Anyone, but you

November 3rd, 1988

Bayocean, OR

Giant eyes. Black sky behind them. The glittering of stars behind the tree are relatively unobstructed. Not much around. The eyes turn sharply downward. Lights swipe past, illuminating our subject. An owl sitting at the uppermost branch of a swaying tree. The whole tree is gyrating to a violent breeze.

The car pulls up to a space a couple dozen feet away from a massive house. A raven haired beauty in teal scrubs exits her blue Volkswagen Beetle with an angry face. To her, the violent winds aren’t much more than a representation of how she feels on the inside. She’s angry because the man she could see herself with is moving away, and intent on taking this next step in his life without her. The man she uses to satisfy her needs is getting too serious. And there’s a weirdo who’s making her feel uncomfortable. The typical problems of a beautiful woman in a society structured around a perceived scarcity. Mainly the scarcity of time. The first, not wanting to commit because of it; and the second, is desperately certain he’s in love for what she suspects are the same reasons.

She spots the latter’s motorcycle in the parking lot. She hates this stress, and can’t wait until she graduates so she can start a new job at the hospital and stay far away from this place. She enters the large two story home. The large space is usually filled with geriatrics all around the common area and dining room. Today, only three of them are enjoying their dinner at a table in the middle of the empty room. She greets the three residents as she heads towards the employee’s office.

The three glance at the TV in the corner of the dining room. The nightly news’s top story: “1,000 year storm”. Images of cataclysmic winds and high waves pulverizing the Oregon coastline. You can hear the howling wind outside. The windows flexing and fighting off the constant attack.

Back at the employee’s office, we hear a woman say “Hi, Kylie!” A boy with glasses turns, trying to control his emotions. He also greets her, him with a less cheerful “Hey.” Stifling his urge to put his hands on her hips and pull her close. He could already taste her neck on his lips. But he can’t do that anymore.  Not that he ever could at work.  At least not with people around. “It’s crazy out there, huh?!” Kylie asks the upbeat coworker. The coworker’s face gets very animated as she gasps and shares grave news as if it’s gossip. “Yeah! The sheriff says if  he shows up again tonight, it’ll probably to tell us we have to evacuate! Luckily,  most of the families already came to pick up their relatives.  All you have are those three.” She makes a sad face to make her pity obvious, then glances at the boy, Billy, sulking in the corner. Suddenly sensing the the tension in the room, her eyes grow wide and she smiles. “Well,”… She sighs and walks to the doorway. “Good luck, remember, the keys for the van are in the visor. If you need anything, call me. You have my number?” Kylie nods, and pats her purse. The two hug and the coworker finally gives her and Billy some privacy. Kylie approaches him. He looks into her beautiful brown eyes. “Hi. Sarah told me you called. Sorry I couldn’t come to the phone. I was so tired, I passed out right after class.” Kylie’s subtly insincere apology is met with an equally subtle look of incredulity from Billy. Insincere because they both know her excuse is fictitious. That she was with “him”. “Sarah told me.” He let’s the statement hang there. Sarah did corroborate her story. But he wanted to see the little bit of panic that the ambiguity would enduce.

The sound of a crash in the dining room snaps the tension.

One of the three old men has fallen out of their chair. Kylie is immediately kneeling over him. The old man’s thin, elderly skin has lacerated. The outer part of the left forearm. Pinched during the fall by the arm rest of the chair and the floor. One of the old men is missing. Billy runs up with the necessary equipment. The first aid kit, a stethoscope scope, and a blood pressure cuff. They help the old man sit up.

A lightning strike directs Billy to look up through the window. His eyes grow as big as pies as he sees the missing geriatric wandering around in the parking lot. His corduroy pants and jacket violently whipping in the wind as he struggles to keep his balance. Billy bolts before bodily harm befalls old Bob.

“What happened, George?” Asks Kylie.

“I fell head over heels for you.”

Kylie laughs. “Oh, it’s my fault?!“

“It’s your beauty.”

“Well, I still feel bad. You’re going to have a scar because of me.”

George takes no time to return something poetically cheesy. “Every scar is just a part of a map of my life. This one just means I survived being in love with you.”

Kylie smiles.

Billy fights the wind and rain as he reaches Bob who’s holding himself up with the transport van’s side mirror.

A small black pickup truck pulls into the lot and stops the truck beside Billy and Bob. A portly middle aged man runs up to lend a hand.

Kylie is in the kitchen filling a glass with water. She delivers the glass of water and a pain reliever to George, who is now relaxing on a recliner with his antique cane beside him. We haven’t been introduced to Tom, the quiet one in our trio of seniors who now sits on the love seat beside George’s recliner. Billy returns with Bob and the helpful stranger in tow. He helps Bob sit on the love seat beside Tom.

The stranger stares at Kylie, who is avoiding his gaze. “Do you need help getting these guys in the van?” Billy senses that Kylie is in distress. “No. The sheriff said he would let us know if that was necessary.”  The stranger is glancing over at Kylie while he responds. “I think he’s either on his way or just forgot. Half the town is already in the ocean.” Billy again looks at how scared Kylie is. “I think we’ll just wait for the sheriff.” The stranger sighs. “Alright.” He starts to approach Kylie. “Hey, Kylie, can I… ” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. Kylie snaps at him. “You need to stop! You’re making me me really fucking uncomfortable!”

Billy steps in front of him. The stranger is heartbroken, but quickly cracks a smile by Bill’s attempt to intimidate. Bill can see that the grown man is only amused by him. He humors Bill and lifts his hands up to signal his retreat and walks out of the house.

Kylie goes into the employee’s office. Billy chases.

George, Tom, and Bob are reunited. This time relaxing in the common area. A lightning strike draws their attention back to the storm outside. The wind and rain has picked up. “You ready to meet the big man, George?” Bob lessens the severity of the question with a smirk. “There is no big man, Bob.” Tom quickly cuts the conversation off. “Don’t get him started, George!”

George indgnantly snaps back. “I think right now is the perfect time to have this conversation!”

Tom backs down. “I just know that we’re not beating the lawyer in a debate. That’s it.”

“Yeah. But he’s also a navy man. And there’s no atheist in fox holes.”

Bob shows off his dry wit. “Yeah, well, luckily we were on water.”

They laugh.

Tom’s curiosity gets the better of him. “Did you believe in God when you were in the navy?”

“Yeah.” Bob stops there. “What happened?” Tom asks, now with a hint of desperation. Hoping something in Bob’s elaboration can help him save Bob’s soul.

“There was always a doubt. But in law school, my college roommate asked me to look at the question like a lawyer. Say your defendant is Abraham, and he claims that God commanded him to prove his faith by sacrificing his son. How can you prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that what he’s saying is true?”

Tom replies with one word. “Faith.”

“That’s what I said. But then he asked, what if that wasn’t good enough? And nothing changes besides Abraham’s destination in the afterlife? He goes to prison for the rest of his life and you live the rest of your life never knowing wether this man was commanded by God to kill his child, or was merely psychotic. And the rest of the world has no doubt. They know that this man is evil. Why would God allow this? That’s the world we live in. A world where God allows an infinite amount of collateral damage, simply to test one’s faith.”

—

Billy is quietly standing at the doorway of the employee’s office. Kylie is filling out paperwork in a binder. She stands up and marches to the medicine drawer. “I can’t right now.” She snaps as she pulls out pill bottles. Billy puts his hands up, signaling he’s going to leave it alone. She slams the drawer shut. “Why? Why me, huh?” Billy thinks about it for second and smiles. “You don’t believe in love at first sight?” Kylie scoffs. “Look, I don’t know what I want.” Billy thinks about that statement. He knows what that means. “I think that’s just another way of saying “it’s not you, it’s me.” She grabs the medicine and steps in front of the doorway. Simultaneously signaling him to step aside and that the conversation over.

The trio is still conversing. Bob has been contemplating George’s answer and introduces his philosophy to the conversation.

“You know, everything in the universe is made up of these infinitesimaly small particles that lock together into bigger and bigger things. These things don’t only fit together, they are reducing to something that ends with us. Out all of the things that could’ve been or not been, we are here; contemplating things bigger than ourselves.”

Kylie interupts the conversation to hand out their medication. “There she is! The love of my life.” George looks at her beautiful face with the cheesiest smile.

A boom of thunder reminds them of the storm that rages on outside.

Headlights swipe accross the parking lot. Billy spots them from the kitchen. “It’s probably the sheriff. I’ll …“

Kylie recognizes the headlights. “No. I’ll go.” Sets the cups down on the carpet and jogs out of the door. Billy can’t believe it. It’ “him”. The man who has everything. Who’s living his dream and achieved it with no effort. Someone who is simply better than he is. For a moment, his hurt was so overwhelming that he couldn’t hear the fire alarm and our lovable trio informing him of the burning toast in the toaster directly behind him.

Kylie runs back in. “Hey! Rodney says that most of the town is in the ocean! The sheriff forgot about us! Come on let’s get these guys in the van! All of the old mean yell out “No!” In unison. “We’ll wait for the sheriff.” Bob anounces with an apprehensive authority. “He’s not comi…”

Billy interupts. “Why don’t you go. I got them. I’ll park the van in front of the door. It should block the wind.” He grasped the opportunity to get her away from him. He is on a ledge. His heart is in pieces and doesn’t know how much longer he can hold it together. Kylie doesn’t take long to think about it. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You go ahead.” He says, choking back the tears. “No. Come on, let’s get…” George pipes in with, “You go ahead and get outta here, sweetheart.”

She looks around the room. She quickly runs to the office and comes back out with her purse and hugs Billy. “You get them outta here.”

“Yeah.”

She runs out of the door.

They all silently watch the hedlights through the windows. Another set of headlights turn on. Both cars speed away.

“I’m going to get the van.”

Billy runs into the office and runs out with a flashlight. Bob takes this opportunity to reason with someone. “You go ahead without us, kid.”

Billy looks back confused as he runs towards the door. “What are you talking about?”

Billy runs out into nature’s fury. The flashlight shining through droplets of rain the size of jumbo grapes. A set of headlights appear at the end of the street. Is it her? Did she change her mind? The car reaches the parking lot. The deputy sheriff jumps out of the squad car.

“You gotta get outta here!”

“Okay!” Bob yells back with a thumbs up.

The sheriff jumps back in the car and leaves.

Billy jumps into the van and looks under the visor. There’s nothing there. He looks in the keyhole, in the glove compartment, the center console, and under the mat.

He comes back into the house. The lights have gone out. He runs into the office and picks up the phone, the line is dead.

“Just get out of here, Kid. We’ll be okay.” Bob is now standing and pleading.

Billy looks outside at his motorcylcle. How far will he make it in this rain? Can he be back in time with help?

He points the flashlight at the three old men in the dark. “We want to stay, really.”

George spots the keys to the van at Bob’s feet. They must’ve fallen out of his pocket. He uses his cane to gently swipe them under his recliner as Billy walks away.

He walks to the kitchen and takes out a couple of lanterns from a cupboard. He places them around the common area and takes a seat with the old men.

George puts a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Bill, you better get out of here. We’ll be okay.” Billy pulls out a deck of cards. “Hey, Bill.” Billy looks at Gerorge. The face communicates his determination to stay.  “I’ve got a bottle of whisky in my room. Can you go and get that for us?”

“You’re not supposed to have that, George” Billy says with a smile. The four share a laugh.

He brings the bottle into the kitchen and grabs four cups. He fills the four cups half way and takes them and the bottle to the group.

Tom takes a sip of whiskey and thinks of something. “What’s the first thing you’re going to say if you meet God, Bill?”

Bill thinks for a moment. “Which God?”

“The Christian God.” Tom elaborates.

Bill cracks a smile. “The same thing the love of my life told me, “Anyone, but you.”