Earthquake – Chapter Three

"Look," Tawny observed the next morning.  "The power's on."

The lights in her room flickered dimly as she and Louis sat cross-legged on her floor, eating cereal.

The previous night had been scary, with only darkness enfolding Louis and Tawny as they clutched each other in her bed.  Louis slept fitfully until the sun rose, then began pacing the house, waiting to hear news from anyone.  No one had come.

"I need a shower."  Tawny stood up and placed her empty cereal bowl on her dresser.  "Will you be okay here until I get back?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said Louis.

"Okay.  Um, you can wear some of my dad's clothes if you want to change," Tawny offered.

Louis found a pair of Dr. Dean's pants and fastened a belt tightly around the waist, then threw on one of Tawny's loose t-shirts.  It smelled like strawberries.  As he stood combing his fingers through his hair in front of Tawny's mirror, the phone rang.  Louis stared at it for a second, then lurched for it and picked it up.  "Hello, this is Louis Stevens."

"Louis?"

It was Dr. Dean.

"Oh...hi," said Louis.  "How's Hawaii?"

"Where's Tawny?"

"She's in the shower," Louis replied.

"Have you been staying at our house?"

"Well, yeah," Louis told him.  "My house isn't really here anymore."

"Listen, Louis, your parents tried to call us a few nights ago.  They sounded really concerned," said Dr. Dean.  "But we lost our connection.  I was on my cell phone.  Do you know what they wanted?"

It occurred to Louis that the Deans had no idea what had happened while they were gone.

"Dr. Dean, do you have a radio or a TV set or anything where you are?" Louis asked.

"No, we can only contact people from the hotel, and they only have a few power lines here," Dr. Dean told him.  "We're basically just going with the flow of nature."

"Oh," said Louis.  He didn't want to spoil the rest of their vacation, but he wanted to figure out what had happened to his parents.  "So what did my parents say when they called you?"

"They wanted us to contact you and tell you something, but I'm not sure what it was," said Dr. Dean.  "Oh, well, our time is almost up.  Tell Tawny that my mother and I love her, all right, Louis?  And you two don't get into any trouble."

"Don't worry," Louis assured him before hanging up the phone.

Tawny walked in, covered with only a towel.  When she spotted Louis' makeshift outfit she burst out laughing.  "You realize you're wearing one of my pink shirts?" she asked.  "Geez, I haven't worn that color since I was like, twelve.  I think my mom bought this for me on clearance at the mall."  She stopped when she saw Louis' expression.  "What is it?"

"Your parents just called," said Louis.  "They said that my parents had tried to contact them.  I think it was during the earthquake."

Tawny's face fell.  "Well, did they want to talk to me?"

"They have no idea what happened," Louis continued as Tawny began taking clothes out of her closet to wear.  "I didn't tell them.  When are they coming home?"

"In three days," said Tawny.  She disappeared across the hall into the bathroom and a few minutes later emerged, fully dressed.  "So what's up?"

Louis sat on his bed.  "Maybe they told them that they were taking shelter somewhere and I'm supposed to find them."

"Yeah, maybe," said Tawny.  "Look, Louis, we have to get out of here.  Look at you.  I've never seen you like this."  Her green eyes stared at him sympathetically.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.  Louis and Tawny raced downstairs.  Louis pulled open the door to reveal Ren standing on the other side.  She walked briskly into Tawny's house, setting a small suitcase in the hallway.

"Ren, hi," said Tawny.

"How'd you get here so fast?" asked Louis.

Ren tried to hug Louis and Tawny simultaneously.  "I have to lie down."  She walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch.  "Twenty-four hours of driving from Kansas."

"Kansas?" Tawny cried.

"It was the only straight flight I could get.  I had my roommate's friend who lives there drive me in.  He's staying in Vegas."  Her eyes were glazed over.  "I've had so much caffeine, oh my gosh.  I think it finally wore off.  I can barely see."

Louis and Tawny stared at each other.  First Donnie had turned into a rage machine, and now Ren was a chatterbox.

"Let me get you something," Tawny offered.  She brought Ren a glass of water and a banana from the kitchen.

"Thanks."  Ren sat up.  "So, where is everyone?"

"Donnie is alive," Louis reported.  "I don't know where he is, though.  He was taken away by the police."

Tawny was opening a bottle of medication on the other side of the room.  She handed a pill to Ren.  "Here, take this.  But eat some of the banana first or you'll get sick."

Ren swallowed the pill and ate part of the banana.  "What is this?"

"It's Valium.  My parents always have some around the house in case one of their lunatic patients decides to make a house call.  You need to rest."

Louis led Tawny into the kitchen.  "Why did you do that?" he asked.

"She's displaying signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome," Tawny explained.  "Look, after she wakes up she should be normal again, okay?"  She pulled Louis into a hug.  "Let's get out of here.  Now."

Some of the debris had been cleaned off the street, but most of the neighborhood still resembled a disaster area.

"Come on.  Let's go to the park," said Tawny.

Bad idea.  The "park" was nothing but a jumble of cracked cement and a random tire swing sitting on a bed of asphalt.

"This is really uplifting," Louis commented.

"Oh, look."  Tawny pointed to a tree that was still intact.  "I think I hear actual birds singing over there."  She gave a shy grin.  "Come on, let's go."

The pair made their way over to the tree and Tawny sat down under it.  Louis joined her.

"Tawny," said Louis.  "Did you have fun at the dance?"

"You mean homecoming?" Tawny asked.  "Yeah, why?"

"Because, I don't know, I just thought, you know, it would be special," said Louis.  "And it wasn't, you know, special."

"What do you mean?" Tawny asked.

Louis sighed.  "I thought dances were supposed to be about romance."  He chuckled.  "I guess that's pretty stupid."

"Yeah, actually, it is."  Tawny looked him straight in the eye.  "I really had fun just going home after the dance and watching movies together.  You're different that way.  You're willing to have fun and not be so uptight about things.  Did you see all those girls who didn't make homecoming queen cry?  That was pathetic."  She placed a small flower in Louis' hair.

"I guess," he smiled.

"I love you," said Tawny.

"We've already said the I-love-yous," Louis reminded her.  He pulled her into a kiss.

The ground erupted in tremors, sending Louis skirting backwards.  He rolled onto his side and stood up.  Tawny ran over to him and put her arm around his waist.  After a few seconds it calmed down.

"It was just an aftershock," Tawny breathed.  She suddenly pushed Louis away.  "We shouldn't be thinking about this right now."

"You mean the kiss?" Louis asked.

"Yes.  Just drop it, okay?"  Tawny suddenly seemed angry.

A popping sound made Louis and Tawny turn their heads to look at a telephone wire, erupting in sparks.  A fire quickly spread down the deserted street.

"Great.  Another disaster," Louis said under his breath.

Tawny's eyes widened.  "Oh my gosh!" she cried, as she saw the direction the fire was heading.  "Ren!"

It's not over yet...