Daniel nearly reached out and tested whatever was between them by grabbing her hand, but such actions still felt like they needed a moment. It could feel casual and right during a moment, but not just anytime. Right then, it would have felt desperate. Physical, rather than emotional. Daniel marveled that he knew such things. He could now see through walls as well as fly. He wondered what other new powers he’d discover next.
The Bronco picked up speed as they left town, and Daniel and Anna watched the road move beneath them, their chins hanging over the rear door. Sporadic traffic roared by in the other direction. Daniel waved to some kids in the back of a pickup, who waved back.
They turned into their neighborhood, and Hunter whistled at the sight of the tree across the road. Edward steered them through the tight gap once again, the smell of cut wood and sap just as strong as before. Chainsaws were still busy at work somewhere. People were out doing what Daniel had been doing for days: dragging limbs, waving to foreign neighbors, drinking warm water and sweating. He felt like an explorer returning home from a dangerous circumnavigation. He felt alive with a new knowledge of what the outside world looked like and what other people were going through. He imagined himself going door to door to fill people in, despite the fact that they could just as easily drive through town and gawk for themselves.
Edward passed by his and Anna’s house and drove to the end of the cul-de-sac. He pulled up Daniel’s driveway, past the several neat mounds of debris.
“Holy shit,” Hunter said, when he saw the size of the tree resting against the house.
Chen said something to him about watching his language as the Bronco squealed to a stop. Doors popped open and the six of them staggered out.
Daniel heard Zola squeal their mother’s name. She then ran across the yard and threw herself into Hunter’s arms, who picked her up and spun her around. For Daniel, the scene was as bizarre and new as the tree denting their roof. Their mom walked briskly across the yard, tugging her gloves off, and waited for Zola to be set down. She hugged Hunter, her eyes wet with tears. She let go and stepped back to look at him, her hands still on his cheeks.
“You okay?” she asked.
Hunter looked embarrassed. “I’m fine.”
Their mother nodded to Chen, then reached out and hugged her. She glanced at Daniel over Chen’s shoulder, then her eyes went to Anna and widened.
“Mom, this is Anna.”
He wanted to add my girlfriend, whose hand I’ve held, but refrained.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, letting go of Chen and shaking her hand.
“And this is her dad, Edward.” His mom turned and waved, thanking him. Edward smiled back, and Daniel saw the way their father was watching the entire scene from across the hood of the Bronco. His mother looked at their father for a second, and his father smiled. Daniel could’ve sworn his mom nodded his direction just a little as she squeezed Hunter’s arm.
“Carlton borrowed a canister of propane from the couple across the street,” their mom said. “He’s grilling some chicken out back before it spoils. Daniel, why don’t you go see if he needs any help.” She nodded to Hunter and Chen. “You two can get freshened up. And Edward, we’ve got plenty if the two of you will join us. It’s the least we can do to repay you for picking Hunter up.”
“Love to,” Edward said, smiling. He rubbed his beard. “Let’s unload and I’ll go park the car and grab some tomatoes.”
“Yum,” Hunter said, rubbing his stomach.
Daniel wanted to point out to his mom that Hunter and Chen hadn’t been doing much of anything for the past two days and didn’t need “freshening up.” But Anna was grabbing bags out of the back and forcing them into his hands, his mother shooing him toward the house before he could complain. Before he knew it, he was setting the bags down in the dining room and watching the Bronco back out of the driveway. He could see Anna’s face in the passenger seat as she peered out toward the house. Daniel wondered suddenly if the connection between them would be severed as soon as she was out of sight. What would it feel like to see her again, for the first time post-hand-holding? What were they? How did millions of people go through this and survive to giggle about it on the other side?
Daniel pulled some canned goods from one of the bags and arranged them on the table. He could feel a powerful depression looming if Anna decided their moment had been a mistake. It was easy to imagine only Edward coming over for dinner, telling the rest of them that “Anna didn’t feel well,” casting a glance toward Daniel as if he’d done something wrong.
Misery and joy, Daniel decided. This is how you know you’re in love.
25
Fortunately, Anna did come over, and a shy smile in Daniel’s direction let him know their bond could survive stretching the length of their neighborhood. She and her dad arranged some vegetables on the chopping block in the kitchen. Everyone else was out back, wrestling the furniture on the rear deck into place, picking the twigs and leaves out of the webbed chairs and fussing over the smorgasbord of food scavenged from the cabinets. Daniel could see Carlton and his dad standing by the grill, the chicken hissing and smoking, two small pots on the upper rack spitting with side dishes. The sight of the two men—father and stepfather—standing together amicably seemed surreal. Daniel accepted the plate of freshly sliced tomatoes shoved into his hands and allowed Anna to steer him toward the sliding screen door.
“I think we’re almost ready,” his mom yelled at the upper floor. Daniel heard his brother shout something back through the open window. The temporary sleeping arrangements had been quickly set: Daniel was moving into Hunter’s room with his brother, and Chen and Zola were sharing his. He had tried not to grumble about it too much. His brother had looked ready to be dropped back off at Chen’s house.
“Grab a plate,” his mom said. She pointed to a stack of paper plates on the table. Daniel grabbed one for Anna and took one for himself. Carlton dropped a piece of BBQ-rubbed chicken on each of their plates. Daniel’s father added a scoop of warmed-up canned beans and instant mashed potatoes. To Daniel, the sparse fare looked like Thanksgiving.
His brother and Chen joined them on the deck, followed soon after by Zola. Edward went around forking slices of tomato onto everyone’s plates. Daniel and Anna sat on the steps leading down to the back yard while the others scrambled for room around the oval table. Their father put his food together last and ate standing, his cup balanced on the deck’s wooden rail.
While they ate, Hunter and Edward took turns telling the others about what they’d seen in town, about the gas pump, the cops at the grocery store, the beached fleet of sailboats, all the downed power lines and the wrecked roofs. Zola asked if there’d been any cell phone signal, and everyone was surprised to realize that they hadn’t even checked.
Daniel dove into his food and watched Anna enjoy hers. They exchanged smiles while they chewed, as if the two of them possessed a secret. Chainsaws hummed in the distance; everyone laughed and ate and gossiped. Chen seemed to take perverse delight in telling their mom that she’d warned Hunter to park the Taurus out in the yard. News of the car, however, was still a sore spot for their mom, who chewed her dinner and didn’t laugh with the others while they recounted their search for the insurance card and their attempts to work the radio.
As far as Daniel could tell, it was the most normal, bizarre meal he’d ever had. Looking up, he could see the limbs of the great oak from the front yard reaching over the peak of the damaged roof. One massive broken limb draped over the back and was bushy with leaves. That he could get so quickly used to such newness as the tree on his house made his infatuation with Anna almost believable. Which was stranger or more sudden? As Anna stabbed the last of his tomato off his plate and popped it into her mouth, Daniel slashed at her fork with his as if jousting, and oddly enough wished that nothing in his world would ever change—