Renewal 2 - Echoes of the Breakdown Read Free Page B

of fifteen seconds. Dad repeated his peanut butter job with the other half of the loaf, and the second time, we ate for almost a full minute. After that, we were still hungry. We waited for more. Dad proceeded to hand out disposable paper bowls and plastic spoons to all of us. We were seated on the ground in a ragged circle, looking at each other like where’s the picnic table ?
    When he decided the masterpiece was done, he asked everyone, “Chicken noodle, or vegetable beef stew? Fresh from Wal-Mart...”
    He half poured, half spooned the food into our bowls, and we ate greedily. I could see that our family, at least, was thinking this should be pizza night, and what was this crap ? By the third spoonful, it no longer mattered. It’s amazing how being terrified can make you so hungry.
    Arturo was ridiculously grateful, from our young perspective. Food was everywhere, as far as we knew. Grocery stores, takeout, sit down restaurants, pizza, drive-thru’s, you name it. We were soon to learn how wrong we were.
    After dinner, we sat in the dark for a little while. Dad and Arturo had decided that a fire was a bad idea, until we knew more about the local situation. They took the opportunity to swap stories while Dad was sorting through gear with the help of a very small light. Dad finished sharing how we ended up here, at this random place, on this dark night. Then it was Arturo’s turn.
    “Me and Jimmy were on our way to meet my parents, in McMinnville. They’ve been working at a nursery up there for years. After the Army, I was down in Florida hanging out with some buddies from our unit, and I met my wife, Juannie. After that, I never found a reason to leave. We live in a little place outside Orlando. We got married in 2003, and had Jimmy the next year.”
    “Ah, Jimmy and Tommy are the same age. Tommy was a bit of a surprise for us,” Dad said.
    Arturo chuckled. “Yeah, Jimmy was a surprise too... A good one,” Art replied, smiling at his boy. “Anyway, Juannie has a job at Universal. With the tourist season coming on, she couldn’t get away, but my folks were really laying it on thick, so right after school let out, we headed up for a visit, you know, so the grandparents can spoil the baby. This is how far we got. Another twenty-five miles and we would have made it.”
    Jimmy got up, stepped over to his father, and gave him a symbolic punch on the shoulder for referring to him as the baby. We all laughed. So, far Jimmy hadn’t said anything really, but he was clearly aware of everything around him. With full night upon us, Dad took that as a good opportunity to send us kids to bed, while he continued to talk. I guess he didn’t realize we could still hear him from the tents.
    “Arturo, I hate to bring up a tough subject, but what’s your plan? Are you going to try to get down to Florida?” Dad asked quietly.
    “I just don’t know, man. I’m smart enough to know it’s going to be hard to do, but I’m not smart enough to know how to get there, or if it’s even possible.” Arturo replied.
    “I wish I could tell you. Hell, I wish I could tell you anything useful. Orlando is one big city now, right?”
    Mom rounded up Jimmy and took him with her to the second tent. Dad had made a pile of gear on one side of him, and empty retail packing on the other. He looked at both piles, and heaved a sigh.
    “Yeah, David, one big urban sprawl. The crime is terrible down there too. I haven’t really had a chance to think about it, but it seems impossible right now.”
    “What kind of car do you drive?” Dad asked
    “2009 Sorento, but it won’t start. EMP.” Arturo replied.
    “Yeah, but I was thinking about it, and...” Dad stopped talking, picked up something from the gear pile. It made a ratcheting noise before he threw it at a tree and listened to it break with a plastic crack. “You know what really pisses me off?”
    Arturo opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but closed it instead.
    “It pisses me