Hurricane

August 2005

I was awoken at some point by an unfamiliar ringing sound. I sat up quickly, and looked around my room as the sound continued. When I realized the sound was coming from my bag I remembered that Pete had given me a cell phone. I frantically jumped out of bed and hurried to the bag and opened it. I saw the phone, Pete’s name showing on the smaller screen on the outside of the phone. I grabbed it quickly and opened it, placing it to my ear.

“Hello?” I said.

“Took you long enough to answer,” Pete said.

“I was sleeping,” I said. I settled myself in a more comfortable sitting position on the floor. Even though he wasn’t here, just hearing Pete’s voice was making me feel better.

“Sorry for waking you,” Pete said.

“Don’t apologize,” I said. “I’m glad you woke me up.”

I heard Pete chuckle softly.

“Well,” he said. “I’m glad the phone works. I wanted to let you know that my flight reached its destination safely.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, smiling.

“I hate to cut this call short, but I have to go,” he said. I could feel the loneliness starting to creep back inside of me as he spoke and I didn’t say anything. “Molly, it’s going to be fine. I’ll call you again tonight. I’d talk more now, but the sooner we get to work, the sooner this album is done and I’ll be back.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Bye.”

“Bye, Molly,” he said. I closed my phone and stared at it. Hearing Pete’s voice had helped a little but now that I wasn’t talking to him, things just seemed to be off for me. I didn’t know what to do at the moment. After sitting on the floor for a few minutes, I decided to take a shower. After my shower, I went downstairs and into the living room. I picked up the remote for the TV as I sat down on the couch, but I didn’t feel like watching TV, so I set the remote next to me.

I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself while Pete was away. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have a car. I was stuck in this house and I couldn’t help of how it felt like a prison. More so than when I had returned here when my parents picked me up from the hospital in New York.

Eventually I turned the TV on and watched reruns of old TV shows. When my mom got home at 5, I realized I had barely moved from my spot on the couch. I hadn’t even eaten—but I wasn’t hungry.

“Hey, honey,” my mom said as she came into the living room. “How was your day?”

“Terrible,” I said.

“What?” my mom said, sounding worried now. “Why?”

“I have nothing to do,” I said. “All I did was watch TV. I don’t really want to do this every day for two months.”

My mom looked thoughtful for a moment before she spoke.

“Well,” she said. “I have this friend from work who drives by the house on her way to work. Maybe I could start riding with her and then you’d at least have the car.”

“Thank you, Mom,” I said.

“It’s no problem, Molly,” she said. “I’m sure this is hard for you. You and Pete have been with each other every day and you finally get used to it just to have it end for a little while.”

I nodded my head and my mom smiled at me.

“He’ll be back before you know it, though,” she said. “You’ll see.”

I was starting to wish that people would stop saying that. I had a feeling that the days were going to drag by and I was not looking forward to that. At least I had the car now.