“Alright, Mom,” Emma answered. “I’ll try to stay awake so I can say hi, but if I’m asleep, tell him I missed him.” She told her mother goodnight and rolled over to face the wall.
“He probably already knows, but I’ll be sure to tell him,” Jennifer reassured her daughter. “Do you want me to close your blinds? It’s Saturday tomorrow; you can sleep in if you want.”
“No, that’s okay, Mom. I don’t want to.”
“Alright then, sleep tight.” Jennifer pulled the door closed behind her and went to the family room where her fourteen year old son, David, sat on the couch reading a book in the fading light. His earphones were on, and his head bounced lightly to the beat of the music that played on his iPod. The family room was bathed in the pleasant, warm glow of the fading sun, and Jennifer flipped on the switch for the kitchen lights just as she remembered that the power was out.
“Power’s out, Mom!” David said, his voice louder than normal due to the earphones.
“Thanks for the information,” she said to her grinning son. “I’m going to get the dishes done before it’s too dark. You should probably get ready for bed now so we don’t waste our flashlight batteries.”
David pulled the headphones from his ears. “I missed that. What’d you say?”
“I said get ready for bed. It’ll be dark soon. I’m going to do the dishes.”
“But it’s early,” David protested as he looked at his watch. “It’s only 9:00.”
“In twenty minutes or so it’ll be dark,” replied Jennifer. “I guess you can stay up if you want, but there won’t be much to do. Say, did you have any problems tonight with your iPod?”
David shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “No. Why?”
“I can’t get mine to work. I thought the battery was charged, but it won’t turn on and with the power out I can’t check it on the computer.”
“I keep mine locked in Dad’s old gun safe in the basement so Spencer can’t mess with it. That way I don’t have battery problems anymore.”
“Well, aren’t you the smart one. Maybe I’ll have to start locking mine in there too. So, are you going to help with the dishes or go to bed?”
David scratched his head as he made a show of thinking deeply and then sighed. “I guess I’ll go to bed, but it was a tough decision. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll stay up and help, if you’re lucky. Oh! Hey, I almost forgot to ask. Can I go to Matt’s house tomorrow? He’s a new kid from school that rides our bus. Lives in that big, brown house that just got built over the summer.”
“You have a few chores, but once they’re done, you can go if you want, I suppose,” Jennifer answered.
David grimaced as he listened to his mother. “Is there a big list of stuff?”
“Just the usuaclass="underline" mow the yard, clean your room, say hi to your father. Maybe a couple more things once I take a look around.”
David rolled his eyes and muttered something Jennifer couldn’t make out.
“I heard that,” she lied. “Just because you’re fourteen it doesn’t mean you can cop an attitude with me, young man,” she scolded good-naturedly. “I still have the receipt for that iPod your dad got you for your birthday. It’s only been three weeks, so I’m sure the store will take it back. And don’t forget to brush your teeth,” she reminded.
David flashed a grin at his mom, his dimples sinking deep in his cheeks, as he disappeared down the basement stairs to his room. Jennifer went to work on the dishes, scraping them off and stacking them on the counter, as she thought about how much David was starting to look like his father. He was already three inches taller than her and was starting to fill out in the shoulders. Another year, she guessed, and he’d be as tall as his father, maybe even a little taller. The fact that girls were starting to call David at home, and that he liked the attention, indicated her firstborn was rapidly growing up.
Anxious to finish cleaning before the daylight was gone, Jennifer hurried to fill the dishwasher, then wiped the breadcrumbs off the table and swept the floor, finishing as the last direct rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains to the west.
Her watch showed a quarter to ten, giving her a little over thirty minutes before Kyle would be home, if his flight was on time. Jennifer lit a candle, checked on Emma and Spencer, then went to her bedroom and found the red, silk teddy Kyle had given her for Valentine’s Day the year before. Securing the bathroom door behind her, she lit a second candle and placed it on the counter in front of the mirror by the first one before stepping back to look at herself in the flickering light. She turned to the right and examined her profile, sucking in her stomach and pushing out her chest. She was pleased with how she looked, having lost five pounds while Kyle was gone and coming so close to hitting her goal weight.
Jennifer quickly changed into the teddy, then pulled out her make-up and sat down in front of the mirror. It was difficult to see clearly in the candlelight, but she managed if she leaned in close to the mirror. Kyle often commented on how pretty her brown eyes were, so she played them up with mascara and eyeliner, drawing her lashes out as long as possible. Next she warmed her cheeks with some blush, then picked out her lipstick and carefully applied it, accentuating the curve of her mouth to make her lips look as full as possible.
Finished with her makeup, Jennifer stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror again. She liked how the cut of the lingerie complemented her figure, with the neckline dipping temptingly in front and the sides cut high enough to reveal the full length of her legs, making her feel enticing, but not cheap. She rested her foot on the edge of the tub and rubbed lotion on one leg and then the other. As she stroked her legs she noticed, with satisfaction, the firmness of her muscles and the pleasant shape of her thighs, both the result of walking fifteen miles a week since they’d moved into their new community.
Removing the elastic band from her ponytail, Jennifer let her dark brown hair cascade over her shoulders and began to brush it, slowly drawing her hair down in front of her with each stroke. Her hair was getting longer, reaching almost to the middle of her back, the natural wave giving it just the right amount of body.
By fifteen minutes after ten, Jennifer had finished getting ready for Kyle’s homecoming, retrieved her robe from the closet, and was sitting on the couch in the family room waiting for him to arrive. While she waited, she read the newspaper in the dim candlelight, then moved on to the newest Readers Digest. When she finished that and Kyle still wasn’t home, she started on a novel borrowed from a friend at work. A little before midnight, with her eyes hurting and the room too dark to see well, Jennifer found a blanket and pillow and lay down on the couch. Around two in the morning and too uncomfortable to sleep, Jennifer scooped up the blanket and staggered down the hall to her room where she tossed and turned for an hour more before drifting off to sleep for the night.
Houston, Texas 23:45 EST
“What do you think I should do, Kyle?” Ed asked as the four figures waved their arms frantically at them. When they’d had to force their way through the exit barrier at the airport parking lot both men knew the drive home was going to be much more difficult than they wanted. The foot traffic of airport workers and escaping passengers walking into town dotted the road along with a snarl of abandoned vehicles. Most of the people moved out of the way and let them pass as the jeep approached, their faces filled with expressions of confusion, fear and exhaustion. Every so often a person would block the road in an attempt to catch a ride.
Ed had picked up a couple of older ladies and dropped them off near their homes, but the reputation of the surrounding neighborhoods and the worsening conditions had kept them from straying too far from their route home. Gunshots rang out just as the second of the two women was getting out of the jeep, and Ed sped off with a squeal of his tires, not sure whether the shots had been intended for him, but unwilling to find out for sure. Since that encounter, Ed had done everything in his power to avoid people and take a direct path home. These efforts had required driving down medians, hopping curbs, weaving through stalled traffic and violating most of the rules of the road.