Katrina - Aftermath

1

As she moved between the houses, she came against bodies that were also trying to get themselves to safety. Snookey had called her few days back and asked her to join him in Minneapolis where he was currently. He had wanted her to stay till it was past and things have begun to settle but she couldn’t just up and leave. She had things she had to take care of here in New Orleans, in her hood and she couldn’t trust anyone else to do it for her.

When the weather report had given the warning of a possible hurricane, she had not taken it seriously. They had believed that although the path it was moving along would definitely cross New Orleans, it would weaken before it ever got close to them. There had only been few hurricanes that travelled that far distance with so much intensity to cause any harm. If she had known that it would have happened this way, she would have listened to everyone who’d been warning her. It was now too late to do that. She had not even had the opportunity to record her biggest sale. Her boys had run off when they all saw that the impending danger they were in was no longer a joke.

The shack she lived in the Magnolia Housing Project had been deserted when she made it back from Bayou St John were she had gone to finalize the deal with the drug lord of the locale. Snookey had tried to manipulate things but she had convinced Don Moreno, the drug lord to do business with her. She had met her house, usually littered with her men playing card in the front room and balcony. Only one, Mooney was left when she came back but he had died not too long after the hurricane hit the shores of New Orleans. She had faced death several times as she tried to make her way out of the shack of a neighborhood she lived and she believed that if only she could make it to the Super Dome, then she would be safe. That was the one place everyone knew they could be safe from the waging torrent of the hurricane.

The raging and powerful swoosh that the water carried along with it had died down a bit but then no one knew what could happen next. She wouldn’t repeat the mistake she’d made the first time, she was going to take as much precaution as she could now. She knew that her only problem was not only the water, that was even not a current problem but one that she was in immediate danger of are the bandits that are currently parading the streets of New Orleans. She had almost come against some when she was just moving out of the 9th Ward. She had to dip herself in the water that was already filled with the bodies of dead men and she stayed that way for about three minutes until she was sure that the men had left where she was. All she had to do as she kept repeating to herself was just to get to the Super Dome by nightfall, which was about six hours away. Even though she was hungry, she had to avoid entering any store since it would be where most of the criminals would operate. She padded her way through the water, keeping in mind the safe haven she was pushing herself towards, the place of refuge where she would be finally sure of safety, the den that would provide all what she was currently in desperate need of.

As she made her way past Five Star Seafood, she was tempted to go in and see if you get something that she could eat. She had not eaten much in about two days and she knew that for her to make it to the Dome fast and easy, she would need to gain her energy. She didn’t want to take a rest from walking so she should at least find something to eat. It didn’t take her long to cross the water-filled road to the backdoor of the store. She had to be careful of what she might meet inside. She was almost sure that there would be looters in the store and all she had to do was avoid them while shopping for her own supplies. Once she was inside, she began to have second thoughts. She began wondering if she shouldn’t have gone to the Marine and Land Systems facility that was just beside Five Star but it was too late for second chances, she was in already and trying to go back soon would cause another creak from the door and that would definitely rouse the attention of whoever was in here. She crept her way along the corridor, making her way past storage rooms, checking them one after the other to see if there would be anything left. All the storage rooms were empty and she had no strength left when she was done with the search. Since she hadn’t heard or seen any looter around and the supply that was supposed to be there seemed to have vanished, she had to conclude that some other people must have gotten to it before she had the chance to. She crept into the managers’ office to see if she could lay her hands on anything that might be useful for the dreadful journey she had to continue.

She had searched the drawers attached to the desk but found nothing but papers upon papers, that would not be useful to her, she concluded and left that alone. She checked the refrigerator and even though the electricity had been gone for two days now, she hoped that she would still find something chilled to drink but she was to enjoy no such luck as the refrigerator was also empty. She was almost giving up and was set to hit the road again when she saw the bottle lying on the ground, hiding between the wall and the desk, in a very small space. Mookie bent down and pulled the bottle out of the crevice were it lay hidden. It was a bottle of vodka. How excited she was about that. She could have something to drink on her way back, at least something different from the wavers she had been eating, although she ate the last piece almost seven hours ago when she woke up in the midnight. Mookie dragged herself back to the street, dipping herself in the water again. The water level in the building she’d just exited was not too high so she had enjoyed a bit of a dry moment but that was over again.

She removed her mind from the temporal satisfaction of having somewhere to stay without disturbance and moved on. She had somewhere to be, somewhere even better than having to be safe and alone, somewhere she can be safe and with friends.

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She was now close to the Super Dome, she was staying hidden for a while, scanning the area to make sure there was no danger close at hand that she could walk into. Most of the criminals would know that lot of people would be here searching for refuge and they would also probably be waiting for them to come and before any of them had a chance to be safe, they would take whatever they wanted. She wouldn’t want to fall a victim of such circumstance so she had to be careful. They might even deal with her differently. Although she had not succeeded in her drug business but she was sure that she had enemies who would not care about the situation at hand, they would rather use it to their advantage and she was not going to let that happen.

Mookie waited for twenty minutes, watching how things were going on around the Dome. It was just evening, she should probably wait for nightfall before making an entrance, she decided.

Mookie hid herself in the Internal Revenue Service building opposite the dome and waited till darkness began to fall. While she was waiting for nightfall, she had made a quick dash for Holiday Inn, quietly walking the waters on Perdido Street. And just like at Five Star Seafood, she was also lucky not to encounter any looter and her luck even brightened as she discovered an untouched meal in one of the rooms. She had thought that things would have been the same as it has always been but then seeing something to crown her efforts was definitely exhilarating for her. She had sat on the floor of the room, fed on the dish of lasagna and bread. She drank the milk that was placed beside it and rested for few minutes before she had walked back to her hiding position. As she sat there waiting for the perfect moment to make her move, she wondered why the looters that had been raiding the city didn’t make it to that room. They wouldn’t have definitely been there and let the food be that way. She had almost believed that she could still see some more bedrooms with untouched meals like the one she ate but then she knew that would be very absurd, there was no way that was going to happen.

At quarter past seven, the opportunity came for her. During her brief surveillance of the area, she had noticed that different group of looters went in with goods they’ve taken and come out empty handed. It looked like they were all keeping their stock in the Dome but for almost twenty minutes now, none have been back and since it was already pretty much dark, there was certainly no reason why she shouldn’t go in now. In fact, she was feeling confident that with the looters storing their goods close by then the people inside would have constant supply of food to eat, all she had to worry about now was getting something she would exchange with. She still had some few hundred bucks with her but she was sure that wasn’t going to last for long.

The water had also flooded the stadium. She walked into the entrance, the water levelling up to her knees, although better than when she was trying to make her way here.

She hardly made it into the dome before she heard someone call out.

“Who dat over dere?” the voice asked.

She remained mute for a few seconds, analyzing her options and looking for what approach she should take.

“Ya heard me or not?” the voice barked again. “I said who are you? It don’ madda who ya be out dere so answer da question.”

“I’m just looking fa somewhere ta stay safe like everyone else. I ain’t here to cause anyone no trouble.” She answered with her voice carrying a note of plea.

“Who ya working fa?” the voice asked again.

She was now confused on how she should answer that. She didn’t know if the person talking to her from the dark would recognize or not and she was even unsure as to what question he was really asking.

She finally decided to play her luck, it would probably work for her as it had done not too long ago. “I don’t work for nobody. I’m justa helpless citizen who is tryna survive. I’m sure ya can relate with dat. Binlookin for somewhere ta crash fa some time now.” Mookie said.

“I’m coming out there now so raise your hands up high so ah can see dem.” The voice barked. “And don’ tryna play no games cos it ain’t gon’ end well for you.” He warned further.

“I’ll be cool.” She promised and she meant it. At the moment, that was the only thing that could help her survival. She raised her hands above her head as the voice had commanded her. She heard the heavy rush of his breathing and felt his hands on her back. He patted her down for any weapon and when he didn’t find any, he stopped searching her.

“So why ya say ya ’r here?” he asked her.

“I just need somewhere I can crash, eat and be with dem bra.” Mookie answered.

“I guess ya ’r in da right place then. We’ve got all dat and many more.” The guy said smiling mischievously.

She stood there rigid, now vulnerable to whatever was to come next but then she felt reassured that everything was going to be fine since the guy made no reaction as to recognizing who she was. It might just bode well for her to be anonymous here – no one to identify her.

“Come with me podna and lemme introduce ya ta da crowd in here.” He said gesturing for her to lead the way.