When New York City's Tears Dry
By: CNJ
PG-13
3: Candlelight Remembrance
Kristy:
"...so, are you coming to
the candlelight vigil?" I asked Abby over the phone Thursday almost a week
after we'd given blood.
"Yeah," Abby told me. "Anna
and I are coming up Friday night."
"Good, we'll meet you at
the station on Lexington?" I asked.
"Yep, count on us," Abby
told me. "Anna says she's bringing our candles...wha..." Abby paused a
minute as Anna apparently said something more. Then she came back on, her
voice tight and a little high. "So, w-we'll be there at six on Friday...hang
in there..." she sounded close to tears by the time we hung up.
"Hi..." I said softly when
I saw Ran Zak in the doorway.
"Hi," she said softly, coming
in and sitting on the bed. "You're coming to to vigil, right?"
"Yeah," I told her. "Two
of my old high school friends are joining us too. Want some tea?"
She nodded, running a hand through her thick black spiky hair. I went into
the kitchenette to make the tea. My roommate, Uharu Jakara, was out, but
she'd be back later. Ran's met her; she's nice. She was also planning to
go to the vigil. I think most of the Staten U. students were planning to
go. "You want lemon or green tea?" I called.
"G-green..." I heard a sob.
I quickly put the cups into the microwave and headed to the room. Ran's
face was buried in her hands and she was really crying hard!
"Ohh, I know, I know..."
I sat by her and put an arm around her. Just then, Uharu came in.
"Is everything..." she started.
"I guess not," she finished quietly and went to grab some tissues and handed
them to Ran. Ran sat up and took them, tears still coming down her face.
Ran did part of her growing up here in New York City like Stacey, so this
probably hit her hard. She spent the first twelve years of her life in
Greenwich Village before moving to a small town in Minnesota. In a way,
she reminds me of Stacey and Claud, with her bright clothes and also a
little like Mary Anne in that she does have a sentimental side. Uharu and
I kept our arms around her until her tears slowed. Then I went to see about
the tea. I had brewed, so I offered one to Uharu and the three of us sat
and drank. Uharu and I had cookies, but Ran wasn't in a condition to eat,
so she mostly sipped tea.
"We're all going to get
through this," Uharu whispered, giving Ran a little hug.
"It'll be tough, but we'll
all get through it," I added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
The phone ringing made my
eyes open that Saturday. I'd just gotten up at around eleven, but was still
sleepy. It was Dad and Sharon.
"Happy birthday, Mary Anne!"
they both crowed.
"It's..." I was dazed a
minute. Today's my birthday?
"How does it feel to be
eighteen?" Sharon asked.
"I'm not sure yet," I managed
a weak smile. "I...kind of forgot my birthday was coming..." My nose started
to run, so I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose. "'Scuse me..." I muttered,
wincing at the uoonk sound my nose made.
"So...are you still up to
a birthday dinner?" Dad asked.
"Oh...sure, I guess," I
rubbed my eyes a little.
"How've you and your friends
been faring this week?" Sharon asked softly.
"Getting by, I guess," I
told them. "In the week, it's easy to just concentrate on the classes,
but the weekends...it's harder. A friend of ours, did I tell you about
her? She's crushed over this too since she did part of her growing up here."
"I can imagine," Sharon
said softly. "Well, dear...we'll be up at around three, is that all right?"
"Sure," I told them. "Hey,
how about Los Pollos diner?" I suggested.
"Sounds good." Dad and Sharon
agreed. "See you at three."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mona:
All of us...Kristy, Ran,
Uharu, Abby, Anna, and I treated Mary Anne to lunch for her birthday. We
decided to head to one of the restaurants right near ground zero, kind
of to boost their support there, since we had a feeling they'd need it.
It turned out to be more crowded than we expected. Many of the people were
greeting each other and sending words of support. As we waited for our
food, Mary Anne sat back, her eyes full of tears.
"Are you...?" Kristy asked.
"It's so touching how New
Yorkers have pulled together," she whispered as a tear rolled down her
face. It was true. Many of our fellow customers were wearing either American
flag shirts or pins or were sporting Statue of Liberty shirts. There were
some with shirts that said I love NY even more.
"It's great that so many
of them turned out," Uharu added. "In a lot of other places, the whole
area would be emptied out." We would eat, then Mary Anne would meet her
dad and stepmom for dinner later, then she'd come back to the dorm with
them and we'd be there with cake and gifts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
"We're so proud of you, Mary
Anne," Sharon reached over and held my hand.
"You've handled this crisis
so well," Dad added.
"Thanks..." I told them,
my eyes welling up. "Oh, Sharon, Dad, you should see how the people here
have pulled together. When we donated blood, the line went out the door
and down several blocks."
"We also gave blood earlier
this week," Dad added. "There was quite a line in Stoneybrook too." There
was a huge turnout here at the Los Pollos as well. I could still see some
remaining smoke down the street. I wondered if I could summon the courage
to even go past ground zero, then decided not to think about that for a
while. My stomach was a little tight, but I
managed to eat some.
"Are you sleeping well?"
Dad asked.
"I...some nights," I told
him. "Other nights I've had a few nightmares." It was true. "How is everyone
doing back in Stoneybrook?" I asked. "Especially Ms. Stevenson?"
"They're pulling together,
bit by bit," Sharon sipped her apple juice. "Rachel's back at work.
She still has crying spells, but we're helping her through it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in Stoneybrook:
Vanessa:
I was at Karen's house baby-sitting
Emily Michelle when Mary Anne and Dawn's folks dropped by and talked with
Karen's stepmom for a while.
"...They've handled this
all so well," Sharon was saying.
"...really making a good
go at adult life," Richard added.
"Like another door closing
and another one opening," Ms. Thomas put in. "The kids...well, they're
not kids anymore, it seems like yesterday that they were. Seems so short
a time ago, that Kristy came up with the BSC."
"Kind of sad and happy to
see them all grow so fast," Sharon sighed. "Next will be Karen, Vanessa,
Charlotte, and Becca ready to leave for college."
"I know..." Ms. Thomas and
Richard added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
All of us wore either dark
colors or American flag shirts. I wore a simple black dress myself that
Sunday as we went to the candlelight vigil which was held at the Yankee
Stadium late that afternoon. It was one of the most haunting, chilling
experience of my life, yet there was something cathartic about it. Various
singers sang and played music and bit by bit, we put our candles down on
a sort of makeshift memorial. Most of us were crying and I couldn't stop
tears from running down my own face. Everyone in our group were arm-in-arm
and by the middle of the ceremony, all of us were crying really hard. My
heart squeezed with a painful ache as I listened to the alarming sounds
of sobs, keens, and tears all around. I was a little frightened by the
sound of my own weeping, which came out in ragged, hoarse, high keening.
It seems as if the entire city of New York had dissolved into tears. Ran
leaned into me, sobs ripping out of her and I held her tight. I cried into
her shoulder while Kristy cried into mine.
"...s-saw tears on
the Statue of Liberty's face on the way down here..." someone whispered.
I wouldn't be surprised, I thought. Even though rationally, I knew she
was a statue, some emotional part of me figured it was possible with a
tragedy of this magnitude that Ms. Liberty had a lot of tears to shed right
along with the people of New York City.
More later!