He grabbed her hand. “I know we will if we want it. We aren’t doing anything new. People have gone through much worse in the past.”
“I hope so, but I can’t help but wonder how you men will handle all of this. I mean, I can’t fathom how this is going to pan out.”
Letting go of her hand, he turned then propped himself up on his elbow and rested his right hand on her abdomen below the tiger emblem. “What do you mean?”
“Almost all of the women are gone, and the ones that are left are either in captivity or left scarred and diseased from rape.” She rested her hands above her head. “How are men going to deal with the things women have been through? Who decides who gets to have a relationship and who has to be alone? What about our sons? What about Sadie? How are we going to repopulate? Who decides what men get to have kids? I just don’t know how we’re going to do this.”
He moved his body higher up on the bed so he could look her in the eye. He rested his head on the pillow. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. All I know is the answer isn’t rape and slavery. We have to stick together; make a family again. And whatever you’ve been through, it’s not your fault. We’ll find a way to work through it.” She tried to turn her head, but he gently pulled her face back toward him. “You aren’t less of a woman because a man was able to overpower you.” He brushed her hair from her face and admired the braid his sweet Sadie had crafted into her hair. “If anything, after what I saw yesterday, I can’t help but think more of you. It made me want to fight for you and protect you. I couldn’t leave you, and I didn’t even know at the time that it was you.”
The energy rushing through her as she heard those words almost made her run away. She couldn’t help but wonder where he was going with this. He was so close to her face they couldn’t help but share the same oxygen. Her sense of touch suddenly became magnified at every point on her body where it met his in some way. Then she tensed up. This couldn’t happen. She was misreading him anyway. She was sure of it. She was also confident that she couldn’t subject him to her inner madness. Having him as a friend was one thing but this touchy-feely stuff had to go. Now she was uncomfortable. She turned her back to him and closed her eyes hoping he would get the hint.
When she turned away from him, Tye realized he’d probably said the wrong thing. He wanted to be there for her. He owed that to his friend, and as her teacher and mentor, he felt it was his responsibility. He thought by being affectionate she’d see that she was still valued regardless of what she’d been through. Now all he could do was comfort her, his student; his friend; his family, and he had every intention of helping her through all of this. He put his arm around her, waiting until she fell asleep.
Chapter Twelve
“Wake your butt up, son!” was all he'd heard before he felt the familiar sting race across his behind.
“Stop, man! I’m trying to sleep,” Tye moaned, rolling over and realizing he wasn’t alone, and this wasn’t Sadie. He picked his head up and waited for his eyes to adjust to the light; Maia. He’d fallen asleep in her bed last night. This was bad on so many levels; none of which he was willing to rehash in his brain this early in the morning. Most of all he didn’t want the kids to see it. They could get the wrong idea.
He climbed out of bed and looked around to see who was awake. Lucky for him, or not, it was just Caleb. He dragged his feet to the counter. By now they were all too familiar with the cooking process when it comes to using a portable burner. Tye grabbed the pot and filled it with water. He was about to wrap it in foil when he looked up at Caleb.
“What?” he asked.
Caleb shook his head then moved his eyebrows up and down, smirking like he just found a bulldozer and a giant mud hole to play in.
Tye pushed him, “Get off me, man.”
Laughing, Caleb pushed him back, “Uh, huh. What’s the matter? Your bed was broken, so you had to borrow hers?”
Slightly embarrassed, Tye countered, “Dude! It wasn’t like that. Quit. I’m trying to make breakfast.”
“As long as you ain’t trying to put a bun in the oven. We need to stock the kitchen before you start baking.”
After he'd washed his hands, he flung water on him and laughed. “Shut up.”
Slowly, everyone started rolling out of bed. Charlie couldn’t wait to tell them his theory about the dust particles in the silo being ignited by the lightning. He believed that’s what caused most of the fires they’d seen since they occurred during storms. Then he got started on how Mother Nature drenched the earth again last night putting out the fire in mere minutes.
They welcomed the rain at that point since they’d already spent a couple of hours out there waiting for the fire to burn out. The three of them were beyond tired when they finally came in. So exhausted in fact, when Junior got out of bed and sat on the couch for breakfast he fell asleep again, sitting up. No way would that be tolerated in this company. The instant he was seen it was as if he was begging to have something thrown at him. Tye and Elex obliged him.
“I hope this weather clears up today. We have to get moving,” Caleb said while going back to writing his morning to-do list.
Maia stirred Charlie’s bowl of grits and handed it to him. Adding another half a cup of hot water to a bowl, she reached inside the box for another packet of grits. It was empty. She searched the cabinets for another box. There was only one left.
She looked over at him, “Charlie,”
“Yes, my dear,” he replied to her.
“Is this all the food you have left?”
“What about all of that protein powder and stuff stored under Junior’s bunk?” Caleb asked.
“Huh? What protein powder?” she asked walking over to the bunk to look.
“There’s like a whole health food store under that mattress,” he informed her.
“Oh, that!” Charlie said, “I got that from a shop up the way a while back. There was a bunch of it. I thought we might need it for something. And I got some more food stored in the storage above the shelter. It’s about three months worth; for me anyway.”
Of course, he thought they might need it for something. They would eventually need everything he came across according to him. And even if they didn’t need it, he’d find a use for it. She lifted the mattress and looked in the storage underneath. There were a couple of dozen containers of protein powder, energy bars, dried veggies, and nuts. Then she spotted creamy goodness. She grabbed it and held on to it like someone might try to take it from her.
Her eyes got big. “You have chocolate hazelnut butter?” she asked. “You have real chocolate hazelnut butter?”
“Well, if that’s what’s in your hand then that’s a silly question, ain’t it?” Charlie quipped back not knowing what all the fuss could be about.
She laid down on her bed and stared at it. What she really wanted to do was roll around in it like catnip. Maybe it was silly to be so excited, but she didn’t care. During training, she’d learned that it helped to have a reward; organic, chocolate hazelnut butter was hers. This was the real deal too. This wasn’t that sweet version everyone used in dessert recipes. This had actual nutritional value, and it tasted divine. Her mouth watered just thinking about it.
At the gym, they offered it in overpriced portion control packages. When she had a particularly good training session or if she mastered a technique, she would buy one to reward herself. After a couple of months in class Tye caught on, and he started giving them to her himself when he thought she’d earned it.
She removed the lid and carefully tore the safety seal off. She closed her eyes, inhaled and took it all in. She felt the container move in her hands. She opened her eyes to see a spoon inside of it, and Tye was giddy as could be sitting beside her. She couldn’t wait to dig in. She scooped up a dollop and licked it right off the spoon.
“I used to give you a lot of this stuff, remember? And now, I brought you a spoon. I think that means you should share. You know that, right?”
“Oh gosh, you are so right. I’m sorry…” She looked right at him while licking more of the deliciousness off the spoon. “Mmm…” she said. “Sadie, you want some?”
“What? Oh no,” he said grabbing the spoon and getting some for himself. After he had a spoonful, he gave some to Sadie. They passed the yummy goodness around so everyone could have a taste. It was a nice break from reality.
She was glad to see Tye wasn’t acting weird after last night. They went right back to their usual banter. After they had cut up for a while, she went to snoop on Caleb who was still jotting stuff down in his notepad.
“What are you doing over here?” she asked him.
“Charlie is a genius. He gave me some excellent ideas last night. He told me more about Amitola too. I actually believe we can start to rebuild there. If it’s everything, you say it is then we can start over.” He looked at her with an excited smile. “We can build a life; take care of our kids; reattempt society. We can do this.”
He shared his ideas and plans with her, and she clarified some things he was still unsure of. As she listened to him, her confidence was growing. She’d wanted to do this for so long, and now it could actually happen.
Ever since they got to Amitola, she’d wanted to build community and reestablish something resembling normal. She wanted to continue to rescue girls like Clarisse and her unborn baby. She just didn’t think she could do it on her own. In fact, she’d try to do it with only her and the boys, but they weren’t able to succeed. Most men wouldn’t negotiate with her and the guys back in Amitola wanted to take over, not take orders from her. But, until Caleb and Tye, she didn’t trust anyone else but herself to do it. They not only shared her vision for the future, but they also expanded upon it. Now, she had to clear some things up before she dove in head first.
“Yesterday, Tye mentioned something about you, and he said I must not know who you are. What did he mean by that?” she asked.
“Heh,” he replied, “he thinks more highly of me than he ought.” He laughed it off and ran his hands through his hair. “Uh, I️ co-produced a lot of TV shows and movies. I don’t know, uh, my brothers and I did a reality show based on our stunt company, Action, Inc. I won some awards for that. I married Kerri O’Neil. He’s probably talking about my radio show though, Fin Again. I did political commentary. Your family was military. Are you familiar with the Americans Fight for Veterans campaign?”
Her mouth dropped. “No. You’re him? The Voice of Veterans? Oh my gosh, you’re the guy who’s always talking about how the government chooses vunnables over veterans? You started that campaign?”
“That was me. That was one of one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”
“Oh my gosh! Say it…say the closing thing.”
Caleb was blushing now, that or the cabin fever was setting in. The light in his eyes came on, and his face came to life, “A special thanks to all of our veterans and their families. I’ll see you back here this time tomorrow. Until then, don’t be a vunnable, be an American, fight for our veterans the way they fight for you. This is Fin Again. Out again.”
She jumped up and down in that tiny space, “Oh my goodness! It is you! I could kiss you! You made such a difference for so many of the families we know. Caleb…I couldn’t even begin to tell you. I listened to you all the time in the car. This is crazy! How did I not know Tye knew you?”
“Yep, it’s me,” he assured her.
“You…so many times I would be listening and thinking that you must be in my head because all the stuff I’d be thinking about you’d put into words. And you gave the best ideas for fixing the stuff that was wrong.” She fanned her face. “Am I fangirling right now? I am, I know it,” she said, laughing. “I can’t believe you lead in with the reality TV and producer stuff. And I have no idea who your Kerri O’Neil is but this,” she said thumping his noggin, “this is the real deal, Mr. Fin Again.”
“Thanks. That means a lot. I hope my noggin can get us through this.” He pulled a photo from his wallet and showed it to her. “This is my wife.”
“She’s beautiful—“
Tye interrupted them, “Yep, she’s a beauty. I have no idea how he got her to marry him. She’s probably the only woman his mother would approve of, and that’s saying a lot.”
Caleb’s countenance changed.
“I’m sorry, dude.”
“Hey, I’ve gotta be able to hear stuff like that and not get worked up over it eventually, right?” Caleb replied.
“Your mom,” Maia said, “is she gone?”
“Yeah, my dad was confident that my mom and two of my brothers didn’t make it. I don’t know about the rest. Elex’s mom didn't survive either. Then, of course, my dad never showed up for us so who knows what happened to him.”
She looked at Tye, “…and yours?”
“I don’t know. I talked to one of my sisters after it happened and less than three hours after that I heard gangs took over and San Antonio went up in flames. What didn’t catch fire got flooded when all the levees broke. I couldn’t get any of them after that. None of them posted on social media either. What about your family?”
“I’m pretty sure most of my family is gone. My parents live across the river, and the last I heard from my mom their house was taking on water fast and they were stuck upstairs. I could hear my dad busting wood in the background, but I could tell by her voice that they knew what was going to happen. At least I got to say goodbye.” Her face was downcast. “One of my brothers was stationed in Germany, and one was on base at Camp Pendleton. My older brother, Rob…I haven’t heard from him. I hope he made it.”
That evening Junior went out to see what the weather was like. After three days of suffocating in the shelter, the clouds had finally cleared up. As long as it remained this way they’d be able to leave tomorrow morning. With that in mind, Caleb, Maia, and Tye discussed their options and finalized plans for their trip to Amitola.
Knowing it would greatly help Caleb, she said, “I know you like to see things on paper, so I wrote down a list of what we have. You can’t keep it. We’ll burn it after but I wanted you to see where we stand. It’s going to look like a lot, but this is the inventory for us and some of our neighbors. Since they help us to haul it, we share with them.”
She grabbed her notebook and flipped until she found the paper she tucked away inside of it. She pulled it out and handed it to him. As he read the list of supplies and inventory, he couldn’t prevent the excitement from bubbling out of him. His eyes widened, and he started tapping the table while he repeated some of the things he was reading. “One hundred plus varieties of seeds, flashlights, mylar blankets, water filtration bottles, crank radios…holy moly, you think y’all got enough duct tape?” Tye hovered over him as he continued reading. “Oats, rice, pasta…venison, and pork. Yes, indeed.”
Tye pointed to the list. “The list at the bottom is stuff we need to get?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s the list we use when we scavenge. The underlined stuff is the most important, like the obstetrical kits and STD tests.”
“This is great! This is fantastic,” Caleb said. He was suddenly relieved. Seeing it in black and white made all the difference to him.
“What about weapons and ammunition?” Tye asked. “I don’t see that on here.”
“That’s one big problem we have. We each have at least one gun, and some of us have several. We take weapons every time we come across them. The problem is we don’t have much ammo left.”
“We got lucky. We pulled these .223 AR15s off the guardsmen that got shot at the last place we were holed up. We got a lot of ammo too,” Caleb replied. “We don’t have any ammo left for the FN Five-Sevens though. We had to use the hell out of them. We need more,” Tye said.
Caleb wasn’t bothered by the lack of weapons and ammunition. He had a good idea of where to look for a supply, but he wanted them to get to Amitola first before discussing that with them.
The guys spent the rest of the day
repairing parts of the shelter that had been damaged by the storm. Maia and Sadie washed the clothes and towels they carried in the backpacks then put things back in order inside the shelter. Once everyone had eaten dinner, showered, and packed their bags in preparation for their travels, they decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
Tye was restless. He kept thinking about how life might be different in Amitola. There was a light coming from Maia's bunk. He saw her reading a book using her mini flashlight. He leaned over and kissed Sadie on the forehead and slid out of bed.
“What are you still doing up?” he asked.
“I’m just reading this book Charlie found. It’s about getting over the death of a spouse. There’s some really good stuff in here,” she said starting to read from a chapter on moving on.
“Shh, we’re trying to sleep,” Caleb muttered.
“Can I see?” he asked, climbing into bed beside her.
He read two or three paragraphs. It was an interesting read, but he’d already considered most of it. He understood the complications, and he knew the reservations first hand. The main takeaway was that a person had to decide to be ready to move on with life. They had to want it, and once they made the decision, they had a greater chance of success.
“What about you? Do you want to move on?” he asked.
“I guess that depends on what we’re talking about.”
“I forget how literal you are sometimes,” he laughed. “I mean, do you want to settle down and have a home? Maybe get married again? Have more kids? You obviously have some guys that are interested. Why don’t you give them a chance?”
“I don’t know. When I think about it, I know I don’t want to be alone, but I don’t think I can go through all that again,” she said while trying to create some space between them. “Besides, it’s difficult to trust anyone anymore.”
He watched as she moved over and tucked the blanket underneath her. He let out a quick breath. “I’m not trying to come on to you or anything. If I’m too close, you can say so. I’ll get up.”
Amitola: The Making of a Tribe Page 11