Nancy
"I can't go and I can't stay,"
Matin
Nancy
went on to tell Ador about Crystal and Jashua Barnums breaking up, getting back
together, breaking up, becoming engaged, breaking up, and finally getting
married. The more she told Ador about
the couple the more they laughed. Ador
laughed high and short. Nancy’s laughs were more drawn out giggles. The mood carried over to when they left the
giant supply hanger. A sun-coated, black-top parking lot heated them as they walked through and beyond it. They headed back to the streets paved with
dried dirt and lined with weak aluminum houses.
The prospect of returning to theirs finally struck her as
disappointing.
The
past three days had been fun and she had enjoyed the hospitality harbored in
the small home Ador, Martin, and one of their friends, Taneesh, stayed in. But
recently there had been tension between Taneesh and Martin which made more
sense now that Ador had revealed they were romantically involved. Beside the lovers’ quarrel there was a
growing need to find Sumeet, her old friend who had wealthy connections along
the Mediterranean Sea. Or so he claimed
when we went to school, Nancy thought.
They
walked for several minutes into the noisy,
muddy streets of Water. She winced as
she heard Matin shouting still far off from their aluminum home. The words were unclear but the tone and pitch
were distinctly his. The closer they got
the louder he sounded but between the chatter and shouts of others it was
impossible to know what was said.
“Things
are getting pretty wild around here,” Ador said. “Yea,” she continued, “but I don’t know what
for. It’s not just him. Do you see this?” Ador opened up her arms gesturing
to the activity around them. Nancy at
once noticed what Ador meant. The motion
of people around them did not carry the usual benign meandering or melancholy delinquency. Each movement was more directed: people were
packing things, cleaning dishes, and others were taking apart lean-to tents.
“Yea,
let’s go.” With that the girls broke
into a slow jog enough as not to send the rolls of toilet paper flying out of
their basket. The run energized the
Newtopian native and sent a new excitement in her, something is happening and we’re in the middle of it. The heat of the sun was a welcomed sting and
the cracking of dried mud beneath her sandals felt good. As they neared the shouting the adrenaline-fed enchantment
ended.
“I
can’t go and I can’t stay,” Matin shouted conclusively at Taneesh as they
entered. The maelstrom that he had
bellowed earlier was quieting now. Taneesh
received the comment with a swift shrug and folded arms.
“Do
what you’re going to do,” she said softly.
When she turned she meekly acknowledge Nancy and Ador. Nancy could see Taneesh’s eyes red and cheeks
moist. The angry couple began to pack things into empty plastic bags of which
there was a large pile on the middle table.
“What
is going on?” Ador said slowly and loud.
Tanish
took a large breath and continued to pack.
Matin stopped and looked at them, “The Tigris and Euphraties came together
finally. The power of the combined
rivers is destroying miles of farmland and like a million cities. It’s the biggest natural disaster in
history. The greatest portion of our
strength is going to help with relief.
Morelis and Yordan had a speech on the steps of the post office and said
we would answer with the largest relief effort in history.”
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