Jolt
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On opening night, food, beverages, and discussions and comments encouraged by Rory were to occur only in the main area and Thaw was expected to avoid spending much time in the back display area.
Toward September, Dody stopped by the planning office as he often did to talk with Natalie about some construction questions. Although Dody and his wife had been informed of the marriage, to avoid putting them in an uncomfortable situation, Thaw and Natalie had made it clear that the wedding was to be private, but that everyone would be invited to the reception when they had decided it was time to have it. So Natalie showed Dody her wedding ring and invited him to come to dinner and to bring his wife, and for a reason only Dody (if he were so given to do) might explain, rather surprisingly he agreed to come…after he had talked to the missis…adding on second thought and with the same inscrutable expression, “right after Thanksgiving.”
From Natalie’s point of view he might just as well have said, “Yes. Maybe now. Maybe never.” But rather than challenge him, somewhat to her own surprise and catching him off guard, she quickly kissed him on the cheek, blushed, laughed and said, “See ya’ then, Dad,” with which Dody reached for and picked up his papers, turned and started for the door. At the door he stopped, bent, pulled on his boot and loudly complained, “Dang boot. New boots. Hate’em. Just hate’em. Hate new boots. Always take gettin’ used to,” and left without further comment.
EIGHT Spring Returns 2021
Winter faded and the days in Ellensville and Locklee turned idyllic. The population had been reduced somewhat over the winter, but the hospital was full, with the Newcomers visiting it regularly and the Villagers visiting too, though less frequently. The Newcomers visited loved ones and friends. The Villagers brought goodies and entertainment. Children played outside the small relief shelters strung along the lake. The lawns where Newcomers and Villagers shared housing once again began to take on the patchwork gardens and outside-living areas where here and there brightly colored umbrellas were raised to herald the hotter days yet to come. The town had given over the public park in pieces ten foot by ten foot to anyone interested in growing a garden. So many people reluctantly traded their lawn-gardens for park-gardens, loosening their newly made ties with village families and forming newer ties with other Newcomers. But a few doggedly resisted, and here and there on private lawns a lone Newcomer sowed a patch carved from the land of someone who had become a friend for better times, too.
By March the school reopened, and for the first time Newcomer and village youngsters mixed in classes doubled in size from the previous year. And where the population over the years had been steadily decreasing to the point that classes had been reduced to near half-empty, this spring they opened with classes filled to capacity and more. The balance was such that all the students felt a bit “new” and strange to the school, Villagers and Newcomers alike. The Newcomers came dressed in rather makeshift fashions, but they learned as well as other students and many excelled over the villages’ children. And they talked in a style of speech that was faster and more English-sounding than that of the villagers. And while some of the Newcomers were incredibly shy, the bulk of them were not and felt no compulsions about taking the lead in organizing games at play time. Even when the Newcomers dressed in a fashion similar to the Villagers, one could still recognize them by the prepared and dehydrated lunches they brought with them. Occasionally a village child would ask to trade his or her lunch for the Newcomer’s lunch. But only rarely did that same child ask to trade twice.
Thaw remained prolific in his artwork. And when Natalie’s sister and niece came up to visit they noted that he and Natalie seemed closer than ever. Natalie’s sister had arrived with the delighted announcement of her engagement to marry the man she had met through the synagogue. But in trying on some new makeup for an engagement party to be held in one of Bain’s finer hotels, they discovered a lump on Natalie’s sister’s thyroid. This was despite the fact that cancer of the thyroid was more common among children after radiation exposure. Oddly, Natalie’s sister seemed to take the news with equanimity. But then Natalie never knew of her sister’s decision to save her KI for her daughter. And, after all, it was probably operable as most early discovered thyroid cancers were. And she was an adult.
Natalie was encouraging, saying that at worst they would do a thyroidectomy and her sister would have to take levothyroxin for the rest of her life. Natalie’s sister already knew this but at that very moment, she felt not so sure of it. Nonetheless she gazed placidly if somewhat abstractly at her daughter, who was busy pouring over fashion books. “Mom,” she exclaimed. “Don’t you think I would look great in this one?”
“Sweetheart, you’d be beautiful in rags. But yes, that is a lovely one.”
acknowledgments
My deep appreciation to:
Joan Schweighardt, Albuquerque, NM, publisher, novelist and editor, for her insight, patience and steady guidance over the years from the early stages of Jolt through its fourth and final rewrite. How lucky I was to have found you…mentor, editor, long distance friend.
Kathleen Massaro, Barking Kat Design, NY, designer, for her patience in working with me as we determined the book’s format and cover design.
Kristi Paonessa, Raleigh, NC, for her wonderful cover photo journalism.
William E. Dickerson, M.D., retired Colonel, US Air Force, and the other instructors in the Medical Effects of Ionizing Radiation Course taught by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, MD, for their knowledge and inspiration.
And thanks also to those who helped along the way, listed here by location.
Poughkeepsie, NY: neighbors Matt Eisener, artist, for his over-the-fence discussions of the creative process and the characters in Jolt; Tim Lutsksy, architectural designer and friend who found me Carney and Carolyn;
Hyde Park, NY: Carolyn Link, social worker, for her enthusiasm as a first-reader; Carney Rhinevault, writer and surveyor to whom I owe so much for his first-reader suggestions and criticisms;
New Paltz, NY: Lorna Tychostup, Senior Editor for Chronogram for her excellent counsel, fun photo shoot, and for finding me Joan Schweighardt; Donald Wildy, stage actor/reader, long time colleague and friend, for his discussion of the role of the narrator in fiction; and Eileen Wildy, artist, actress, wife and mother, for her cheerful encouragement and holistic evaluation as a first reader;
Port Henry, NY: neighbors Jeffrey Kelly, novelist, editor, for sharing with me about the nuts and bolts of publishing; Jackie Viestenz, librarian, for serving as a networking facilitator;
Owego, NY: R.W. White, writer and author, for his long distance online support and discussion of the writing process.
ROBERTA M.ROY has lived most of her life in the Mid-Hudson Valley in New York State. The destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11/01 encouraged her to take a hundred hours of direct instruction from the military in how to respond to mass emergencies. Her studies culminated in the week long CBRNE course in Bethesda, Maryland in which the emphasis was on how to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosive mass events. Some of the less theoretical information she garnered from that course and others, as well as from research into alternative waste management, housing alternatives, and intensive gardening has found its way into the story of the Magdum Heights meltdown survivors and responders as they struggle to bring their lives back to normalcy.
Ms. Roy holds a B.A. in English from the State University College at Albany and an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Nebraska, a Certificate of Clinical Competency in Speech-Language Pathology from the American Speech-Language Association (ASHA) and a license as a Speech-Language Pathologist in the State of New York.