10:00 AM
Mark really wished that his sister hadn't decided to move to New Jersey. But Cindy was as stubborn as their mother, and when she decided that her family needed a change, she moved.
Fine, Mark thought crossly. So why did she decide that she needed her little brother to help her move?
So, for the entire weekend, Mark had been ferrying boxes from Scarsdale, New York to Freehold, New Jersey. Westchester to Jersey to Westchester to Jersey...ugh! It was a relief to be rid of that cumbersome van and back in the less-than-new Toyota that Joanne had lent him for the weekend.
Of course, the weekend,' according to Cindy, also included Monday. By the time Monday night rolled around, Mark had had enough of his family. There was good reason he never returned their phone calls! Forced to stay the night, he made his escape as early as possible on Tuesday morning.
So why the hell was the Turnpike closed?!
Trying out a variety of back roads and seeing far more of the Garden State than he had ever wanted, Mark finally made his way -- almost! -- to the Lincoln Tunnel.
Which, apparently, was closed.
What the hell was going on around here?!
The car radio was not exactly in working order. So the ever-resourceful Mark Cohen chose a new back road. He was pretty sure it would eventually dump him in a position to view the great Manhattan skyline.
Maybe that would give him a clue as to why he was stranded in New Jersey.
* * * * *
Joanne was frustrated. To put it mildly.
She could not get a hold of Maureen to save her life. Nor could she reach the loft. In fact, any number that she dialed with her cell phone got her a busy signal.
Work had more or less ceased when CNN announced that a new aircraft had done a swan dive into the Pentagon.
That's when everyone really started getting scared.
No wonder it's called terrorism,' Joanne thought, glaring at her innocent-looking cell phone. Terror. Ism. To inspire terror. Well, it worked!' She was surprised that no one was rioting in the streets. She had a few riots she wanted to start. The first would be directed at the cell phone companies. Maybe a protest would be better. Starring Maureen as the evil cellular phone conglomerate.
Joanne felt extremely foolish when she remembered that there was a regular phone in her office.
That one was working better. She didn't get a busy signal when she called home. Instead, the phone rang. And rang. And rang.
Maureen was either not home, or deaf. Lovely.
Joanne barely suppressed a scream of frustration. That's when Steve yelled for her to get her ass over to the television, and quick!
She obeyed. And gaped at what she saw on the screen.
* * * * *
Roger and Mimi were comfortably settled on the roof of their loft. It was the best view they could get of the World Trade Center, and every now and then the bitchy little radio gave them more than crackling.
For example, they heard that the Pentagon had been bombed, too. Dive-bombed.
Mimi decided that this was really not turning out to be a good day, in spite of perfect weather.
They stared at the vague outline of the Twin Towers, all they could see through the thick smoke that surrounded that area like a fog. Fortunately, they were far enough uptown to avoid catching a whiff of the smoke itself.
That's about when Roger remembered where Collins was supposed to be that morning.
he said hesitantly, exactly how close to the fire is Stuyvesant High School?
She stared at him. Too close. But I'm sure they're out by now, away from it. I don't think anything else is burning.
Roger agreed. They looked at each other for a long moment, then turned back to the spectacular, unforgettable sight of the Twin Towers spewing smoke. Neither felt reassured.
* * * * *
Benny had been meeting a possible investor that morning. The investor's office had been on one of the lower floors of a World Trade Center building. They had been evacuated pretty quickly, and without much trouble. Benny didn't understand why two planes had crashed into the Twin Towers that morning, but he understood that in spite of a thin coating of soot, he was unharmed. He understood that there were a lot of firefighters and police officers and medical personnel in the area who wanted to help people like him get out.
He certainly did not understand why Collins was trying to go back inside the buildings.
he shouted in his one-time friend's ear. Out is this way, dammit!
So go, came the muffled reply. There are still people trying to be evacuated. They need help getting through all this dust and junk.
True! Very true! This is why we should leave before it gets worse! Collins ignored him. Look, Tom, there are professionals here, people who are supposed to be doing this! Not us. Let's just go already!
I said I can't, Collins replied. He'd never forgive me if I turned my back on them now.
Consider yourself forgiven. Come on!
Not you, Benny. You can go. Save your sorry ass. I'm just trying to save a few lives, no big deal.
Benny rolled his eyes. Collins, this is not exactly the time to play hero.
You can think of a better time?
Collins, dammit, the World Trade Center is burning down! Has this not occurred to you? Get the fuck out while you can! Christ, Tom, we don't know how far the fire has spread inside, we don't know what kind of structural damage has been done, it's fucking dangerous in there and your friends will kill me if I let you go back in for the purpose of some hollow self-sacrificial quest! He grabbed the other man by the arm. Collins yelled in pain and jerked away. Mentally cursing himself, Benny let him go, helpless.
Collins was practically blinded by the pain Benny had caused by grabbing his burned arm. In a temporary stupor, he stumbled towards the south tower, into the lobby. It was a shadow of its former glory, but he didn't notice. Angel was there. Angel would show him how to help all these people. The naive tourists he had seen before, when everything was normal. Angel would help them, help him, help him help them....
Benny was furious. Fine, fuck you then! he shouted in the direction Collins had gone. Turning his back, he started jogging away from the buildings, towards streets and sirens and safety.
He heard a loud rumbling sound behind him, and turned. Panic gripped his chest. he screamed, but no one heard.
* * * * *
Safe on the roof of their loft, Roger and Mimi struggled with a dying radio and watched the Twin Towers burn. Suddenly the dust around those buildings seemed to get thicker. Mimi gasped and pointed -- as though Roger didn't see the same thing.
The south tower suddenly lost its identity as a solid structure. It collapsed into itself, rapidly, completely.
The Twin Towers were no longer twins. There was only one left. It continued burning merrily.
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