Time Bomb(26)

Rashid stared at him. “You don’t know your mother’s phone number?”

“It’s stored in my phone, so I don’t normally have to think about it. Just give me a second.” Tad took a deep breath, and Rashid clenched his fists and waited. Finally Tad nodded. “Okay, I think I remember it.” He punched in a number, then hit the speaker button.

“Hello?” a woman demanded on the other end. “Who is this?”

“Mom?” Tad yelled.

“Tad? Oh, thank God.”

“Mom, I need you to—”

“Sam.” Tad’s mother’s voice was muffled. “Your brother’s on the phone. He’s fine. Just like I told you he would be.” Her voice got louder as she asked, “Tad, where are you? Did you hear about the school?”

“Mom—”

“So far two bombs have gone off, and when you didn’t answer your phone, Sam thought—”

Two bombs.

“Mom. Mom. Stop.” In a slow, very clear voice, Tad said, “A friend and I are trapped on the second floor of the school.”

Tad’s mother gasped and made a choked noise.

Tad’s jaw clenched. “We tried to call 911, but the line is busy, so I need you to look at the TV and tell me where the fire is or where the damage is the worst so we don’t try to get out that way.”

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Mom. We’re both okay.” Tad looked up and shrugged. Which Rashid understood. No, they weren’t really okay, but there was no point telling her that. Tad’s mother started talking again, but Tad interrupted. “Mom, listen, we’re fine, but we need you to tell us what’s happening here so we can get out. Can you turn on the news and tell us what you see?”

“Okay. Okay. Just give me a minute to get to the television. Okay.”

Rashid could almost imagine her bumping into things as she hurried to do as Tad asked. His family didn’t have a television. His father said they were a distraction from the true purpose of life—although Rashid and his sister had noticed that whenever the Nationals were playing a big game, Father always wanted to take the family out to eat in a restaurant with a television. Without a television or radio, Rashid wondered if his family knew what was happening here at the school or if his message had been listened to.

“Mom?” Tad asked. “Are you there?”

Water dripped. Something creaked and groaned overhead. Rashid could hear Tad’s mother breathing hard and saying “Oh, my God,” over and over again. Suddenly, a loud but mostly garbled voice floated through the receiver.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Tad asked.

“It’s a commercial. I’ll find another channel. Wait, here it is. They’re talking to a teacher who was in the parking lot when the first bomb went off. Tad, they aren’t showing the building. Why aren’t they showing the building? There’s a fire. They said before that there was a fire. They think a terrorist set off the bombs. You have to get out of there.”

A terrorist.

“Just keep watching, Mom.” Tad looked at Rashid, who nodded. “It’ll be okay. Right now, we’re okay and you’re going to help keep us that way.”

Tad kept talking to keep his mother focused. When Tad’s mother began to panic again, Rashid turned and studied the long hallway. It was in shambles, but he’d seen worse this summer on the sightseeing trips his cousins had taken him on. Gaza was filled with buildings that had been bombed.

“They’re showing the school now!” Tad’s mom shouted. “A lot of fire trucks are in the parking lot. And it looks like the fire is on the back side of the school, or maybe on the side? I can’t tell. But I see smoke on the screen. Wait. The front entry doesn’t look like it’s on fire. Go out that way. Go now, Tad. You have to get out.”

Fire on the back side of the school and maybe on the first floor in the hallway to their right. He and Tad were in the hallway nearest to the front of the school right now, but both sets of stairs leading down were blocked.

Tad ran a hand over his head and cut off his mother’s panicked words. “We can’t get out the front, Mom. If you can’t tell where exactly the fire is, maybe we should just wait for the firefighters and—”

“No. Don’t wait. There’s something wrong. The reporters are saying that the police think the bomber is still inside the school. Oh, Lord. You have to get out of there.”

“What?” Rashid turned and hurried back toward the phone.

“Mom?” Tad yelled. “Where is the worst damage? Can you see?”

“Oh, God. The woman is saying that the police got a message from the bomber. He says there are other bombs that are going to go off. If anyone tries to enter the school, he’s going to set them off. You have to get out right now, Tad. The terrorist is still—”

Her voice disappeared. Tad looked at Rashid with wide eyes, then back down at the phone display. Tad yelled, “Mom?”

Still nothing. “The call must have been dropped.”

“I’m calling her back,” Tad said as he hit REDIAL. Nothing. Tad tried again and looked as if he was going to throw the phone when the call still didn’t go through. “What the hell, man? No service.”