Chapter 42
CRUTCH
My shoulders ache.
I’m carrying the chainsaw on one shoulder and the two axes on the other shoulder. And Lulu actually took the belt from my jeans, slid it through the handle of the gasoline tank, and wrapped it caddy-corner around my body, like I’m some girl, carrying a purse.
She’s hauling the tarp and flashlights. We’ve stopped here and there on our trek to the middle of the neighborhood to Ray and Teresa’s house. Lulu gave away one of the tarps to someone whose roof was entirely missing from their living room. Apparently, the lady had antique furniture from her great-grandmother and she was terrified it would ruin in the elements. So many other people could use the other tarp, but Lulu refuses to let it go in case Ray and Teresa need it. I’ve already used the chainsaw and axes more in the past hour than I ever have in my entire life.
We’ve seen houses completely blown off their foundation, like someone picked it up and dropped it down, fifteen feet to the left. We’ve seen houses completely split in two from trees. One house even had a car in its bathroom, sitting right on top of the bathtub.
We turn onto Ray and Teresa’s street, and Lulu immediately starts running. The sun is starting to set, casting everything in the glow of twilight, and she has a hard time seeing anything with all of the branches and limbs scattered everywhere. She stumbles a few times, the heavy weight of the tarp pulling her forward. I jog as fast as I can, but the sloshing gasoline makes me go slower. “Lulu, slow down!”
It’s a moot point. Telling Lulu what to do on a day like today is like trying to tell the sun not to shine.
I can’t believe my eyes when I get to the middle of the street. Standing there, like a flower among the weeds, are three houses, completely and totally unscathed from the damage and destruction. One of them is Ray and Teresa’s house. I mean, it doesn’t even look like one single shingle is missing. They have a few small twigs and leaves scattered across the groomed yard, but that’s it.
Teresa has Lulu wrapped in a death grip when I finally make it up the driveway. I’ve barely put the chainsaw and axes down on the ground when Teresa flings her arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. Once again, I’m reminded of the family I should’ve had. And it makes me miss my grandpa and grandma.
“I’m so glad you kids are okay. I was terrified for you.” She wipes the tears from her eyes. “For everyone.”
“Raylee?”
Teresa turns to Lulu, holding her cell phone in the air. “I just talked to her about fifteen minutes ago. Service has been terrible for everyone in the neighborhood since the storm came though.”
“I can’t believe your house didn’t get hit,” I say.
She shrugs in disbelief. “It’s unexplainable.” She coughs, choking back emotion. She points to the house on the left. “The Conways are fine.” She switches to the house on the right. “And Mrs. Tucker too. She’s widowed. We actually had her with us when the tornado came through.”
“Where’s Uncle Ray and Holt? Ridge?” Lulu looks around, searching.
“They are out there helping. Some people are trapped in their houses by the trees. I was waiting here, trying to get ahold of Raylee and you.”
I swing the chainsaw and axes back onto my sore shoulders. “Just point me in the right direction.” Teresa points to the left. I stop in front of Lulu, lowering my voice. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken so mean to her. “You will stay here. You will not come with me. You will not wander all over this death trap. It’s too dangerous. So help me, Lulu, I will completely flip my shit. Night is falling, and I cannot help your uncle and cousin if I’m consumed with worry about you. Do you understand?”
She stares at me. Wide-eyed and innocent. Like she’s never done a single thing to cause me one second of worry.
Hell, I’ve done nothing but worry about her since the moment I laid eyes on her.
Teresa places a hand on my shoulder. “She can help me. Several houses right around here have families with small children. We need to gather the little kids and bring them to our house so the parents can sort through what’s left, put up tarps, cut trees, do whatever they need to do. We’ll just hit a few houses. I promise we’ll be back here before it’s dark.”
I turn back to Lulu. “Promise me.”
She completely surprises me. “Ask me.”
I don’t have time for this, Ray needs my help. But how can I deny My Lulu. “Tell me something. Something no one else knows.”
She kisses my lips. “From here on out, I’ll never break my promises to you.”
***
Hours.
We work for hours. Me, Ray, Holt, Ridge, Ridge’s father, and Ridge’s little brother, Cullen. And we are all covered from head to toe in complete filth.
Around midnight, when none of us can barely stand, we walk back over to Ray and Teresa’s. We say goodnight to Ridge and his family and head inside. Candles are lit, casting a soft glow on the sleeping children scattered across the living room. If I had been thinking straight, I would’ve packed all the battery lanterns from the homestead, but they are all in the storage bins. Assuming, I still have storage bins left. I’m hoping the site and my truck made it out of the storm untouched since the body shop and gas station are fine.
I count seven slumbering little bodies. It looks like Teresa and Lulu made pallets for the children. The fixings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are spread out across the kitchen counter, and Teresa is stacking sandwich on top of sandwich on a large platter.
“I thought you all would be starving.” She adds another sandwich to the pile. “The hot water heater already ran out of water, so you guys can either take a cold shower or just wash off. A sheriff’s deputy dropped off several gallons of distilled water. We put a gallon jug in each of the bathtubs; at least it’s room temperature.”
Ray wraps Teresa in a hug. She holds him back like she hasn’t seen him in ten years, not even caring that his sweat and filth are rubbing all over her. They intimately whisper to one another. I glance around, looking for my own woman to hug. A small sliver of worry pierces my heart when I don’t see her.
“She’s upstairs in Raylee’s room, rocking the baby. Her room is the only one with a glider.”
“Baby?”
She nods. “Neighbors five houses up have an eleven-month-old.”
Holt bumps me on the shoulder, handing me a flashlight. “Come on, I’ll show you. You can borrow some clothes too.”
“Crutch, come back down and eat after you see her. You need your strength. Ray just said y’all are heading back out to meet the Conways at six in the morning for more work.”
I nod, following Holt up the stairs. “Yes, ma’am.”
We stop outside of his room. He grabs me a fresh T-shirt, pair of gym shorts, socks, and jeans. “Thought you’d wanna sleep in the shorts. The jeans for tomorrow may be an inch or two too short, but they should fit in the waist.” He furrows his brow. “I didn’t give you any of my underwear. You’re a chill dude, but I don’t think we’re exactly there yet.”
I chuckle, rubbing my hands across my face. “Smart move. Thanks.” He points me in the right direction as he closes himself in the bathroom to wash up. I slowly push open the bedroom door. It was only closed halfway, but it still creaks.
She’s standing in front of the large window, blinds raised, and she’s looking out into the neighborhood. The cold front has pushed away the remaining clouds and the moon shines bright, illuminating the devastation in an eerie glow. Her thin hips and curved bottom sway from left to right as she rocks the baby back and forth in her arms.
Holy. Shit.
What a beautiful sight for sore eyes.
Wiping those thoughts from my mind and filing them away for the future—a long, long, long time in the future—I walk over to her, sweep her hair to the side and gently kiss the scar on her neck. She combed her hair. When I left her, it looked like rats had taken up residence in her ponytail. She’s in the same clothes and smells like dried rainwater and ozone. She moans, leaning back against my chest. I can’t smell good, but she doesn’t seem to care. I peek over her shoulder at the sleeping baby. A little girl. Her small fist is balled up like she’s about to punch someone and her little face is scrunched up like she’s mad. All of a sudden, her face relaxes in her sleep and she smiles.
I laugh under my breath. That’s pretty damn funny.
“It took forever for her to go to sleep. And she can’t decide if she’s mad or happy about it. I guess she’s both.” She nuzzles against my jaw. “Her name is Alexis. Her parents’ house is bad, but not destroyed. The mom will come get her tomorrow morning. She said they’ll go to her sister’s house.”
“Must be hard. I can’t imagine having your life upended like this. Let alone while having to take care of a little baby.” I reach around and run my finger across Alexis’ smooth cheek, taking care not to get her dirty.
Holt leans in the bedroom, whispering. “I’m finished in the bathroom, man.”
I squeeze Lulu’s waist. “We haven’t talked about it, but I assume we’re staying here for the night, right? I’m supposed to go back out with the guys at six in the morning.”
“Yeah, I can’t leave Aunt Teresa with all of these kids.”
“I’m gonna go get cleaned up and eat a few sandwiches. Are you hungry?”
She shakes her head, shifting Alexis into a more comfortable position. “No, I already ate. Can you tell Aunt Teresa that I’m gonna sleep up here with the baby? If she starts crying during the night, I don’t want her to wake the other kids. There’s one more sealed bottle of formula downstairs. Can you bring it up? Aunt Teresa has it.”
“You got it.”
I quickly rinse as much dirt from my hair and body as I can. I’m not sure what to do with my dirty clothes so I just toss them in the hamper with Holt’s. I know he didn’t share his underwear with me, but he has to give me a little bit of leeway with the deodorant. I rifle around in the bathroom drawers, find some men’s deodorant, and lather it on before going downstairs.
Teresa sits with Ray, Holt, and me while we eat. I eat four sandwiches, and I know Holt eats more than me.
“Ella’s gonna keep the baby upstairs in case she starts to cry during the night. She asked me to bring up a bottle of formula?”
Teresa nods, grabbing it from the counter.
Ray clears his throat. “There’s a guest bedroom upstairs. I assume that’s where you’re gonna sleep tonight, right, son?”
I’m dying to wrap my arms around Lulu, hold her close and never let her go. I could’ve lost her today. That thought makes me want to collapse on the floor in a pile of tears and snot. Like a complete pussy. But… this is his house. And I have to respect his wishes. I just nod. “Sir.”
Together, Holt and I climb the stairs again. By now, it’s already one in the morning, so we’ve only got five hours to sleep before we head back out. The second I walk into Raylee’s room, that big pussy heart of mine just melts even more.
Lulu’s spread across the bed, cuddling Alexis in her arms. She changed into fresh clothes while I was gone—must belong to Raylee. The T-shirt fits fine, but the pajama pants are short, riding well above her ankles. There’s a burning flashlight, sitting on the dresser. Lulu shined it at a small section of the wall, so there’s just enough light to see in case she wakes up. But based on her heavy and even breathing, I don’t see her waking up any time soon.
I gently place the formula next to the flashlight. I respect the hell out of Ray, but if he thinks I’m leaving my gorgeous girl alone after a day like this, he’s a lunatic. I walk into the other room, grab a pillow, and rip the comforter and top sheet from the bed. I quickly make a pallet on the floor next to Lulu and Alexis. Giving them each a kiss on the forehead, I crawl into my makeshift bed and pass out.
It seems like only mere seconds tick away before someone is knocking me awake. I jump. Nothing like a toe to the shoulder to make a man really piss his pants in the morning. I open my eyes to see Ray standing over me.
He glances at the bed, and I assume Lulu and the baby are still sleeping. Whispering, he holds out a hand, helping me up. “Come on. It’s six.”
Grabbing my boots and the pair of jeans from the corner of the room, I follow him out the door, leaving Lulu softly snoring. I quietly close the door.
When we get out of earshot, Ray claps a hand across my shoulder. “I wouldn’t have listened to me either.”