Cami moved her chair closer and put a comforting arm around Mia, while giving the kids a confused look. "Mia, honey, what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Are the kids…?”
"Oh, no—the kids are fine. They’re at home—our neighbor, Stacy, she's their babysitter. She's watching them for me,” Mia said.
Amber shot Mitch a look.
"Haven’t started school yet?” Mitch asked, conversationally.
Cami handed Mia some tissues and waited while she blew her nose. "Yeah, everybody's home for another two weeks, so we’re going through all of our stuff that much faster. I had the kids drink up all the milk last night because with the power out, everything is getting warm."
She looked at Cami's fridge, then back to the table top. "We never thought to keep the fridge closed. I bet the kids have been opening it every five minutes just to see if anything’s changed. It's a habit, you know?"
Cami chuckled, sympathetically. "Don't I know it. The first couple hurricanes that came through and knocked out power back in the day…oh, I guess Amber was only about eight years old. We lost so much food," Cami laughed. "Had to refill the fridge and freezer several times before we figured out to keep everything closed."
"Oh," Mia said, perking up. "We have one of those little freezers out in the garage. We stocked up during the big end of summer meat sale the other day."
Cami nodded. "Good. That stuff will stay frozen for a good couple days. The trick is, when you pull stuff out, do it quick, and don't open it again. Frozen stuff will keep the temperature safe for a while. But you’re going to have to start cooking things. I’d eat what's in your fridge first, then start in on the freezer."
Mia nodded. "That's not going to be fun. Pretty much the only thing my kids will eat is chicken nuggets and Cheerios…sometimes pizza. It's so hard to get them to eat anything."
Cami nodded. "Amber was the same way when she was their age. Trust me, if they get hungry enough, they'll eat."
Mia took a deep, shuddering breath. "Thanks Cami—I just needed someone to calm me down, I guess. It's just so crazy out there right now."
"What do you mean, ‘crazy?’” asked Mitch.
"Well, like I said, I was just running to town to get some more water and toilet paper—and some snacks for the kids...and the streets were totally clogged with people! I've never seen so much traffic in Ashley before. It's insane! And don't even think about going to a gas station. There must be cars lined up halfway to the interstate." She shook her head, tight black curls dancing prettily in the dim light. "When I finally made it to the store, the parking lot was overflowing. I had to park down the street and walk. Can you believe that?"
"What was it like inside?" asked Cami, leaning forward.
Mia stared at the fridge, not seeing anything. "It's like the end of the world. I saw two women fighting over a bag of rice—they were actually pulling hair and slapping at each other. In the end, it took a couple employees to pull them apart, but by then they'd ripped open the bag of rice and it had gone all over the place.”
“That’s terrible,” Cami said, her back ram-rod straight, her hands splayed on the table. Her fears had come true. Things had fallen apart already.
Mia nodded. “Then an old lady came up and started scooping the rice up off the ground. That got the manager involved and then the shouting started all over again." Mia took a sip of her water. "I've never seen anything like it. It's like people have lost their minds…"
"I can't believe it got that bad so soon," Amber muttered. "The lights only went out last night."
"I know," Mia commiserated. "On the way out of the grocery store—I never did get any water or toilet paper—all I managed to find was some chips and pretzels. The store was already picked clean when I got there. They said there was another shipment coming in tomorrow, but I don't know. If the roads around here are any indication, nothing is going to be coming in for a long time. There’re accidents everywhere. People having to leave their cars and just walk. I barely got out as it is. Jimmy's going to kill me,"
“Why is that?" asked Cami.
"Because I got scared when I was leaving the parking lot. All I could think of was getting home and getting to the kids. I couldn't find any water, couldn't find any toilet paper. The only thing I ended up doing was using up gas and getting into an accident."
"Oh, my goodness," Cami blurted. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Mia said, waving off Cami's concern. "It was just a little fender bender. I got too close to somebody, and they scraped the side of my car. Jimmy's gonna be so mad," Mia moaned, resting her face in her hands.
"There, there," Cami soothed, patting her neighbor on the back. "I'm sure it's not as bad as all that. Jimmy will understand—these things happen during times of emergency. You should hear Reese talk about some horror stories he's lived through during hurricanes…” Cami said, her voice trailing off. Amber looked down at the table and fidgeted with the tablecloth.
Cami swallowed, cleared her throat, and continued. "My point is, give it another day or two, and everything will be put in perspective. A scratch down the side of your car is really no big deal. You'll see."
"Thanks, Cami—you're a lifesaver. I…I hate to ask…” Mia looked at Cami's fridge, then back to Cami. “Is there any way I might be able to get another bottle of water or two? I'm sure the kids are pretty thirsty by now. We had all the windows shut in
