’d purchased at Claire’s.
They read BESTIES FOREVER. She still had hers to this very day.
Alex turned on the radio so they could listen for any weather updates.
The announcer’s voice was laced with concern.
“People of Southwest Florida, although they are accustomed to occasional storms due to their geographical location, had best prepare for Hurricane Ivan, as he’s a big guy.
Residents are boarding up their homes and gathering essential supplies, fearing the worst.” He went on to suggest stores that still had cases of water and gas stations that were still open.
Charlotte glanced at the gas gauge. “We’re okay in the fuel department?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, we’re good, plus we’ve got plenty in the cans.”
She’d forgotten about those. “Johnathan’s a thoughtful guy,” she remarked.
She wanted to ask what favor Alex did for Johnathan that warranted all this, but it wasn’t the time.
He’d been a great friend to her, and she knew there was a possible chance their relationship might go further, but right now wasn’t the time for thoughts of a future relationship.
As the skies darkened and ominous clouds loomed overhead, her anxiety heightened. She took a deep breath. The last thing Alex needed was her acting like a frightened idiot.
Strong gusts of wind tossed debris through the air. Rain poured heavily, obscuring visibility, turning the road into a treacherous waterway.
Highway 17 took them through Haines City, an old citrus town where one could smell the sweet scent of orange blossoms when driving through the small town during the spring.
Charlotte had been through Haines City a few times during her secret drives to and from Florida.
Sadly, now she recalled how she’d never bothered to make a stop at her childhood home on those visits to Florida.
Her mother would’ve been enraged had she known she’d been in town and hadn’t bothered to visit.
Charlotte’s thoughts were all over the place.
She wondered if the orange trees would survive, and imagined how many folks would be out of a job as Mother Nature battered the small town.
The truck crawled slowly down the highway into a scene of devastation.
Charlotte wondered what would be left after the storm.
She could imagine the old houses they passed would be reduced to piles of rubble, reminiscent of a war zone if the winds didn’t ease up soon.
The streets would be filled with downed power lines and twisted metal, an eerie testament to the storm’s furious rampage.
The sound of sirens wailing in the distance made her realize people could, and most likely would, lose their lives.
She said a silent prayer that they would reach Sanibel before the full force of the hurricane made landfall.