Chapter 61
Chapter Sixty-One
WYATT
The nights in Poblocki can be quiet. There’s no traffic noise or rowdy neighbors besides the animals, but the type of quiet with the power down is different.
The generators are still running all around us.
It seems like my house is the only one that doesn’t have one.
I’ll have to fix that immediately. Don’t know why no one told me that I needed one or that it was even an option.
Nash is hot on my arm since the air conditioning isn’t working, but I’m relieved to see her there. We didn’t get swept away by flood waters; the wind didn’t tear the roof off my house. She’s safe. I’m safe. That’s all I could ask for on the morning after my first hurricane.
My stirring wakes her. “Good morning,” I whisper. It feels like talking will be yelling in this silence.
“Good morning.” She stretches her hands over her head. I’m sure sleeping on this couch wasn’t the most comfortable, both of us being giants and all. But if it’s the safest, I’m glad we did.
“Should we get something to eat?” I’m starving even after both of the burgers I ate last night. All that worrying worked up an appetite.
“How’s peanut butter sandwiches sound? The power has been out long enough that everything in the fridge is already trash. But the freezer should last forty-eight hours.”
“What are the chances the power will be back on by then?”
She thinks for a second, surely considering all her previous hurricane experiences. “Medium.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means some areas might get power back quickly while other’s will be in isolated pockets of outages for longer. You’re not that far from the big hospitals, so hopefully you get it quick.”
“Hopefully.”
I check my phone. There’s still cell phone service, so we huddle around it trying to see the damages.
There was enough rain to flood low-lying houses in the Houston area, of which there are many.
People are putting together volunteer crews to go help those who need it.
Fallen trees need to be cut up and cleared away; any house that has water inside it needs to have everything wet ripped out in less than forty-eight hours so mold doesn’t start growing.
I look at Nash after reading the extent of the damage. “Do you want to go help?”
“I would love that. Maybe we can get the Hurricanes and the Moons together.”
“Let me send a text to the group.”
Is anyone interested in finding a place to volunteer?
Colin
For sure.
Jaden
Do you guys have power?
We don’t.
Colin
We have a generator.
Noah
We don’t either. Went out at about one AM.
Jaden
Same
Mack
Lucky bastard.
Colin
Anyone who wants to can come stay here.
I’ll reach out to and find someone who needs volunteers.
“Okay,” I say to Nash. “Colin is going to find somewhere for us to help out.”
“I’ll text the Moons and see who wants to come.”
“Do you want to go stay at Colin’s? They have a generator.”
She shrugs. “Sure, that sounds good. In about six hours, it’s going to be miserable in here.”
A couple hours later my phone pings.
Colin
There’s an elderly couple who ended up with a few inches of water in their house that need help. Their address is 5678 North Washington Avenue. Can everyone be there at two PM?
Jaden
I’ll be there
Noah
We’ll be there
See you then. Some of the Moons might come.
I copy the address and text it to Nash. “Send this address to the Moons and see who wants to meet us there at two o’clock.”
I’m amazed by how blue the sky is. It’s like the dark gray clouds from last night never existed, like I imagined them all.
How could the sky be so calm after 140 mph winds whipped through it just twelve hours ago?
The trees that are still standing are a little short on leaves, and a lot of the trees that fell across roads have already been cut up and hauled away.
All my neighbors are outside cleaning up falling sticks and debris when we pull out of the garage after having to manually open it.
Nash and I waved on our way out, and to be honest, I don’t remember the last time I did that.
Since I never planned on staying, it didn’t seem important to get to know anyone. But now…
I slow my truck down as the GPS says we’re approaching the address of the house of the elderly couple. The street is lined with cars already.
“Just pull up to the curb.” Nash points to a spot a few houses down. “We’ll walk it.”
So I do and we hop out. Colin got this sanctioned as an official Hurricanes thing, so I’ve got my Hurricanes t-shirt and ballcap on. Nash is wearing a Moons t-shirt and rainboots.
We walk up to the house and the rest of the guys are already here.
“What’s up, man?” asks Colin.
“Nothing much,” I say back as we clap hands and each other’s backs.
“All good?”
“Yeah, not too bad. Just no power, but we’ll take you up on your offer and camp out at your place until it comes back.”
“Okay, dope. Chrissy is at home cooking for everyone.”
Nash is greeting her teammates as well. They’re all hugging each other and laughing. I don’t think she’s seen any of them since they won the championship. Everyone kind of took a break and then we were out of town. This is one hell of a reunion.
I say hello to Jaden and Mack before a man I’ve never met comes through the front door of the house and speaks to us.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming. My name is John, and I own a clean-up company. Today we are here pro bono helping out the Pattersons. We started early this morning and are glad to have you here to help this afternoon. Half of you will be relegated to helping rip up the floors, and the other half will be helping to haul debris outside to the curb. Please come take a mask before you go inside.”
I look over my shoulder and back at the curb where piles of trash are already forming. Who is going to come get all of this? How long will it take to clean up?
We line up and take our mask from John. The inside of the house is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
The water only went up a couple inches, but the drywall is cut out to almost the bottom of my knee all the way around the house.
There are probably ten other people in here all carrying shovels full of wet carpet, or handfuls of ruined walls.
Someone puts the local classic rock radio station on a speaker as we get our teams. Nash and I are put in separate groups, so for the next couple hours we just pass by each other.
It’s a quiet type of labor. I don’t know if it’s the reverence of being in someone’s house that was basically destroyed, or if it’s from the backbreaking work.
My muscles aren’t just for show, but everything weighs a thousand pounds when it’s wet.
Colin stands with his hands on his knees sucking in air, something we’re not allowed to do on the field.
Jaden is taking a break on an upside-down bucket guzzling water.
I scan the room for Nash and spot her with Mrs. Patterson who is showing her the pictures that haven’t yet been taken off the wall.
At around six o’clock, John calls an end to the day and asks us to gather around him.
I stand in a semi-circle with Nash, and both of our teammates and friends and look at what we were able to accomplish in just one afternoon with the help of so many hands.
“We so appreciate your help today. If you’re available and interested, you can come back tomorrow to help us finish the tear out and start spraying bleach. We’ll start at eight AM.”
“Thank you for letting us come crash your work site,” says Colin, reaching out to shake the man’s hand.
“We’re lucky to have you.” He points playfully at Colin. “Thanks for the signed Hurricanes hat.”
“It’s no big deal.”
We all wave as we head out the front. Nash says goodbye to the Moons who are all staying at Simin’s parents’ place that is far enough out of the city that it still has power.
Colin takes a headcount of who is going to his house, and basically everyone else raises their hands.
I head out to my truck to grab a sports drink from the cooler we packed for ourselves, not knowing what would or wouldn’t be provided here.
“I’ll take one, too,” Nash says from behind, startling me. I hand her the blue one—I know that’s her favorite flavor. We lean against my truck, drained.
“I’m glad we could help, but I’m exhausted.”
“Big bad football player can’t stand some actual work,” she teases.
“I’ve been keeping up just fine, thank you.” I gesture to the ever-growing pile of furniture, fabric, carpet, and wood at the curb. “I did part of that.”
“I brought it out here,” she chuffs.
We sip our drinks in silence, both of our eyes roaming around.
The street is alive with people going to and from trucks, in and out of houses.
Few homes were saved from the water damage, on this street, in particular.
I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve also never seen Nash like this.
Sweat? Yes. But dirty from a day of hard work in the heat?
No. She looks ethereal even with her hair sticking to her neck.
I soak in being in her presence because who knows how much longer I have?