Ean’s Rare Gift – Chapter 15

Ean

All I want to do now is help people recover from this tragedy. Thirty years ago, this town went through the end of a crushing civil war. It took years to deal with the burned-down buildings and get people back on their feet. This is even worse.

Down in the café, I stare out the front window at the neighborhood. My thoughts are tumbling round and round. I’m sad for Karina and her café. My apartment is a mess. My pair is gone. I haven’t heard from my family. The power is still out, and my town is a disaster.

Do something, Ean!

“I was hoping Ume would be here.”

“Oh shit,” Karina exclaims, sloshing through the water to reach me at the door. “She could be at your family’s home.”

I tilt my head as I consider this, and Karina laughs.

“What?” I ask. Her bright smile lights me up inside.

“You look like a bird when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Tilt your head like that.” I do it again, and she points. “Yes, just like that. Seems appropriate.”

I sigh. “Why my parents’ place?” I turn to stare out the window again. “I was just thinking of them, but… I want to help everyone.”

“Ean, you can’t help everyone,” she says quietly. I know she’s right, but it doesn’t help. “Before we left to go out into the storm, I told Ume that if something happened, she could find refuge either here or at your parents’ estate.” She touches her chest. “I’ve never been there, but I know about it.” She shrugs. Sure. Everyone in town knows where the mayor lives. “She’s probably there.”

Yes, this is a good idea. I want to check on my family, and maybe Ume will be there.

But with the state of Café Mela, I know my duty should be to remain here and help Karina. I should stay in this neighborhood. All the families I’m supposed to be helping to find new apartments are here. My place is here.

“I know what you’re thinking. You think you need to stay.”

I raise my eyebrows at her. She reads me too well.

“But family is important. No one would fault you for checking on them and ensuring they’re okay. Their place is just as old as the Ginmori Estate, and look what happened to that.”

Suddenly, my stomach is hollow. She’s right. I should return home as soon as possible. My family could be in significant trouble. And if Ume is there, that’s even more reason for us to hurry.

“Yes, yes,” I say, my head bobbing rapidly. “I should go.”

She opens the door. “Good. I’m coming with you.”

I glance over my shoulder at the café. “Shouldn’t you stay to clean up?”

She shakes her head and waves a hand dismissively. “With no power and the streets and drainage systems still clogged with mud, there’s no point. I can’t move this water out until those things are taken care of. Let’s go.”

I step close to her, and her chin rises, so her eyes meet mine. “I could kiss you right now.”

Karina blushes, the color rising like a flood from her chest to her cheeks. That’s not something I’ve seen her do before. She’s not much of a blusher, and the fact that her body does it for me makes it even more special. She takes a deep breath and slides closer. “Yes. Yes, do it. I need something to get me through this mess.”

It’s exactly what I need too. I pause for a moment, savoring the idea of her lips pressed against mine. The answer has already been written in the stars, so I gently lean in and kiss Karina. Her lips are warm and inviting, her skin soft against my own. A shiver runs through me as I pull away, but it’s only replaced by the feeling of pure elation that washes over me like a wave.

Karina peers up at me with a satisfied smirk on her face. “That’s one hundred percent better. Okay, let’s go find your family.”

When we turn to leave, her sister-in-law is watching us with a sad smile. I wonder how she feels about Karina moving on from her brother. But whatever she has to say remains in her heart and mind. “Be careful!”

“We will,” Karina calls back.

We make our way along the road, heading away from Café Mela and towards my parents’ estate. As we walk, we come upon uprooted trees so large that some block roadways, electricity poles snapped in two, and plenty of people wandering aimlessly. Roofs of houses now lay on the ground like massive jigsaw puzzles, waiting to be put back together again. It’s a scene of utter devastation.

We’re silent for thirty minutes as we move through areas still flooded with muddy water and occasionally stumble over debris.

“This is a lot worse than I thought it would be,” Karina says as we round a corner, getting even closer to the family estate.

“It was a big storm, but it was over so soon, so it must have turned like they predicted.” I scratch at my head as we traverse a giant puddle. “It would have been worse if it hadn’t.” Even if we find my parents’ home intact, what will be left of their neighborhood?

I keep close to Karina to ensure she’s safe, especially since she’s already done so much for me today. Everywhere is silent but for our footsteps echoing in the empty streets.

After another block, I recognize a face in the crowd surrounding a local convenience store. It’s my sister Winta, and I know something is wrong before we even approach. Her eyes are red, and her face is blotchy. She’s been crying.

“Ean!” she cries and runs to me. I open my arms just before she lands in them and nearly knocks me over. “Thank the gods you’re here.” She pulls away, and her eyes are wide. “Come home right now. There’s been a collapse in the kitchen. Some of the animals are stuck.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask, my chest buzzing with danger. I look at the line of people waiting to get into the store.

“The owner has a battery-operated radio transmitter and receiver. Dad told me to come here and call for help.”

Karina looks at us both. “No time. We should go right now.”

We follow Winta to the estate, my stomach churning with worry and fear. The wind and rain tore down the outer fence, and two trees lay across the front garden. My parents’ menagerie of animals are everywhere, some of them pacing and whimpering for help as they crowd the yard, away from the house that was once a safe haven for them. It’s heartbreaking to see them upset like this, some of them too scared to move at all, though none of them appear injured.

“Ean! Ean!”

Something black swoops in from my peripheral vision, and Winta screams. I duck, thinking I’m about to be hit with debris.

“Oops,” I hear Ume say before her flapping wings stop her in midair, and she glides to my feet.

“That bird!” Winta cries, pressing a hand to her mouth briefly. “It has been here, squawking and crying all morning.”

“Ume!” I call out, opening my arms to her. She hops straight up, and I cradle her to my chest. “Ume! You’re okay. I can’t believe it. What happened? Are you all right?”

Gently cradling Ume, I listen as the crow recounts her harrowing night.

“The ceiling caved in, and I thought the building was going to collapse, so I left through the roof. I dodged falling tree branches, hid from a wildcat on the prowl for food, and spent an hour clinging to the side of a dumpster in an alley. I even saw a building catch fire after being hit by lightning. Then I remembered Karina said I should come here, and I wasn’t far. Your family has been worried. You need to help inside.”

“Oh. Oh!” Winta points at me, her mouth open in awe. “You… You have a new pair!” Her face pales. “A bird when you used to be paired with a cat?” Her voice is breathless.

“The kitchen, the kitchen!” Ume insists, reminding me of our mission.

“Is someone out there? Help!” My mother’s voice echoes from the house, and adrenaline shoots through me.

Karina is the first on the move. She leaps onto the creaky front porch and barrels into the house. I’m right on her heels.

Inside is pure chaos. The kitchen is a mess. The roof has collapsed under the weight of a tree that fell on it, and there’s water everywhere. My mother is hauling away heavy roof tiles one by one with Rosa and Demi, my two youngest sisters. Karina bypasses the kitchen and makes a beeline straight for my father lying on the couch, pale and sweating.

She reaches for his neck and looks into his ghostly face. “I think he’s having a heart attack.”

I run back out of the house to Winta. She’s in shock, her eyes wide. She hasn’t moved. “Go,” I urge her. “Go to Dr. Wasega’s house now.” I point down the hill. He and my father have been friends for years, and he’s a retired general surgeon. “Bring him back here as quick as you can. Tell him it’s an emergency.”

“Dad?” she asks, barely moving.

I grab her shoulders and shake her enough to bring her around. “Yes. Go.” She blinks, turns, and sprints off down the hill.

When I return to the house, Karina has Dad lying flat, his feet propped up, and a pillow under his head.

“What happened?” I ask Mom as I enter the kitchen. I slide in next to her and help her remove the debris.

“We braved most of the storm, no problem,” she says, grunting as she removes a roof tile. “Then right at the end, around five, the tree just came slamming down. We couldn’t do anything about it until the wind eased up two hours ago, but then we heard Kiki and Ramen trapped back here.”

When I pause, I can hear both cats meowing. The pantry is just beyond this mess, and all the animals like to eat their food there, especially the cats, away from the other house dogs, birds, and the raccoon that’s always hanging around.

Karina appears in the doorway. “I need to see your husband’s medications.”

“Go,” I tell Mom, and she rushes off with Karina towards the bathroom.

Rosa gets in behind me, her jaw set and determined. Demi, my youngest sister, has tears in her eyes, but she sniffs up and keeps going.

It takes us an eternity to clear out the kitchen and get to the pantry, where Kiki and Ramen are meowing up a storm. Both cats are scratching at the door with their claws, desperate to be freed. I slide my fingers between one board and find another loose one, which I pry open. The door swings wide, revealing Kiki and Ramen on their hind legs, ready to jump.

“Kiki! Ramen!” I call out, sending them both flying out the door with relieved whines and mews. Kiki wraps herself tightly around my ankle, and Ramen jumps into Rosa’s arms and curls up against her chest.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Demi says, slumping back against the wall. “They both seem okay.”

“We have to finish this and make sure no one else is in there,” I prompt her. “Plus, all the shelf-stable food is in the pantry. We’re going to need it.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Just give me a moment.”

Even though Demi is the sports superstar of the family, she’s still young. This is a lot of anxious physical activity for someone like her. We take a moment to rest our arms and backs before we launch back into action.

Finally, after what feels like forever, we clear out enough debris to make it possible for us to climb into the pantry. We walk carefully between toppled shelves towards the raccoon huddled in the corner next to the food remains.

“Come on.” I reach out a hand to him. He puts his little paw in mine, and I scoop him up to free him out into the house. I smile as I watch his rump disappear out the door. He’ll be back.

An almighty crash from outside, followed by shouting and running steps, kicks my heart rate up again. Winta has returned with Dr. Wasega in tow. I carefully step out of the pantry, and Karina meets me at the kitchen door.

“He’s been taking heart medication,” she whispers as I watch the doctor examine Dad. Sirens approach in the distance, their rising and falling tones giving me goosebumps. “I got some into him, and the doctor used a battery-powered radio to call in for an ambulance.”

“He should have had a guard or two here with radios. That’s the standard protocol for protection.” As mayor, sometimes my father gets involved in situations he should not. Security is necessary.

Karina shakes her head. “The guards went home to their families during the storm. Your mother couldn’t find the radios.”

I sigh and put an arm over Karina’s shoulder. I pull her to me to kiss her temple.

“Thanks,” I mumble, my lips pressed to her skin.

Her smirk is the cutest thing I have ever seen. “No problem.” She jerks her head at the door. “Let’s go back outside to Ume. I’m sure she has a lot to tell us.”