Renewal Read Free Page B

vehicles from the base. I remember thinking how cool it was to see all those camo Humvees with the big guns mounted on top. The traffic was light so we waited to see what they would say. The Air Force guys told us that there was a major blockage on the road ahead, and that we should go back to Manchester to wait until the highway was cleared. Dad took him at face value and headed back to the fast food and motel strip near the Wal-Mart. We pulled into the McDonald’s right off the exit, my dad handed her some cash and asked her to bring him something to the car. The rest of us went inside while dad stayed outside, trying to listen to the two radios at once.
     
    We were waiting in line, except for my older brother, Kirk. He was in the restroom. Apparently, McDonald’s was the stop of choice for blockaded motorists since we were hearing a lot of chatter about roadblocks and GPS from the people in line with us. We were still behind some lady who seemed to be ordering for an entire office building when my dad rushed in and told us to forget it and to get back in the car. He had a wild look about him we had never seen before. As much as we loved McDonald’s, it never even occurred to us to argue. We left with a bunch of people watching us. Dad grabbed Kirk out of the restroom and practically dragged him to the car. He was probably just playing with the hot air hand dryer anyway.
     
    Dad gave a quick look over his shoulder, maybe looking for traffic, maybe counting us kids… I was never sure, and he made a squealing turn out of the parking lot. Back in the rumble seat I remember people coming out of the McDonald’s as we left. Maybe they thought we knew what was going on. Dad floored it for the quarter mile trip to the Wal-Mart just across the overpass. He hung a hard right into the parking lot, found the first decent parking space, and jolted us to a stop.
     
    Dad turned to mom and ordered, “Beth, you’re with me.” He looked back at us with a hard glare and said, “Nobody even think about getting out of this car. Lucy, you’re in charge until we get back.” Lucy is the oldest.
     
    It seemed like they were in there for only about twenty minutes, but they came back with four full carts of stuff. We had no idea what was going on. We were pretty sure Dad had lost his mind. He threw a bunch of squishy cloth and bags in the back with Tom and me. He filled the backseat floorboard with cans of food and bottles of water, and more cloth stuff between - and on - Kirk and Lucy. He threw a few boxes at us in back and told us to hold on to them. Then we could hear him thumping around on the roof. He cracked open a blue plastic tarp and tied it to the roof too. Mom was saying something, but mostly it looked like she was upset and trying to stay out of the way.
     
    They got back in the car and buckled up. My dad started the car and quickly got back on the interstate, heading west towards home. We made it back to Busy Corner before we shuddered to a squealing stop behind a line of cars and trucks. They were being held by another blockade of military vehicles, and as we sat there, it looked like everyone ahead wanted to have their own personal argument with the soldiers. All of the vehicles were being forced to exit the highway. We finally got to the front, and a young Hispanic soldier leaned towards my dad’s half-rolled-down window.
     
    “Sir, please exit here.”
     
    “Why?” Dad asked tightly.
     
    “Sir, there has been a major accident ahead, and we are diverting traffic until the emergency crews can get it cleared.” The soldier’s eyes scanned our car while Tommy and I were peeking over the back seat. He seemed to make some kind of connection about the time my dad snapped.
     
    “Bullshit!” My dad practically sprayed the word on the soldier.
     
    To his credit, the soldier was smarter than average. He looked back at us kids and gestured for my dad to listen closer. The soldier was talking quietly in dad’s ear