Chapter Eighteen

Ry woke up to see the tv had been left on with Nasia gone.
Rubbing the sleep from his face he gets up and heads for the bathroom. After doing his business he heads for the kitchen where fresh coffee was made and his mother was sitting at the table drinking a hot steaming cup.
“Good morning, sunshine. How was your night?” She wiggles her eyebrows causing him to cringe.
“Mom, please don’t ever do that again. Especially when it concerns me.” He groans, grabbing a cup and pouring himself coffee.
“She stayed pretty late.”
“It’s not like that. Honestly. She’s just a friend.” He presses, sitting down across from her and snatching one of the pastries on a plate in the center of the table.
Checking the time he had about an hour before he needed to head to work at the church. He was dead tired since he tried to stay up as long as he could watching movies with Nasia, but she was so full of energy there was just no way he could keep up with her. He wondered how long she kept watching and how long it’s been since she left.
“What time is Kevin getting discharged?” His mom asks next, taking another sip.
“Mrs. Michels said that they won’t release him until around five in the evening. They want to take last minute tests first to be officially sure he is safe enough to go home.”
“I still can’t believe it. It’s a miracle that this happened. It’s…I don’t know I just hope it doesn’t backfire on them. The poor family has been through enough as it is.”
Ry took a second before responding. “Don’t worry mom it’s not coming back.”
“How are you so sure?” She looks to him with keen eyes.
Shrugging he gets up, taking his mug with him. “I just know.” Was all he says as he walks back to his room.
Looking around he noticed that she took the CD player after all. Smiling he goes to turn off the PlayStation 5 but stops before he does. He doesn’t remember putting on Netflix. Looking into it’s history he found that a documentary of the World War 2 had been fully watched. Heart pounding he wondered how she figured out the system without his guidance but more importantly what she thought about their history.
What made her want to watch this in the first place?
An unsettling feeling sits in the pit of his stomach as he turns it off and sets the controller on the stand. Grabbing something nice to wear but not to professional like he had on yesterday, he goes to take a shower, gets ready, and goes to say goodbye to his mom. But she was no longer at the dining table.
“Mom?” He calls out.
“In the living room.” She calls out, but the sound of her voice sent alarm through him.
Frowning he heads to where she was at. “Everything alright?” He asks when he finds her standing in the middle of the room staring worriedly at the television.
“The news. Washington state was just hit by seven tornadoes. Seven! Can you believe that?” She stresses as she looks to him while saying that then looking right back at the tv.
Focusing on what was being said by the news anchor, images were being shown of the devastation of the damages done. “At 4:38AM, Wednesday May 15th, 2024, four cities were hit here in the state of Washington at the exact same time, with Puyallup being hit twice and Tacoma being hit three times by F2 and F3 sized tornadoes destroying nearly everything in its path. Moses Lake was hit by an F2 lasting fifteen minutes long and ranging over ten miles of damage. Auburn was hit with an F3 lasting nearly an hour destroying nearly forty miles of damages. More will be reported once we can confirm just how bad the damages have caused.”
“How is that possible?” Ry asks, completely troubled by the news.
“I know that Washington can sometimes get hit by them this time of year, but this? This is excessive.”
For a moment he stands there watching, looking at all the destruction that the crewmen were showing. There was nothing left, leaving everything in a crumbling mess. They haven’t announced how many people have died or been injured. But he was sure to see this news all over social media.
“I have to get going.” He tells her and gives her a hug.
“Be careful.” She tells him and waves him goodbye.

***

“Mr. Starling, is everything alright?”
He snaps out of his thoughts and refocuses on the young girl sitting across from him. At the age of eleven she had already delt with five family deaths within a three month period and her parents were worried that she was keeping everything bottled up inside.
“Yeah, sorry. I slightly zoned out. What were you saying?” he asks, trying to get his composure in check.
“I wasn’t saying anything. You asked me how I felt about my cousin’s death, and I haven’t said a word about it. You checked out there so.” She shrugs like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Tessa, you have to understand why your parents are worried about you, don’t you? They told me that you and Debbie were close while growing up. Her accident had to have affected you in some way. I find it hard to believe that you completely accepted that she’s gone.”
“Why? She died. There’s nothing anyone can do about it. Crying won’t bring her back so what’s the point?” She crosses her arms sitting back on the couch desperately trying to act like she didn’t care.
“You’re right. Crying won’t bring her back. But you know what crying can do?” He asks her gently.
“W-What?” Her young face showed uncertainty.
“Bring you closure. By allowing yourself to feel the immense pain of losing someone you love and cared about, crying brings relief of accepting that they’re gone. You’ll never get to see her again Tessa. You won’t get to hear her laugh, her cry, her voice. She won’t get to grow up with you, get to graduate with you, find love, have a family of her own. None of that.”
He knew what he was saying was cruel, but he could see that she wasn’t allowing herself to feel the pain of losing someone who had been her best friend. As he said the words he could see the start of tears gathering in her eyes. And then they eventually fell.
“It’s not fair. She shouldn’t be the one dead! Why does he get to live, taking her life to leave me here all alone?! It’s not fair, she shouldn’t have had to die!” Her wracking sobs finally came as she doubled over.
Sitting next to her he pulls her into his arms while she cries her little heart out. “Maybe God left him alive so he could suffer the pain he caused all of you, Tessa. Maybe God felt he needed her more with him. Everyone has a purpose, and her purpose was complete. The man who did this will be punished, is being punished. He will have to carry this guilt with him for the rest of his life.” He calmly soothes her as she clutches to him.
After another few moments of gathering her emotions he opens the door to let her leave. Her parents had been sitting outside waiting to join the rest of the churchgoers as they waited for their daughter. Once they see the tear stained cheeks they both looked relieved. After hugging her tightly her father takes her hand and together they walk down the hallway to join the others.
“Thank you. I don’t know how you did it, but I’m glad. After my sister…” She slightly chokes up, tears gathering as she takes a deep breath. “It’s hard on all of us. And so sudden. We didn’t just lose Debbie, we lost her mother too, my sister.”
“I heard the little boy survived.”
Nodding her head she wraps her arms around her watching her daughter and husband talking to others. “Yes, we thank the lord everyday that Jimmy is still with us. Barely but still here. He’s only seven and still hasn’t woken up but we have hope. His father…he’s a mess and we’re doing all we can to help him, be there for him. But it’s hard. And on top of my great aunt passing in her sleep and a week later my cousin getting hit by a train following his girlfriend doing what she did...” Tears fall as she explains.
The emotion swirling within him breaks his heart and he couldn’t but feel for the family. And to recently lose two people who meant the world to you in one night from a car accident caused by a drunk driver. It was instant and final and completely unexpected. A death like that was the worst. Placing a hand on her shoulder he says gently,
“If any of you need to talk, a shoulder to cry on my door is always open. Even if they don’t go to this church, Mrs. Fabris. It’s never easy losing people around you and it takes a long time to heal from the pain.”
“Thank you. You’re such a sweet kid, Ry. We’re all so thankful that the lord brought you to us.”
With that she walks to her family where people continued to give their condolences. For a moment he watches them. It felt weird to work in a place that you didn’t wholly believe in. But he did believe in helping others. And to him that was what was important. Looking to the other person who was waiting he smiles.
“Ready?” He asks her.
The teenage girl nods her head and heads inside the room. After shutting the door the first thing he asks is, “What’s your name?”
“Heather.”
“Hi Heather, I’m Ry Starling. You’re more than welcome to call me Ry.”
He waits for her to get comfortable, but he could tell she wasn’t as she fidgeted and wouldn’t exactly meet him in the eyes. “You look way to young to be a counselor.”
“I get that a lot. I just graduated from college, but I assure you I did major in this profession.”
“So you’re like, what, twenty-three, twenty-four then?” She asks.
“Around there, yes.” He didn’t want to make this conversation too personal so went on to ask, “Can you tell me what you’re here for, Heather?”
At first she looked like she wasn’t going to say anything but sit there. He got that a lot with the younger ones. Its expected. They didn’t know him, didn’t trust him. But they wanted the help because they wouldn’t have came this far if they hadn’t. So he sits there patiently, waiting.
“Take as much time as you need, Heather. You don’t need to tell me today if you don’t want to. We can sit here in silence the entire time, or we could talk about anything if it helps to get your mind off whatever is troubling you. It’s completely up to you.”
“I don’t have time.” She whispers.
Frowning he didn’t understand what she meant by that. “Why do you say that?”
She fidgets even more biting her lower lip in nervousness, eyes becoming red as tears well up. She closes up once more, grabbing the skirt she was wearing tightly in her hands as she closes her eyes tightly. “I’m afraid to say.”
“It’s okay. If you’re not ready don’t force it out.”
“I don’t have time though and I already wasted enough of it. He’s going to kill me.” She places her hands over her face as a sob breaks through.
“Wait, who is going to kill you?” Alarm bells ring in his ears hearing her say that.
“My dad! When he finds out what I’ve done, he’s going to kill me!” She cries out almost hysterically.
“Oh. And why would you say something like that?” He was trying to understand what was going on here without having her fully tell him. She seemed highly stressed enough about it.
“Because she’s carrying.”
They both jerk at the new voice. Ry swings his head to the window just to find Naisa standing there popping out of nowhere like she always does.
“Who the hell are you and where did you come from?” Heather jolted, her eyes wide as saucers.