The Last Tribe (61 page)

“Unreal.”  Dan flashed a smile and
slapped the top of the Hummer twice with his palm.  He turned to walk inside. 
“We’ll see you tomorrow morning.  We’ll be ready to roll.”  He yelled over his
shoulder.

Solange and John got into the
Hummer.  As soon as the doors were shut, John spun his head to look at
Solange.  “This is unbelievable.”

“I know, Ryan will not fit into our
group.”

“No, not that, I just met Dan
Couples.  Danny frickin’ Couples!  This is insane.”

“Who is Dan Couples, other than the
nice man I just met?”

“I can’t talk about this with
you.”  He thought for a second.   “It’s like I just met Pele, or, or,
Maradona.”

“I am from Ecuador.  Maradona is
Argentinean.  Ugh, Americans.”  She shook her head.  “I did meet Pele once, at
a reception in Quito.  I had a picture taken with him.  It was in my bedroom on
my desk.  He was Brazilian, but I still liked the picture.”  She stopped for a
moment.  “You know, I do not have anything from my past life.  I have some
pictures on my tablet, but really I have nothing.”  Something triggered her
sadness.  “I miss my family.  I loved them all, and I never got to see them in
person to say goodbye.  We did video chats, but I will never see my home again.” 
She looked at John as he drove the truck towards the piers to get lobster.  “It
makes me sad.”

“I know.”  He rubbed her shoulder. 
“I know.  It’s easy for me to forget that I have my sons, I said goodbye to
Charleston, I was there when,” he stopped.  “I said goodbye to who I needed
to.”

They got lost on their way to the
piers, but eventually pulled up to the water.  Boston Harbor was enormous. 
Luckily, the large red buoys were easy to find.  John used a nearby hook to
grab the rope, and he wound the rope onto a pulley bolted to the pier.  He
brought the lobster trap to the surface.

“There are a dozen lobsters in
there.”  He said excitedly.  “Let’s cook six of them and let the rest go.”

“How are we going to get them out
of the trap?  Look at those claws.”  Solange took a step back from the edge of
the pier.  The pulley was on an arm that swung the trap onto the pier. 

“You unhook the carabineer, and
voila, the top opens and you grab the ones you want, toss the other ones back.”

“And the claws?”  Solange made a
claw shape with her hand, two fingers on the bottom, three on top, and made a
snipping gesture with the hand.

“Well, we have to be careful,
that’s for sure.”  John spun his head around in search of something.  He walked
down the pier to search the SUV’s in the parking lot.

“What are you looking for?”  She
asked him curiously, rubbing her hands together.  It was much cooler by the
water.  A stiff breeze blew from the ocean.

“We need a cooler or a bucket to
put the lobsters in, maybe splash some water on them too.”  In the fourth SUV
window he saw what he needed.  John pulled a window hammer from his coat pocket,
the kind found in car safety kits, and smashed the window of the SUV.  He
carried the hammer around with him for just such occasions.  He pulled a blue
cooler with wheels out of the broken back window and wheeled it down the pier.

Solange had not touched the lobster
trap, not even the carabineer clasp.  “Come on.”  He said to her.  He undid the
top and flipped it open.  The lobsters were not friendly.  Some of them began
opening and closing their claws.

John used two sticks he found on
the ground in a chopstick fashion to move eight large lobsters from the trap to
the cooler.  “I thought you said six?”

“I’m hungry”

“How can you be hungry after that
big sandwich?”

“I don’t know, I’m hungry, it’s no
big deal, there are two other traps.”  He used the giant chopsticks to free the
five smaller lobsters in the trap.  “Tomorrow we’ll empty the other two traps,
and bring the lobster up to Hanover for a lobster boil.”  He left the trap on
the pier.  “You know what?  If this dries out, I think we should bring it with
us.  Maybe we can put it in the flatbed of their truck.  We can use this to
catch things in Hawaii.  This is all coming together.”  He had his hands on his
hips as he looked at the lobster trap on the pier and the red buoys in the
water.

“If you are done being proud of
yourself, can we find a place to light a fire?  I am very cold.”  She hugged
herself for warmth against the cold sea breeze.

They found a church close to the
harbor.  Dan was right, the office in the back had a large fireplace.  It had a
giant iron hook made specifically for a pot.  Before Solange could ask what
they would use for wood, John smashed a wooden pew with an axe from the
Hummer.  They lit two of the starter logs, heaped furniture wood on top, and
their little room was warm within a few minutes.

“I saw some restaurants down the
street.  Maybe I can get a big pot or something to cook these in.”  He pointed
to the cooler.  “You stay here and keep the fire going.  Get warm.”

“You will get no argument from
me.”  Solange pulled her chair close to the fire.

It did not take John long to find a
restaurant, a pot, tongs, and a pan.  He snagged a few bottles of white wine, a
package of pasta, a jar of minced garlic, olive oil, and a case of Pellegrino
sparkling water.  He carried everything inside the big pot.  He was excited to
make lobster pasta, saving a few of the crustaceans for breakfast. 

He strode into the church in a great
mood.  He had a beautiful woman, lobster, wine, and fire.  What could go wrong?

“Dan radioed.” Solange said
solemnly.  “Lucinda jumped off the porch.  She is dead.  Ryan stole their truck
and fled.  Dan and Karen would like to leave.  We need to go back to the
house.”

“Damn.”  John lowered his head. 
“Damn, damn, damn.”

They loaded the Hummer and drove to
the house.  Dan was standing by the back door.  He had several boxes stacked,
ready to move into the Hummer.

“It’s not your fault, it’s not our
fault, she had issues.”  Dan said immediately.  “I should have known.  She
hadn’t left the house in five months.  When you arrived, she panicked, and when
you left?  She got worse.  She was pacing.”  Dan stopped to give Solange a
quick hug.  “Ryan went berserk, yelling and ranting, I don’t know why, he was
making less sense than she was.  Anyway, he storms out, says he’s taking the
truck to Florida.  Karen and I follow him into his room where he starts
throwing things in a duffel, then he storms down the back stairs.  Lucy is just
saying ‘no, no’ over and over again, her hand on her mouth.  Karen tells her
it’s okay, we’re all fine.  I’m trying to keep Ryan from taking my truck, not
that I cared about the truck, but it was our best vehicle, and well, I did kind
of like the truck.  He tries to shove me, he’s yelling, I’m yelling, Karen is
yelling, we heard a thud.”  Dan stopped.  “Karen and I ran back upstairs, Ryan jumped
in the truck and bolted.”  He dropped his head, shaking it slowly from side to
side.  “She didn’t want to deal with it, you know, the new world, the way
things are.“

“I’m sorry.”  John offered.  “I’m truly
sorry.” 

“Karen and I spoke, and we decided
we can’t stay here.  I mean, Lucy’s body is sitting in the road out front.  We
have to get out of here.”  He bent down and picked up two boxes.  “Do we have
room in your truck for our stuff and us?”

“Yeah, here.”  John walked around
the back and opened the tailgate.  He pushed the blue cooler to the side.  The
salt air smell poured out of the trunk.

“You found the lobster.”  Dan
noted, his voice flat.

Karen was in a fog, moving
listlessly through the second floor.  She did not have anything to bring other
than clothes and a few pictures, but she seemed to be looking for something to
pack.  “Let’s go Karen.  This wasn’t our house, it wasn’t even our home, it was
just some place we shared for a little while.”  Dan waved her over.  “You have
your pictures?  Clothes?”

She nodded.

“Let’s go.”  He put his arm around
her and gave a squeeze.  John thought he saw her wince.  “Come on.  There’s
nothing we can do here.”

John felt odd asking, but he did
anyway.  “Do you have a big cooler?  Maybe a few of them?” 

“Sure, downstairs.”  Dan nodded. 
“What’s up?”

“I know this is going to sound
crass, thinking about food, but I want to stop and empty the lobster traps,
bring the food to Hanover for dinner.  We shouldn’t waste it.  The least we
should do is let them all go.”

“We can do that.  I’ll drive us
over.  It will be faster.  I know a shortcut.”  Dan let go of Karen, picked up
two more duffels, and walked down the stairs. 

Solange followed him out.  “Do we
need gas? “  Dan’s hands were occupied with duffels, but he motioned with his
head.  “That SUV is full.  Maybe we can siphon it over.” 

“Dan, are you okay?  You are
leaving very quickly.”  Solange showed concern for her new friends.

He threw the duffels in the back
and looked at her.  “Solange, I buried five children, my wife, and all of my
family.  I lost friends and teammates I’ve known for 15 to 20 years.  That is
loss, and I mourned when it happened.  I’m still grieving.  This place?  I have
no problem walking away.  It’s a thing, a place that kept me warm.  Karen and I
made our peace with Lucinda before we called you.  I made this decision.  I
want to move.”  His eyes brightened.  “But thank you for asking.  You and John are
good people, I can tell.”  He exhaled a quick sigh.  “I can work with anyone,
it’s something I’ve had to do my entire life, work with whoever is put on my
team, good person or bad, asshole or friend.  I look forward to working with
the two of you.”

He pointed to the SUV.  “I’ll bring
it next to the Hummer, gas tank to gas tank.”

As Dan moved the SUV, Solange
retrieved a tool from the backseat.  It was a modified hand bailer from a
boat.  Matt called it ‘the siphoner.’  Tubes were used to extend both ends of
the device, allowing the sucking tube to go to the bottom of the SUV’s tank,
and the bailing tube to go into the Hummer.  Solange pulled the pump handled up
and down, and watched the fuel flow from one vehicle to the other.

“You guys have done this before.” 
The man from Seattle commented.

The Hummer was loaded and refueled,
the lobsters were retrieved or freed, and the four survivors left for Hanover,
N.H. at 3:30.  Karen wept with Solange in the backseat.  She lived in Boston
her entire life, receiving her nursing degree from Simmons College, and working
for Boston Children’s.  Boston was her home, and she never planned to leave. 
Solange kept an arm around her.  Dan and John sat quietly.

“You driving fast enough?”  Dan
eyed the speedometer needle touching the 100 m.p.h.  “Are we in a hurry or
something?”

“No,”  John stammered.  “I guess
not.”  He dropped the speed to 75 and set the cruise.  “You’re right, as it
gets closer to dark there might be deer.  I’m used to driving as fast as I
want.  Sorry.” 

Dan sat comfortably in his seat. 
Solange and Karen chatted in the back, mostly about Lucinda.  Dan put his arm
on the seat back to look at them before turning to John.  “So, John, tell me
about yourself.”

Maybe it was the fact that
Lucinda’s death was one more among the billions, or that Karen and Dan knew she
was not destined to last very long in the new world, but whatever the reason,
they moved on from Lucinda’s suicide quickly.  Dan talked about the nights he
heard her pacing in her room, and the mumbling he could hear through his wall
or vent.  Karen brought up the days, usually several in a row, Lucinda would
stay in her room, crying loudly and screaming if anyone tried to come inside. 
Lucinda was a mystery, a woman found sitting on their back porch one day like a
stray cat, her thick Texas accent asking if they had seen her tour bus or
cruise ship.  Neither Dan nor Karen knew where she was from or anything about
her.  They admitted neither could recall Lucinda’s last name.  A woman they
lived with for six months, and they did not know anything other than she was
scared.  Dan admitted he felt horrible, but relieved that Lucinda found peace. 
It was a hard peace, but not unexpected for a woman so troubled and sad. 

John brought up Ryan.  Neither Dan
nor Karen would discuss him.  “If he comes to his senses and shows up in
Hanover?  Well, we can figure out how to handle the situation.  He helped me
find fuel, food, and water.  Everything else?  He was probably one of the worst
people I’ve met in my life.”

Karen nodded.  “If I never hear his
name again, that will be fine with me.  He was a misogynistic, mean, petty
jerk, and I’m glad he’s gone.  He knew Dan loved that truck, but did he take
the SUV or any of the other cars?  Whatever, he’s gone.”

Ryan was dropped.  Solange changed
the subject and gave a rundown of the people in camp.  She also discussed their
plans to fly to Hawaii.

“You have a pilot?”  Karen asked.

“We do.”  Solange told her.

“You think I can make chowdah with
coconut milk, Dan?”  She laughed.

“I bet you can.”  He told her.  “I
bet you can.”

They pulled within radio distance
of Hanover by 5:00.  John called the house and asked if they had dinner made. 
When he was told “planned but not made,” he asked them to get as many pots of
water going as possible, and to prepare for two more mouths for dinner.

“Just two people?”  Todd asked
back.

“What do you mean ‘just.’  We found
two people.  That’s great news.  One is a nurse.  Tell Melanie we don’t need
her anymore.”  John smiled in the rearview at Karen.

“Yeah, she heard you, thanks for
that, John.”  The radio clicked.  “What about the other person?”

“He was a team leader, quarterback
type.”  John laughed.

“Great, tell him we welcome another
chief to our ever growing tribe of chiefs.  We’ll start the water boiling.  You
better not have forgotten tha steamuhs.”  The radio went off.