Renewal 2 - Echoes of the Breakdown Read Online Free PDF Page A

Breakdown in progress.
    I was about to start the climb down when I heard the unmistakable rumble of our station wagon from the direction of the school. I immediately tried to climb just a little higher, and when that didn’t work, I tried to extend my neck like a snapping turtle. That didn’t work either. Just as well too, because the engine stopped in about 15 seconds. What the heck ?
    There was no way I was giving up my observation post. If the car started, then something was going to happen. Nothing did. I waited. My disappointment was getting heavy enough to bring me down from the tree. I was almost halfway down when I heard the engine start again. I listened hard, expecting it to stop, but it revved a few times and sounded like it was starting to move. I scrambled back up the tree, reaching the top just seconds before the car rounded the other patch of woods and rolled straight across the field, into the woods below.
    The family burst into animated conversation, but I couldn’t really hear it as I descended the tree at breakneck speed. As I dropped off the bottom branch, I could see the old green station wagon sitting just outside our camp. Something about seeing the car there made me feel secure, like everything would be just fine. I ran over and slapped both my hands on the front fender, convincing myself that it was real, and by extension that everything was back to normal. Half of that was true.
    Kirk was asking rapid fire questions. “How did you get it started?”
    Dad answered, “Well, I think it was about twenty percent scrounging parts, and eighty percent luck. It was easier than I thought.”
    “How did you get it out?”
    “No way we were going to get out the front, so we cut a big hole in the fence and drove it out the back,” Dad said with a grin.
    Mom asked, “So we can go home?”
    “No, Honey... For all the reasons we talked about before. Nashville is too dangerous,” Dad replied.
    “You don’t know that for sure.”
    “Actually, I do. There are still people in the school. They told us the sheriff was sending men out in old trucks, and the deputy said that Nashville is in flames. Nothing but rioting and looting.”
    “Oh.” That was all Mom could say. She sounded more like a small, distant child than our mother. She gathered herself. “What are the people doing?”
    “Nothing. It looks like they’re just sitting in the dark and eating cafeteria food. I guess they’re still waiting for help. The sheriff’s men have actually been delivering some supplies to the shelter. Maybe it’s not the worst idea to wait for help. I doubt that it will last long, though.” Dad said with a faraway look. “Anyway, that reminds me...”
    Arturo walked to the back door on the passenger side, opened it, and reached in to help an elderly lady out of the car. We couldn’t believe it. I’m sure, in our excitement I guess, that none of even noticed another person in the car. When she appeared in our midst, all of our mouths dropped open on cue. Arturo introduced her. “Everyone, this is the nice lady I told you about. Her name is Francine.”
    We all said our chaotic hellos and looked at each other in turn. Dad made a classic Dad announcement. “Francine is the lady Arturo told us about, from the schoolyard. She has had an especially rough day, so let’s all make her welcome, and help her out.”
    Mom gave him a weird look that I guessed meant something like, you gotta be kidding me . Then she held out her hand to the lady and walked her over to the campsite. Francine was completely passive. She seemed blank to me, but that’s just because I hadn’t put the facts together. I learned later that she was the lady on the see-saw with her husband. Well, apparently they sat on the see-saw until he died, sometime during the night. She went to check on him, discovered he was gone, and then went back to her side of the see-saw. She was still bouncing his corpse slowly up and down when Dad and Arturo found