1. The Storm
Dorian considered herself to be a pleasant person under most circumstances. However, on this particular day she found herself at odds with everyone who crossed paths with her. She knew she was being unpleasant, but somehow couldn't help herself. "Where's the sugar?" she demanded of Moe in the kitchen of La Boulaie, digging through the cabinets and not finding it where she expected. Her temper flared, aware that Moe was not in the room; so she resorted to screaming. "Moe!!??"
Ray Montez entered the room from the hallway and spoke calmly and quietly in his thick South American accent. "Moe has gone to the grocery. Is there something I can help you with, Dorian?"
She slammed the cabinet door shut angrily. "No! I am just trying to make myself a cup of tea - but don't worry about it. I'll drink it unsweetened." She huffed, carrying her cup and saucer to the nearby table and sitting down with her back to the wall.
"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, still calm.
She didn't look up at him as she poured cream into her tea and stirred it. "As a matter of fact, I do mind."
He turned to her, slightly surprised by her remark.
She looked up at him and shrugged as if he should have already known the answer she had just given.
Ray turned his back and leaned on the counter-top, looking out the window. "Looks like a good storm blowing up. Maybe we should check the weather, do you think?"
"The only thing you need to check is your daughter," Dorian snapped.
"Lola? She is at school right now. The same place as your own daughter."
Dorian offered him her best scowl. "You know what I meant."
Ray invited himself to sit down across the table from her. "Dorian, you know I am having some trouble with Lola right now."
"Really," Dorian asked sarcastically.
"I need your patience with this," he told her, laying the palms of his hands flat on the table with emphasis. "I need you to be patient with Lola, and with me. I was gone for a long time, and she was hurt. There are many things we need to work through so I can get through to her."
"Yes, I agree with you," Dorian offered sincerely before her voice turned cold again. "And in the meantime Langston has to put up with all of Lola's crap."
Ray took a deep breath and remained cool. "Your daughter deserves to have the best possible treatment from her family...."
"That's right," Dorian interrupted, sneering and pointing at herself. "And she does, from my family."
Ray stood again and walked to the kitchen island, leaning on it, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "You know, all her life Lola has had the things that meant most to her taken away. She was denied her mother, her home, and myself. Lola has learned to fight for the things she wants in life." He raised his hand to stop Dorian when her mouth opened to speak. "I am not making excuses for her behavior. She needs to learn what is and isn't appropriate - especially when it comes to family. But I am asking you to see her as a girl who needs our help, Dorian."
A sudden flash lit the kitchen and the lights flickered momentarily as a large boom of thunder rattled the windowsill.
Dorian frowned up at the lights, speaking somewhat more calmly and letting the storm embody her frustration. "I can identify with Lola, in a way," she admitted. "But you can't let her get away with this type of behavior. There have to be consequences, and in this case I'm afraid it is going to have to be more than a simple apology."
Ray pooched his lips out, wondering if he should keep them shut. "Perhaps if Langston would have actually accepted Lola's apology...."
Dorian slapped the surface of the table with both hands, sloshing tea onto the place-mat. "You actually fall for the cutesy little goody-two-shoes act she does, don't you? 'Oh, Papi, I don't know what to do!'" She mimicked Lola as she stood angrily and stepped toward Ray. "You watch your back, Papi, or Lola is going to wound you the same way she did Langston."
Another, unexpected clap of thunder shook the house as Dorian stomped out of the room.
Ray waited a moment before following her to the sitting room. She was standing at the French doors, watching the dark rain streak down the panes, her back to him.
"Dorian," he said calmly.
She barely even acknowledged that he had entered the room.
He stepped nearer, laying his hands on her small shoulders carefully. "Dorian, may I ask a favor of you?"
She turned to him and sighed. "Maybe we should check the weather. You know, it is awfully dark out there for this time of day." She pulled away from him and crossed the room, picking up the television remote and turning the weather on.
Ray took a deep breath and walked over to her side again. "Could you do me a favor, Dorian?" he asked again.
She inspected the red radar blobs on the screen for a moment and then turned to him, drooping her shoulders, relenting. "What is it, Ray?"
"I think what I am lacking in this situation with Lola is a woman's sensibilities about her daughter." He took both of Dorian's hands in his own.
"You're kidding me," she shook her head, annoyed and amused. "You want me to speak to Lola?"
"I think it could help. Perhaps give me more insight into this situation."
The television screeched suddenly, grabbing their attention. "The National Weather Service in Philadelphia has just issued a tornado ... warning ... for the following counties in Pennsylvania: Llantano. If you are in the area of Llantano County you should take cover immediately. At 1:55 p.m. radar indicated a storm capable of producing high, damaging winds and dime-sized hail. Stay away from windows and take shelter immediately. Repeat: The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Llantano County, Pennsylvania...."
Both adults blinked at the television for a moment and then looked around the room. Dorian watched the wind through the French doors and looked up at the lights.
"What do they do," Ray asked, stunned, "at school?"
Dorian swallowed nervously. "Oh, um." She put her hand to her neck, thinking. "They take every precaution - usually put the children in the safest place." She turned in a circle, worried.
"I have been to the school. It is a solid building."
"Yes," Dorian agreed, still a bit stunned. "Oh, yes, of course! You know these weathermen - they are just looking out for our safety. He didn't say a tornado had been spotted or had touched down."
"That's good, right?"
Dorian paced a bit. "Yeah, I mean.... It is probably just a rotation in the ... atmosphere or whatever. Nothing to worry about!"
A large flashed filled the room, this time simultaneous with a cacophonous thunderclap and an immediate loss of power to the house.
The room went pitch black and eerily still. Outside, the storm roared with a force - the only noise the two could hear until their eyes adjusted to the dim light and one of them spoke again.
"Maybe we should take cover ourselves," Ray suggested.
Dorian paced away from him a bit so that he couldn't see her face. "No, um, you go ahead. The safest place is the closet under the stairs."
He stepped closer to her, concerned. "You don't want to go someplace safe, Dorian?"
She spun to face him again in the dark room. "Oh, no," she lied, smiling, feigning confidence. "You know, even if there was a tornado that had touched down, which I'm sure there isn't, it could be all the way on the other side of the county. There's a flashlight and a radio in the kitchen. I'll just listen to the weather on the radio and let you know when the storm has passed."
They were both startled when a loud roar filled the room. Ray looked up at the ceiling and back at Dorian, who was cringing. He had to raise his voice so she could hear him. "What is that noise?"
She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax, gazing out the French doors again. "Hail!" she answered, watching the branches outside blow and twist in the wind.
Ray hurried to her side and peered out. He purposefully spoke calmly. "Even if there isn't a tornado here right now -- that weather is dangerous. We need to go someplace safe - both of us."
Dorian moved to the center of the room slowly. "We'll be fine," she assured him.
"Why don't you want to take cover?" he queried, still concerned.
She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the rattle of the hail against the outside walls of the house. "I told you," she said measuredly, lifting her finger for emphasis, "I am going to go to the kitchen to get a flashlight and the radio."
"I'm going with you then," he nodded as she started back out of the room.
She shrugged as he followed.
The kitchen was pitch black. Dorian remembered the flashlight being in the drawer next to the kitchen door, but as she fumbled in the drawer she couldn't lay her hands on it. "Aaggh!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "Ever since Moe came I can't find anything in here!" She slammed the drawer shut with a bang. It was barely audible against the backdrop of wind, hail, and thunder.
Ray stood behind her and gently laid his hands on her arms, leaning close to her ear so she could hear him. "Calm. We will find it. I'll help you." He kept his hands on each side of her until he was sure she had calmed down. "Now, where should be the next place we look?"
Her arms shook slightly as her muscles tensed again. She clenched her fists in frustration. "I don't know!"
A deafening crash suddenly resounded from next to them and they both jumped, shocked, as a tree branch shattered the nearby window, sending shards of glass flying across the countertop and floor. Dorian covered her ears as the sounds outside were instantly amplified and the roar of the weather intruded upon her kitchen.
Ray grasped her arm, yelling loudly so she could hear him. "It isn't safe to be out here! We have to take cover!"
In an instant, he had his arm around her back and had guided her back into the hallway. The wind was whipping through the kitchen toward the front door and any loose papers were being whirled around and blown into unknown corners.
Dorian jerked away from Ray as he opened the closet door. "No," she protested.
The wind continued to toss the tree branch in the window, shattering more of the glass as Dorian took a few steps back.
"What is the matter?" Ray asked, trying to remain calm with Dorian against his better instincts. "It is dangerous out here! We have to go in the closet!"
She shook her head at him gravely. "I don't want to...."
The lightening strike that followed her statement was so close that they practically heard the thunder before they noticed the flash, even over the roar of the chaotic wind. The house rumbled ominously - every fiber of its construction vibrating. Dorian clutched at her chest; almost sure it had skipped a beat.
Ray couldn't stand it anymore. He threw his arms around Dorian and pulled her into the closet, shutting the door.