Amare continued, "The morning I woke-up the sun was out so it had to be ok. Some of the same kids were in my room again and I went downstairs but I saw a indoor pool instead and I saw Mr.Carson swimming so I jumped on his back one of the older kids, Marquis pulled me off Mr.Carson and said to me "don't touch that body and to get out that dirty ass water."
"He was dead?" Amir asked.
"Yes, he was face-down. Ethan and two other girls were swimming too I saw Marquis was pale when he saw them floating and he ignored me when I asked are we getting Ethan? We all sat up in that room till two in the afternoon and I kept asking about Ethan over and over and one girl got fed up and said HE'S DEAD! Then I cried and all the other little kids cried. Marquis, his friend Chris and Becky yelled at her and Becky said Why would tell those little kids that?! All you heard was crying not to mention no one ate since last night. Munchie, the boy that always had snacks stashed somewhere ate all his shit when the actual storm came so that was dead. This girl, Theresa and her brother Luis wanted to go to the superdome because Theresa's boyfriend gave her a cell phone and said he was there and wanted her to be with him but Marquis said How we gonna get there? In our Yacht? We were stranded with no food, no water, no electricity just a bunch of screaming kids."
"At 3:00pm, Marquis and Chris kept running all through the house and swam in the... death pool to find somehow to get out of there or at least some food, the rest of us looked out the windows and saw people on their roofs this 8 year old girl Kelly felt left out and wanted to be on the roof too and I did too cause all the little kids wanted to. We got on those teenagers nerves I swear, Marquis and Chris came back and said there were huge floating boards big enough to carry us across the water but we couldn't get out the front door, it was flooded and not everyone could swim including me so the older boys threw 3 of the boards out of one of the upper floor windows and we had brooms to paddles. All we had to do was jump out it wasn't that far a jump but I was still scared. There was an argument though, some of the kids said let's wait for help to come on the roof."
"A kid named Marcel said The electricity should cut on later but Marquis said We don't know if or when that's gonna happen and we're hungry Marquis jumped out the window and so did Chris then Luis, Becky, Munchie, Peter, Ashley, Lanelle, Keisha, China, D, Kelly, Jonesy, Theresa put her phone in a shopping bag and jumped I finally jumped out after standing there forever but Chris caught me. The other 7 kids stayed behind to wait for help that never came."
"Once we were out we saw more floating bodies Theresa screamed and turned away wherever she was looking and all I heard was Lanelle say Jesus Christ! Chris blocked me Kelly, China and Jonesy from seeing whatever it was, but it looked like a car seat handle before I got a good look at it. I now believe it was a dead baby."
"The little kids and girls including me were taking turns paddling with the brooms and the older boys pushed the boards from the back it was so silent outside of us paddling and talking. Keisha kept crying cause she was sick of looking at dead bodies and I hugged her so she would feel better. Marquis wanted us to find food and water but Theresa said We have to go to the dome, we have to go to the dome and the fact her boyfriend kept calling her was annoying too."
"We need to get food first these kids are hungry now!" Marquis shouted.
"You don't tell me what to do!"Theresa said.
"Don't yell at my sister!" Luis said.
"When your sister or you have any other better ideas I'll listen to the bullshit you have to say until then both of you shut the fuck up!" Marquis said.
"Chris and Munchie backed Marquis up and it ended, for now." Robin said.
"We reached a part of town where the water wasn't high so we were lugging the boards Jonesy, the 3 year old was crying too and Ashley cradled him, and we had to pick up her slack of carrying the board. When we found that family dollar you would think we thought it was Six Flags but it was closed, Marquis didn't look too concerned. I heard a window breaking and I saw Chris open the door to a station wagon and he hotwired it and drove through the front door the alarm went off but no one was coming I asked Marquis Is this bad? He said We doing what we gotta do. Chris parked the car next to the family dollar and we just hung out there played with the cheap ass toys, drank soda and ate junk we had no adults telling us what to do that family dollar was our house, for a day."
"Till what?" Amir asked.
"Like at 9 something in the morning these 3 guys and 2 girls and one was pregnant, Marquis was our leader pretty much and said we could share but once all of them went to get what they needed Marquis got our group together and told us to load as much as we could in the car Becky asked Why?"
"Because we don't know what they up to and we gotta keep moving, if they came here what's stopping other people from coming here? I don't think they gonna be as nice as they were either." Marquis said.
"We leave now?" Munchie said.
"Yeah." Marquis said.
We loaded water, Juice, chips, candy, bread, batteries, radios, lighters and knives in the trunk and when we were all about to leave here comes trouble five dudes came up and one asked "What you kids doing?"
"None of your fucking business." Marquis said.
"Two of them started to mess with Becky and Lanelle saying or as they called them White girl with big titties and red bone. Marquis, Munchie and Chris defended them then with all the yelling two of the dudes from earlier came outside to see what was happening and I guess they knew each other because instead of asking what's going on? One of them said The fuck y'all here for?! I think the 5 dudes were from a different neighborhood cause I've never seen those characters before. I did see the pregnant girl once or twice not that I knew her but she belonged where she was. While we loading ourselves in the car all I heard was gunshots. Marquis drove over the curb and got us the hell out of there. Years after I saw that Pregnant girl she was the only one that got shot and lost the baby."
"Amir, when I tell you we was packed in that car like a toe in one of Shaq's shoes! Ugh! Theresa told me they had cartoons at the Superdome. Me being 5, asked Marquis could we go to the Superdome and I wasn't the only one all the little kids was getting on his nerves about it until big mouth Kelly said "Theresa said so."
"Can we go to the Superdome now?!" Theresa asked.
"No!" Marquis shouted.
"Why not?!" Theresa asked.
"Can you please stop fighting about this!" Becky shouted.
"Shut up Becky at least I have someone waiting for me!" Theresa said waving the phone in her face.
Marquis snatched the phone from Theresa and hurled out the window and into a large puddle.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" By now Theresa's screaming woke Jonesy up and he was crying and screaming.
"I am sick and fucking tired of you bitching at me to take you to the Superdome! I'm not going there because all those people in there are panicking and no good can come out of niggas panicking!" Marquis said.
"Stop the car." Theresa said. "Stop the car!"
Marquis did as Theresa told and said "Get the fuck out!"
"C'mon Luis!" Theresa said. Luis looked like he didn't want to go and it was getting dark too but that was his sister so they left.
"Thank god I was sick of her elbow in my breast." Becky said.
"I wish I could say the same, you sitting in my lap." Ashley said.
"Where else am I gonna go?!" Becky said.
"Can somebody shut that baby up!" Munchie said.
"Hey love you can sit in my lap." Chris said wiggling his eyebrow.
"Shut up Chris!" Becky said.
"Of course you would want to be a pervert now!" Lanelle said.
"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!" Kelly chanted.
"Shut the fuck up!" Marquis shouted hitting the steering wheel.
"Listen! This ain't the time to be fighting! Not everybody like each other in this bitch but right now we all we got so shut the fuck up or you can go with Luis and Theresa."
"Some of us went to sleep but Marquis and Munchie looked out.
Next morning as we were driving we started seeing different bodies." Robin said.
"What you mean?" Amir said.
"I mean they clearly did not drown. Stabbed bodies, beaten bodies, shot bodies it was, hell. Some kid jumped in front of our car and Marquis stopped. It was four of them 2 boys, 2 girls they asked if we had water Marquis debated on whether or not to share but he did him and the other boy were talking and Marquis said "We probably heading to the Superdome after our supplies run out."
The other boy said "Whoa you don't wanna go there it's bad, bad."
"What about it?" Marquis asked.
"We left that bitch! It is disgusting in there. A girl said. Niggas pissing and shitting everywhere it stink!"
And a little girl got raped last night! And a man!" The other girl said.
Yo man, there is shit and blood on the walls! The other boy said.
"Somebody baby died." One of the girls said. "And they ran out of food!"
"We lucky we got out, the national guard ain't letting nobody leave they know what's going on, them niggas don't give a fuck!" The lead boy said
One of the girls cried and said "A man climbed to the top of the dome and jumped. H-h-he said I don't have anything to live for and jumped. And I don't know where my daddy is." The other girl consoled her and the lead boy asked "Where y'all heading?"
"Well not that dome that's for sure. I guess we gonna hold up somewhere and wait this out." Marquis said.
"Good looking whodie." The lead boy said.
The groups parted ways and Becky said "Marquis we can go to Baton Rouge my cousin Katie is there we could all stay with her."
"We can all stay there? Why didn't you say anything before!?" Marquis asked.
"Because I thought we were going to the Superdome we all have been asking you we are we going? And since the Superdome is out of the question we could go the Baton Rouge." Becky said.
"Marquis spoke to Munchie and Chris about it and we basically had to turn around and go to Baton Rouge which is 80 miles away from New Orleans. We saw bodies everywhere when I tell you something happened to me where I was getting numb to it. The car broke down in Prairieville and we had to carry our survival shit and walk the rest of the way which was an 17-18 mile walk and all of our feet were sore Keisha was tired of carrying Jonesy around, Ashley's feet were so swollen, me and Kelly were crying, Munchie was getting sick he shivering, coughing we had to drop the juices he was carrying. My feet were swelling and Marquis helped me walk. It was getting dark and some old man was walking opposite us, as he was walking by he grabbed my hand and Marquis pulled me to him, the old man pulled out a knife and Chris threw the whole pack of water at him and the old man hit the ground Marquis and Chris stomped him and Marquis dropped his knife in a storm drain I cried the rest of the way to Katie's apartment she was actually scared that Becky and all the little kids got here but she let it go when she found out Marquis, Chris and Munchie looked out for all of us. We looked at the news because Katie had electricity it was like New Orleans was a part of the sea. We stayed there until FEMA realized we all existed after paying us dust for days we all went to Texas cause nobody could return to New Orleans for 2-3 months but I didn't come back for a year and a half. FEMA saying we don't need ambulances but requesting police because the French Quarter got looted, Survivors getting killed, beaten and raped, governor out here begging Bush for help meanwhile Bush still busy playing Chutes and Ladders, and that is why I will always hold a special hatred in my heart for that sorry sack of diarrhea, it's like it happened yesterday!"
"What about Red Cross? Munchie get better?" Amir asked.
Robin rolled his eyes and said "Oh please, Munchie got better 4 days later without them. Don't even get me started on Red Cross they were there but not really there, understand?"
Amir nodded "Yeah."
"Don't even say that word I get bent every time I hear it! They didn't do a thing no one was important enough to be helped. People needing insulin and dying, babies running fevers and dying and half them hoes had a attitude!" Robin said.
"Damn that accent got heavy!" Amir said.
"I do that when I get really angry." Robin said.
"What happened to everyone? Amir asked.
"Jonesy picture was on the news and some family adopted him, Chris, Becky, Marquis, Kelly and Lanelle stayed in Texas I heard. Marquis is a electrician, I owe my life to him and Chris. No one knows what happened to Luis not even Theresa knows and she got stabbed at the dome and her boyfriend died of dehydration, Keisha and D came back with me, China was only in the system cause her parents were homeless but they got her back and moved back to New Orleans, D got shot to death on Dumaine street few years ago, Munchie owns a restaurant in New Orleans with his wife. Robin sighed and said The kids back at the home died of dehydration, one drowned trying to leave. What's funny is if I went to that hell dome I would have met my mother."
"It was for the best baby would y'all have even recognized each other? Even I heard how bad it was in that dome and if you did you would have seen her overdose all that death you seen, watching your mom OD'ing wouldn't have helped." Amir said.
"I've never talked about this to anyone before, well other people in New Orleans but not anyone else. I'm glad it's behind me but I still love New Orleans, it's home." Robin said.
"Why you leave and come here?" Amir said.
"That's a story for another day." Robin said kissing Amir's lips.