The Green Rising

Chapter Twenty-four

Martin Luther King Jr. Day had passed, and the President was set to deliver the State of the Union Address tonight. A winter’s storm warning had been issued for the overnight and the stores were crowded with people planning for the inclement weather. The aisles were nearly empty, the people were on edge, and I stood in the ethnic food aisle eyeing rice and beans. I scooped two twenty-pound bags of rice off the bottom shelf and placed them inside the cart, mindful of Noah’s carrier that rode in the front of the cart. Afterwards, I picked out several kinds of dry beans, placing the bags atop the rice.

A man wearing a black cowboy hat parked his cart next to mine and said, “This is nuts.” He bent down to put rice and beans into his cart. “I’ll just buy some propane and grill if need be. Stuff’ll keep in the cold.”

“Do you think the storm’s going to be as bad as they’re predicting?” I asked as I plunked Maggie into the cart to keep people from reaching in and raiding my food stash. Surely they wouldn’t risk hurting a child.

“They say it’s gonna be a doozy. The big one. I was here in the winter of 2010. That was bad. Snowed in nearly two weeks, but they’re sayin’ it’ll be worse than that. Half the time they’re wrong, so who knows. I wanna make sure I’ve got everything to get through it, but it’s all so damn hard to find nowadays.”

“Yeah. I heard it’s supposed to be bad. Hopefully they’re wrong,” I said. “People are hungry enough with the shortages. The President needs to intervene.”

“That man hasn’t done anything besides create task forces. If he’d actually done something sooner, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Reminds me of those lines I used to hear about in Russia. Well, Miss, you take care and keep those kiddos warm,” he said as he tipped his hat my way then carried on with his shopping.

The cowboy had a great idea. I couldn’t chance that we had enough propane left over from our cookouts during the summer. A week without power would be awful. Luc might be annoyed with me now, but he’d be thankful if we ended up needing them. I added a stop at the home improvement store to my errand list, but opted to take the groceries home first. Thieves had been leaving the electronics alone for once. They were much more interested in the food.

When we finally arrived home, I turned on the television and listened as I put away the groceries.

“So, Kelly, do you think the President will address the food shortages in his State of the Union speech tonight?” the reporter asked.

“He doesn’t have a choice but to address them. People are beginning to riot. Add to that the impact that this impending storm may have on the food crisis, and I’m thinking he might be praying for the storm to hit before tonight’s address just so he can cancel it.”

“You can’t honestly believe the President would be praying for the storm to hit, Kelly. He knows there’s a crisis and he’s been trying to pass legislation to help with the shortage, but Congress has been locked. The Re-,” Megan said before she was interrupted.

“Congress has been deadlocked because the American people elected them to keep the House and this President in check, Megan. He has the same old…”

I turned off the television, annoyed by the perpetual arguing that clogged the newscasts today. After I placed the last bag of rice into the pantry, I walked over to the tv and canceled the recording of my favorite program; it wouldn’t be on because of the speech. I’d curl up with a good book instead.

My cell phone vibrated. I took it from my pocket, scanning for the caller ID, and then smiled as I saw that it was Carrie on the other end.

“Hi, Carrie. Thank you so much for all of the baby supplies,” I said after I slid the bar to answer the phone. “How are you doing?”