Ozark Angel

[16] Phone Call

Due to the cable lines being knocked out by the severe weather, we had no idea how much damage we had caused.

"Hey, guys," my dad said, "check this out."

He pulled out an old, wooden FM radio from the attic. He plugged it in and turned on the knob. Sound streamed out of it, carrying heavy static, with the signal being just clear enough to hear a faint voice come in over the speaker.

"Again, if you're just tuning in," the radio announcer read, "the entire state of Arkansas has been declared a state of emergency. Blizzards have swept across all seventy-five counties. Oddly enough, no neighboring states have been affected by the storms. We urge all who are indoors to stay where you are until help arrives. The government has sent out response teams to aid all those in need."

I zoned out as the announcer continued reading off instructions for people to keep safe. All that ran through my mind was one single question – had we caused all this? There was no way to absolutely know for sure. Afterall, snowfall was fairly common in Arkansas in winter...but never that much. What were the odds that no other state was affected? There seemed to be a strong message. The problem was in Arkansas. We were the problem.

Charlie and I sat at the kitchen table together after breakfast. "Well, Abigail," Charlie said, "looks like I've got some cleaning up to do."

"Oh, don't worry about the dishes," I said, "I mean, I know it's not the 1950's anymore, but I'll get 'em."

Charlie shook his head. "I'm not talking about the dishes, silly. I need to help clean up this mess everyone's in. By now, I'm sure you've figured out why it happened."

I knew, but I didn't want to face the proverbial music.

So, we said our goodbyes as I watched Charlie take off in the snow toward his cabin. I thought back to the time after our first quasi-kiss, when it stormed afterward, and Charlie left to round up the escaped animals. This was far worse. We couldn't keep being together, in any way, shape, or 'just a kissy on the forehead' form. I feared problems would only escalate. I also feared that we wouldn't be able to stop ourselves from being together. But life just didn't have the same appeal to it without Charlie. Life without Charlie would be like eating healthy – I knew it would be good for me, but it would be so incredibly dull. Life plus Charlie equaled appealing. Life minus Charlie equaled a mouth full of Brussel sprouts.

Over the next few days, I didn't see Charlie at all. He was knee-deep with trying to help the locals regroup after the storm. Once the cable was fixed, my eyes were glued to the television for hours. I couldn't believe the massive amount of destruction the blizzard had caused. The only people benefiting from the mess were those in the tree business. I thought about crazy ol' man Layman who owned an old bucket truck and a chainsaw – he was for sure making out like a bandit. I could just imagine him sitting high in his bucket, spitting tobacco juice on the ground while his lazy eye scared the children looking on below.

The news showed footage of mountainous piles of snow filling each city in the state. Aged trees that had been around for hundreds of years were now being turned into compost heaps. It was a truly sad sight to see.

In my crooked little mind, I did what most people do when they really screw up big time – I justified everything. I thought about the good that came from the blizzard, how it was bringing people together. I figured that, across the state, friendships were being formed as people rebuilt communities with each other. The storm was giving people something to talk about, uniting them. I thought back to one of mister Luke's quotes, how 'justification was often the slippery slope leading to what-have-I-donesville'.

Nobody knew that Charlie and I were the cause of all the damage. That was part of the temptation to keep our relationship alive – the secrecy. I could live with repercussions. I could live with disaster surrounding us. But I couldn't live without Charlie. If only temptation didn't lead to so much fun, it'd be a lot less tempting. Why couldn't Charlie be hideous or have some deep flaw, like extreme gas or a neck tattoo? I needed some kind of dealbreaker to make letting him go a bit easier.

Then the phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked hesitantly.

A familiar voice came on the other end of the line, "Hey, Abigail?"

"Trevor?" I asked, puzzled at the sound of his voice.

"Hey," he said, "just saw your home state on the news. What's going on over there? Seems to be a lot of...ruckus, to say the least."

"Yeah," I agreed, "it's been pretty crazy here during the last few days. The storms hit us hard this winter. Everyone's okay, though. Charlie's fine, in case you were wondering."

"Oh," he said, "good, good. So, I was sitting here watching the news and thinking about all the chaos that's going on over there. Then, I got to wondering, what have you two been doing?"

My throat tightened. He knew. "We've just been...hanging out a little. Charlie's been busy helping people clean up around town. And let's see, my school got out early for winter break because of all the snow. That's about it."

"No, no. What have you and my brother been doing? Something's up. Storms like that only happen in Antarctica or Alaska, not in the South."

Humiliation sunk deep down into every pore of my body. "Trevor, we haven't done anything bad. It was just an innocent kiss on the forehead."

"Okay, wow," he said. "Look, the three of us need to discuss whatever is going on between you two. I won't tell mom and dad, or anyone. I'll just fly you and Charlie out here so we can talk."

"Trevor," I said, "I appreciate you keeping quiet on the whole issue, but right now's really not the best time for us to come out to see you. There are a lot of people Charlie is trying to help. We need to take care of business down here, and then, maybe we can come out there to see you in January. Deal?"

"Well, just try and control yourselves between now and then. This is serious, Abigail. You're playing with fire. And you and Charlie aren't the only ones who are gonna get burned. Everyone's gonna be affected if you two keep this up. I can only hold my tongue for so long, ya know."

I knew that Trevor wouldn't reveal us to the press or anyone like that. If he did, he'd be putting himself in jeopardy. If he became known as being in a family of cherubim, he too would be locked up and considered to be some type of freak or governmental experiment for the military. I did fear, however, that he would eventually tell his family, and that they would somehow try and stop us from being together. I had to be nice to Trevor. We had to play by his rules, for now.

"Sure thing, we'll be good," I promised half-heartedly.

"Good. See you in January," he said, hanging up the phone.

Just as Damien was backing out of our problems, Trevor was now charging head-first into the middle of them, becoming our new problem child. Why did Charlie have to have such a critical, angelic-being older brother – why couldn't he just have a simple pet Labrador retriever like most people? Life was getting complicated, for sure.