Free Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick Page B

sitting, or wandering around. There was a line of stalled cars and trucks down the center of the road. But the strangest, most frightening sight was the people who were still sitting in their boats down on the access ramp, where floodwaters had crept up and swallowed the road.
    Reesie was shaking. The shaking was inside, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. So she counted to ten the way she did when Junior got on her last nerve. She reminded herself that she’d gotten this far not by herself, but with Dr é and Eritrea and Miss Martine … Miss Martine! Reesie rose to her knees to look around. There was a small group of people crowded a few feet away. Among them she spotted Eritrea’s once-white dress. She seemed to be trying to get the people to back off.
    â€œHey, give her some air!”
    Reesie made herself get up and walk over. “C’mon, move it, move it!” She used her best bossy voice, the way her father would have.
    Eritrea raised her eyebrows, but smiled. “Your daddy’s a cop, right?”
    Reesie nodded and squatted down. Miss Martine was hardly breathing. There was a sheen of sweat around the edges of her wig. Her eyes fluttered, but stayed shut.
    â€œWhat can we do?” Reesie sat back on her heels, feeling her heart racing.
    Eritrea reached into the folds of her scarf and pulled out one more tiny bottle of water. She gently pressed it to Miss Martine’s lips, but the woman wouldn’t drink. She couldn’t.
    â€œShe’s gotta go to a hospital,” Eritrea said, looking up. “Soon.”
    Reesie took a deep breath and looked around. Dr é had melted into the pulsing crowd. Reesie craned her neck to look for his wild dreadlocks, but her gaze wandered away, beyond the bridge. The sky was turning pink. Sunrise.
    Then she thought she heard a faint rumbling noise coming from the other end of the bridge. There were so many people crowded together over there, more than she’d thought. Men and women were pacing, some smoking cigarettes and some debating loudly about what their next moves should be. Teenagers hung over the rails, and other women and children were huddled in clumps together. Some were crying, but many of their faces looked blank, like they weren’t feeling anything.
    Someone else noticed the sound and shouted, and all the bodies began to move.
    â€œTrucks!”
    â€œIt’s the National Guard!”
    â€œHelp!”
    â€œGet us out of here!”
    Towels and T-shirts and even a few diapers flapped in the air to signal for a rescue. Two huge vehicles rolled up, each with several uniformed soldiers on board. Reesie stood up. The strange trucks looked like something from a movie. The tires were almost as tall as a person. As the engines powered down, the people backed away. Some of the soldiers carried guns.
    One soldier hopped down off the first truck. Just as his feet touched the ground, Reesie heard a familiar voice shout: “Hey! Hey, Mr. National Guard Man!” It was Dr é .
    â€œSorry, man!” The guardsman motioned with his hands for Dr é to move back. He shouted over the noise, “We’re picking up elderly only! Elders only!”
    â€œOkay, it’s our grandma, man! She’s ’bout to die, or something! You gotta take her outta this madness, please, Mr. National Guard Man!”
    Our grandma? Reesie shot a look at Eritrea.
    â€œHere! Here she is, see?” Dr é rushed to Miss Martine’s side, pulling Reesie along.
    â€œWork with me here, Reesie Boone,” he said in a low voice. Reesie fixed her face to match Dr é ’s lie. It wasn’t hard. She was totally whacked out and very worried about Miss Martine.
    The soldier bent to check Miss Martine’s pulse, then he waved back at the trucks.
    â€œAll right. She goes,” he said to Dr é .
    â€œShe don’t go nowhere without my sisters!” Dr é pushed Reesie and Eritrea