Blown Away

by K'Anne Meinel

  “Avril, thank you,” someone came up to give her a hug. “We don’t know where we would be tonight if it wasn’t for you and your people!”

  Ellen smiled and nodded, having no clue who the woman was. It was odd to hear her old name after all this time. “I’m sure the governor and the National Guard would have helped,” she told her modestly.

  “No, you got here faster than they did,” she was told.

  Ellen dug in to help, taking orders from her people, directing the convoy of RV’s still arriving by her people who had it coordinated. She was impressed at how quickly they had gotten things organized. She took a moment between arrivals to see that the vans transporting drivers back to the larger town for more RV’s were also now transporting people from Oakley and the overcrowded gymnasium. She also arranged for someone to go by the hospital and begin to transport those well enough to leave, many families staying with their injured but they couldn’t stay anymore.

  She looked around at the farmstead. In the short time since she had been here and had the house and out-buildings leveled the grass had taken over. Although she knew where the buildings had stood, it was obvious in a short time that there would be no bare spots and Mother Nature would take it back. She felt no remorse for what had happened all those decades ago. She turned back to help her people help the others.

  “Did you at least save us some RV’s for our own use?” she joked with a couple of her people.

  “Yes, we have that block over there for employees of Gigitech and Animated Studios,” she pointed. “Here is your key, we are bunking two to four to an RV, a few can accommodate six. I’ve made a few phone calls and we will have power out here to recharge the generators that are on the RVs when they run down.”

  “You guys are fantastic,” Ellen complimented them as she marveled at their efficiency.

  “You know, this feels good. To help,” someone told their boss. “It’s like giving back. I’m glad I came.” His sentiments were echoed by several others and Ellen grinned. These people were her family now, not close, but they felt like real people, more so than many of the others she had grown up around. The people they were helping she didn’t even recognize.

  * * * * *

  “You can’t do this,” someone blustered up to Ellen late in the day. She was just about to head to her RV, a hot shower, hoping to see Rae after the hard day’s work.

  She turned to see Mr. Worley waddling up to her. Raising an eyebrow she asked, “I can’t do what?” she asked.

  “Park all these RVs here, you haven’t got the proper permits,” he said in the same belligerent tone.

  Ellen laughed. A hearty laugh. She had heard from Mr. Mann how upset the former Sheriff had been over her serving him and his wife with papers for the items they had stolen from her and her family. What had been recovered, while paltry, had humiliated him and his wife since it showed they had been thieves. He flushed at her laughter. “I don’t need permits when I’m aiding these people,” her hands took in the many people walking about. People felt a lot better with a shower under their belts, some were inquiring how they could help too.

  “We’ll see about that,” he said stomping off angrily.

  “Who was that?” someone asked their boss.

  “A sad, sad, little man,” Ellen answered and returned to work. Handing a little girl a toy, Rae had really thought ahead when she purchased ‘supplies.’ Children didn’t need to worry about the devastation and a new toy could go a long way to forgetting what was going on around them.

  Ellen was exhausted as she made her way to the RV that had been set aside for her and Rae. Using the key she thought at first she had the wrong one as it didn’t work right away. She realized she had the wrong key and used the other one on the ring to open up the luxurious vehicle. It was far too much for just the two of them but it would be a helluva place to set up and coordinate while they were here. She had never been in an RV before and she poked and prodded around, discovering the many gadgets that were in the modern vehicle.

  The sides extended out and she opened them up to provide them with even more living and bedroom space. The windows could be closed by the blinds with a flick of a wrist on a button. Everything seemed automated and modern. It was a lot larger than she had imagined. The bed was king sized and that surprised her. The accommodations were very much like a five star hotel and she had seen several of these RVs spread out on her land.

  Someone had gotten them a few ATVs and Golf Carts from the RV lot too and these allowed her and her people to go out among the rows and help people get around. Her other people had used less ostentatious ones for their own accommodations. They were sleeping in shifts and she could see through the windows that some were chilling and watching television screens in their own RVs.

  There was a knock on the door, stopping her explorations, and she opened it to find someone with a box of groceries for her and Rae as well as their bags. “Thank you,” she told them as she took them in one at a time. She put away the groceries in the refrigerator, amazed that it was full sized and not cramped like she would expect.

  There was another knock on the door, expecting Rae she got up eagerly to answer it and was surprised to be greeted by an officious looking man in an army green uniform. “Ms. Christenson?” she was asked.

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  “I’m Major Breeds,” he took off his hat quickly and respectfully. “May I come in and speak with you?”

  Ellen stepped back and he climbed the stairs into the RV.

  “This is nice,” he said as he looked around at the luxury. “May I?” he indicated the two recliners that were in the pullout section of the RV, extending the living room area by a few feet.

  “Please,” she replied and asked, “Can I get you a drink?”

  “If you got an orange juice, I’d love one,” he told her as he sat down.

  Ellen pulled one that she had just put away in the fridge and sat down across from him after handing it to him. “What can I do for you Major?” she asked politely.

  “Ma’am, we seem to have a problem and I’m hoping you will help me out here,” he said with a slight twang that she recognized as being from Oklahoma.

  “And what is that Major?” she asked raising an eyebrow. She knew what might be coming and he didn’t disappoint.

  “I’m part of the forces the Governor sent out here to help the fine people here and elsewhere to recover.”

  She nodded to show she was listening, but she was still waiting for the problem.

  “We welcome civilians helping out and all, but ma’am, we’ve never encountered the like of what you all are doing here and I’m a bit puzzled at how to address it.”

  “What exactly is the problem?” she sat back, opening her own orange juice for a sip.

  “Well, you are a bit overwhelming as most folks don’t know how to take the help you all are offering,” he sat back and opened his orange juice too, copying her.

  She smiled wryly. Shrugging she asked, “And this is a problem how?”

  “Well, the Governor mentioned you all might be coming in, but we didn’t expect this,” he gestured at the RV and nearly sloshed the orange juice out of the bottle. “Oops,” he said apologetically.

  “Well, I was raised right here. In fact, you are sitting on my family’s farm,” she informed him, pointing with her bottle.

  He nodded, he had known that. “I understand that ma’am. But we have a tent city set up and…” he began but she interrupted him.

  “And how long will that last. My people tell me another set of storms are due to come in tomorrow night. These people have lost their homes. The government has too much red tape for them to wait for something substantial to hold them over.”

  “Yes ma’am, I understand that. But you all are taking it upon yourself to circumvent the system we have in place…” he returned a little heatedly and regretted it when he continued, “I’m half tempted to confiscate your supplies and…”

  “Now y
ou listen to me,” she said, her voice rising and her own Oklahoman accent coming out. “You touch one of my supplies without my okay, one of my RV’s, that I paid for with my own money and my lawyers and the PR department are gonna have a field day with you and yours. By the time I get done with you the Governor is gonna rue the day he got elected and you can bet he will be looking to blame someone,” she pointed out.

  He got the point and gulped. “Now, I didn’t say I was gonna confiscate them…”

  “You better not,” she interjected.

  “I just said, you all are confusing people as they expect the state to help them out. Their own government. Why their duly elected officials even are objecting to your kind of help…”

  “I’m helping out my old neighbors. They don’t have to like it. They don’t even have to accept it. But I’m here, I’m helping, and if you all don’t like it, you can stuff it!” she said hotly. “I have enough money to buy this state over and again and the Governor knew I was comin’. He knew some of my plans. I came to help here and elsewhere. You all don’t move quick enough and if you touch any of the supplies I arranged to come in for the rebuilding, I’ll create a shit-storm the like of you would wish another tornado would come through.”

  He swallowed, he knew when he was beat. This woman might be petite but she sure was a redhead. Kinda cute too, all fired up. Too bad she was one of them there lesbians, or so he heard.

  They both heard the door open and turned to see Rae looking in. “Ah, there you are,” she said relieved as she hoisted a bag into the RV before climbing in. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked as she looked curiously at the uniformed officer who had stood up at her entrance.

  “No, no, the Major was just finishing up,” Ellen told her with a smile of greeting. She looked back at the Major. “Isn’t that right Major Burns?” she asked.

  “Breeds,” he corrected automatically and then flushed when it was obvious she had done that deliberately. He wondered if she meant the bumbling Major Burns that had been on that television show so long ago in the 70’s? Eyeing her briefly he concluded she had. “Yes, I’ll be going,” he said and nodded at both women, he hastily exited.

  “Oh Major,” Ellen called before he could shut the door behind him.

  He looked back in inquiringly.

  “You all remember what I said, not a piece of it,” she said with a smile but the warning was there.

  He nodded stiffly and closed the door, careful not slam it.

  “What was that about?” Rae asked as Ellen took her in her arms.

  “Oh, I think I ruffled a few feathers,” she said dismissively as she leaned in for a kiss.

  “Um, the walls have eyes,” Rae protested, pecking her on the lips and looking beyond her to the large windows that lined the RV.

  “Well, that’s taken care of easily enough,” and Ellen started pushing buttons at various intervals along the walls, closing the curtains, drapes, and blinds automatically until they had their solid walls again, hiding them from view.

  “Cool,” Rae said with a smile as she welcomed Ellen back into her arms for a deeper kiss. “How was your day?” she asked with another smile.

  “Exhausting, and yours?” she returned the smile.

  “The same, I have a few ideas I’d like to go over with you before tomorrow.”

  “Fine, how about you take a shower while I cook something, and then while we eat we can discuss it?”

  “Have you showered?”

  “I didn’t get here much sooner than you did before he showed up,” she used her chin to point towards the door the Major had exited out of.

  “Wanna share?” she offered enticingly.

  Ellen smiled a brilliant smile. “That sounds wonderful,” she answered and took her up on the offer as she locked the door of the RV. She was pleased that Rae was still playful after what they had seen and done for the last twenty-four hours or so. The shower relaxed them both as they touched and teased and managed in the confined space. Any smaller though and they would have had to take their showers one at a time. “It’s good that we conserve water like this,” Ellen said through the spray as her hands wandered over Rae’s form, washing, rubbing, and arousing her.

  “I’m thrifty like that,” Rae answered and then caught her breath and sputtered in the water that she inhaled as Ellen’s questing fingers plunged inside of her.

  “Careful, don’t want to drown you, how would I explain that?”

  “But I would have died happy,” she managed to get out as Ellen excited her, plunging and teasing.

  “Most accidents happen in the bathroom, I hear,” she said in a near whisper as she nibbled along Rae’s shoulder blade. Her fingers were thrusting in a rhythm matched by Rae’s hips.

  “Um, hum,” she managed to get out as the feelings that Ellen engineered inside of her overwhelmed her and she began to buck and writhe against the naked redhead. It was only Ellen holding her steadily that kept her from dissolving in a puddle in the bottom of the shower stall. Thinking about that, she let Ellen’s fingers slip from her own body as she began to kiss down Ellen’s body until she was kneeling before her, the shower spray nearly drowning her as she began to play between the redhead’s legs. The finely sculpted hair was darker down here than up above and she carefully took Ellen’s clit in her mouth, warming it more than the shower spray could.

  “Oh Gawd,” Ellen moaned, her hands plunging in Rae’s dark brown hair and massaging the scalp, the soap that was in there being easily washed away by the spray. She lifted her pelvis to grind her clit into Rae’s eager mouth as she felt what could only be described as a lava of nerve endings centering on what her partners mouth was doing. The sucking, the teeth even, all made her want to scream. Rae brought up fingers to rub and play with the moisture that had nothing to do with the shower and Ellen nearly collapsed, catching her slipping feet on the textured bottom of the shower stall.

  “Careful,” Rae cautioned as she grinned up from where Ellen was nearly sitting on her face. Her voice coming around the skin folds she was holding captive with her lips and tongue and teeth.

  “Uh, uh, uhhhh,” she grunted as she came, her fingers digging into Rae’s scalp. She pulled one hand painfully away to grasp the bar on the wall and hold herself up as she twisted within her lover’s grasp. Rae carefully licked away the evident signs of Ellen’s pleasure, the taste and texture much different from the water spraying down. For added measure she washed any traces away with the water. Ellen twitched at the sensation, still sensitive.

  “That was relaxing,” she commented with a grin.

  Ellen returned the grin, leaning in for one more kiss as she reached around the taller woman to turn off the water. “I think we should conserve water like this all the time.”

  “And encourage others to do the same,” Rae teased.

  “You bring that up at the next meeting,” she teased in return.

  Rae opened up the shower door and grabbed a towel. There was only one as no one had really stocked the RV’s. They both shared and then changed into a set of clean clothes. “We will have to offer the washer and dryer to some of the other’s,” Rae commented as she looked at the stacked set they had in their luxurious RV.

  “Yeah, we should,” Ellen agreed as she brushed her hair back and then got to starting dinner for them.

  “Let’s just have something easy,” Rae advised. She was tired, she was so tired and they had just gotten here. “So, this is Oaken Oklahoma eh?” she asked through a mouthful of pasta a while later.

  Ellen smiled. “It was a pretty place. The buildings were all old and brick, the ambiance,” she said swirling her orange juice as though it were wine. “It really was picturesque,” she stated remembering.

  “Are you doing okay being back here?” Rae remembered the stories Ellen had shared of this place.

  Ellen nodded through her own mouthful of pasta. “You know, at one point this would have been hard. But not everyone here was bad to me. Some were actually nice.
I needed to get beyond that and I think I have. We are here to help and I can do it. It’s not like I can’t afford it,” she said wryly, remember the Major and his threat to confiscate things.

  “Well, money like that people don’t understand. They get jealous. They want to feel independent.”

  “These people have nothing and a tent-city isn’t going to get them in their homes too quickly,” she said angrily, pointing with her fork.

  “I’m on your side,” Rae mentioned, holding up her hands in surrender.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, stabbing her fork into the last of her pasta. “They couldn’t wait to hit me up when they wanted help, and now that I’m giving it, they can’t wait to take me down again.”

  “Who exactly are they?” Rae asked astutely. “The people haven’t had time to get angry at you. It’s those in positions of power that are going to object to you taking a position like this,” she circled with her fork indicating the RV’s around them. It was quieting down as people went to sleep early, a few radios could be heard as some sat outside the RV’s assigned to them to socialize.

  “Yeah, I got approached by Mr. Worley today,” she laughed through her last bite.

  “Isn’t that the Sheriff that…?”

  The redhead nodded. “He don’t scare me anymore,” she admitted, her twang showing up again.

  “How could he?”

  “Well, back in the day,” she began to tell her about when she left town all those years ago.

  “So he also has an axe to grind,” she was indicating one of the lawsuits that Ellen had mentioned.

  Ellen nodded and shrugged. She wasn’t intimidated, not anymore. Although the lawsuits hadn’t really netted her much other than satisfaction, it was the principle of the matter that really counted. “What am I doing here again?” she asked her girlfriend.