Seventeen
It was the day after the failure of the shoot-down, and Forrest was standing over the grill cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, drinking a bottle of Corona and smoking a cigarette. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a perfect summer day in June. The children were chasing each other around in the tall grass, and their mothers were busy setting the tables.
“You do know,” Ulrich said, “that if the government shows up, it’s going to be tough getting everybody belowground.”
Laddie came trotting over and dropped a tennis ball at Forrest’s feet. He threw the ball as far as he could out into the field and the dog tore off after it. “The world ends in sixteen hours, Wayne. We’re the last thing on the government’s to-do list.”
Ulrich tipped his beer, watching the dog search the grass for his ball. “I hope you’re right.”
Across the yard, Veronica and Melissa were watching everyone from where they sat in the grass. Veronica was in a detached state of mind, only half present, observing the entire group with an analytical eye. She spotted Michael helping a woman named Karen Schott set the table, and wondered what they were talking about, having noticed with little jealousy the chemistry between them on the day of Karen’s arrival three days earlier. The two West children were playing in the backyard with a little boy named Steven, who Marcus had rescued along with Steven’s mother Tonya from her abusive boyfriend a few days ago.
She could also plainly see that Tonya had the hots for Kane, and that another invitee, Maria Mendoza, did as well. This Maria would be called Maria two to distinguish her from Oscar’s wife, Maria Vasquez.
In the end, only eight women had accepted the offer to join the silo population, bringing nine children along with them, which brought the group’s grand total to thirty-six: fourteen women, eight men, one teenage girl, and a noisy band of thirteen children—six boys and seven girls.
Ulrich was satisfied with the final tally, and Veronica and Michael both were encouraged by the blend of personalities. Tonya was still a little bit withdrawn, but she would likely warm up as time went on. The dentist’s wife, Lynette, was the only obvious phony in the lot and she would be easy enough to deal with.
Besides Tonya, Karen, and Maria two, the women included Andie Tatum—the brunette Forrest had met at the health food store—Joann Parker, a tall, sexy black woman; Jenny Brennan, a redhead with lots of freckles; Michelle Freeman, a bubbly blonde; and Renee Letterman, a less than bubbly blonde.
Michael came over from the table and sat in the grass with Veronica and Melissa.
“Karen’s little girl is a cutie, isn’t she?” Veronica said, unable to help testing the water.
“Which?” he said. “Oh, Karen’s little girl. I forget her name. Yeah, she’s a cutie.”
That was when Veronica felt her first real spark of jealousy. If Michael was pretending to forget the daughter’s name—and he was—it meant he liked the mother more than he wanted her to know. “I think her name’s Terri,” she said helpfully.
“That’s right. Terri. Have you guys tried the potato salad?”
“Not yet,” Melissa said. Seeing Forrest, she got up and walked over.
“She really likes him,” Veronica said.
“He’s a good father figure for her,” Michael said, glancing toward the grill. “Better than me for sure.”
“Don’t say that. That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, what I mean is, Jack’s a lot more like Stephen than I am.”
“Tell me something.”
“What?” He suspected he knew what she was going to ask.
“Are you attracted to Karen?”
He fell back on his arms with an audible sigh. “No more than you are to Jack.”
She looked down into her lap. “I suppose that’s a fair reply.”
“Baby, I love you. You know that.”
“I love you too,” she said, pulling at the grass. “Michael, I’m scared to death.”
“We all are. How could anyone possibly not be?”
“What if I crack? What if I make a complete ass out of myself down there?”
“You won’t. You’ll be too busy comforting everyone else.”
Erin Ulrich and Taylor West came walking up holding two wineglasses each. “No serious faces allowed today,” Erin said.
“You caught us!” Michael laughed.
The women sat down cross-legged in the grass, each offering a glass of wine.
“You know, we really couldn’t be in better hands,” Taylor said, touching glasses with them. “Erin’s husband and the others are as good as they come.”
“And Taylor’s husband is an excellent doctor,” Erin added. “For that matter, so is Price. He’s actually an oral surgeon.”
“Have you known Price’s wife very long?” Veronica asked.
Erin and Taylor exchanged grins, everyone glancing across the yard to where Lynette stood talking with some of the mothers. She was dressed in a skimpy top and tight-fitting jeans with heels.
“How does one explain Lynette?” Erin said with a giggle, having finished off a glass of wine already. “Yes, we’ve known her for about five years.”
“Does she plan to dress like that down below?” Michael wondered.
“Probably,” Erin said, sharing another laugh with Taylor.
“She’s really very sweet, though,” Taylor added.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Erin said. “But she tries. I’ll give her that.”
“Your husband doesn’t seem to care for her,” Veronica said.
Erin looked at Taylor and they both started laughing. “Actually, Wayne can’t stand her.”
“Boy, I need to get caught up here,” Michael said, taking a large sip from his glass. “You two are having a great time.”
“Damn right,” Erin said, touching glasses again with Taylor. “This may be the last fun we ever have.”
“I just wish Monica had come,” Taylor said, suddenly glum.
“Hey, no sad faces,” Michael reminded her.
“You’re right!” Taylor said, brightening quickly.
“Do you two know her well?” Veronica asked, provoking a discreet but disapproving look from Michael.
“We used to be a trio,” Erin said. “But after their son Daniel was killed, the whole world changed. Monica withdrew from everyone… even Jack.”
“How did he die?”
“His den mother was driving him home from a Cub Scout meeting,” Taylor said. “Some drunken teenagers ran a red light. Jack and Wayne were both overseas when it happened. It was an absolute nightmare for Monica… for all of us, really.”
“My God,” Veronica said. “No wonder he’s so intent on saving the rest of us.”
“Jack doesn’t even understand the concept of quit,” Erin said. “He drives my husband crazy. But they have a bond I’ll never begin to understand.”
Across the yard, Andie walked up to the grill and stood quietly listening as Melissa explained to Forrest the nuances of quantum theory and quantum mechanics.
“Okay,” Forrest said. “So basically quantum theory was the big deal until quantum mechanics came along?”
“Yeah,” she said, throwing the ball for Laddie. “But now they’re the same thing… sort of. I wish I could it explain it better. I can see it my head but it’s tough to put into words.”
“No,” he said. “You explained it very well. I’m just too dumb to absorb it.”
“You’re not dumb. If you studied it, you’d get it.”
“I doubt that,” he said, glancing at Andie. “This girl’s a genius.”
Andie smiled at the younger woman. “You learned all that on your own, Melissa?”
“It’s just a hobby,” she said. “They don’t teach it to sophomores.”