OverDrive Inc. - Resurrecting Home

B eing home felt good, even if it wasnt our home, per se. The house next to Danny and Bobbie was as good as we were going to get, considering our own home was trashed. The guy who owned this house had left it during the mortgage crisis, lucky for us. We tried to make the best of a less-than-perfect situation, and so far, so good. Mel and the girls took it all in stride, which I was thankful for. Little Bit hardly commented on the change in location, and Lee Ann and Taylor didnt grumble, a teenagers way of saying they were okay with it. Just being back in the old neighborhood provided a sense of normalcy and familiarity we hadnt had in months. For that, I was grateful. Our little community had grown so much in the past few weeks, with the arrival of Fred and Jess, who were slowly getting settled. Now that there were plenty of bodies willing to help with the cleanup, progress in the neighborhood was moving along nicely. Everyone pitched in without being asked. Wed been at it for a couple of days now and things were really starting to come together, particularly in our house.

Dannys house was another story entirely. He and Bobbie always kept an orderly home, unlike mine, where everything had a place, and that place just happened to be wherever I laid something down. Seeing their home in such a condition was hard on them. They never said much about it, but I knew otherwise. I could tell from some of Dannys exasperated looks and Bobbies sighs that the never-ending cleanup of the house was getting to them. Given that, I tasked everyone to pitching in one summer day. It was a hot daythe days were getting hotter and hotter as summer began to stretch out into longer daysbut everyone took it in stride. I was in charge of dragging out what was left of their shattered lives and dumping it in the truck.

Turning the wheelbarrow up, I dumped another load into the bed of the little red truckthe same one Reggie had acquired from the kid. Well never know for sure if he had anything to do with Reggies niece or not: both of them are dead now.

Thad had gotten the little rig running and backed it up against Dannys back porch as we cleaned. Watching the dust settle, I thought about Reggie and how we discovered the truck. It seemed so long ago that Id walked to the dry bed of Baptist Lake and found those bodies, or what was left of them. I can still see Reggies face when he said he had to take her to her momma.

Now the truck was being used around the neighborhood, albeit sparingly, as gas was a premium worth more than gold. As I worked, I could hear the voices of my friends as they helped clean out the trash from the inside of Danny and Bobbies place. We had been at it for a couple of days, sorting out what was worth saving and what was beyond salvage, and hauling the latter out. The truck made life easier, but we still had to figure out what to do with all the debris. The trash man certainly wasnt coming on Thursday and there was no way to get to the dump, so we had to divide the haul into what could be burned and what couldnt. If it wouldnt, we hauled it off to a pit on the back of Dannys property.

A hand landed on my shoulder. Break times over.

I looked over to see Thad standing beside me. Yes, sir, boss! I said with a smile and wheeled the barrow back into the house. Thad smiled and shook his head as he followed me inside.

It was quite a scene inside. Mel, Taylor, and Lee Ann were going through the kitchen, putting broken dishes and various electric kitchen appliances in stacks along with the silverware and cooking utensils that were scattered all over it. Bobbie was kneeling down on the floor, wiping her forehead with the back of an oversized work glove. Danny pushed a shovel into the pile in front her, and she used her hands to push more into it and it was dumped into the bin.

When we began the cleanup, the floor was littered with everything from broken dishes and furniture to general dirt and grime. The house had been thoroughly trashed, searched from top to bottom. Whoever had gone through the house had ransacked every drawer, closet, and cabinet. In most cases the contents were tossed onto the floor, then walked over repeatedly. The worst was the malicious destruction of furniture and other household items. It made me mad to think about someone coming into another persons home simply for the sake of destruction.

Whatd you guys decide to do about this sofa? Jeff asked, lounging on the torn and slashed settee.

Take it outwell burn it, Danny said.

If we put a sheet over it, we could still use it, Bobbie said.