by Kris Bryant
“Nice to meet you, Kate. Gage, I’ll see you two around.”
“Sorry, Tristan. We are just in the middle of something here. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.” I wink at Gage and casually walk out. My tender ego needs some alone time. Hunter is sitting in the SUV, ready to navigate by the time I get back. “I just ran into Gage from State. He’s chasing this season and has a new chaser with him. She’s pretty, but doesn’t seem very personable.”
“Your charms didn’t work on her?” Hunter asks. She looks incredulously at me and I playfully smack her on her arm. We both know how clumsy I am around beautiful women. Usually, I clunk along until I get it right, but Kate quickly checked me out, then completely blew me off like I was nobody. Ouch.
“Maybe she’s Gage’s girlfriend,” Hunter says. Hmm. I guess I didn’t even think that she might be straight. “Not every beautiful woman is gay. Look at me. I’m sure you thought I was gay when you first met me.” This is true. Hunter is just shy of six feet tall. Her hair is cut short in the back with long sweeping bangs in the front that she constantly swipes out of her eyes. She has about ten piercings, wears no makeup, and has been with her boyfriend James for two years now.
“Wishful thinking,” I say. She playfully bats her eyelashes at me. I roll my eyes back at her. “Let’s get out of here so we hit Omaha before dark.” It’s almost five thirty now so we should hit town by eight. I give Maddox a piece of jerky, which he happily chomps on and we hit the road again.
Chapter Three
“Are you guys following us?” Gage asks. I almost roll my eyes at him, but stop when I see Kate. She’s pale and beautiful and I can’t stop staring at her. She looks even better now than she did earlier in the day when we first met.
“You saw the same thing on the radar that we did, huh?” Hunter asks. She shakes Gage’s hand and introduces herself to Kate. This time, Kate is polite and gives Hunter her undivided attention and her full name, Kate Brighten. I want to pout. She couldn’t have cared less when Gage introduced us earlier. When she turns to me, she smiles and stares for a few seconds longer than socially acceptable and, suddenly, I’ve forgiven her for practically ignoring me earlier.
“It’s kind of late for dinner, but do you want to join us?” he asks.
“Sure,” I say. Hunter smiles sweetly at me and I know I’m going to pay for it later. Our plan was to grab a quick bite at the restaurant within walking distance of the motel and head back and crash. Instead, we are seated at a round table in a dark restaurant that smells like wood panel and stale potpourri. I’m glad that we got our room first and had a chance to freshen up. I’m in clean clothes and feel human again. We sit down and order beers before looking at the menu. I’m pretty sure I know the menu without even looking at it from the smells coming from the kitchen. Meatloaf, fried chicken, burgers, fries, and nothing really healthy.
“How long have you guys been chasing?” Kate asks. Before I have a chance to answer, Hunter pipes up.
“Well, for this season, we just headed out a few days ago, but we’ve been chasing for six seasons now.”
Kate looks pleasantly surprised. “You’ve probably seen a ton of tornadoes then, huh?”
I nod ready to tell tales of our adventures and mishaps when Gage interrupts.
“Kate got a real treat today. We caught that tornado near Cedar Rapids. The video is stunning,” he says. He’s not bragging. Gage is sweet.
“We heard some new chasers got it. Congrats,” Hunter says. She’s so diplomatic. Again, I want to pout. I haven’t had a chance to talk and nobody seems to care.
“They are saying it was an F2.” He refers to the Fujita scale, the scale meteorologists use to rate a tornado’s intensity based on wind speed and destruction. “I’m so glad I’m finally out in the storms. It gets boring working in the lab all day, every day. Seeing a tornado up close was fantastic. More than what I expected.”
“I agree. It was amazing. It’s one thing to watch videos, see photos, and study radar of tornadoes, but a completely different experience seeing one in person,” Kate says. She’s leaning forward in her chair, her right hand gripping her beer tightly. Her enthusiasm is endearing. She turns her attention to me and gives me an award winning smile. I’m pretty sure my heart skips a few beats. “You’re so lucky to have done this so many times already.”
“It never gets old. Are you a student at OSU or on the staff there?” I ask. Her smile drops immediately, but she covers up quickly and answers.
“I’m working on my Masters degree.” That’s all she gives me. She’s driving me crazy. One minute, she’s up and happy and I feel like I’m floating, the next she’s down and I feel like I’m giving an interview.
“Is your undergrad in meteorology or something else?” I ask, trying to engage her further.
“Yes. I’ve always been fascinated with weather,” she says. “Oklahoma is probably one of the best places to be if you want to study it.”
“OSU is a good school, but OU is better.” I wink so everybody knows I’m kidding. Gage laughs. Kate doesn’t look amused. As a matter of fact, the more we talk, the quieter she gets. I must have struck a nerve when I asked her about school for some reason. I decide to just keep my mouth shut. I order another beer and lean back and sulk the best I can without looking like I’ve checked out of the conversation. Thank God Hunter is amusing them with stories.
Our food arrives and we dig in. I didn’t realize I was so hungry. Three of us ordered burgers and fries, but Kate opted for a somewhat healthy salad she convinced them to dig up. I feel guilty. Of course, she’s probably a size two from the looks of it, and on a good day I fit into a size six. I add more ketchup to my fries.
“Are you guys together?” Kate asks. I’ve just taken a huge bite out of my burger and my only response is a snort. Hunter grins.
“Ah, no. We’re best friends. I have a boyfriend and Tris has a fear of commitment,” she says. I shoot her an evil look. “Well, not a fear really. She’s just waiting for Ms. Right.” And there it is. Hunter doesn’t care who knows I’m a lesbian. I tend to be a little more discreet. “Are you and Gage together?” Kate and Gage both shake their heads no. Gage tells us about his girlfriend back in Stillwater, Oklahoma and how they are planning on getting married and starting a family soon. I’m officially bored. I want to know about Kate. I want to know why she gave me a strange look when Hunter said I was looking for Ms. Right. I want to know if she’s intrigued or even interested. I find she’s not making eye contact with me and my heart sinks a little. I order another beer and Hunter nudges me. I look at my watch. It’s barely ten at night. We have plenty of time to sleep it off.
“Hunter’s boyfriend is great. He’s in a band and plays a lot in Oklahoma. He even plays down at OSU. You guys should check him out sometime. If you are into rock music,” I say.
“I’m more into country, but next time he’s down, I’ll be sure to tell the others about him,” Gage says.
“What kind of music do you like, Kate?” I ask. I’m determined to get her to open up more. I can’t tell if she’s shy or just uninterested.
“I like it all really. Maybe not country so there’s always a fight in the car on what we should listen to,” she says. Gage smiles at her. I get the feeling he gets his way most of the time. As nice as he is, he seems to be old school where men are always right and women are just there to look pretty.
“We have a rule in our SUV. Whoever is driving, gets to pick the music. Thankfully, we like the same stuff,” Hunter says. “There isn’t much to do except listen to music or audio books or talk when you are in the car for months at a time.”
Kate looks surprised. “How long do you chase?”
“The whole season. Until the end of June usually,” I say.
“I’m only out for a few weeks this time,” Kate says. “Once I’m done, another person in our study group will head out with Gage. And then another.” It surprises me that they don’t have more chasers out with all of their funding
and equipment. Based on the Frankenstein looking vehicle out in the parking lot, their school has plenty of money to spend on chasing.
“Well, here’s to a great tornado season,” Gage says. He tips his beer and we all clink longnecks. I can feel Kate finally look at me and I turn to meet her gaze. This time she doesn’t turn. I take a long drink and keep staring until she finally looks away.
❖
“Did I really reach out and touch her hair?” I ask. Hunter loops her arm with mine as we walk back to the motel. She laughs and kisses the top of my head.
“No, but the way you were looking at her was making me uncomfortable. Like you wanted to touch her hair and other things on her body.” I cringe. I have zero coolness. I’ve never been suave, especially with the ladies. Throw alcohol into the mix and forget it.
“I wonder if she noticed,” I say. Hunter squeezes my arm to let me know and I groan. “I’m a total idiot. Don’t let me drink so much next time, okay?” She opens the motel door and lets Maddox out before she tucks me into bed. He returns, jumps on the bed, and burrows next to me. I sigh happily. Who needs a woman when you’ve got a warm, snuggly dog to keep you company?
Hunter gets into her bed. “Are we ever going to talk about the grant?”
I forgot she asked me earlier in the day. I roll over to face her.
“I haven’t heard yet. That’s why I haven’t wanted to talk about it. Dr. Williams hasn’t said anything and I’m going with no news is good news.” I start cracking my knuckles. I’m worried.
“Don’t we usually hear something by now?” Hunter asks. She’s right. We start the season off knowing how much we have in the budget for the next season. I plan on storm chasing for the university as long as we’re funded. “You at least teach classes in the fall. I have to know what happens to me by the summer.”
“I know. I’ll send Williams an e-mail in the morning. Right now I don’t think I can type on this stupid phone.” Call me old fashioned, but I need a computer with a decent size monitor in order to send or read any correspondence. I don’t understand how people run businesses with a two inch by four inch screen.
“Okay. Get some sleep. We’ll worry about it later,” Hunter says. Her breathing evens out and I’m jealous at how quickly she falls asleep.
❖
I’m in complete denial that it’s morning. Hunter is bouncing on the bed. Little does she know that I’m about thirty seconds from throwing up on her.
“Get off of me.” I try to bury myself deeper into the covers. “It can’t possibly be time to get up.”
“Not only is it time, but I’ve been following the path of the storm and we aren’t that far away. Maybe an hour. If we leave in twenty minutes, we have time to find the perfect spot and maybe catch a tornado.” She rips back the covers and I growl in frustration. I sprawl out and flip her off. “Get dressed.” I don’t care that I’m barely wearing anything. That will teach her to take my covers away.
“I don’t feel good,” I say. Her grin tells me she knows this and couldn’t care less.
“I told you to stop after three beers.” She’s almost singing it to me. “Go take a quick shower and meet me outside. I’ve put clothes out for you to wear.”
“Who are you, my mother?”
She responds by throwing a pillow that knocks me back down. I want to wallow in self-pity, but I know she’s right and the lure of a tornado gets me moving. My shower is thankfully hot and I feel myself slowly waking up. It takes me a few extra minutes to get dressed, but by the time I leave the motel room, I’m able to function normally. Maddox and Hunter are already in the car.
Movement catches my eye across the parking lot and I see Gage and Kate getting into their souped-up truck. I was pretty excited about the metal and Plexiglas box screwed on top of our Tahoe to protect a video camera that we remotely control inside the cab. Their truck makes our SUV look like a Tinker Toy.
I’m surprised when Gage and Kate wave at me. I wave back trying hard not to cringe again remembering last night.
“I’m driving until you start feeling human again,” Hunter says. That’s fine. I feel like letting somebody else take control. “I picked up biscuits and milk for breakfast. That should help you feel a little better.” I nod thanks and start eating. I know the sooner I get something in my stomach, the quicker I’ll feel human again. I feed Maddox a biscuit, which he happily munches on.
“So tell me exactly what I said to Kate,” I say. I remember trying to be a little flirty. Touching her arm, laughing at what she said. I groan just remembering bits and pieces.
“You really weren’t that bad, I promise,” Hunter says. “You were just very excited that she was there, that’s all. You were sweet. It was cute.” That’s a sure sign I said idiotic things. I sigh heavily and Hunter punches my arm. This day can only get better.
Chapter Four
Most people relax on the weekend. Mother Nature doesn’t care so we are on call twenty-four seven. It’s Sunday afternoon and we have been busting our asses every single day since we hit the road over a week ago. Right now, it looks as if we are in the middle of something awful. Doppler is a swirl of dangerous red and dark orange and I can tell Hunter is starting to get nervous. It’s raining and dark. I have my eyes glued to the sky. Hunter is ten and two at the wheel, her keen eyes focused ahead.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she says. I nod, still looking at the sky. Somehow we have managed to squeeze the car in between two wall clouds that could drop twisters at any moment. For the first time, I hope I’m wrong. If we get flanked by tornadoes, the best we can hope for is that they don’t merge and swallow us whole. Merging tornadoes is rare, but knowing our luck today, it will probably happen. Maddox is getting restless so I know shit is about to go down.
“There.” I point the video camera to the left to capture the event. I call it in on the CB and dial the local news station. I use hands free and let Hunter speak because I’m trying to get photos from inside the car. We are trying to gather pressure readings and temperature shifts of tornadoes, but photos and videos are just as important. The wind is fierce and the car is getting rocked around. Hunter gives them our location and, while we are still on the phone, Hunter points to the right of us. Son of a bitch. Another twister. She calmly reports that one as well, mentioning the names of the gravel roads we are zipping past so that people in the storm’s path head to safety right away. We have twisters on both sides of us and a wicked storm pushing us forward. Hunter hangs up, steps on the gas, probably hoping to get ahead of them. I don’t know what I should be doing besides pray. I’m actually shaking. The video camera on top of the Tahoe is recording the left tornado, so I remotely turn it to video the right one, too. I don’t think we’re going to outrun this storm.
“Hunter, we are going to have to find a safe place,” I say. Her hands leave the wheel for a moment as she holds them up in a surrender to indicate that we are in the middle of nowhere and that really isn’t an option. I know this, but I feel like one of us has to at least voice reason even if we don’t really believe it. There are gravel roads to our left and right, but shouldn’t chance changing directions. Plus, with the speed of this storm, we would get caught if we tried driving on a gravel road, or worse, wreck. Right now, lefty tornado and righty tornado are headed in the same direction as us.
“This is incredible.” I don’t know how else to explain how I’m feeling and what I’m seeing.
After several minutes of not-so-quietly panicking, we are able to put a little bit of distance between us and the tornadoes. The speedometer is rocking out at eighty five and Hunter shows no signs of slowing down. I’m glad she’s driving. “If you slow down a bit, I might be able to get clear video if I lean out the window.” I turn to watch out the back of the SUV. “Oh, Hunter, stop! Righty Tornado is turning left and is crossing the road behind us. I want to get this.” She slows down and pulls off of the road. I jump out, almost choking myself on my seat belt, and video both tornadoes. They
aren’t massive at this point, but clearly destructive, if the chunks of metal and pieces of wood thickening the tornado shafts are any indication. After gathering enough video and feeling miserable because I’m now soaked to the bone, I hop back in the car and Hunter squeals back out onto the road.
“That was a little too close for comfort. Check Doppler,” she says. I check and see the rotating mass heading northeast.
“I bet they merge. Oh, God, Hunter, if they merge that could be bad.” That rarely happens. There aren’t many recorded instances of merging tornadoes. “I hope people are safe and in their basements.” Once we know the storm is to our left and we’re a safe enough distance away, Hunter finds a county road and heads north to intercept it again.
“Let’s find out if the tornadoes merged,” she says. Her thirst for adventure is insatiable. I want a hot bath, a cold beer, and a soft bed right now. I’m exhausted and I’m not even the one driving.
“I don’t know how you do it.”
“Do what?” she asks.
“We almost got our asses kicked and you want to go back for more? I’m completely spent. I want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.”
“Can you honestly say you don’t want to see if they join? This is the shit we talk about all of the time. We’ll keep a safe distance. Keep your eye on Doppler. We can head north, then east and see if they come close. They might just go back up.”
She’s right. I want to know. We’ve been doing this a long time and it would be a shame to just tuck our tails and run. “Okay, but at the first sign of trouble, we turn.”
The rest of the afternoon is spent chasing the storm, but we never see both tornadoes at the same time again. After thirty miles, we give up. It eventually dies down and Doppler only shows green. We all need a break and dinner. Hunter gets out with Maddox and instructs me to find the nearest, cleanest hotel or motel. It is about thirty minutes away and I take over driving. This is probably the longest half hour drive of the season. We pull up to a rather quaint L shaped hotel and I ask for the room on the corner. It’s available. It’s easier to sneak Maddox in when we are far away from the office. Not all motels are pet friendly. He’s had to stay out in the car before, but tonight we all could use a soft bed. Hunter grabs our bags and we shuffle like zombies into the room. I have the handheld video camera and the laptop, but I’m too tired to do anything. I almost don’t want to eat, but I know we have to. Hunter finds a pizza joint and orders a fully loaded pan pizza. I’m asleep before she hangs up. I don’t even hear the door when the delivery guy knocks on it. Hunter gently shakes me awake.