|
||
|
||
It took a while for my eyes to adjust once we were inside Sonny’s. Outside it was still bright and sunny but inside the bar, the lights were very dim. I scanned the room quickly and realized that apart from an obviously intoxicated man at one table, Maggie and I were the only patrons. Sonny appeared from the kitchen within seconds, wiping his hands with a dish-towel.
“What the hell are you two doin’ here?” he asked with his usual directness.
“Looking for Leo. Is he here?” I asked.
“No.” Sonny eyed me with a serious expression. “He’s not.”
I turned around and began walking back out but Sonny grabbed my arm.
“Wait a minute. Are you crazy?”
“What? I’m going home.”
“There’s a state of emergency. You can’t just go wandering through the streets by yourselves.”
“I was going straight home.”
Sonny looked at me, then at Maggie, then back at me again.
“Where do you girls live?” he asked.
“In the new quarter, on the East side,” I replied, ignoring the fact that he called us girls instead of women. “I have to go home and get my stuff. All my clothes are there and my books and, well, everything is there. I have to go home.”
I was starting to sound a tad hysterical. Maggie’s eyes were getting wider and she looked as nervous as I felt.
“Like hell,” Sonny answered quickly. “It’s too dangerous. Stay here ‘til we know it’s safe.”
The ringing of the bar phone was enough to end the standoff temporarily. Sonny snatched up the receiver and delivered a few sharp “uh-huhs” to the listener before hanging up.
“Curfew,” he announced.
A fizzling sound behind us caused us all to turn around at once. It was the bar’s super-sized TV screen going to snow.
“Shit!” said Sonny. “There’s the fucking satellite gone. They’re shutting all the stations down.”
“We can’t stay here!” Maggie screeched, making for the door. I hurried to catch her.
“We have to get home!” I shouted to Sonny as we fled.
“Wait! I’ll drive you!” he yelled, following us outside.
There was a strangeness in the air outside, as though everything was in some kind of suspended state. The normally bustling streets were quiet and deserted. But there was an odd, booming sound in the distance. It took a few seconds for me to realize what it was.
“Guns!” Maggie screamed at me. “That’s the artillery in the desert.”
“Come on,” Sonny shouted, shoving me towards his Land Rover. “Get in”
We took off along the gravel road towards the new quarter, the sound of guns pounding away in the background. It was an eerie feeling scooting through the streets. We rounded a corner and found the street barricaded with huge oil cans. Cursing, Sonny slammed on the brakes and then reversed back down the narrow street.
Maggie was clutching my arm so tightly, I thought she was going to draw blood. She kept repeating the same phrase over and over: “Oh my God…Oh my God…Oh my God…” like some kind of mantra. It was driving me nuts. I stifled the urge to wallop her.
Sonny spun us around and headed off down a different road. Now the flashes of red light could be seen above the skyline. Explosions. And the booming sounds were getting louder, closer. I shuddered. Just before we reached an intersection, several jeeps full of soldiers sped through, machine-guns at the ready.
“Shit,” Sonny hissed, slamming on the brakes again. “That does not look good.”
He slammed the vehicle into reverse and we shot back up the street to the corner where we made the turn and took off in drive again. Maggie was making a screeching sound in her throat as we hurtled along towards the next intersection.
“Shit!” Sonny spat. I looked up ahead. Another roadblock.
“Shit!” I echoed.
“Shit … shit … shit …shit …shit …” Maggie was repeating, rocking back and forth. I elbowed her hard in the ribs.
“Shut up!” I hissed at her. She started to whimper but we were off again and I was slammed into the back of my seat.
Now the sounds of gunfire were all around and the acrid smell of smoke was drifting through my nostrils. I gripped the handle inside the door nearest me. Sonny’s foot was jammed down on the gas pedal, then back on the brake again as we took a corner at break-neck speed. Then, I saw it up ahead: a military jeep heading straight towards us, horn blaring.
Sonny braked hard and we skidded to a stop. Yes, there were soldiers inside the jeep and they had guns. I heard myself gasp in terror. There was nowhere to run. We were screwed.
“Fuck,” Sonny cursed. I saw him reach down and pull up his pant leg, revealing an ankle holster from which he quickly pulled a handgun. Maggie resumed her whimpering and began another round of “Oh my God” but this time she only managed two choruses before Sonny whirled around in his seat.
“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled at her, clutching the gun in his sinewy hand, his dark eyes wild with fury.
To my shock, she did, instantly. Her face was frozen into an almost comic mask of terror as she shrunk backwards. Sonny turned around again and slipped his gun-hand between his knees so it was hidden beneath the dashboard. We all held our breath, watching as the jeep screeched to a halt in front of us and a door flew open.
A dark-haired, wiry man jumped out, shouting and waving his arms wildly. His face was dirty and his clothes disheveled but I’d know that lanky frame anywhere.
“Leo!”