When New York City's Tears Dry
By: CNJ
PG-13
2: Coming Together Of A City
Mary Anne:
Time seemed to stand still
the next day. Classes were canceled and Kristy stayed with us another day
in our dorm. All around us the next few days, we and our fellow students
moved in a sort of haze, like the smoke that seeped over the Manhattan
Skyline. The three of us kept in close touch with our parents back in Stoneybrook
and Kristy's friend, Ran called her mom every so often in Minnesota.
"They know that we know..."
Kara Mulino told us when we gathered in a circle that Friday evening in
an informal counseling session of several of us in the dorm. Lazarus Hall
really isn't that big a dorm, so bit by bit, all of us, met.
"Know about what?" several
others asked.
"About the conditions women
face there," I put in. "They're appalling. The women are barred from driving,
going out without a male, and are forced to wear a burka covering their
entire selves. They c-can be killed..." I felt tears well in my eyes and
my chin began to quiver. Mona put a hand on mine and we squeezed hands
a minute. "...j-just...on rumor of un...married s-sex." The tears spilled
down my face and I had to grab several tissues.
"I've been hearing that
too," Marta Juanero put in. "The girls there are kept out of school also."
"We need to put a stop to
this..." Jeri Weng added.
"Bush is already making
plans for war with them," Mona said quietly.
"But something that will
destroy the Taliban, not just bomb them," Kara sipped her tea. We sat for
several hours talking. A blood drive was going on tomorrow at Roosevelt
Auditorium, so all of us agreed to meet there tomorrow. As we slowly got
up to leave, several of us were in tears, including me. It was unreal that
so many people were just killed just like that. I seriously hoped something
would be done about that evil Taliban and their band, so that it wouldn't
happen to more cities. I'd read about terrorist attacks on Europe and Asia
that happened in the eighties. Well, it was time we all did something about
this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mona:
"It's good that we're able
to do something to help all those victims," Kristy told us as we stood
in a huge line outside Roosevelt Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
"It sure is," I nodded.
"All these people turned
out," Mary Anne whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "I love how New
Yorkers have pulled together."
"Me too," I agreed. It's
funny how people think of New York City as a cold impersonal place, but
now people were banding together to help their city-mates. Since Kristy
was eighteen, and Mary Anne and I were almost eighteen, it was the first
time any of us had ever given blood. It was a little eerie, but a good
feeling. It took an hour, but finally, we got in, took numbers and sat.
Kristy went first, then Mary Anne.
"Good luck..." I called
to each of them. There were at least two dozen reclining chairs set up
and I watched sacks fill with blood. I noticed some people's blood was
bright red, while others were dark red. A few had a cloudy, kind of ketchup-red
blood and I wondered if they represented different blood types. I hoped
I wouldn't be one of the ones that fainted. Way across the room, I saw
Mary Anne sit back in her chair and waved. She waved back and her mouth
tried to smile, but kindof quivered. I gave her a nod of encouragement.
Just then, my number was called and I followed the technician to a chair.
I passed Mary Anne on the way and saw her swallow just as her technician
injected the needle into her arm. As for me, the technician joked around
a bit, then asked me a few questions, just I couldn't help watching as
the needle went into my arm. It was just a small prick, then it faded even
though the needle would be in for about five minutes or until the pint
bag was filled. It was a bit spooky to see my own blood pouring into the
bag. Dark red, I thought. I could see that Mary Anne's blood was dark red
too, although because of the angle of our chairs, I couldn't see her face.
"Hey, there..." Kristy waved
as she passed me.
"Done already?" I asked.
"Yep." Kristy nodded. "They
have cookies and sodas and all this stuff in the other room. I'll grab
some for you all and meet you there."
"Sure," I nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kristy:
Thank the stars none of us
fainted. I felt a little lightheaded at first and Mary Anne had a faint
headache, but once we had something sweet, it faded. All of us sat talking
quietly among ourselves.
"...so glad Olivia was safe,"
I heard one woman say as she sipped her soda.
"God, all those people that
are still missing..." her friend put in.
"They say it's over six
thousand people," a third woman said. All of us looked at each other and
I gasped.
"They haven't confirmed
it yet," the first woman said. "I'm just glad my sister made it out."
"How is she?" one of her
friends asked.
"Bruises and a concussion,
but she's coming out of the hospital tomorrow." We heard bits and pieces
of conversation and it was unreal that there were people right here who'd
actually been at ground zero.
"...was right in the building
with her boyfriend when it collapsed. Poor Michelle's crushed over her
boyfriend's death," another woman across the table was telling another
group of people. "She said it was a strange rumbling, then everything went
black and it seemed like a huge gaping pit opened up and they fell endlessly
downward into it. They were trapped there for almost nine hours before
being rescued. It's a miracle she survived."
"Thank the stars," the guy
sitting next to her added. "She wasn't hurt?"
"Just some smoke inhalation,
a couple of bruises, and a few hours of oxygen shortage. But Paul died.
Thank God they found his body quickly and were able to dig her out fast."
"Poor thing..." another
woman added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
"It's something like scenes
out of a really sad movie or book," I said softly once the three of us
were on our way back home. Kristy would have dinner with us, then head
back home to Fellowdean herself. "One of those really, sad,heartwrenching
stories, but hard to believe it happening in real life."
"Unfortunately, it sometimes
does," Mona told us.
"Yeah..." I wiped tears
from my eyes and the three us of were mostly quiet on the way home.
"I hear they're selling
T-shirts that say I love New York even more," Kristy suggested.
"Want to get together tomorrow and buy some of those?"
"Sure..." "Yeah..." Mona
and I agreed. Then the three of us put our arms around each other and headed
up the stairs to our dorm room.
More later!