Chapter Six, first draft, National Novel Writing Month
Charlotte came to with the help of a splash of cold water on her face. She took a deep breath in, and looked up. Frieda Newcomb stood over her, patting Charlotte’s face, tipping a glass to splash more water if necessary. Charlotte pushed the glass away, and struggled up onto the couch.
“I’m soggy,” she said. “What’s going
on? What is happening, Frieda? My kids are out there, John is out there. Are they
being exposed to radiation?”
“Probably. Where’s John?”
“I’m not sure, he’s not answering
his cell phone. He should be in from fishing soon. He went out up around Race
Point, but by now he should be heading back down across the bay.”
“If he’s out on the bay, he’s definitely
coming through radiation with the wind coming the way it is. The kids?”
“They should be on their buses by
now, both middle and high school have been out for, what, half an hour?”
“They might have been held at the
schools. It depends on when the word got to their principals. Apparently, the
fire has been burning for several hours, but Entergy just let the officials
know that it’s now out of control. At least that’s what the word is that I’m
getting, but that’s pretty second hand.”
“What’s Entergy?”
“That’s the owner corporation of Pilgrim. Entergy is based in Louisana, they don’t care much about us. Obviously, if they let things
come to this.”
Charlotte tried calling John again,
but got no answer. She called Jason, no answer. She called Darlene, she picked up.
“Mom! What is happening? The police
just came and made us run into the school gym, and now the principal says we
have to stay.”
“I thought you were on the bus.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I texted you. I wanted to see the football game. I was going to ride home with Holly.”
“Well,” Charlotte said slowly,
trying to think, “I wish you were here, but maybe you are better off there. Frieda is telling me that
there is a fire up there at the nuclear power station in Plymouth. It sounds
grim. Daddy’s not home yet, and neither is Jason. We are all supposed to stay
inside until further notice.”
“Will it be over soon?”
Darlene’s alarmed voice carried into
the room. Frieda shook her head no.
“I don’t know, honey. Just do what
they tell you to do and stay in touch. I want to find out where the guys are.”
“Mom? They are bringing around some
kind of pills for us. Telling us to take a pill. I’m scared. Why do we have to
take pills?”
Frieda motioned for the phone, and
Charlotte gave it to her.
“Hi Darlene,” Frieda said. “Those
pills are for protecting your thyroid, they should be telling you that.
Potassium iodide. You need that because you’ve been exposed to radiation while
you were outside. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health distributed
them to all the schools in case of this type of emergency.”
“They knew this might happen? They
think a pill can help? Oh, my God.”
“It can help somewhat to protect
your thyroid, that’s right. How? It does it by blocking the radioactive iodine
you might have breathed in. If they are passing out the pills, they must have
been informed that we are either under a cloud of radiation now or will be
soon.”
“Oh my God. What does this mean?
Will we all get cancer? When will the cloud go away?”
“Take your pill, Darlene, and your
thyroid will be protected. It’s worked before.”
“Where?”
“In Poland. Millions of people took
potassium iodide very soon after the Chernobyl accident, and that proved to be
effective. Russia and Belarus were not so prepared, and the kids there got
thyroid cancer like crazy a few years after the accident. But the kids in
Poland did much better, even though they had also been exposed.”
“Oh Frieda. Why do you know about
this?”
“You forget. I was a biochemist, my
dear. It’s my business to know .”
Charlotte took the phone back from
Frieda. “We’re going to hang up now, sweetie. I wish I could rush over there,
but I do not think it’s the wisest plan. I have to wait here for Jason and your
Dad.”
“I know, Mom. Holly and I will hang together. We're okay. But, text me when you find
out anything?”
“I will. Love you, and we’ll talk
soon.” Charlotte clicked off. “So what about us, Frieda, should we be taking a potassium
iodide pill?”
“Yes, if you have one. Did you get yours from the town health department?”
“No, who goes to get pills from the
health department? Who even knows that you can? How come I don’t know about
that?”
“No one likes to think about a
disaster like this one. It’s not something that makes the handouts. Those are reserved
for ticks and sharks and such. No one wants to think about a cloud of radiation
hovering over us. Besides, it's bad for tourism.”
Charlotte tried John’s phone number
again, and then Jason’s. No luck. She tried the number of the middle school,
and found it busy. Where was Jason? On the bus? Still in his school building?
Frieda checked her computer screen and frowned.
“So do you want some advice, Charlotte?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I’ll give you one of my pills I’ve
got here. The health department gave me enough for a few people
for a few days of radioactive cloud fallout. I don’t really need one, I’m over
60, so I’ll give you two more, one for John and especially one for Jason. The younger
they are, the more important the pill.”
“Wait, you said a few days?”
“We might not get out of here for a
few days. They have to decide where to put us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, relocation once they allow
us up over the bridge. With what’s going on, we probably won’t be back.”
“Oh, don’t say that.”
“I am saying it. It’s probably going
to play out that way. So here’s my advice. Take this pill and sit awhile with
me, give it some time to get into your system. Then scoot back across the
street to your house, and start gathering your important documents. Passport, birth
certificates, marriage license. And cash, if you've got any on hand. Get that
all packed up so that it will be ready when necessary.”
“God, Frieda, our cash is down in
Hyannis in a safety deposit box at the bank. I’ve only got a few hundred bucks
on hand.”
“Better than what I’ve got.”
“This pill tastes terrible.”
“That’s a nice way to say thanks.”
“Thank you, really. But I was hoping
you had much less stressful news than this.”
“As do I. It’s pretty hard to take,
given that this was preventable. The NRC should have shut Pilgrim down, and now
they know it. No, don’t go out just yet. Stay here on the couch for a while,
and let that pill do its work. Let me get you some hot tea- that will dissolve
it faster in your stomach. I know you, you’re going down to the marina to see
if John is in, aren’t you? I advise against it. I’m just saying. And you might
get warned for not staying inside.”
“I’ll plead ignorance.” Charlotte
closed her eyes. “Would you call Jason’s school again and see if they answer?”
She handed Frieda her phone. “The number’s right there on the screen. And I've still got to find out if Mother is alright, and where my sister Teresa is. Oh, I am
suddenly so tired. I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up to find this was
all just a very bad dream.”
***
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