Heaven’s Gate
89 World Disorder
“What is it, Papa? Did they wreck that building?” Xan asked. She must have heard my moan as I sank onto the kitchen chair. I picked up my daughter and hugged her to me, holding her head turned away from the television.
“It’s something terrible, Xan. We need Mommy and Aunt Jen and Grandmas and Betts. I need… I need… to call Hannah and Rose.” I stood up and turned toward the bedrooms. Dani was standing in the doorway transfixed. Her eyes were on the television and had already begun to tear. She reached for me and we sandwiched Xan between us.
I pulled them with me and we stumbled back to the master bedroom where Dani, Jen, and I had slept last night. Mom and Anna were upstairs. Xan had slept in Hannah’s old room and Betts was in the guest room. Xan thought it was wonderful to get to sleep where La Madrina slept when she ‘was little.’ I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Hannah’s number. She answered on the fourth ring.
“’Lo?” She must have been sound asleep.
“Hannah, she’s gone. Dead.”
“What? Your mother?”
“No. I’m sorry. Jessica. Turn on your TV.”
“It’s only six-thirty here. What will be on? What station?”
“It doesn’t make a difference. It will be on everywhere.” I heard the television come on and a few mumbled complaints.
“What’s going on, Brian?” Rose demanded. She’d apparently taken the phone from Hannah. I could hear the complaints turning to gasps.
“We don’t have details. We’re under attack. They… I don’t know who… flew airplanes into the World Trade Center. Both towers have crumbled. Rose, it’s where Heaven’s meeting was this morning. I was supposed to be there. I was supposed to protect her.”
“Oh my God! Look at it! We’re coming home, Brian. We’ll get packed and leave immediately.”
“Another one!” Hannah screamed. “The Pentagon.”
“I don’t know if you will be able to get a flight, Rose. I need you. The family needs you. We all need to be together.”
“If we can’t get a flight, we’ll rent a car. If we can’t rent one, we’ll buy one. Take care of our family, Brian. Take care of your mothers. Bring them home. We’ll be there soon,” Rose said.
I left the room with Xan still in my arms she was hugging me and petting my face. How could I tell her that her Tante Ciel was dead? I pounded on the guest room door where Betts was sleeping. She didn’t answer, so I just pushed the door open and went in. She was pushing herself up in bed.
“What? What’s going on? It’s early.”
“Betts, listen to me,” I said sitting on the edge of the bed and putting my arm around her. I held her and Xan immediately hugged Betts as well. “We need to be strong and help Mom and Anna. But we need to be strong for us as well. You need to call Allen and just talk to him. Someone has attacked the country. They’ve flown airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. God only knows if that’s all. We all need to call our families and then take care of Moms.”
Before I’d finished, Betts was crying and trying to dial the number on her cell phone. I carried Xan back out to meet Mom and Anna coming downstairs with Jen and Dani. We hugged each other, all of us together. In a few minutes, Betts joined us.
“Are they okay?” I asked. She nodded.
“They were just getting up and hadn’t heard yet. Allen is staying home with the kids today and making sure they’re safe. School announcements say the schools are open but it is at parents’ discretion to keep their kids at home. I need to go home. I need to be with my babies.”
“We’ll get you back home, sweetheart. That’s what Dad would want,” Mom said. My phone rang and the landline rang at the same time. Jen went to the phone in the kitchen while I answered my phone.
“Brian! Thank God you answered. No one’s cell phone is working down here. We just get messages that the lines are busy. I came over to the office to call. Courtney is calling the landline,” Samantha said. “Are you all okay?”
“We’re fine, honey. Jen just answered the landline. We’re all okay and I talked to Hannah and Rose. They are all okay. It’s a terrible time for us all to be in so many different places,” I said.
“Have you heard from Heaven?”
“No. She… She was supposed to be in the Towers this morning. I don’t know which one. I saw it, Sam. No one could live through that,” I said.
“Call her. Maybe she got out. The news says some people did get out. Courtney and I are going into the studio. Armand will meet us there. He’s always there. Rebecca will make sure we make good decisions. We’ll make sure we’ve got a broadcast of the news. I think everything else is getting pre-empted.”
“I love you, Samantha. Give my love to everyone you see. We all need to be loved right now,” I said.
“Come home, Brian. We need you.”
I tried Jessica’s cellphone and then her hotel, but I kept getting messages that the trunk lines were busy. No matter how quickly we wanted to get to Corazón, we had responsibilities. We drove Betts into Chicago when we found out all planes had been grounded. The trains were delayed, but eventually she boarded the Empire Builder westbound to Seattle.
I held my sister and kissed her. I kissed her like a brother and then I kissed her like a lover. She returned my kiss with fervor I hadn’t felt from her since Matthew was conceived. We both knew it wasn’t the sign of a love affair or of a blossoming incestuous relationship. It was simply our desperation to let our family members know how deeply they were loved. She needed to be with her family—her husband and children. But a part of her heart was with us, and some was turned to ashes at the crematorium.
We went back to Mishawaka for the night. It was hard to sleep. I rocked Xan until she was asleep in our big bed with us. Mom and Anna came downstairs and crawled in, too. We just needed to hold each other.
The world had changed.
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