EARTHQUAKE - Chapter 15

On Friday, Karl went to a Regions Bank and asked for the balance in his checking and savings accounts. He had $1000 placed on a money card and took $300 in cash. Then he went to several car rental agencies to inquire about renting a car to drive to Monroe, Louisiana for several days. All the major car rental firms turned him down because he now had no residence address. Finally, he went to a Rent-a-Wreck agent.

“Look, fellow, I know you are jammed up. You look like an honest man to me. It isn’t like you are wanting to rent a Jaguar. Come back on Monday when you need the car. I’ll write it up using your address in Victoria. It isn’t like all that many people ever heard of Victoria or know that it was in an earthquake. I’ll see you Monday.”

He found the offices of Blue Cross. He wanted to see if they knew where Mary was in the hospital. He wanted to be sure that they would pay the claims.

“Yes, sir. We have it in the system that she is a patient at St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe, Louisiana. It is a little bit harder for us because the billing information has to be sent to us by Louisiana Blue Cross after they receive it from the hospital. Then if we have any questions for the doctor or hospital they are funneled through Louisiana Blue Cross. In the end the hospital and doctors are being paid. You’re in good shape.”

“What about when they move her into a rehab center?”

“We would rather that she go to one of our approved rehab centers in Arkansas. When the time comes, we will discuss it with her surgeon. If he says that he wants her where he can keep check on her, we will have to do what the doctor says.”

“Thank you.”

He went back to the shelter, met up with the others, and went down to River Market to look for a good place to eat. They found an Irish pub. Supposedly the owner bought a pub in Dublin, Ireland, dismantled it piece by piece and shipped it to Little Rock where it was reassembled. Karl didn’t believe that malarkey for one minute. However, they did have good sausages and beer.

That night they were glad for the clamp Karl bought to keep the door closed to outsiders. There was racket in the hallway, fighting, doors slamming, and tough looking men roaming the halls. It was definitely not a safe place to be. The next morning the stairway was filled with bottles, some broken, litter from fast food joints, and vomit.

Saturday he hid his tool box under his cot and decided to spend the day sightseeing. He rode on a streetcar which is a replica of the ones that ran in Little Rock in the XIX century, went to the Clinton Presidential Library, and walked across the bridge beside it to North Little Rock and then walked back across it. By then he was tired. He stopped at a stall in the River Market to sit, rest, and slowly eat a hot dog and drink a Coke.

When Karl got back to the room Jack Raymond had brought back two pizzas for all of them to share. They went down for showers first and brought back coffee from the lobby. They were now ready to hunker down in their fortress before the rioting rampage would begin.

Karl was so grateful that they were together for protection. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for men there who were alone and rooming with strangers. What they had gone through was bad enough - losing homes and many of them losing family members. Then to have to come and live like this having no idea what the future held. It was like being locked up in a prison with no guards – a prison run by the prisoners. The only other option was to go live with the homeless. He wondered how many would choose that option.

On Sunday, the stairway was even worse. A policeman was in the lobby at the bottom of the stairs.

“Okay, I want all the bottles and other litter cleaned off the stairs all the way to the top floor. I want it done right now. If it isn’t completely clear of litter in one hour’s time, I am going to run all of you out of this shelter, put a padlock on it and declare it unfit for habitation.”

They all knew that the injustice of it was not going to carry the day. To argue with the policeman would just bring more grief. They took the garbage bags he gave them and proceeded to pick up the litter. The men who had thrown it there were now sleeping off a drunk or were in a drug induced dreamland.

Karl had to hurry to get to the shelter where Dana was living until tomorrow. While they were eating, Dana told him how fearful she was about what might happen tomorrow. He gave her $50 and a phone card. He made sure that she had the card with Mrs. Cartright’s address and phone number.

“If anything happens, or you get into trouble, call Mrs, Cartright. She will take care of you until I can get there.”

After he dropped Dana off at the shelter, he called Mrs. Cartright.

“Mrs. Cartright, you have done so much for us that I am ashamed to ask yet another favor.”

“Mr. Cusak, I’ll be happy to do anything I can.”

“My daughter, Dana, is afraid of what is going to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow I am driving down to Monroe, Louisiana to see my wife. Then I want to see if I can find a job down there. I may not get back until Thursday or Friday. If Dana calls you and needs help, would you take care of her until I get back? I’ll call you each evening to let you know what I am doing and you can let me know if you have heard from Dana.”

“I will be glad to do that, Mr. Cusak.”

On Monday, Karl rented a 2007 Toyota Corolla. He put his tools and clothes in the trunk. It was a little past 9:30 AM when he left Little Rock. It was about 1:30PM when he arrived at St. Francis Medical Center. When the lady in the Information kiosk called, the nurse said to ask Mr. Cusak to wait until 3PM. Mrs. Cusak was having her dialysis treatment. They had a nice long visit. The nurses postponed several things because they knew this was their first meeting since the earthquake.

 Karl found a motel room at a Days Inn and then went out to find some supper.

On Tuesday he went to several heavy equipment dealers inquiring about a job as mechanic. When they found out that he had not gone to a school for diesel mechanics, they were not interested.

He went to the hospital that afternoon. It was again too early to visit Mary. Karl asked where the Cafeteria was located. He hadn’t eaten anything except a donut and coffee at the motel that morning. The hot food lines had just closed. He found a display of cellophane wrapped sandwiches, another one of salads. He bought a ham and cheese on rye bread, a large fruit salad, a bag of chips, and a bottle of chocolate milk.

While he was eating, a doctor came to his table.

“Are you Karl Cusak?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Dr. Jacob Kubicki, your wife’s surgeon. I talked to you on the phone last Friday. The Information volunteer told me that I would find you here. I have a favor that I would like to ask of you.”

“Certainly, Doctor.”

“We have a man who was brought here on the same plane that brought your wife here. He was really banged up badly. I had to perform two sessions of surgery to repair the damage. He has recovered nicely from the surgery, but he suffered trauma to his head which has left him with amnesia. The Arkansas State Police ran his fingerprints through their files, but didn’t find anything. He had no identification on him when he was brought in. While you are waiting to see your wife, would you mind going with me into his room and see if by some chance you recognize him.”

We went to the elevator and rode to the third floor. As soon as we walked into the room, I recognized him.

“This is Clifford Cartright. He was the bookkeeper and accountant at Wesson Farm where I worked. His wife is the one who located Mary here in Monroe.”

“Clifford, your wife Melodie and your two children will be happy to find out that you are alive. Doctor, do you want to call his wife, I have their number?”

Clifford looked puzzled.

Soon after that Karl saw Mary and told her about Clifford being in the same hospital and having the same surgeon she has. He told her that he was trying to find a job but so far with no success. He didn’t tell her his concerns about Dana because he didn’t want to upset her.

After he visited with Mary, Karl asked to see Dr. Kubicki. He waited in the waiting room over a half hour until they called his name. One of the volunteers told him to take the elevator to the fourth floor and Dr. Kubicki would meet him there. When he stepped off the elevator he saw by the signs that this was the floor where the surgical suites and surgery waiting room were located.

“I’m sorry to meet you in the hallway. I’d just finished one surgery when you asked to meet me. I have another one scheduled. I can only give you fifteen minutes.”

“Doctor, I need to know some things about Mary’s future in order to make decisions about my own immediate future. We have a daughter, so I have to find a job and a place for us to live. The first question is Where? I assume that Mary will be moved to a residential physical rehabilitation facility in the near future. Will you want her to be in a facility here or could she go to a facility in Arkansas?”

“If she is moved to a facility in Monroe, and St. Francis has a fine facility here, then I would continue to be her attending physician. On the other hand, there are some excellent residential physical rehabilitation facilities in Arkansas and I can help you choose one. Please understand that wherever she goes she will have to be moved by ambulance. You can’t transport her in a car.”

“Thank you. The other thing that I wanted to know is how long she will be in a residential facility before she can come home?”

“It could be three to six months. With her attitude of cooperation and wanting to get well, I would guess not much longer than three months. That is assuming that there are no setbacks. After she goes home, she will have physical therapists coming to the home five days a week and then three days a week for probably six months.”

“Thank you so much, Doctor.”

“Thank you for your help with Clifford Cartright.”

When he returned to his room, he called Mrs. Cartright. He was surprised when Dana answered the phone.

“Dana, what are doing at Mrs. Cartright’s home?”

“Daddy, the shelter they sent us to was an abandoned church camp. The adults were mean. The first day I was there all my clothes were stolen. When I told one of the adult leaders she said it was my fault for having them in a garbage bag and that someone probably threw them out with the garbage. But that was what they gave us to put our clothes in. There were no closets or dressers. They put Rosalita and I in a dormitory of bunk beds made of rough lumber and with smelly mattresses. All the other girls were older than us. They made fun of us and picked on us.

“I ran away the next day and called Mrs. Cartright. She sent her car for me. Now she is afraid that she will get in trouble because I ran away.

“She is all excited about her husband being found. Her parents are due back tonight. She is going to leave the children with them so that she can drive down to Monroe tomorrow. Here she is. She wants to talk to you.”

“Mr. Kusak, I cannot thank you enough for being a part of finding my husband. I have been afraid all this time to face the fact that he was probably dead. He had gone to the Wesson Farm offices in Osceola that day. I heard that it had been reduced to rubble.

“As Dana has already told you, I am afraid of getting into trouble keeping her here since she ran away from that shelter. If you would do this for me, please. Go someplace in Monroe tomorrow morning and type a statement saying that you are the legal parent of Dana Kusak and that you have requested that Mrs. Melodie Cartright, put in my address and phone number, keep Dana Kusak as a house guest for a week’s time while you are job hunting. Have the statement notarized and fax it to me at 501-555-5978. You can probably do all that at the motel you are in.

“Tell me about Clifford. How is he?”

“He looked pretty confused when I told him his name, and that he has a wife and two children. Physically, he was banged up pretty bad. He still has bandages. However, the doctor said that he was ready to be discharged, but they didn’t know where to send him.”

“I am going down to Monroe tomorrow. I would like to leave Dana here to take care of my children. My parents will be here, but they don’t have any patience with little children. Dana is just great with them.”