Ninety Degrees Out

As they walked along the side of the house swinging Arimina between them, Chay scanned the foundation of the house. No cracks between the concrete and the siding, so it was safe as far as he could see. This was the wall where the stairs went up to the second floor, so they should be good to get things packed up.

This kid is a sweetheart. She’s smart, and I love how Alicia is raising her. She’s obviously not holding back on the truth of things. He thought of his brother’s kids Yuta was only two, but Kallik almost six. I wonder if Arimina would like to meet them. What am I thinking? She isn’t even my kid, and I hardly know her mother.

“The foundations are okay. I think we need to get you two packed up and moved into my place,” Chay said.

“I’m grateful. I can’t say how much. We’ve only been here for a little over a couple weeks. We moved over the Christmas break.”

“Are you even all the way unpacked?”

“No, I think we could put everything into our vehicles. The house came furnished, so it’s our clothes, some food, and a couple of crates of books.”

“What about computers?”

“Just my laptop, a couple of tablets, one for me and one for Arimina, and of course her teddy bears.”

“We can’t leave any of my Teddies.” Arimina insisted. “I have to take them with me.”

“We’ll be taking everything with us, Arimina. I wouldn’t dream of leaving your teddy bears.” Chay told her. He dropped to his knees so he could look her in the eye.

He was rewarded when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you! My favorite one looks like the baby bears.”

Chay looked up at Alicia and grinned. “I wish it was this easy to get kisses out of all the girls.” He winked when he noticed her blush.

They turned the corner into the backyard, and heaps of broken glass littered the deck. He noticed the debris line where the highwater mark went across the grass. Alicia was right, they hadn’t been very far from being flooded out.

“Let’s get your stuff out of there before we have an aftershock. I know my place is properly bolted together, but I can’t say the same for this one,” Chay said as he turned them around.

Arimina took off running and Alicia darted after her. Chay lengthened his strides and followed them inside.

“Mommy, I’ll help. I’ll put everything back in the suitcase,” Ari’s voice was muffled as she disappeared upstairs.

“Go ahead, baby. I’ll come help you close the suitcase when you’re finished.”

“How about I take the kitchen and the food?” Chay said.

“I can’t believe you’d do this for us,” Alicia said.

“We have to count on each other. With they way things are, if we don’t, we won’t survive. Besides, I’m half in love with your kid.”

“Wait till she throws a temper tantrum. But seriously, thank you. I’m not sure what we would have done if you weren’t home.”

She turned to him and standing on her tip toes, she kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close. Her generous breasts flattened against his chest and reminded him he hadn’t been this close to a woman in over a year. When her sparkling brown eyes met his, his heart skipped a beat, and he brushed a light kiss over her lush lips before stepping back and opening the pantry doors.

“If you do the food supplies that would be great.”

The huskiness in her voice eased as she spoke, and he cleared his own throat before he replied.

“Do you have any boxes?”

“Through there.” She pointed at a door across from the kitchen island. “In the garage. I haven’t even broken them down from when I went shopping.”

Chay went out to gather boxes, and when he came back in, Alicia had gone to help Arimina and gather her own clothes. As he methodically began to fill boxes, he made note of what they liked to eat. Cans of condensed soup, long cooking oats, pasta, tomato sauce, a loaf of white bread, and another of multigrain whole wheat, went into boxes as he cleared the shelves. Various cheeses, salad makings, and oranges and apples went into another box, and then he carefully tucked two dozen eggs in their cartons between rolls of paper towels to keep them from breaking.

They must like spice because he noted chili and curry as well a several different peppers. Pink salt in a grinder, and a pepper mill went into another box, and he took himself out into the garage to check the freezer he noticed earlier. He wondered if she liked to cook, or if it was a necessary chore.

The meats in the freezer went into the last box. Nothing exotic like the wild game he had in his, but he noticed fish sticks and smiled. He had fond memories of fish sticks. Of course, his mother made them from scratch with leftovers from what ever they’d had the night before, but still they remained one of his favorite meals. Even if he did cheat and buy them ready made and frozen these days.

He went out with the first box, balancing it on the bumper while he opened the tailgate and pulled the back flap up on his box cover. He pushed his survival gear back and hefted the groceries into the back of his truck.

He stopped at the open window to rub jazz’s head. The whine he let out was high pitched and ended in a puppy yelp.

“What? Do you want to come in?”

Jazz eased his front paws out and his tail unfurled, straight back as he yipped twice more. And then he jumped out as the ground began to tremble again.

“Shit!” Chay and his dog ran into the open garage.

The glass crashed down in the great room, and Chay shouted to make himself heard.

“Jazz, stay!” The Malawolf slid to a stop in the short hall from the kitchen.

“Alicia, Arimina, are you okay?”

“Mommy!”

The girl’s shriek had him going up the stairs three at a time. The door on the right was the bathroom, and he saw everything was out in a glance. Nothing left on the shelves, no shampoo or other personal care items.

Next room on the right, the door was closed and when he tried to get it in, he found it jammed. It wasn’t locked but something had shifted, and the door was stuck.

“Arimina!” he yelled, scared to the bone. Where was Alicia, why wasn’t she out here?

The door at the end of the hall was open. He scanned the room quickly; two suitcases and a carry-on bag were on the bed. Alicia’s laptop and two tablets were there too. Where was she?

“Mommy, mommy, wake up!” Arimina’s voice spurred him into action.

“Arimina, are you okay?”

“I’m stuck, and mommy fell down!” He could hear the panicked sobs starting.

“I’m going to open the door. Are you close to it?”

“No, I’m behind the bed.”

He lifted his foot, judging where he needed to attack the door to break it loose, he dropped to the balls of his feet. Taking a deep breath, he spun into a back kick and the full force of his training hit beside the doorknob. The crack of splintering wood rewarded him, and he threw his shoulder into the door hard. It slammed into the wall leaving a dent in the drywall and he took a giant step across the room to lift Arimina.

“Mommy won’t wake up,” she wailed.

“She’s breathing, sweetie. She’s going to be all right,” Chay said as they both dropped to the floor where Alicia sprawled on her back.