Chapter 6
Alicia woke up the next morning, and no one was one the couch but her.
"Merrill? Graham?"
"Baby, I'm in here!"
Alicia was puzzled as she replied, "The closet?"
Merrill poked his head out of the closet door and said, "Come here."
She went to the closet and Merrill pulled her in, sitting her on his lap.
He pointed at the TV and said, "They're still there hovering. In fact, some people think there's more of them now. All over the place. Over us even. And there's a theory about the crop circles now. They think it could be some kind of landmark, visual mapping system -- so they can navigate. Coordinate. Makes sense doesn't it?"
"But they marked our fields-does that mean something?"
"Who knows?"
Alicia was becoming more terrified by the minute, and Merrill could tell that just by looking at her face.
"Are you OK?" he asked.
"No. This is really happening."
He kissed her shoulder and said, "Don't think about it. Let's concentrate on other things.like how we're getting married today."
"We are, aren't we? We need to call the courthouse."
"It's taken care of. We have to be there at 2:30 exactly."
"Merrill, you thought of everything."
"I even got you a bouquet of flowers this morning. They're in the refrigerator."
Alicia re-positioned herself so that she was straddling Merrill's lap. She reached up and locked the closet door.
"What are you doing?" asked Merrill.
"You," she whispered.
Alicia pressed her lips against Merrill's and kissed him seductively. He gripped her body tighter and kissed her back, only harder and deeper. They moved from the chair to the floor of the closet.
"Where is everyone?" asked Alicia between a kiss.
Merrill took off her tanktop and said, "Upstairs. So let's do this quick."
"Mmm. I like it when you're risky."
He moved his lips to her neck, and she held onto his back to suppress from making any noises. She took off his shirt and he unhooked her bra. Suddenly, the locked doorknob tried to turn. Merrill and Alicia put their clothes back on it a flash.
Graham's voice said, "Merrill? Are you in there? Where's Alicia? I need to talk to her."
"Hold on!"
They adjusted their clothes and Alicia sat on the floor next to Merrill. Then he opened the door.
"We were watching TV," Merrill said.
"I'm sure you were. Alicia, can I talk to you?"
"Yeah."
Alicia crawled over Merrill and out of the closet. She and Graham went into the kitchen.
Graham lowered his voice and said, "I think Ray Reddy just called here."
Her mood changed from lively to solemn in a matter of seconds.
"Why?" she asked.
"I have no idea. But I'm going over to his house. It's been six months, Ali. I don't know about you, but I need some form of closure. I thought you might want to go. It might help."
Alicia held onto the side of the counter and took a deep breath.
"Let's go now before I change my mind."
Graham got the car keys and Alicia followed him as they left the kitchen.
He knocked on the closet door and said, "Merrill, we'll be right back."
Merrill came out and said, "Where are you going?"
"To Ray Reddy's house."
"Ray Reddy? Why?"
"I think he just called here. Alicia and I need closure."
Merrill looked at Alicia and whispered in her ear, "What about the wedding?"
"It's only 1:15. We'll be back in time, honey."
"Alicia.."
"Merrill, maybe this is what'll help me in the long run. For six months, I've avoiding even talking about Ray. I need to do this."
"Fine. Have fun."
"Merrill, don't be.."
He closed the closet door and Alicia opened it back up.
"If you love me the way you say you do, you would support my decisions."
"You know I do, but it's such a damper to deal with these issues on what could possibly be the happiest day of our lives."
"It's not going to dampen anything. Now we'll be back by 2."
"But it takes a half hour to get to Philly."
"Not if we speed."
She kissed him and said, "I love you, stud."
"Love you more, beautiful."
Alicia closed the door and met up with Graham, who was by the front door.
"Why do you have to be back at 2?" he asked.
Alicia decided to tell Graham the secret.
"We were, um, planning on going to the courthouse to get married at 2:30."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Then stay here. I'll go by myself."
"No. I need closure as much as you do, Graham..if not more."
"Then let's go."
They went to the car and started driving towards Ray's house.
After a minute or so of silence, Graham finally broke the silence.
"You know, I've seen Merrill with plenty of girls in the past. He used to swear he'd marry some of them. The last person I ever expected him to be with was you. I still remember picking Colleen up on dates and seeing you in ponytails spying on us. But you know what? I wouldn't want him with anyone else. I don't think he wants or desires to be with anyone else but you. You may not completely realize this, but my brother is intoxicatingly in love with you. And the kids..Alicia, Colleen would be so proud of the way you're helping me take care of them. I don't know what I would do without you."
"You know, I was so angry at you from what you said last night. But you just helped me get over that."
"What did I say?"
"That there's no one watching out for us. How can you say that?"
"I never say what I don't mean."
The conversation came to a sudden halt as they both experienced uneasy déjà vu. It was the tree. The tree where Colleen had died.
"Pull the car over," Alicia said.
"Alicia, what are you doing?"
"Please, Graham."
He pulled the car on the side of the road, and Alicia got out. She slowly walked to the tree and stood in front of it for a minute. She closed her eyes, and it was as if Colleen's spirit was there with her.
"Coll," she whispered, "I can feel you here. I would give anything to see you here, though. There's so much I want to tell you. I mean, I know I can talk to you like I am now, but I wanna see you in front of me and have you play with my hair like you used to."
She broke down crying and continued through heavy sobs.
"Damn it, this wasn't supposed to happen, Colleen! Why didn't you say no when I wanted to go for the walk? This is my fault. I'm so sorry, Coll. I.."
Alicia crumbled to the ground in front of the tree and cried the hardest she had since Colleen's burial. Graham got out of the car and kneeled beside her. He silently took her in his arms and stroked her hair. He started crying too, which didn't help Alicia.
"I should've died that night, Graham. I'm so sorry. I took away my own sister..your wife..their mother.."
"No you didn't."
They sat there together for about 15 minutes and then got up and went back to the car. They arrived at Ray's house, but it looked empty. While Graham rang the doorbell, Alicia looked into the kitchen window. Inside, she saw the kitchen table against a door and mess everywhere.
"Graham! Come here!"
He walked to where Alicia was standing and looked in the window.
"Let's just go," he said.
As they walked back to the car, they saw a truck in the driveway. Someone was in it. They approached the truck and saw that Ray was the one in there. Graham approached the open passenger window while Alicia stood back.
"Hello, Ray. What happened?" Graham said.
Alicia noticed that his car was full of clothing and other miscellaneous items.
Ray softly replied, "I wrote your number down to call you. It's been sitting next to the phone for six months. When I knew it was inside the house, I couldn't think of any other number to call. I panicked. Thank you for coming, Father."
"You're welcome."
'It was inside the house?' thought Alicia to herself, 'What's 'it'?'
Ray looked at Alicia and said, "I think about you every day. What I want to say and how to say it, but I can't."
Tears began rolling down Alicia's face.
"I worked so long that night. I had never fallen asleep driving before. And never since. Most of the ride home, there wasn't a car in sight in either direction. If I'd fallen asleep then, I'd have ended up in a ditch with a headache. It had to happen at that right moment. That certain ten-fifteen seconds when I passed you and your sister walking, Alicia. It was like it was meant to be."
Alicia was tired of people saying that to her. She looked away as Ray continued speaking, this time to Graham.
"I guess if this is the end of the world, I'm screwed right? People who kill Reverends' wives and unborn babies aren't exactly ushered to the front of the line in heaven."
"Where are you going, Ray?"
"To the lake. The way I see it, all the places marked in the crops and such -- none of them are really near water. I figure they don't like water. Can't be any worse than here.
"Did you see one of them?"
"I'm truly sorry for what I've done to you and yours."
He turned to Alicia and said, "And I'm sorry for ruining your life and your fiance's."
"My life isn't ruined," she whispered, "Bruised. Maybe broken. But not ruined."
Ray put the car in drive and said, "And don't open my pantry, Father. I locked one of them in there."
He drove off, leaving Graham and Alicia in silence. Graham began walking towards Ray's house.
Alicia yelled, "Graham, where are you going?"
"Into his house?"
She ran up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Are you crazy? Let's go home."
"I want to see what's in there. Stay in the car if you're coming in."
"I came this far. I mean, what could be behind there? He was probably exaggerating anyway."
They opened the door that led to the kitchen and walked in. Alicia looked at the pantry door and froze. She saw someone- or something- pacing behind the closed door.
"Graham," she whispered, "what the hell is behind that door?"
He cleared his throat and said, "Hello?"
There was no answer.
"The police are here... I am with them... I am a police officer. I just want to talk to you."
"Graham, what are you doing?"
"We know all about the hoax. We already took some of your friends downtown in the paddy wagon."
"Paddy wagon? What year are we in- 1936?"
"If you tell us your name and why you did it, we'll give you the same deal we gave the others. Don't throw away your life, son."
He lowered himself onto the floor and looked in the slit at the bottom of the door.
"Graham, I'm getting a bad feeling. Can we please leave?"
"Like I said, if you're scared, go outside."
"No way. I'm not going anywhere by myself in this town for the next couple of days."
"Hey, can you hand me that butcher knife?"
"What are you doing?"
"Using it to get a better angle of vision."
He re-adjusted himself a few times and Alicia watched him carefully. Finally, she gave in and kneeled besides Graham.
"What do you see?"
He slid her the knife, and she saw nothing but broken glass and spilled food. Then they both saw something similar to black orbs staring at them- eyes. They frantically screamed as four fingers reached from underneath the door. As Alicia ran for her life, Graham took the butcher knife and sliced off two of the creature's fingers. It let out a high pitch scream that sounded like a whistle as he ran out of the house. He found Alicia sitting inside the car's passenger seat, breathing heavily with her hand over her heart. He got in and immediately started the car. They were both too frightened to say anything on the way home. Finally, when they were about five minutes away from the house, Alicia spoke.
"Do you realize what we just saw, Graham?"
"I'm trying not to think about it, Ali."
"I'm never going to be able to sleep again."
She glanced at the clock and said, "Shit. It's almost 3:00! Oh my God, Merrill's going to be so pissed at me."
"I think that when we tell him what we just saw, he'll forgive you quick. You two can get married any day. All we need to think about now is how we're going to survive this."
Alicia was beginning to wish it had been her who was killed in the accident. She was so terrified, it was making her nauseous. When they arrived home, Merrill was sitting on the front porch and smoking a cigarette. Alicia was shaking so hard, she could barely get out of the car.
"It's past 3:00," Merrill said in an ominous tone, "we were supposed to have already been married by now, Alicia. I tried calling you cell phone, only to see that you had left it here."
"Merrill," Graham said, "this isn't time to argue. We need to have a family meeting right now."
"Excuse me, Graham, but this is between Alicia and I."
"If you want to live to see tomorrow- literally, I suggest that we meet in the family room."
As Graham went in the house, Alicia looked at Merrill.
"We saw one of them, Merrill. In Ray Reddy's kitchen."
Merrill immediately thought about the footage taken at the Brazilian birthday party he had seen only fifteen minutes prior to then.
"You saw one?"
"It tried to grab us."
Despite the fact he was now extremely concerned, he was still furious at Alicia for being so negligent. They went into the house, where Graham was standing in front of Bo and Morgan, who were on the couch.
"Alright," Graham said, "Tell me something, Morgan. In that book of yours, did they happen to detail what would happen if they were hostile?"
"Yes. They would invade us using only ground tactics. Hand to hand combat. They wouldn't use their technology or fight an airborne battle, because they would know we would eventually use nuclear weapons and the planet would be useless to them."
Alicia interrupted and asked, "What book are you talking about?"
Graham continued.
"Did they say what our chances would be if they did invade?"
"They said one of two things could happen. One, they fight and are defeated and leave to return again with full forces hundreds or even thousands of years later."
"What's two?"
The tone in Morgan's voice changed as he said, "They win."
Alicia's stomach dropped and she sat on the couch besides Merrill. She reached for his hand, but he didn't respond.
"What do you think about the idea that they don't like places near water, and we might be safe from them near a lake or something?"
Morgan replied, "Sounds made up"
Alicia looked at him and said, "I don't care what your stupid book says. That sounds good to me."
"Don't call my book stupid."
Graham said, We can choose to believe it and pack up and leave. Or we can stay here. Board up this house. Hide inside our home and wait it out. Either way, at least we'll be together. All those in favor of the lake, raise your hand."
Alicia and Graham raised their hands.
"All those in favor of home, raise your hand."
Bo, Merrill, and Morgan raised their hands.
Graham said, "It's a tie- I count as two parents."
"Bullshit!" exclaimed Morgan.
Alicia reached in her pocket and pulled out a nickel. She looked Morgan dead in the eye.
"Heads or tails?"
"Tails."
She flipped it and it landed on tails.
"Looks like we're staying home."
Graham silently sat on the couch by Bo.
"We need to board up every window and door in this house."
Alicia closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.
'God, please protect us and give us strength to make it through this.'
Merrill stood up and went to get boards. Alicia moved next to Bo and stroked her hair.
"Aunt Ali, I'm scared."
"It's OK to be scared. I am too, baby. I am too."
Alicia woke up the next morning, and no one was one the couch but her.
"Merrill? Graham?"
"Baby, I'm in here!"
Alicia was puzzled as she replied, "The closet?"
Merrill poked his head out of the closet door and said, "Come here."
She went to the closet and Merrill pulled her in, sitting her on his lap.
He pointed at the TV and said, "They're still there hovering. In fact, some people think there's more of them now. All over the place. Over us even. And there's a theory about the crop circles now. They think it could be some kind of landmark, visual mapping system -- so they can navigate. Coordinate. Makes sense doesn't it?"
"But they marked our fields-does that mean something?"
"Who knows?"
Alicia was becoming more terrified by the minute, and Merrill could tell that just by looking at her face.
"Are you OK?" he asked.
"No. This is really happening."
He kissed her shoulder and said, "Don't think about it. Let's concentrate on other things.like how we're getting married today."
"We are, aren't we? We need to call the courthouse."
"It's taken care of. We have to be there at 2:30 exactly."
"Merrill, you thought of everything."
"I even got you a bouquet of flowers this morning. They're in the refrigerator."
Alicia re-positioned herself so that she was straddling Merrill's lap. She reached up and locked the closet door.
"What are you doing?" asked Merrill.
"You," she whispered.
Alicia pressed her lips against Merrill's and kissed him seductively. He gripped her body tighter and kissed her back, only harder and deeper. They moved from the chair to the floor of the closet.
"Where is everyone?" asked Alicia between a kiss.
Merrill took off her tanktop and said, "Upstairs. So let's do this quick."
"Mmm. I like it when you're risky."
He moved his lips to her neck, and she held onto his back to suppress from making any noises. She took off his shirt and he unhooked her bra. Suddenly, the locked doorknob tried to turn. Merrill and Alicia put their clothes back on it a flash.
Graham's voice said, "Merrill? Are you in there? Where's Alicia? I need to talk to her."
"Hold on!"
They adjusted their clothes and Alicia sat on the floor next to Merrill. Then he opened the door.
"We were watching TV," Merrill said.
"I'm sure you were. Alicia, can I talk to you?"
"Yeah."
Alicia crawled over Merrill and out of the closet. She and Graham went into the kitchen.
Graham lowered his voice and said, "I think Ray Reddy just called here."
Her mood changed from lively to solemn in a matter of seconds.
"Why?" she asked.
"I have no idea. But I'm going over to his house. It's been six months, Ali. I don't know about you, but I need some form of closure. I thought you might want to go. It might help."
Alicia held onto the side of the counter and took a deep breath.
"Let's go now before I change my mind."
Graham got the car keys and Alicia followed him as they left the kitchen.
He knocked on the closet door and said, "Merrill, we'll be right back."
Merrill came out and said, "Where are you going?"
"To Ray Reddy's house."
"Ray Reddy? Why?"
"I think he just called here. Alicia and I need closure."
Merrill looked at Alicia and whispered in her ear, "What about the wedding?"
"It's only 1:15. We'll be back in time, honey."
"Alicia.."
"Merrill, maybe this is what'll help me in the long run. For six months, I've avoiding even talking about Ray. I need to do this."
"Fine. Have fun."
"Merrill, don't be.."
He closed the closet door and Alicia opened it back up.
"If you love me the way you say you do, you would support my decisions."
"You know I do, but it's such a damper to deal with these issues on what could possibly be the happiest day of our lives."
"It's not going to dampen anything. Now we'll be back by 2."
"But it takes a half hour to get to Philly."
"Not if we speed."
She kissed him and said, "I love you, stud."
"Love you more, beautiful."
Alicia closed the door and met up with Graham, who was by the front door.
"Why do you have to be back at 2?" he asked.
Alicia decided to tell Graham the secret.
"We were, um, planning on going to the courthouse to get married at 2:30."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Then stay here. I'll go by myself."
"No. I need closure as much as you do, Graham..if not more."
"Then let's go."
They went to the car and started driving towards Ray's house.
After a minute or so of silence, Graham finally broke the silence.
"You know, I've seen Merrill with plenty of girls in the past. He used to swear he'd marry some of them. The last person I ever expected him to be with was you. I still remember picking Colleen up on dates and seeing you in ponytails spying on us. But you know what? I wouldn't want him with anyone else. I don't think he wants or desires to be with anyone else but you. You may not completely realize this, but my brother is intoxicatingly in love with you. And the kids..Alicia, Colleen would be so proud of the way you're helping me take care of them. I don't know what I would do without you."
"You know, I was so angry at you from what you said last night. But you just helped me get over that."
"What did I say?"
"That there's no one watching out for us. How can you say that?"
"I never say what I don't mean."
The conversation came to a sudden halt as they both experienced uneasy déjà vu. It was the tree. The tree where Colleen had died.
"Pull the car over," Alicia said.
"Alicia, what are you doing?"
"Please, Graham."
He pulled the car on the side of the road, and Alicia got out. She slowly walked to the tree and stood in front of it for a minute. She closed her eyes, and it was as if Colleen's spirit was there with her.
"Coll," she whispered, "I can feel you here. I would give anything to see you here, though. There's so much I want to tell you. I mean, I know I can talk to you like I am now, but I wanna see you in front of me and have you play with my hair like you used to."
She broke down crying and continued through heavy sobs.
"Damn it, this wasn't supposed to happen, Colleen! Why didn't you say no when I wanted to go for the walk? This is my fault. I'm so sorry, Coll. I.."
Alicia crumbled to the ground in front of the tree and cried the hardest she had since Colleen's burial. Graham got out of the car and kneeled beside her. He silently took her in his arms and stroked her hair. He started crying too, which didn't help Alicia.
"I should've died that night, Graham. I'm so sorry. I took away my own sister..your wife..their mother.."
"No you didn't."
They sat there together for about 15 minutes and then got up and went back to the car. They arrived at Ray's house, but it looked empty. While Graham rang the doorbell, Alicia looked into the kitchen window. Inside, she saw the kitchen table against a door and mess everywhere.
"Graham! Come here!"
He walked to where Alicia was standing and looked in the window.
"Let's just go," he said.
As they walked back to the car, they saw a truck in the driveway. Someone was in it. They approached the truck and saw that Ray was the one in there. Graham approached the open passenger window while Alicia stood back.
"Hello, Ray. What happened?" Graham said.
Alicia noticed that his car was full of clothing and other miscellaneous items.
Ray softly replied, "I wrote your number down to call you. It's been sitting next to the phone for six months. When I knew it was inside the house, I couldn't think of any other number to call. I panicked. Thank you for coming, Father."
"You're welcome."
'It was inside the house?' thought Alicia to herself, 'What's 'it'?'
Ray looked at Alicia and said, "I think about you every day. What I want to say and how to say it, but I can't."
Tears began rolling down Alicia's face.
"I worked so long that night. I had never fallen asleep driving before. And never since. Most of the ride home, there wasn't a car in sight in either direction. If I'd fallen asleep then, I'd have ended up in a ditch with a headache. It had to happen at that right moment. That certain ten-fifteen seconds when I passed you and your sister walking, Alicia. It was like it was meant to be."
Alicia was tired of people saying that to her. She looked away as Ray continued speaking, this time to Graham.
"I guess if this is the end of the world, I'm screwed right? People who kill Reverends' wives and unborn babies aren't exactly ushered to the front of the line in heaven."
"Where are you going, Ray?"
"To the lake. The way I see it, all the places marked in the crops and such -- none of them are really near water. I figure they don't like water. Can't be any worse than here.
"Did you see one of them?"
"I'm truly sorry for what I've done to you and yours."
He turned to Alicia and said, "And I'm sorry for ruining your life and your fiance's."
"My life isn't ruined," she whispered, "Bruised. Maybe broken. But not ruined."
Ray put the car in drive and said, "And don't open my pantry, Father. I locked one of them in there."
He drove off, leaving Graham and Alicia in silence. Graham began walking towards Ray's house.
Alicia yelled, "Graham, where are you going?"
"Into his house?"
She ran up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Are you crazy? Let's go home."
"I want to see what's in there. Stay in the car if you're coming in."
"I came this far. I mean, what could be behind there? He was probably exaggerating anyway."
They opened the door that led to the kitchen and walked in. Alicia looked at the pantry door and froze. She saw someone- or something- pacing behind the closed door.
"Graham," she whispered, "what the hell is behind that door?"
He cleared his throat and said, "Hello?"
There was no answer.
"The police are here... I am with them... I am a police officer. I just want to talk to you."
"Graham, what are you doing?"
"We know all about the hoax. We already took some of your friends downtown in the paddy wagon."
"Paddy wagon? What year are we in- 1936?"
"If you tell us your name and why you did it, we'll give you the same deal we gave the others. Don't throw away your life, son."
He lowered himself onto the floor and looked in the slit at the bottom of the door.
"Graham, I'm getting a bad feeling. Can we please leave?"
"Like I said, if you're scared, go outside."
"No way. I'm not going anywhere by myself in this town for the next couple of days."
"Hey, can you hand me that butcher knife?"
"What are you doing?"
"Using it to get a better angle of vision."
He re-adjusted himself a few times and Alicia watched him carefully. Finally, she gave in and kneeled besides Graham.
"What do you see?"
He slid her the knife, and she saw nothing but broken glass and spilled food. Then they both saw something similar to black orbs staring at them- eyes. They frantically screamed as four fingers reached from underneath the door. As Alicia ran for her life, Graham took the butcher knife and sliced off two of the creature's fingers. It let out a high pitch scream that sounded like a whistle as he ran out of the house. He found Alicia sitting inside the car's passenger seat, breathing heavily with her hand over her heart. He got in and immediately started the car. They were both too frightened to say anything on the way home. Finally, when they were about five minutes away from the house, Alicia spoke.
"Do you realize what we just saw, Graham?"
"I'm trying not to think about it, Ali."
"I'm never going to be able to sleep again."
She glanced at the clock and said, "Shit. It's almost 3:00! Oh my God, Merrill's going to be so pissed at me."
"I think that when we tell him what we just saw, he'll forgive you quick. You two can get married any day. All we need to think about now is how we're going to survive this."
Alicia was beginning to wish it had been her who was killed in the accident. She was so terrified, it was making her nauseous. When they arrived home, Merrill was sitting on the front porch and smoking a cigarette. Alicia was shaking so hard, she could barely get out of the car.
"It's past 3:00," Merrill said in an ominous tone, "we were supposed to have already been married by now, Alicia. I tried calling you cell phone, only to see that you had left it here."
"Merrill," Graham said, "this isn't time to argue. We need to have a family meeting right now."
"Excuse me, Graham, but this is between Alicia and I."
"If you want to live to see tomorrow- literally, I suggest that we meet in the family room."
As Graham went in the house, Alicia looked at Merrill.
"We saw one of them, Merrill. In Ray Reddy's kitchen."
Merrill immediately thought about the footage taken at the Brazilian birthday party he had seen only fifteen minutes prior to then.
"You saw one?"
"It tried to grab us."
Despite the fact he was now extremely concerned, he was still furious at Alicia for being so negligent. They went into the house, where Graham was standing in front of Bo and Morgan, who were on the couch.
"Alright," Graham said, "Tell me something, Morgan. In that book of yours, did they happen to detail what would happen if they were hostile?"
"Yes. They would invade us using only ground tactics. Hand to hand combat. They wouldn't use their technology or fight an airborne battle, because they would know we would eventually use nuclear weapons and the planet would be useless to them."
Alicia interrupted and asked, "What book are you talking about?"
Graham continued.
"Did they say what our chances would be if they did invade?"
"They said one of two things could happen. One, they fight and are defeated and leave to return again with full forces hundreds or even thousands of years later."
"What's two?"
The tone in Morgan's voice changed as he said, "They win."
Alicia's stomach dropped and she sat on the couch besides Merrill. She reached for his hand, but he didn't respond.
"What do you think about the idea that they don't like places near water, and we might be safe from them near a lake or something?"
Morgan replied, "Sounds made up"
Alicia looked at him and said, "I don't care what your stupid book says. That sounds good to me."
"Don't call my book stupid."
Graham said, We can choose to believe it and pack up and leave. Or we can stay here. Board up this house. Hide inside our home and wait it out. Either way, at least we'll be together. All those in favor of the lake, raise your hand."
Alicia and Graham raised their hands.
"All those in favor of home, raise your hand."
Bo, Merrill, and Morgan raised their hands.
Graham said, "It's a tie- I count as two parents."
"Bullshit!" exclaimed Morgan.
Alicia reached in her pocket and pulled out a nickel. She looked Morgan dead in the eye.
"Heads or tails?"
"Tails."
She flipped it and it landed on tails.
"Looks like we're staying home."
Graham silently sat on the couch by Bo.
"We need to board up every window and door in this house."
Alicia closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.
'God, please protect us and give us strength to make it through this.'
Merrill stood up and went to get boards. Alicia moved next to Bo and stroked her hair.
"Aunt Ali, I'm scared."
"It's OK to be scared. I am too, baby. I am too."