Off the Record (Off #3)(28)

“Excuse me?”

“We’re going to go spend a few days helping to clean up from that tornado.”

“Really?” Her voice is excited.

I smile at her. “Really. Now go pack. Make sure you take some long sleeve t-shirts and some jeans or other sturdy pants. Hiking boots if you have them. We’ll get some safety goggles and gloves when we get there.”

She scurried off to pack and I handled some last minute arrangements. As promised, within three hours we were airborne and headed to Oklahoma. We flew into Tulsa which is where we will be staying. Smithfield is about fifty miles away and we couldn’t get a hotel anywhere nearer to the devastation. Most of the hotels were booked with other volunteers or recovery workers.

I can’t get over the extreme damage that has occurred. Most buildings are nothing but a pile of matchsticks. Yet, in the middle of the destruction, you’ll see a building that amazingly was left untouched. The selective power of a tornado is frightening.

“Have you done this sort of thing before?” Ever asks.

“This is my first tornado. But this will be the third time I’ve helped clean up after a disaster. I helped after those two hurricanes hit Florida back to back two years ago. But the destruction was nothing like this.”

“How is this all being coordinated? I mean, how did you even know that volunteers were needed?”

“There’s a government agency called AmeriCorps. They coordinate and lead volunteer efforts.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s going to take to clean this up and rebuild.”

I couldn’t imagine it either. The tornado ended up killing seventy-two people and left thousands of others injured or homeless. Our job while here was to help clean and stack debris for refuse trucks to haul away. There’s no way that individual homeowners have the ability or manpower to clean the rubble up from their properties so they can rebuild.

We pull into the parking lot of a high school football stadium. I see my teammates, Darius and Tyler are here already. They both went with me to help clean up after the hurricanes and were always up for a volunteer opportunity. They were good guys that way.

There’s a large military tent set up and several school buses. We head into the tent where we fill out some forms and sign waivers. Then we are loaded on a bus and driven into a neighborhood that was flattened by the hurricane. I make introductions between Ever and the guys, but we don’t talk much on the way there. We are just too stunned by all of the carnage we see.

I look at Ever, who is sitting next to me, and her eyes are wide with horror. I reach down and pick up her hand. She doesn’t take her eyes off the window, almost so entranced she can’t turn away. But she squeezes my hand and holds it all the way until the bus stops.





After a viciously hot and back breaking day, Darius, Tyler and I swing by Ever’s room to pick her up. We had agreed to get cleaned up and head out to a nice dinner before we hit the sack. We are all exhausted beyond measure.

I knock on Ever’s door and after a few minutes it opens. Ever is still in her work clothes, dirt smudged all over her face and she looks like she’s been run over by a freight train. The main thing I notice is that her eyes have lost their sparkle.

“I’m not going, guys. I’m just too exhausted and sore to even walk down to the car.”

I feel terrible. The work today was brutal. We had to haul lumber, bricks, cinder blocks and tree branches. We had to separate out electronics and metals from the rubble and place those in a separate pile. We had to gather papers and personal documents that were spread everywhere. What we couldn’t gather in our hands, we were given rakes to make piles. The temperature had skyrocketed which was made worse by the fact we were all wearing long sleeve shirts and jeans for protection. On top of that, the masks that we wore over our faces did nothing to stop the smell of rotting food and animal carcasses, which had you threatening to throw up constantly. This work was not for the weak of back or fair of stomach.

Several times I had to make Ever put on sunscreen, as I was afraid her fair skin would blister under the hot, Oklahoma sun. She was working so hard, she would forget to take breaks and drink water to stay hydrated. I feel like half the time I was running after her to shove a water bottle in her hand.

And now she stands before me and she looks like a feather would knock her over. We had been working for almost nine hours straight minus a short break for lunch.

I look over at Darius and Tyler. “You guys go ahead. I might catch up with you later.”

They nod and leave.

I walk into Ever’s room and shut the door. She just stares at me, practically swaying on her feet.

“Did you drink that last Gatorade I got you on the way back to the hotel?”

“No,” she whispers and sits on the edge of her bed. She’s covered in dirt and grime, and she smells like she had just completed her assignment of living homeless on the streets, yet she still looks remarkably beautiful to me. She was such a trooper today.

“Drink your Gatorade,” I order her and head into the bathroom. I run her a bath and make it as hot as I think her delicate skin can handle.

When I return to the bedroom, she’s still sitting in the same spot, just staring at the floor. “Ever...drink your Gatorade.”

“I’m too tired to move,” she groans but I notice a small smile on her face. “Can’t I just go to bed?”