His mind was still going a hundred miles an hour.
Slow down. Calm down. Breathe.
Keith’s aikido training took over, and he focused on his breathing.
In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In ... Out.
Keith stayed like that for several minutes, before climbing up onto the couch. He spent the whole day in the dark, in silence. He hesitated every time he thought about doing something like turning on the TV, or grabbing some food, only to remain where he was. He simply couldn’t be bothered to move. The only thing he managed to do was go to the bathroom.
It was on his last trip to the bathroom that Keith stripped off all his clothing and stepped into the shower. The water washed over him for several minutes. He felt thirsty, so he let the water fill his mouth and drank. He didn’t care that it was warm. Then he started scrubbing himself, washing every inch of his body with a fervent vigor. The water slowly turned cooler on him, but Keith didn’t care.
His skin was red from cold water and scrubbing by the time he got out of the shower, and Keith felt exhausted. He didn’t know what time it was, but he went straight to bed.
He woke up with a start sometime that night. He lay in his bed and listened. He could make out the sounds of chaos. Gun shots and screaming in the distance. The sounds of violence. And closer to home, the sounds of shuffling. The banging sound of things knocked over and fists pounding.
Keith felt oddly detached from it all, though. Cindy, his everything. She was gone. He’d lost her. He also thought about his family. He felt guilty about his feelings towards his parents and worried about his little brother and sister. Keith ignored all the noises around him, near and far, and started to cry.
His emotions ranged from despair to bitterness to anguish, and from denial back to despair.
He thought about Cindy and remembered how they had told each other every night how much they loved each other. Every time he calmed down enough, the bitter memory of that voicemail returned, and Keith started grieving again.
He got up well before the sun had risen. He called Cindy. The call went to voicemail. Deep down, Keith knew that she would never get his message. But he left one anyway.
“It’s me. ... I wanted to read something to you.”
He fumbled for a moment with a piece of paper.
“Cindy Cho. I meet your eyes and they bored into me. When they look in my direction, I try to catch them, every time. When you stand in front of me, all I want is to hold you. We found each other and live in the security that our love and respect for each other will never disappear.
“I simply can’t imagine a world without you. Without you the birds can’t fly. Without you the earth is flat, and the sun cold.
“I gladly dedicate my life to yours and look forward to being with you till the end of our days.”
Keith carefully folded the paper and put it in his pocket.
“Those were the vows I wanted to speak at our wedding. That’s right, no movie references.” Keith smiled sadly. “Now I will never get to say those words.” The smile disappeared. “I will always love you, Cindy.”
And he hung up. The phone dropped out of his hand and onto the floor at his feet. Keith hardly noticed it, as he sat on his couch in darkness and silence.
An hour later, the sun was just starting to rise. The pitch-dark interior of his house was starting to get lighter. He could make out his furniture.
Keith was hungry. Yet he still did not move.
Then he imagined Cindy. She would scold him if she were there.
Didn’t you listen to a word I said?! Go eat. Turn on the TV. Get to the safe zone, and maybe you can still find me!
Keith swallowed hard and got to his feet. He made himself a bowl of cereal. When he was done, he got another bowl. He turned on his TV, realizing that he’d never bothered to watch it the day before.
Keith looked at the pre-recorded news and watched the ticker on the bottom of the screen. Sure enough, within a minute he saw his neighborhood’s name flash across the screen with a number to dial. Keith did a double take.
Shit. Missed it!
The ticker had run across the screen before he managed to read the number. He quickly gathered a notepad and pencil and caught it on the next go-around. He muted the TV and grabbed his phone.
He touched the screen, and his screensaver confronted him. It was a picture of Cindy in her aikido Gi. She stood in the hidari hanmi stance and looked every bit ready to get into a tussle. Except for her face, which was dominated by a huge smile and those twinkling eyes.
Keith slowly blinked, unlocked the phone, and dialed the number.
The call itself was very structured. The first question they asked was whether Keith had any symptoms. Keith thought briefly about giving a belligerent answer.
Why the heck would I be calling you otherwise, fool. But he let the moment pass.
“No.”
Obviously, these guys had a script for this conversation. There was a pause after confirming his name, address, and phone number while the guy on the line validated the information. Keith got all the info repeated back to him, followed by the spiel about what to bring and how to behave.
And that was it. He was going to be evacuated sometime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
There was nothing else to do but wait. Keith got dressed and packed some extra things in a small duffel bag. He put on his runners, figuring he should be ready to leave as soon as that call came in. After that, he made himself some tea and a
