The Last Tribe (62 page)

“Todd and his damn steamers.  No, I
did not get him steamers.  Unbelievable.  We have, what?  Thirty lobsters and
he’s going to bitch about not having clams.”

“I take it that’s your brother.” 
Karen asked.  “He does a horrible New England accent.”

“I know, and he’s from Hanover.” 
John continued to shake his head.  “Steamers.  That’s going to burn my ass for
the rest of our drive.”

The mood in the car turned jovial
as the somber events of the afternoon were put to rest.  Karen’s and Dan’s relief
and excitement were palpable.  Locked up with a mentally unstable woman and a
jerk for six months, they were starved for normal people and the bright future
this new tribe offered. 

John took the Lebanon exit to avoid
the steep hill on Wheelock Street.  He felt he needed to say something to Dan. 
“So, uh, you’re probably used to people acting strange around you, right?”

“Yes, I get it.  Don’t worry.”  Dan
was distracted by the carnage on the streets of Lebanon. 

“Oh, don’t worry, this looting is
localized, it didn’t get to Hanover.”  John assured the two of them.  “So,
anyway, please forgive my family and friends if it gets weird.  I mean, we grew
up in New England.”

“I get it.  Believe me, I get it.” 
Dan looked at Karen.  “Go ahead, tell them.”

Karen blushed.  “I had Dan’s poster
up in my bedroom.”  She turned to Solange and mouthed “ten posters” holding up
all of her fingers.  “I fainted when he and Ryan found me.  Honestly, I
fainted, and then I woke up, and fainted again.  I couldn’t stop smiling for
like a week, and I giggled all the time.  I don’t think I said anything to Dan
for the first month.  I just giggled and blushed” 

“See?  I get it.  It won’t be worse
that Karen, not a chance it’s worse than Karen.”

Solange did not understand.  She
sat in the backseat with a curious look on her face.  She glanced at Dan and
tilted her head.   “Crazy Americans” she thought to herself.

They pulled down Main Street in
Hanover.  Dan was relieved to see the town was intact.  He pointed to a
restaurant.  “I’ve eaten there.  I came up and did a session with some medical
group at Dartmouth.  It was low key.  No one knew I was in town.  It’s a nice
place, but too landlocked for me.  I need the ocean.”

John turned left on Choate Road. 
There was still some daylight.  Karen saw the kids running around the front
yard of the big house.  “Oh my gawd, you do have children!  I didn’t believe
you, well I did, but I didn’t.  It’s been half a year, maybe more, since I saw
a child.”  She put her hands to her mouth and began to cry.  “Dan, this is life
again.  Do you see it?  It’s life!”

The adults were in jackets standing
next to the grill.  Steam rose from a large silver pot on the fire.  Todd
waved, and everyone walked towards the Hummer.  John put the car in park and
got out. 

“We’ve had a good trip.  Some bad
things happened, but some great things too.”  John announced.

“We thought you were staying
another night.”  Emily asked, coming up from behind Todd.

The passenger door opened and Dan
got out.  The back doors opened too, but no one noticed.  The men stopped
talking.  Emily, who was not much of a football fan, walked over to the tall
stranger.  “Hello, Emily Dixon.  This is my husband, Todd.”  She turned,
assuming Todd followed her to the new person.  Todd had a look of wonder on his
face.  Emily ignored him and extended her hand.

“Hello, Dan Couples, very nice to
meet you.”  He waved to the other people.

Emily moved to Karen.  “Welcome,
Emily Dixon.”

“Karen Walker”  Karen’s bubbly
personality emerged the further from her former living conditions she went.  “I
was a nurse at Children’s, but I haven’t seen a child in, well, you know.”  She
admired the kids playing tag.  “Are any of the little ones yours?”

“Yes, two,” Emily cupped her hands around
her mouth.  “Jay, Brian, come over here!  I want you to meet someone.”  The
boys came over, as did the rest of the kids.  “Hey everyone, this is Karen.”

“Hello Karen!”  The kids replied in
unison.  Jay walked up and touched her on the arm.

“You’re it.”  He smiled.

“Oh no you didn’t.”  Karen jumped
into a squat, bending her knees and sticking her hands up.  “It is on!”  She
yelled, giving the kids a head start before chasing a little girl.  The kids
screamed with excitement.

John waved Dan over to the group of
men.  “Hey, everyone, this is Dan.”

Ahmed shot forward.  “I had you and
Randel in 2008, won my league.”

“Glad I could help.”  Dan told him,
shaking his hand.  It had been a while since anyone had spoken about fantasy
football with him.

“Seriously, I had no one else, but
it didn’t matter.  Other than a bye week, I crushed everyone.”

Dan nodded and smiled.  He knew the
excitement of meeting ‘Dan Couples’ would pass after a few days.

Melanie walked over.   Jacob stood
next to her.  He was in ‘timeout’ for pushing his sister during the game of
tag.  Melanie gave Dan a hug.  “I have no idea what Ahmed is talking about, but
it is very nice to meet you.”  She turned to Jacob, elbowing him.

“Very nice to meet you sir.”  The
young boy said.  Dan towered over both of them.

“Very nice to meet both of you.” 
He shook Jacob’s hand, smiling at Melanie.  “Do you like lobster Jacob?”  He
asked.  “We brought a cooler full of lobster for dinner tonight.”

“I like crab.  Is it like crab? 
I’m from Maryland.  I ate a lot of crab.”

“Not as sweet, but there is more in
each one, and it’s not as much work to eat.” 

“Yeah, I’ll try them.”  He looked
at Melanie.  “Can I go back?  I won’t push anyone, I promise.”

“Go ahead.” She said, smiling as
Jacob ran to the kids and Karen.

“Let’s get those lobsters going.” 
Todd said, snapping out of his amazement.  He stuck his hand out towards Dan.  “Todd
Dixon.”  They shook hands.  “Let me help you get those puppies in the water.” 
He stopped walking.  “Butter!  We should have tried to make butter.  Damn it,
we don’t have any.”

“We can do without.”  Dan consoled
him.  “I’m burned out on lobster, but the first few months I was eating it?  I
didn’t miss the butter.  You’ll get through.”  They went to the back of the
Hummer, each grabbing an end of the cooler.

“I enjoyed watching you play.”  Todd
was not as rabid a football fan as his brothers, but he did enjoy watching Dan.

Kelly pulled up in an old red
pickup truck as the last lobsters were dropped in the water.  She had great
news about the health of the cows, two of which were already strong enough to
transport.  She welcomed the new members.  “How long was I gone?”  She joked.

Everyone enjoyed the lobsters. 
Some dipped the pieces in garlic olive oil and salt, others used cocktail
sauce, and three little kids made most of the adults gag by using ketchup.

Hank tried to take the lobster away
when he saw them dipping it in ketchup, but he was talked down.  “I’ll make
them burgers.”  He pleaded.

Dan and Karen were treated to moose
burgers instead of lobsters.

At the end of the meal, Hank asked
people to dump their lobster shells into a pot of water on the grill.  He
boiled the shells with a jar of minced garlic.  “This is going to make the best
lobster risotto tomorrow.”  There was a lot of lobster meat left.   Hank put it
in a bag and walked down to the moose meat locker.  The room had a few feet of
shoveled snow on the floor, and made a fantastic refrigerator. 

People rolled into their already
establish routines, leaving the dinner circle to start their fires and warm
their bedrooms.  Children were tucked into their beds.  Todd and Ahmed spent an
hour prepping bread dough for the next day.

Dan, Greg, and Rebecca sat in
chairs next to fire pits.  Rebecca was wrapped in a plaid cashmere blanket with
frilly ends, her only visible appendage was an arm, sticking out of the chair
to hold Greg’s hand.  The teens were on a folding loveseat. Dan sat in a green
camp chair.  He was fascinated by their story.

“If you had come south, you would
have found me.”  He told Greg.  “But it sounds like you did better going
north.”

John was exhausted.  It had been a
long day.  He found Matt and asked him for a moment. 

“Matt,” he began, too serious for
what he wanted to tell his son.

“Jesus, Dad, what is it?”  Matt
looked worried.

“No, no, well, this is going to
sound weird, but Solange and I are going to start seeing each other.”  He put
his hand on Matt’s shoulder.  “I wanted to tell you, because, well,”

“Seriously?  She wants to date an
old guy like you?”  Matt could not keep a straight face.

“Now, wait a second.”

“Dad, it’s great.  She’s great.  I
hope you are happy.  We all need to be happy, because I think our lives are
going to be filled with a lot of work.”  He gave his dad a soft punch in the
stomach.  “Way to go.  You are shooting well below your handicap with her.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” 
John knew what it meant.

“I’m just kidding, well, not
really, but you know.  Hey, it’s great.  If Craig is upset, I’ll set him
straight.”  He gave his dad a hug.  “Now go get some sleep, you look like
hell.”

“It’s been a great day, but there
were some lows as well.  I will tell you it was long, very, very long.  If you
could make sure your brother doesn’t stay up too late, I’m going to hit it.” 
John slapped Matt on the back and walked up the road.  Matt expected him to
turn and go into the big house, sleeping in the study with Hank and Paul.  His
father walked two houses up and went into the one Solange was using.

“That sly dog.”  Matt mumbled. 
“Good for him.”  Matt saw the group moving from the fire pit into the house.

“Karen wants to go to sleep.  We’re
moving the party inside.”  Greg told him.  “Stay up a while.”

“Did you see Dad?  He and Solange
are a ‘thing’ now.”  Matt replied.

Karen collapsed, fully dressed, on
the queen bed in the RV.  She tried to listen as the boys walked away, but she
was too tired, and they walked too fast.  She looked up at the stars through
her little skylight, and thanked whatever brought her into her current
situation.  Her eyes fluttered, and she fell asleep instantly, barely pulling a
comforter over herself to keep warm.

Karen woke up to voices outside her
window.  She was disoriented and looked around to find her bearings.  She was
in a large bed in a cold room.  Her side and stomach ached.  “I’m in an RV in
New Hampshire.”  She said to herself.  “Okay, it wasn’t a dream, I’m really here.” 
She often dreamt about escaping the house in Boston for a safe home away from
Ryan.

She looked under the comforter and
saw she was still fully dressed.  She decided to change into sweats, ones she
brought up from Boston in a duffel in the other room.  She changed and went
outside to see who the voices were coming from. 

Todd and Ahmed were talking about
bread, sports, and other meaningless things.  “I hope we didn’t wake you.  I
didn’t know there was anyone in the RV.”  Ahmed apologized.

“That’s okay.”  Karen paused, she
was horrible with names.

“Ahmed, and this is Todd.  I
lobbied for name tags at one point, shirts with name badges sewn into them, but
no one went for it.”  Ahmed took a sip of coffee.

“Where did you get that.”  Karen
needed her coffee.  “I so want that.”  She was forward, and funny.  She fit
into the group immediately.

“You need to walk up this street to
the end.  Take a right, second house is a white cottage, smoke coming out of
the top, walk in, take off your shoes, put them in the bin, you’ll be rewarded
with coffee.  Don’t take off your shoes?  Rebecca will throw you out.  Drink
all the coffee?  Todd’s wife will throw you out.”

Todd laughed at Ahmed’s directions.

“Rebecca is the girl, right?  The
teen?  She’s in charge?”  Karen asked, confused.

“More than you know.”  Todd smiled
at her, sipping his own coffee.  “It’s her house, kick the shoes into the bin.”

Karen thanked both of them for the
advice, and walked up to the cottage.  The road was clear of snow, but wet from
streams of thaw running down in all directions.  She could see her breath as it
blew into the morning air.  She looked at the houses to her left, pale gray
smoke puffed out of chimneys in the first four homes.  Karen stopped at the top
of the road, turned right, and walked to a sign that read Webster Cottage.  She
knocked meekly before opening the door.  “Hello?” she asked.

“Come on in.”  Melanie called from
the living room.  “Shoes in the bin, coffee and eggs in the back.  I’m Melanie,
we met last night.”

 “Hello again, Melanie. “  She
nodded, “Karen.  There really are eggs?  OMG!”  Karen put her shoes in an
overflowing bin. 

Melanie was surrounded.  She had
three kids on the couch with her, one still asleep holding a blanket, and two
playing checkers.  There were two older girls on the opposite couch reading. 
All of the kids looked up and said hello and waved.  Karen remembered none of
their names.  She waved back with a broad smile.  A fire burned in the
fireplace.  The chill Karen felt since she woke disappeared. 

She walked through the living room
and into a dining room area.  There was a fire in a fireplace here too, and
more young people sitting at a table.  John and Solange were there, and they
both said good morning.  “Look who finally got up.  You Boston people know how
to sleep.  You’re the first one up of the two of you.”

Karen spoke to them for a second,
said good morning to the people around the table, a Tony, Greg, Matt, Rebecca,
and Craig.  “I wish I was better with names.”  Karen thought to herself.  She
pushed through the dining room and into the kitchen.  It was also full of
activity.  The older woman Karen met briefly the night before was scrambling
eggs in a giant cast iron skillet on a woodstove.  There were two coffee makers
working off of a solar panel charged electric hub.  A tall older man, again,
someone who Karen met the night before, was slicing bread for toast.

“Good morning Karen!”  The older
woman smiled.  “You’re just in time for some fresh eggs.  Peter has a batch of
toast in the woodstove.  Grab a plate from the stack, come on over.  Coffee
cups are on the counter, milk and sugar are on the table.  Don’t miss the
sausage patties.”  She pointed a large spatula towards a plate of cooked
sausage.

There were people sitting at a
table, John’s brothers, Paul and Hank.  “Yes!”  Karen said to herself as she
recalled their names.  They had three very young children on a bench at the
table with them, two girls and a boy.  Karen assembled her breakfast and asked
if she could join them. 

“Of course,” Hank told her.  “We are
explaining the weather to the kids, how snow is just cold rain.  That sort of
stuff.”

Talking to kids was right up
Karen’s alley.  “Why are you asking, honey?”  She did not use the little girl’s
name.  Karen depended on charts hooked to the foot of a bed for names. 

“Rebecca said there might be some
snow next week, that it was going to get cold again.”  The little boy who
responded was sitting between two girls.  Karen guessed he was between 4 and 5
years old, possible a very big 3.

“It’s pretty late for snow, but it
could happen.”  Karen said, nodding to the children. 

Paul jumped in, “if Rebecca and
Greg could live by themselves for the whole winter, we don’t have to worry
about some spring storm.  You know what we call that?  Snow day!”

The kids giggled.  Karen noticed
how thin they were. 

“Peanut butter toast is coming up
kids.”  Peter walked over with a plate of toast slathered in peanut butter. 
“Anyone need refills on milk?”  There were headshakes of ‘no’ as each kid
grabbed the toast.

The morning reminded Karen of her
family reunions.  The house was full of life, crowded with teens,
pre-schoolers, and adults.  She felt safe and happy for the first time in
almost a year.

The kids finished their breakfast, said
thank you to Jamie and Peter (Karen caught their names finally) and ran out. 
Karen turned to Paul.  “Is this what mornings are like?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”  He
said back.

“Well, like, everyone eating
together, and talking and working nicely.  Everyone gets along so well.”

“Yeah, it’s been like this for a
while.  You have to realize, we’ve only been together for two or three weeks,
but it seems to be working.  Why?”

“We weren’t like this in Boston.” 
She did not say anything else. 

Paul heard the story of Lucinda’s
suicide and Ryan’s departure.  It was a bad situation in Boston.

“Well, so far, that’s how it is
here.  We have a task board, essential things that need to get done, along with
a list of ‘if you have time’ things, longer term projects.   It’s up in the
dining room.  If there is anything that strikes your fancy, have at it.  It’s
your first day, we’ll let it slide if you don’t milk the goats.  Besides,
that’s already done.”  Paul gave her a pat on the back, and slid his chair away
from the table.  “Yep, you gotta get up early to milk the goats.”  He used his
best farmer accent for the word ‘goats.’  “I’m heading over to the dairy farm
to check on the cows and pigs with Kelly, the veterinarian, you are welcome to
join us, or again, take a day to rest and get used to the area.”

“You seem to enjoy children.”  Hank
said from behind his mug of coffee.  “Emily and Melanie use the town library
for school, teaching the kids how to read and write.  They love guest lecturers
or permanent helpers.  Melanie is switching to farm duty when the season
changes.”

Karen nodded at him. 

“Do you think that other guy you
lived with will show up?”  Hank asked, curious for her perspective.

“No.”  Karen said quietly.  “No, I
don’t, and I hope he stays away.  He was mean, a rotten person, and while Dan
told me we needed Ryan to survive, well, that’s not true now.  Even if he could
help us, he’s not worth the price.”

“I agree.”  Hank let the topic
die.  He was there when Dan told the true story of their last hours at the
Boston apartment.  It was different than the one Karen wanted known.

“After John and Solange left it got
ugly.”  Dan told the group in the living room when Karen had gone to bed.  “I
told them a lie this afternoon, when they came back, because Karen asked me to,
but here is what happened.  I went upstairs and Ryan has Karen up against a
wall.  He was yelling at her, screaming in her face.”  He took a sip of wine as
he told the story.  “When we first got together back in October, well, Ryan and
I were talking about our survival strategy.  Karen cut in on us, said something
against Ryan.  He slapped her across the face and told her to shut up.”

Rebecca put her hand over her mouth
and gasped. 

“Is it okay if I tell this in front
of her?”  Dan looked to the adults. 

“I’m okay, just stunned.”  Rebecca
told him.

Hank and Paul nodded, giving the
okay to continue.

“I was stunned too, and without
hesitation I popped him one in the stomach.  I don’t punch people in the face,
because I don’t punch people, but also because it’s a good way to break or
injure my hand, and I was so used to taking care of my hands.”  Dan could tell
he was getting off track.  “Anyway, I punched him so hard he went to the
ground.  I didn’t hold back.  You don’t slap anyone, but you definitely don’t
slap a woman for speaking.  I picked him up.  I could tell he was hurt, really
hurt and it was killing him to stand up straight, but I held that bastard up
and looked him in the eyes and said ‘if you touch her again, I’ll kill you.  Do
you understand?  I won’t kill you quickly, I’ll beat you and leave you out in
the cold to die like you deserve.’”

Dan shook his head.  “I’m not a
bully or even a violent person, but I could tell this Ryan was a piece of
work.  I kept him in line for the rest of the time.  He still called Karen a
fat bitch, or told her to shut up, and I’d ask him to stop, but really, what
was I supposed to do?  I needed him to survive, Karen needed him to survive. 
We were in hell.  We’re stuck with a total asshole who hates women, and our
fourth group member is insane, literally mentally insane.  Lucinda did not
sleep at night.  She’d wake me up thinking she’d heard something.  She never
left the apartment.”  He paused.  “I debated leaving every single day.  I
wasn’t living anymore, I was cobbling together a horrible existence, survival,
but not life.”  He paused for another sip of wine.

“Back to yesterday, John and
Solange leave, I come up stairs, Ryan’s screaming at Karen, right in her face,
calling her a traitor, bitch, ingrate, whatever.  I pull him back, tell him to
calm down.  Lucinda is crying, screaming for us to stop.  I get the situation
under control, Lucy stays in the kitchen, like she always did.  I’m on a couch
with Karen.  Ryan is in a chair.  He doesn’t want to go, doesn’t trust Solange
and John.  I tell him I’m leaving, Karen agrees.  Lucinda starts ranting about
inviting John and Solange to live with us.  She’s telling us she won’t go back
to the cruise ship where all the people are dead, something so bizarre.  How we
can all stay here in Boston, how none of us will get sick if we just stay in
Boston, I don’t know, it didn’t make any sense.”

“Ryan is seething.  All of a sudden
he looks at Karen and says ‘the next time we are alone, I’m going to kill you. 
You better pray Dan stays with you forever, cause I’m going to wring your fat
neck.’  I mean, seriously, he is looking right at her.  Karen is one of the
sweetest people, she was a pediatric nurse, who hates a pediatric nurse?  I was
floored.  What the hell is wrong with this guy?  Karen is done, she knew she
was out, so she stood up and walked over to him, looked him square in the eye
and said, ‘I hope you try.’  He kicked her right in the stomach.  He was
wearing socks.  If he had boots on, Karen would be dead.”  He paused, everyone
stared at him.

“I pointed my finger and told him
to go.  I told him to pack his things and get as far away from us as possible,
to take one of the cars and leave.  As I am talking, I feel a breeze from the
balcony door being opened.  I see Lucy walking towards the railing.  She hadn’t
gone out there, ever.  I knew this wasn’t good.  Karen was coughing on the
floor.  Ryan is looking at me like he is going to kill me.  I jump up and run
towards Lucy.  She is at the rail of the balcony.  She looks at me, and in the
most even and rational voice I’ve ever heard her use she says,”

“Dan, thank you, but I’m done.” 

“She dove over the railing, kept
her arms at her side, and she was gone.  I was standing at the edge looking at
her when I hear the door slam behind me.  Ryan locked me out on the porch.  He
kicked Karen a few more times in the stomach and side until she passes out, and
he leaves.  Karen didn’t wake up for a while.  She crawled over and let me into
the house.  Thirty minutes later, when some of the pain pills kick in and Karen
is able to stand, I radioed Solange.”

Hank thought of the story as he
watched Karen eat her breakfast.  He thought about how excited she must feel to
be out of that house in Boston, away from some random abuser with whom she had
the misfortune of surviving a global plague.

Karen sat at the table, forking
eggs and sausage into her mouth.  She smiled.  Smiling was part of her
training.  No matter what is happening, good news or bad news to the patient,
painful procedure or taking a temperature, grin and put on a good face. 

Tears welled  in her eyes.  The
warm liquid dripped down her face on to her plate.  She was finally safe.  She
was free of Ryan.  There were good people around her, and there was a life
ahead of her.

Hank drank his coffee and let her
have the moment.  He saw the tears.  He leaned towards her and whispered.  “This
is real.  We’re real.  You’re safe.  Enjoy it.”

Karen put her hands to her mouth. 
She moved them to cover her eyes and wept.  She laughed while she cried.  Her
tears were of joy and salvation. 

“I guess she liked the eggs.” 
Peter said to Jamie.  Hank heard the comment, and laughed.