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Chapter 36
GABE
Mendo kicks the remains of a shed that used to be on the other side of the marina parking lot. “Well, that’s a mess.”
I stand beside him and blow out a long stream of air. He’s right. The walkway out to the slips is destroyed. “I guess you won’t be owing any dock fees.”
“I better not.”
Several boats are smashed together. Mendo’s isn’t among them. He drove his boat to the opposite side of the island the moment it was clear where Calinda was going to land. His brother is guarding it, anchored near the swamp.
“You’re going to be one of the few working tour boats for a while.” I smack him on the back.
“Yeah, with no way to load passengers.”
“This dock will be back up in no time. It’s too critical, like the cruise port.”
“Still need building supplies.” Mendo looks up in the sky. “And power. Don’t forget that little detail.”
He’s right. Most of the homes have generators, but they can only power so much. We haven’t had phone service since the storm hit. I haven’t been able to assure Tillie I’m all right.
But the news is surely reporting that there have been no human casualties of the storm. Not here. Hopefully that will keep her calm.
“You ready to go check out your hut?” Mendo asks.
“Yeah.”
With so many trees down, the roads are impassable by car. I took my motorcycle out this morning to see how far I could get. I found Mendo trying to reach the dock on his sister’s pink bicycle and picked him up.
We take our time riding through town and down the highway to the condos. It isn’t too bad out here. The flooding is limited to the usual spots, and I manage to navigate the debris. The crews will get that cleared in no time.
But small, unsecured constructions have not fared well. Like the shed at the marina, there are wrecked outbuildings and chicken coops everywhere.
I pull into the condo complex. A few trees are down, and everything is dirty from the storm. But otherwise, it’s relatively unharmed. I park in a spot meant for residents. I don’t think they’re going to give me grief about it today.
We’ve just started our trek down the path when Sarah from the leasing office rushes to catch up to me. “Gabe! Hey!”
I stop. “Everything okay?” I ask her.
She looks between me and Mendo. “Yeah, sure. I live on-site and we just upgraded the generators here, so there’s been minimal disruption. Nobody even lost their fridge goods.” She flashes a quick smile. “But Orson told me to tell you to forward your business insurance to him, and we’ll help handle the claim.”
My gut tightens. “What claim?”
“To the contents of the hut. I assume you had inventory, a register, plus some appliances, right?”
What does she mean? I’m anxious to walk to the beach. “So it was damaged?”
“Oh.” Her expression falters. “You haven’t been out there yet.”
“Shit,” Mendo mutters.
“I’ll get back to you,” I tell Sarah, and start striding quickly through the complex.
A crew is already cutting up trees that have fallen in the path. We skirt one and then we’re at the sand.
And I stop in my tracks, momentarily confused. Did I take the wrong path?
I move farther out on the sand.
