Chapter 10
A loud tapping on my driver’s side window jolts me from sleep. I sit up, blinking against the harsh sunlight that’s pouring into my car. It’s also hot as hell in here. The tapping continues.
I look over and see a short older woman waving at me. I look around and remember where I am. I can’t believe I fell asleep.
This Walmart parking lot is filled with people now, just a few hours after I arrived early this morning. I turn on my truck so I can roll down the window and see what this lady wants.
“Hi,” I say.
“Good mornin’! You were gonna burn up in there if you didn’t wake up soon.” She nods eagerly at me, and I get the feeling she’d probably been watching me for a while now. “We got some breakfast cooking over in that blue RV. Why don’t you come get you some?”
I look in the direction she points and see a blue RV. It’s ancient, probably from the seventies, and the original outside of the thing has been painted a bright baby blue color. It was clearly painted by an amateur, and with paint that probably isn’t meant for vehicles. But there’s people mulling around, and a grill in front of it being manned by an equally old man.
“Sounds good,” I say. I’m too far away from home, too hungry, too hot, and too sick of being in this situation to worry about accepting food from a stranger. Plus, she seems nice enough.
“Wonderful,” she says, showing me a wrinkly grin.
I roll up my window and point the air conditioning right at my face while I check my phone. My last message from Ella was when we agreed to set off for this Walmart, several hours ago. I made it here with no problem, didn’t see her car, and must have fallen asleep waiting for her.
She’s probably here now, looking for me. I turn off the truck and get out, putting an Astros baseball cap on to shield the bright morning sunlight from my sleepy eyes.
Since I arrived, more people have showed up. I see some news vans near the entrance, and police trucks handing out bottled water to people who wait in line. Looks like this place has become some sort of staging area for all the people who are displaced from evacuating.
There’s lots of people grilling food or handing out snacks. You can tell who lives in the area and showed up to help and who is only here because they’re evacuating. We look weary and exhausted and like we haven’t showered in two days. The volunteers have bright smiles and clean clothes.
Man, I love Texas. Everyone really comes together for people.
I call Ella as I walk toward the blue RV, but her phone goes to voicemail. She probably won’t get this any time soon, but I leave her a message anyway. “Hey babe. I’m here at Walmart. It’s crazy busy, but I’ll find you wherever you are. I’m parked a few spaces away from this bright blue RV. You can’t miss it. Love you.”
I hang up and get ambushed by the old lady again. She hands me a paper plate and fills it with scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon.
“Wow,” I say as she gives me a plastic fork. “Thank you.”
She pats my back and then moves on to feed other people. I’m anxious to find my girlfriend, but my stomach is growling and I haven’t eaten in forever, so I shovel food in my mouth as I walk around looking for her. A lot of people have set up tents and canopies to crash here overnight. I wonder if all the hotels are booked by now.
Someone has a radio playing, and I hear an update on the storm. It’s still supposed to make landfall in two days, and right now it’s the biggest hurricane we’ve had in over a hundred years. They’ve expanded the mandatory evacuation zones and now people are getting stranded on the interstate because it’s too packed. Apparently on some parts of the highways, they’ve opened up both sides of the road, making all southbound lanes go northbound. That way everyone can get out, and no one is allowed to go back until after the storm passes.
This is some crazy shit. I’m so glad my parents are at the hotel and safe. I try calling them, but of course the lines are all blocked and no calls get through. I send Mom a text though, and maybe she’ll get it.
I finish my food and accept a cold bottle of water from a police officer.
I walk through the parking lot looking for Ella’s car. It’s a huge lot, because this isn’t just a Wal-Mart. There’s a Sam’s Club and a shopping center too, so the parking spaces stretch on forever.
I make a plan to start at one end and walk to the other, but to go through the places right in front of the Wal-Mart first, since that’s where we agreed to meet.
She probably got here early in the morning and fell asleep like I did. I tell myself to stay calm and alert and just walk until I find her.
Anytime I see someone official looking, I ask if they have a sat phone I can use. No one does. People are in pretty good spirits, despite being parked at a store. Kids play around the cars, chasing each other or playing catch. I bet they enjoy getting out of the car for a while. Parents eat and relax and talk with each other about the best places to find a hotel.
I see a few elderly people looking miserable in their wheelchairs and it makes me feel like shit. This kind of thing isn’t easy on everyone. I go back to the police truck and get a few bottles of cold water and bring it to an old man in a wheelchair who doesn’t seem to have any family around. He smiles and thanks me, and I still feel awful. But I need to find Ella right now.
I probably smell like ten junior high locker rooms put together with how much I’m sweating right now. There may be a huge storm in the Gulf, but here on dry land, it’s scorching hot. I wipe the sweat from my brow and make my way toward the very end of the parking lot. There are cars everywhere but none of them are Ella’s.
I’ve been calling and texting her this whole time, to no avail, and now my phone is dying. Defeated, I turn around and head back to my truck so I can charge my phone. The whole time I’m scanning for Ella’s car, studying every girl that walks by in case it’s her, listening to every voice in case I hear her talking. But she’s nowhere to be found.
I try to think happy thoughts, like maybe she made it to the hotel and I just haven’t gotten her texts that tell me so. But even that doesn’t make sense because we made a plan to meet here. She wouldn’t just go against the plan. I feel this clawing in my gut, this unease that’s slowly eating me alive. Ella’s parents are counting on me to keep their daughter safe. And I’ve failed them this whole time.
I get back to my truck and unlock the door. A girlish shriek sounds just behind me. “Oh my God! Ethan!”
