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“Why do you say so?” she asks, curiosity etched in her eyebrows.
I laugh. I don’t know why I do. “He was a comical demon. He was so hard on us, my mom and my siblings. As the first child, I suffered more from his abuse and no one could interfere. Not even my mother, unless she wanted to sleep with a swollen eye.”
“And you know what pained most?” I say, sitting up with a stirring anger. “Whenever he was done with all of this, he would kiss our foreheads and hug us. A few times when we had sustained severe injuries, he would take us to the hospital and cry with us in our pain. And when we were healed up, he would resume with a higher dose of wickedness.”
“He cheated on my mother,” I continue, “and we all knew about it. He did this several times. Sometimes even at home when we all were around. No one ever dared to question him. And when he was done, he would come out and hug my mother, telling her that he loves her, and this and that. And she never left him.”
Amber looks so shocked. Her lips have parted in a gape that I’m sure she’s not aware of. Not minding, I continue the cascade of my tale.
“He had always said I wasn’t man enough. And he would beat me up for long minutes or put me in dreadful punishments for hours, just for me to become man enough. I was ten or eleven when he made me sleep outside in the garden all night, to learn to withstand the cold and be a man!”
“Wait, what? A ten-year-old?” Amber looks petrified.
“It was worse,” I tip in. “I resolved to run off to join the Navy SEALs when I was seventeen. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving. But I left and never returned.”
“Do you still hear from them?” she asks.
“Uh, I kept in touch with my mother and siblings for some years. But lost contact with them after a while,” I say.
“And you’ve not tried reaching them?”
“It’s harder than it seems.”
“Not as much as you’d make it seem.”
“Maybe.”
There’s brief silence. Amber then raises her right hand toward my face. Her fingers slowly stroke beneath my jaw line, just by my left ear. “What’s this scar?” she asks.
I raise my hands to feel the scar. My hand brushes against hers, and she drops her hands down. My mind races back with memories of some morbid sights. “It’s from one of the times I was deployed to Afghanistan. I narrowly survived a gunshot that had swept past my skin. Thank goodness I had moved a little more, or it would have gone through my neck.”
“Wow. You’re such a brave man,” Amber mutters. I look into her eyes, as they stare at me. I don’t know when her head lays on my shoulder again. “Maybe we should get married in here and at least, die married,” she says.
We pull away from each other in some eruptive laughter. I laugh till my eyes are filled with tears. It had been a long time since I last laughed like that.
It’s a moment that leaves me both surprised and grateful. Surprised by my own vulnerability, and grateful for the companionship that Amber offers.
The conversation we’ve had stirs something within me, igniting a spark of determination I’d thought was reserved for my days as a Navy SEAL. The connection Amber and I have formed is beyond mere camaraderie. It’s become a shared strength, a will to overcome the odds stacked against us. Amber’s vulnerability, her story, has touched me in a way I never anticipated. We’ve leaned on each other in this underground world, and it’s time to transform that reliance into action.
I stand, my eyes scanning the rooftop, our neighbor's rooftop, and searching for a way out. Our dialogue has become the catalyst for my old instincts to kick in. This is no time to let fear paralyze us. The possibility of escape could be within our grasp.
“What’s the matter?” Amber asks, looking concerned.
“Oh, nothing,” I say. “But we won’t just keep waiting down here for anything or anyone! I have to find a way out for us,” I conclude.
I walk around the rooftop looking for anything we can use to possibly float ourselves to safety. At first, it seems like a hopeless effort. Then I see a glimmer of hope, an old ski-board thrown in the corner. My mind instantly goes into survival mode, and I try to imagine, if this board is our ticket off this roof. I looked over the roof and the water was high, there was no way I would trust jumping off and swimming, although I am a great swimmer. We did several water rescues when I was in the Navy.
I grab the board and try to measure how far we actually are from the water. I can reach the water with the board, that is hopeful. Now, I just have to figure out, how to get us off the roof onto the board. I begin to question my thoughts, with doubts of fear. The water is cold, how far will we have to go, is help close by? All these thoughts begin to cloud my mind. Then I decided, I will leave Amber here safe and go get help. I know she will be scared, but I cannot just sit here and wait for help and help my never come.
"Amber", I say with reservation. "Do you trust me, to go get help? I promise I will be back for you as soon as possible". Then Amber's face drops and I can see the fear in her eyes, even amidst the dark sky."You want to leave tonight? What if the building collapses while you are gone, what will I do?" "I was thinking, at dawn break, if no help has arrived. I know my way around this city, we are not far from the navy base, I can go get a boat and get you to safety". "Derrick, I do trust you, lets see what the morning holds, maybe someone will come to rescue us, I do want to get off this roof and go find Alex". I reach out for Amber and slowly pull her into my arms, and we fall asleep under the stars. A night to remember as tragic as this day has been, this moment is so comforting and fulfilling.
The sound of birds chirping awakes me, and instantly I am preparing to go get help. I peek over and Amber is in a deep sleep. I kiss her on the forehead, make sure the duffle bag of supplies is at arms reach and I instantly go back into navy seal mode. I throw the ski board over the roof into the water, and seconds afterward I plunge into the cold ocean waters, which initially sends a shock through my body. My mind reverts back to years prior, it's not about me, I am trained to save lives. I look through the water and I can see the sky, I aggressively swim to the surface and there is the ski board, within arm's reach. I grab the board and start paddling my way for safety.
Chapter Seventeen
Amber
Iopenmyeyes,and reach for Derrick, to my surprise he is gone. Initially fear grips me, what if he never comes back? What if something happens to him? Why didn't he wake me up? I stood to my feet, walked to the edge of the roof, looked over, and could see the water was receding a little and a strong rotten egg smell seemed to evolve from the depths of the water. I took a look around me, huge tree branches floating along the building, cars, floating, and debris from homes floating. A sense of sadness overwhelmed my heart, these were homes for families. Now these families will be homeless if they even survive.
