EARTHQUAKE - Chapter 18

Karl returned to the motel, loaded his tools and clothes into the car, and checked out of his room. He drove back to Little Rock and went to the shelter. After he carried his tools and clothes to the room, he called the Stauer residence. Melodie answered,

“Mr. Cusak, you had better get over here. The police came and were going to take Dana back to the shelter in Ferndale. We went up to her room, and it appeared that she had run away. I might know where she’s hiding, but I’ll wait until you get over here. Also, my father wants to talk to you.”

Karl carried his tools back to the car and put them in the trunk. That was a safer place than in the shelter room. He told the other men that his daughter had run away, so he would be late coming back.

When he arrived at the Stauer’s, the police had left, promising to return the next day. Mrs. Stauer was going around all aflutter,

“Never in all my years have we had police come to our home. That is the kind of thing you expect in the neighborhoods of riff-raff. We are respectable people!”

Melodie said to Karl, “My father wants to talk to you. Then we’ll go look for Dana.”

Mr. Paul Stauer took Karl into the library, away from all the excitement.

“Melodie told me that you were in Monroe, Louisiana looking for a job. I can understand that you want to be near your wife. However, she can probably be moved to Arkansas soon.

“You still have a job with Wesson Farm and we need you, unless you want to quit. We need for you to go back to Victoria as soon as possible and assess the damage up there. Report to us the damage to the roads - what equipment and how many days it will take to make them useable. After that report, we want you to visit all the fields. Tell us which ones are undamaged and have crops still growing, which ones are damaged and what must be done to repair them. Another report will be if there is undamaged equipment, useable buildings, and what buildings or sheds need immediate replacement. You will be working closely with Clifford. When I found out that he was found, that is when I started thinking about rebuilding Wesson Farm.

“Now as far as your daughter is concerned. I know that you want to find her and I pray that she is unharmed. Assuming that she is found, I will call our company’s law firm tomorrow morning and tell them to get an injunction barring the police from removing her from your custody or the custody of your designated caretaker until the whole matter can be adjudicated. The company will pay for the lawyers.”

“Thank you very much, sir. When do you want me to return to Victoria for that survey?”

“As soon as you get the injunction AND find a place for your wife here in Little Rock. I would suggest that you and Clifford find houses or apartments that are adjoining. That way Melodie can be Dana’s caregiver while you are in Victoria. My suggestion would be that you all live in Marked Tree, but wait until you get up in that area before deciding where to live.

“By the way, I know that when Melodie found you in Blytheville, you were working with some other heavy equipment men. Are you still in touch with any of them?”

“Yes, sir. Five of them are in the shelter with me.”

“You tell them that I’ll hire any and all of them until we have this farm back up and running. You and Clifford can decide what wages are fair”

Karl returned to the living room. Melodie said “Clifford, see if you can get Jamie and Joy upstairs and ready for bed. I’ll get a flashlight and help Mr. Cusak look for Dana.”

Clifford said to the children, “Let’s go upstairs and get ready for bed.”

The children led him to their bedroom.

“What do you do to get ready for bed?”

Jamie said, “We have to wash our hands and face real good. Then we brush our teeth. After that we put on our pajamas.”

“Okay. Go to it.”

Jamie giggled. “That’s what you always say, ‘Go two it, go four it.’”

After the children were in their pajamas, Clifford held back the covers for each of them as they got into bed. Then Jamie said,

“Now you read us a story.”

Clifford said, “Boy, you have a real routine.”

“What’s a routine?”

“Never mind; but what should I read?”

“Dana found a book of Mother Goose Tales. It’s in here somewhere.”

Clifford looked around in the room and found an old book on the dresser. He began to read it to the children, but before he finished the second page they were asleep with smiles on their face. He thought it was strange that he didn’t remember them. After being with them for less than two hours he felt like he knew them from somewhere. Stranger still was how deeply he loved these two children about whom he had no memory.

It was the same with Melodie. At first she was a stranger to him. He could not explain to himself why, but he loved her and knew that he loved her at some other time in his life that he couldn’t remember.

Karl and Melodie went out into the dark night.

“I grew up in this house. I know that from upstairs she heard every word the policemen said. When they said that they would take her back to the shelter in Ferndale, I think that she tiptoed down the upstairs hallway to the back stairway. At the bottom of it is that door.”

Melodie shined the flashlight’s beam on the door.

“It was chilly last night so she would have looked for shelter. The nearest shelter is the garage. Let’s look in there.”

In a couple minutes Melodie was shining the beam into the back seat of the big car. Dana woke up. She began screaming,

“No. Don’t let them take me back. Oh, I wish I could reach my Daddy.”

Karl stepped around Melodie and reached out his arms to Dana.

“Here I am and I’m not going to let them take you away. Now, get into the house where it’s warm.”

“Mrs. Stauer doesn’t like me. She doesn’t want me in the house.”

“I want you.” Melodie hugged Dana.

Inside the house Melodie told Dana to take a shower and put on the nightgown she had given her to use. When Dana was in the shower, Melodie took her clothes down to the laundry room, put them in the washer, and turned it on. Then she went into her bedroom. Clifford was lying on top of the covers still dressed. She helped him get undressed and then put him under the covers. Then she undressed and put on a simple cotton nightgown. She crawled into bed beside him.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Clifford. You’ll remember me the first time we cuddle up together.”

An hour later Clifford was sleeping soundly. She slipped out of bed, went down to the laundry room and put Dana’s clothes in the dryer. Back upstairs she climbed back into bed and snuggled close to Clifford, She felt happy and complete for the first time since the earthquake.

Karl arrived back at the shelter about 11 p.m. Shorty got out of bed and let him into the room. The next morning at breakfast, Karl told the rest of Baker’s Coffee Klatch about the offer of employment at Wesson Farm. All of them were interested in the job.

“Okay, next week, Wednesday or Thursday we will start.”

A little after 9 a.m. Karl received a call from the law firm that handles all of the legal work for Wesson Farm.

“Mr. Cusak we need for you to come to our office at 785 Fifth Street as soon as you can. We need information from you and your signature before we can request the injunction you want.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 Karl gulped down the rest of his coffee and drove to the address.

Inside the office there were wooden bookcases, a wooden railing, and wooden desks. All the men were dressed in what appeared to be expensive suits and shoes.

One of the “suits” came toward Karl.

“Mr. Cusak?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I am Dexter Nolan. I’ll be working on the request for an injunction. The first thing I want you to do is answer some questions for my secretary.”

“Mr. Cusak, I’m Betty. Have a seat.”

“Give me your daughter’s full name…

What is the date of her birth and where was she born?

What is your full name?

What is her mother’s full name?

What is the hospital and town or city and state where she was born?”

After she had that information she typed a form which contained all the information and had Karl sign it. The form was a request for a duplicate birth certificate. She sent it out on the fax machine. Next she had him sign a form requesting that Dexter Nolan be his legal counsel in the matter of a request for an injunction to halt the return of his daughter Dana Delania Cusak to a shelter from which she ran away. 

After Karl signed the form she asked him for a dollar to make the contract be in effect.

Betty asked Karl, “Who are you appointing as your designated caretaker for Dana? Is it Mrs. Melodie Cartright?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After Karl left the lawyers’ office, he went to St. Vincent’s Hospital. He asked at the Information Booth where the residential physical rehabilitation unit was located.

“The unit itself is in another building. However, if you want to ask for information about transferring a patient into the unit, they have an office on this floor.”

A volunteer led Karl through a labyrinth of corridors and offices to the offices of the residential physical rehabilitation unit.

A woman in a nice business suit greeted him.

“Good afternoon. I am Sister Catherine. I am in charge of admissions to the residential physical rehabilitation unit. Is that what you came to inquire about?”

“Yes, my wife is currently a patient in St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe, Louisiana. She was in the earthquake on June 13 and was trapped in a building. After she was rescued they flew her to Monroe because all the hospitals in Little Rock were crowded beyond capacity.

“She had to have part of her lower right leg amputated. Now the doctor says that she is ready to be moved to a residential physical rehabilitation unit – I guess to be fitted with an artificial leg and learn to walk with it.”

“What is her doctor’s name?”…

“What is the hospital insurance that you have?”…

“Who is your employer – are you still employed?”…

“Here is my card. Give me your phone number and I will call you this afternoon with an answer for you.”

Karl hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. He asked directions to the cafeteria and found a sandwich, a fruit salad, and chocolate milk. Just as he finished eating his cell phone buzzed. It was the law firm.

“Mr. Cusak. The judge signed an injunction for thirty days. You have that much time to persuade Child Protection to drop their charges. You can come to the office before 4 p.m. and pick it up.”

Karl hurried out to his car and drove to the law offices. Then he went back to his room in the shelter to await Sister Catherine’s call. He also called Melodie to let her know that he had received the injunction and also a separate paper designating her as Dana’s caretaker.

Back in his room Ray and Shorty wanted to know more about the job.

“We are going to go to Marked Tree and drive toward Victoria. We are supposed to mark on the map where a road is too badly damaged to be used by trucks and what we need to do to make it useable. We won’t be doing any paving, just filling in holes or crevasses or whatever so that trucks can get through. Once we have a useable road to Victoria, we go out the county road that passes through the farm land as far as the farm land extends.

“When we have roads, we look for the farm equipment, tow it back to Victoria, put it in sheds, and fix it up. We mark on the map which fields still have crops growing. We mark which fields have been buckled and have ravines from the quake. They will have to be reengineered before they can be ploughed.

“We’ll be rebuilding the farm so that it is ready for planting season 2015.”

Just then Karl’s cell phone buzzed.

“Mr. Cusak, this is Sister Catherine. I have had a conversation with Dr. Kubicki in Monroe. I have also spoken with Blue Cross-Blue Shield here in Little Rock. We are ready to admit your wife to St. Vincent’s Residential Physical Rehabilitation unit. Come to my office on Monday morning. As soon as you sign the paper, I will call an ambulance company in Monroe and have them transport Mary to our unit. When she is in the unit, I will call you. Then you and your daughter may visit with her for one hour. After that you may only visit during the designated hours on Saturday and Sunday. Do you have any questions?”

“No, ma’am. Thank you.”

At 6 p.m. Karl left the shelter heading for the Stauer home. He stopped at a Wendy’s and ate a baked potato with chili and cheese.

At the Stauer’s he gave Melodie the papers and told Dana that her mother was being moved to St. Vincent’s. He told her that they would only be allowed to visit on Saturdays and Sundays but that Monday afternoon or evening after Mary was admitted they would be allowed to visit her for one hour. He gave Melodie $200 and asked her to buy Dana some clothes.