Winter Layoff Chapter 5
| Winter Layoff | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 5 of 21 | |
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| Read this chapter | |
| Time frame | Somewhere in December 27-30, 2005 |
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Locations
- On the road from Helena, Arkansas to Pass Christian, Mississippi
- Poking around the remains of John and Rita's house in Pass Christian
Characters
Summary
Aunt Rita and Jim make a six or seven hour trip using some county roads to get back out to the highway, and then towards to Pass Christian. Jim's initial plan is to get as close as they could to the house location and then find a place to park the camper for the night. This is going to be a reconnisance and learning trip, as Rita would like to get back to John in Helena as soon as possible.
Jim and Rita spend some of the drive time getting to know each other better. Rita shares some history of herself and John, how they dated, got married, their experience after he was injured in Viet Nam, and how they ended up in Pass Christian.
They made better time than Jim had planned and stopped for the night at a truck stop. The next morning they grab breakfast, then headed south into Gulfport and then Pass Christian.
Almost from the moment they pulled out of the parking lot Jim could see that Aunt Rita was right: the place was a mess. There was still debris all over the place, although the roads had been cleared. Here and there, they could see evidence of cleanup, of places being fixed up, but it all looked pretty bad. It was like looking at the remains of tornado damage – Jim had been through one and had worked at others – but it went on and on, and got worse the farther they went. Rita had them go down I-10 for a few miles, but then had them turn off onto a road that led them into Pass Christian. By the time they got close to the beach, the place looked even worse than he’d seen on TV, because TV couldn’t take in the full sweep of destruction the way the eye could. Now, he was there, and it was real.
Rita guided him down one street and then down another and told him to turn at the next corner, if they could get down that street. It turned out they could and Jim drove down it a short distance before Rita told him to park wherever he could. Then she pointed across the street and up it a way Right over there. That’s where our house was.
Rita was pointing at the biggest pile of debris in a couple hundred yards. Right in the middle and on top of the whole pile was a complete tree lying on its side, with some branches still attached and its roots hanging free.
Jim spent half an hour poking around and decided that it was one hell of a mess. Yes, it would be a big job, but it was one that could be done.
The chapter closes as Jim tells Rita that But it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. It’ll look better in a month or two.
Also Mentioned
- John’s sister Sharon and her husband Floyd
