Amitola: The Making of a Tribe

by A. Grant Richard

  “I don’t know, I don’t actually remember doing anything,” she replied.

  He looked, but he was having trouble finding the wound. "I'm gonna have to move your shirt. I can't see anything like this."

  "Go ahead. I have two tank tops and ace bandages galore under this. You couldn’t see anything if you tried,” she laughed.

  He unbuttoned the shirt and carefully removed it from the left shoulder. He and Caleb looked at each other wide-eyed. She was covered in bruises, some new, some old. He started to pull it off of her right shoulder. "Ouch!" Maia said. "What the hell is that?"

  "The blood dried to your shoulder. I have to pull it. I'm gonna hold your skin together then rip this off okay?"

  Hold skin together? Rip it off? "Wait. What? Ow!” she said as he ripped the shirt from the cut.

  "Babe, you really got a nasty cut. You struck him over the shoulder with that bottle, didn't you?" Tye looked at her sympathetically.

  She looked away from him. "I did what I had to do. I was tired, and I didn't think I'd be able to fight him off.” She looked back at him, “I wasn’t thinking about whether or not my shoulder was in the way.”

  He gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You did what I taught you to do. You survived. Now, let's get you patched up."

  Using the first aid kit, Tye was able to clean and bandage her wound. He pulled a couple of shards of glass out which alleviated most of her pain there. She couldn’t fathom why it hurt so bad. But, it wasn’t just her shoulder and feet. Her body ached from the fighting, hiking, and sleeping in trees. It was excruciating. She was wincing so much that Charlie suggested she drink some of the whiskey to take the edge off.

  "Drink up, girl," Caleb joked with her.

  She took the mason jar and lifted it to her mouth. The smell hit her before she could even take a sip. She decided to man up and go for it. As soon as he saw her swallow it, Tye laughed and asked if she was okay. Her face said it all. Her eyes watered, every muscle in her face tensed up, and she fanned her mouth like crazy because she felt like she was breathing fire.

  "Whooo! Bebebebebebebebe…" she muttered, her face shaking from side to side. “I don’t know if that dulled any pain, but it certainly took my mind off it.”

  “Figured it would,” Charlie said.

  She had assumed Charlie meant the whiskey would dull the pain from her body, but it was evident to the others he meant her heart, especially when he offered it to Tye immediately after. He gladly accepted, and his whiskey face was much less amusing than hers. He most certainly had more experience with it than she did.

  “That’ll put hair on your chest,” he said after gulping it down.

  Caleb noticed a pair of scissors in the first aid kit and decided to cut her socks off instead of peeling them off. Earlier he found a first aid book on the shelf and read that the skin covering a blister should stay intact as long as possible.

  Once the socks came off, they could see the damage. There were several blisters of all sizes on every part of her feet or toes that rubbed against her shoes. The worst was the big blisters on the heel and soles of her feet. All of them had drained, so all that was required was a good cleaning, some antibiotic ointment, and bandages. They fixed her up just in time for her turn in the shower.

  Tye walked her to the bathroom and grabbed the last dry towel and her clean clothes. He placed them on the floor for her and was about to close the door when he saw her struggling. "Your clothes are wet already. Why don't you let me wash your hair while you still have your clothes on?"

  She smiled at him and shook her head yes. ”Thank you."

  Inside the shower, there was a shower seat, a bucket, and some toiletries. She turned on the shower to fill the bucket with clean water. There was minimal pressure, so it was more like a faucet. It was easier to fill the bucket. They had to conserve the water as much as possible anyway. The filter could only process so much at one time.

  She sat on the floor of the shower and leaned her head back into the bucket to wet it. She sat up and kept her head tilted back a little. "Um, there's no shampoo," Tye said.

  “We don’t have any here. Just make a paste with the baking soda. Watch,” she took his hands and cupped them together then poured some baking soda and water into them. She used her finger to mix it together. “See, shampoo,” she said.

  He flashed those dimples she knew all too well and plopped the concoction on top of her head. "Holy crap. You have got some hair on your head. This stuff is like a lion's mane."

  Her hair was so oily that when it mixed with the baking soda, it immediately worked up to a lather. He couldn't resist molding it into different shapes and piling it on top of her head. He was like a kid who just opened a pound of moon sand. She figured she'd let him have his fun while she was too tired to strike back. She'd get him later. Besides, her hair needed a good cleaning, and it felt good to have someone taking care of her.

  His eyes caught something on her back. Her tank top was covering part of it but he was able to make out a box, a line and what looked like a B, P or an R. He thought it was a strange tattoo but looking at it closer it was more of a scar.

  “What’s this on your back?”

  She immediately threw her arm across her chest and put her hand over her shoulder to cover it. “Nothing. It’s just a scar.”

  He finally quit playing and managed to get her hair rinsed. "Do you want to hold this wet towel over you while I get your pants off?" he asked handing her one of the towels they'd used earlier. She almost couldn't believe it. Who said chivalry was dead?

  “No, I can get it,” she replied.

  He raised his eyebrows at her. “Really? You can hardly move.”

  “Okay, fine,” she replied.

  She was careful to hold the towel tight against her inner thighs. It took a while, but Tye was able to get her pants off over her bandages. She was glad he helped because it would've taken her all day to get those wet jeans off by herself.

  Tye said, “I’m gonna close the curtain. Once you get the rest of your clothes off, toss them out here, and I'll put them smelly things in the barrel outside.” He grabbed his nose, “You stink, woman.”

  Her mouth opened in shock. "You did not—Tye Agosta!”

  He busted out laughing and backed away with his hands up. She continued,"You think you smell good. I cannot believe you said that!“

  "Hey," he shouted over her. "Put them clothes out here, mami.”

  She shook her head, grinning to herself. She missed their banter. She pulled the curtain closed and turned away to remove her tank tops, ace bandages and panties. She wrapped them all together and reached behind her then dropped them outside of the curtain. Then she realized he may have seen her hairy legs and underarms. Oh, well. She could live with that. Her scar on the other hand…she had to find a way to get rid of it.

  Once she heard Tye close the door behind him, she began the process of removing four days worth of gunk and sweat, taking care not to disturb the bandages on her feet or shoulder. The water may have been cold, but it felt so good to be clean.

  It astonished her what a person could get used to. Sponge baths with baking soda were her new norm. The baking soda worked for everything. In fact, she found it washed her hair better than shampoo did. If only it smelled as good as the Almond Shea Butter shampoo, she once used. One can never be too thankful for a clean body, hair, and teeth. They truly are under-appreciated commodities.

  She dried off and carefully stepped into her cozy sweatpants then put on the super soft t-shirt she’d taken from an LSU shop her crew scavenged. She paused and stood there taking it all in. Her pores were open. They could finally breathe again. And that shirt, it was so soft it was like a never-ending hug.

  She rubbed the t-shirt on her face. It reminded her of how much she missed Lance. How he would pick on her for being so fond of such a silly thing as cotton. Then he’d rub his face all over her shirt tickling her and giving her zerberts at the same time. What she
wouldn’t give to have him here right now, his face in her chest, safe, alive.

  She sighed. Picking up her toothbrush, she knew it was time to shake it off again. She despised this emotional roller coaster. She’d had no time to grieve. No matter what anyone says, the process of dealing with a loved one’s death causes temporary paralysis. Your mind goes numb. Your body becomes immobile. The exception is the involuntary reflexes of wailing; the cleansing of sorrow and the body tensing up into a semi-fetal position bringing you back to the time in your life when you were the most secure.

  You have to go through it, but if you stay there too long, you never come out of it. She’d seen it happen. She’d watched as others fell because they couldn’t escape it. So, she processed her grief in snippets of time, like tonight, and like today when she cried without warning in Caleb’s arms.

  Why had she done that?

  She wasn’t going to worry about it now. She’d cherish what she had here in the present. Her older boys were safe. She’d been found and rescued by two men she believed she could count on. They promised to help her find her baby boy. Her mouth was minty fresh. She was clean. She was safe. Even if only for now, this was good.

  Tye caught a glimpse of her as she stepped out of the bathroom. He liked that the t-shirt and sweats clung in all the right places. Without the baggy clothes, she actually looked like a woman again. Looking at her like that reminded him that he was attracted to her at times. But, he noticed that her body was much slimmer than it used to be.

  She’d always been a petite lil’ thing, but she lost some of the curves and bounce that used to catch his eye during practice on the mat. Her hips, her backside, even her chest, all smaller. She looked frail even. That realization brought him back to the present state of things. People were starving. People were still dying.

  She passed the kids who were resting on the bunks and sat right between him and Caleb on the small couch. Instinctively, he offered her some of his food. He was on his second bowl of Ramen with chicken and had a chocolate coconut protein bar for dessert. She declined, so Charlie offered to make her another bowl.

  Her belly full, she held her hand up, “No, I’m good. Thanks, though.”

  Still, Tye insisted that she eat a few bites of his. She finally agreed when she saw he wasn’t going to back down. It was hard for her to believe that she'd once been a germaphobe. Here she was eating off this man's fork.

  "So, how do you know each other?” Tye asked, pointing back and forth between Maia and Charlie.

  "Ha. Well, that's a whole bag full of laughs,” Charlie said.

  "Yeah, for you maybe,” Maia replied.

  “Well, one thing we got plenty of is time.” Tye pulled Sadie down between him and Maia on the couch. He wrapped his arm around her. Elex sat on the floor drawing with some art supplies Charlie found. The rest of them patiently sat waiting for the grand story.

  Four months prior, the effects of the media’s reporting of a catastrophic worldwide disaster finally realized, Charlie came into their lives. Maia took the protein bar out of Tye's hands, and he couldn’t help but smile. She took a bite. All eyes were on her. "Oh, you want to hear the story?”

  "I do," Junior said.

  She grinned. "We were out scavenging one day, and this group of guys got the jump on some of us. We thought we were gone. Thankfully, some of the older guys in our group caught up to us, but they weren’t having much luck getting them to let us go.” Maia handed the protein bar back to Tye. He pushed it back to her and winked, "No, you eat it.”

  “What? You don’t want to eat after me now?”

  He grabbed the protein bar, bit off a piece then handed it back to her. “I’m trying to plump you back up, woman. Eat the thing.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Awe, I forgot how sweet you can be when you aren’t beating people up.” He grinned and shushed her.

  "Go on..." Caleb said.

  She points to Charlie, "This fool was on the other side of I-12 when he saw what was going on. She took another bite and chewed it. She bought time to relive the memory. “He could’ve ignored us and kept going. A lot of people did. They would stare, shake their heads and move on. I can't blame them, really. I probably would have done the same thing in their shoes."

  Tye reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “No, you wouldn't. You didn't leave Clarisse.”

  "I guess so. I'm just saying it's about survival now, and I get that." She looked adoringly over at the old man. "But, he didn’t move on. He intervened...like you guys did. This messed up world really does still have good people left."

  Tye could see the adoration in her face as she stared back at him. It was as though her mind connected all the dots giving her a clear picture of what they'd done for her and what they were willing to sacrifice for her. He needed her to see it. He needed her to trust them.

  She sat up straight, and her eyes darted from face to face. Charlie was alone with nothing to lose. Caleb and Tye had everything to lose, namely their kids, and yet they still helped her. Suddenly her appreciation was more profound than it had been before. Her body released most of its tension, and she finally began to relax.

  “We saw him coming from about six car lengths away. The dust was still thick then, so it wasn’t until he was much closer, that we saw his hands above his head and something in his hands.”

  “Don’t forget the big bag I had across my chest.” Charlie interrupted, “See, I told them I had something they might want.”

  "Yeah, and when he said it, he sounded like he had a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth or something. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.” She wrapped her arm around Sadie giving her a big hug.

  Charlie used a ruler to trace out a timeline on graphing paper. “I was probably a few yards away from them still when the punk tells his boys to check me,” he said.

  Maia was snuggling Sadie. They smiled at each other, and she continued the story. “But Charlie wasn’t about to let that happen, so he goes all Cajun on ‘em. He tells him not to come any closer then he does this thing like he’s about to hock a loogie and he spits. We hear something clank on the road. I’m thinking this guy is a nutcase.”

  Tapping his ruler on the paper, Charlie said, “I tell them it was pins from the grenades I’m holding, and if they don’t let these folks go, I’m gon’ drop ‘em into this big bag full of more purdy grenades and then everybody can say buh-bye to this godforsaken shithole. It was slightly more dramatic than that, though.” They laughed at the old man's lively way of storytelling then they waited for more.

  Maia finished up the protein bar and took a couple of swigs of water. "Then the guy gets a bit ornery and decides he's going to challenge the obnoxious Cajun with the bag full of grenades asking him why the heck he would blow us all up. And Charlie, he’s all like, 'Why not go out with a bang? I got nothing left. Try me,'” she said mimicking him.

  Charlie motioned with his hands, “They finally decided it wasn’t worth it and left. Now, all eyes are on me, right? The crazy old man with the bag full of grenades."

  Maia continued, ”And we have no idea what he’s was gonna do with them. The only consolation we had was that there was only one of him so it might be easier to escape but then we knew we’d have to outrun the explosion. Then this fool starts laughing, hysterically."

  “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe those suckers fell for it! And I just wasn't thinking. I laughed so hard I bowled over, and all the stuff pours out of the bag." Charlie acted out the scenario as he talked, "Rodney and the older boys tried to stop them from falling out the bag, but it was too late."

  Maia laughs. ”I see what's happening and I’m tied up. I can’t do anything about it, so I just close my eyes waiting to die, but then, nothing happened. By that time Rodney had grabbed the pins off of the ground, and he realized they were hitch pins. He got so mad. Then I hear Chad, another one of our boys, yelling, 'These aren’t grenades! They’re potatoes; black potatoes.' It was awesome!"

  Charli
e threw his hands up. “I'm like yeah, it’s all potatoes! I'm pretty sure Rodney was about to clock me one. He's a good kid though. He didn’t. So, anyway, I tricked them with a bag full of taters.”

  Elex handed Caleb, a picture of an old guy with a bag full of grenades. He drew a cartoon version of Charlie while they were telling the story. It looked like a psycho Santa Claus minus the red outfit. “What the hell gave you that idea?” Caleb asked Charlie.

  “I love history. I always get a kick out of the tactics armies use to win battles.” His face lit up as he launched into a lecture. “History is full of stories about trickery on the battlefield. One time I put together a history based battle plan with—“ he stopped when he realized he was rambling and no one was interested.

  “Bottom line: I saw what was happening, I wanted to help, I had no weapon, but I had black spray paint, and I knew there were potatoes on a nearby truck,” he giggled again then continued.

  “I grabbed the hitch pins and figured if I dropped ‘em far enough away they’d sound like the real thing. And I be dang. It worked!”

  “Why?” Tye asked him.

  “It’s called the power of persuasion. Fear is your greatest weapon,” Charlie replied.

  “No, that’s not what I meant.”

  Charlie held his hands up, “Then, why what?”

  “Why’d you go through all that trouble just to help them?” Tye asked.

  Charlie gave it some thought before he spoke. “I don’t know. It was a combination of things. I saw the fight Maia had in her. It reminded me of my daughter. I saw the boys, and they reminded me of my students. But, I also knew I wouldn’t make it out there alone. You don’t hear about many loners in history. We read about tribes and clans. It’s not only how we survive it’s why we want to. We all need a tribe to belong to, and they looked like my kind of people.” He looked at Maia and smiled. “I was right.”

  The old man became a part of their tribe after that. It wasn’t long before they were just as attached to him as he was to them. He’s smart and strategic. He taught them about history, the land, and survival but most importantly; he became someone they leaned on heavily. When they found the storm shelter in the burned-out house, they were happy to help him make it his home base.