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“Let’s re-arrange these couches against the wall so that we can make ourselves a bit of a cave to stay in,” she said. “And once we’re settled, I’ll try to tell you what you want to know.”
“You know,” said Jo as they pushed the couches around and set the pillows up like children making an imaginary fort. “One thing I don’t understand from the very start is why people weren’t more prepared. For Evelyn, I mean. It’s not like there weren’t storms before.”
“Well, we were prepared, at least as far as we could be,” Susan began. “You have to understand that there hadn’t been a storm that bad in a number of years, and so, for younger folks, we didn’t have those memories. But we also didn’t have the technology or the communication tools we all rely on today.” Susan glanced over at her new flat screen TV. “There was very little television reception on the island.” She wished there was an easier way to make her granddaughter understand.
“Remember, back then we didn’t have cable. You had to stick tin foil on the top of the TV’s antenna, and that’s assuming you even had a TV.”
Jo shook her head in disbelief and laughed a little.
“Sounds impossible, right?” She tried lightening the mood a bit, but the weight on her chest was too heavy. “But like I said, there weren’t too many TVs around. The reception was horrible because the nearest stations, like Norfolk, were too far away, and what with wind and all, you couldn’t see much half the time. And satellites to track storms were in their infancy. And, of course, to top it off, there was no Weather Channel.” Susan stopped as if to look back into time and a nostalgic smile found its way to her lips. “People relied on their local knowledge, which to tell the truth was pretty darn good. The fishermen could read the wind and the tides and the currents, and even the clouds. They knew something was up. And I mean, we did have radios and so we’d heard it was coming.” Susan shrugged recalling the memories. “We all did what we could to board up, tape up, and hunker down. It’s just, well, it was crazy bad.” She shook her head. “Later, we learned the track went right over us, so we got both sides. And if what we heard today was correct, we’ll get the same thing tonight. And the backside is way worse.” She shivered slightly, remembering that night. “Way worse.”
“After the eye passes, right?” asked Jo. “I mean, that’s all you hear about now is how weird the eye is.” Jo suddenly sat up straight as she thought about what that eye might mean for the two of them. “I know, I am going to get your old air mattress and we’ll stick it down here between the couch and the wall. I think you and I can share the mattress. We don’t have a lowest space and we don’t have any interior rooms so I guess this wall is going to have to do.” Looking around as she got up, she added, “At least we’re away from the windows.”
Once Jo found the mattress, inflated it, and got it into position, she and Susan squeezed into their makeshift bunker for the night.
“So, what was it like? Where did you stay?” asked Jo.
“I stayed up for quite a while just watching the lightning flashing in the distance. The rain came and went. Those were the rain bands of course. But then the lightning and thunder got to be so bad and the rain was just pounding on the roof.” Susan glanced at Jo who seemed transfixed by her grandmother’s story. “I got scared and, you’re going to laugh at this, I hid under my bed, and I stayed there until first light.” She shrugged.
“Really?” Jo was looking at her with a mixture of skepticism and awe.
“Yes. And this house shook like you wouldn’t believe, so get ready for that, and I didn’t think I had slept at all but I must have slept a bit because I don’t actually recall the quiet of the eye.” Susan paused and looked Jo straight in the eye. “But when that backside hit, I thought for sure the house would just splinter into a million pieces.” She rubbed her own arms as if trying to warm herself. “There was just that whistling of the wind. That’s what I remember the most about that night.”
“And what about the next morning?” Jo asked. She was trying her best not to think about the fact that she would have to go through all this herself within a few hours.Be calm, she thought.If Gran did this and survived, so can you.
“It was a nightmare, Jo,” Susan admitted. “Looking out the window, all I could see was water. We were all in water. The wind was still blowing, but believe it or not, there were peeks of sunshine, and that just seemed to make it surreal. We were all these little islands of houses in this beautiful morning light, but it was all wrong.” Susan stood up and looked toward her living room window on the other side of where they had bunkered down. “There were places I could see through where there should have been trees but the trees were gone. And I could see smoke and I thought that was weird.” Susan sat down again and placed her head in her hands. “Oh Jo, it was so sad. It was Matt’s Friendly Grocery. It was located where the “Big One” tackle shop is now. Mr. Matt was the nicest man. And something shorted and the store caught fire and was destroyed.” Susan stopped for a moment and Jo sensed her sadness about something that happened all those years ago. “It destroyed Mr. Matt too. He had a heart attack just about six months later, and then it was not long after he passed away. He didn’t have insurance to rebuild the store and he seemed to lose his way in life after that.” Susan paused again and tilted her head to one side. “You know, Jo? Hurricanes can do more than destroy beaches and buildings and lives. For the survivors, they’ll destroy your soul if you let them. I really believe that’s what happened to him. You would have liked him a lot. He was a good man.”
Susan paused and Jo stayed quiet for a few moments, allowing her grandmother to collect her thoughts. She knew the story was actually just beginning.
“And so, you didn’t stay in the house all day, did you, Gran?”
“No, of course not. I tried calling my mom and dad in Richmond, knowing they’d be beside themselves, but there was no dial tone.” Susan sounded matter-of-factly now. “It was a few hours before I felt like it was safe enough to venture out, and about the time I had my boots on and was ready to leave, I saw someone making their way toward the house.” Susan winced and Jo looked at her grandmother carefully. “It was Chris, a guy I knew from our group of friends that summer. I really had a crush on him as we said back then. I suppose you’d say I thought he was hot. But I always had admired him from afar. I mean, we spoke and all, but he was the last person I expected to see coming up the drive that morning.”
“Chris,” Jo said softly. “Chris what? Where was he from?”
“Chris Smith. How common a name is that?” Susan responded, shaking her head slightly. “And you know, I don’t know where he was from. Just somewhere “up North” as we all used to say. Someone had said maybe from around Baltimore or DC.” Susan shrugged, then continued matter-of-factly. “It really didn’t concern any of us who were working and living at the beach for the summer where we were from. It was a time to have fun and meet people and enjoy life in that moment. We didn’t have phones or computers or much of anything else to amuse us. We lived for our time off from whatever jobs we had just to soak up the sun and enjoy life. It was all pretty simple, until it all got complicated.”
“And so, this Chris just magically appears at your door step after Hurricane Evelyn creates havoc?” Jo asked. “Doesn’t make sense, or am I missing something?”
“I guess I was too naïve to realize he was interested in me too,” Susan said. “I was honestly stunned. He had surveyed the damage at the harbor and then he and a friend grabbed the friend’s old beater truck and drove up as far as they could. When the water got too high, they left the truck and just walked, taking it all in.”
Jo could hardly breathe, she was so caught up in her grandmother’s sharing. Susan went on. “His friend went one way and he told him he’d catch up with him by the motels and that he was coming for me. He called from the driveway to ask if I was OK, and he said he’d walk with me to the motel if I wanted to go.” Susan looked at Jo and smiled wistfully. “I remember walking down the steps from the porch and thinking it was almost too much to take in – the storm, the water, and then Chris. I was probably in a bit of a state of shock, but for sure I fell apart when we got to the motel.”
She paused then as if coming up for air after a deep dive. “Jo, I have some wine in the fridge, and if you don’t mind, I’m going to have some. And I know you’re not twenty-one yet but I also know you’ve sampled wine before, so if you ‘d like some, bring us some glasses.”
Jo nodded and climbed out of their pillow reinforcements.
So, his name was Chris. At least that was something. But how did it get to – her thought was interrupted by a huge blast of wind. The house shook and the lights flickered. She poured the wine into two plastic tumblers, and handed them over to Susan. “I am going to turn off the lights now while I can still see a bit. There’s no use to having the generator power something we won’t need tonight.”
She climbed back onto the air mattress and watched as Susan took a big swallow of the wine, her eyes closed. “OK, Gran, that was some first sip! But tell me what happened when you got to the motel. I guess I’ll need to brace myself for the same thing tomorrow.”
Susan took yet another swallow before continuing.
“If Chris hadn’t been there to hold me, I know I would have fallen into the water and maybe passed out and drowned. I just collapsed in his arms. I mean, to me, it looked worse than anything I had ever seen.”
Jo’s eyes grew wide.
“There was sand up to the railings on all the buildings and the water was still pouring over from the ocean side onto the highway and over to the sound. Even with all the beach we had back then, the swell was huge and it just came on through. I could see places where shingles had been ripped off the roof and the front porch… well, I told you about that.”
