Page 12 of Stray

There’s a knock on my door, and before I can say anything, the door opens, and Jensen sticks his head in.

“Hey Ozzy, I– what the fuck?” I panic when he sees the sheet I have up between the rooms.

“Please, don’t say anything,” I whisper as he walks into the room. His blue eyes assess me for a moment.

“We need to get down to the storm cellar.” He states slowly after a brief moment. “There’s a tornado warning.”

“W-what about Morris?” I ask as he leads me out of the room.

“We offered to move him, but he pitched a fit and told Carter and me to take Mama and go with Jackson.” I stop walking at his words and look at Morris’ closed bedroom door.

“Go to the cellar.” I open the door and slide in, locking it as Jensen pounds on it and yells at me.

“Oh, hell no.” Morris groans when we lock eyes. I give him a cheeky grin and wave with both my hands.

“Oh, you thought you were getting out that easy? Nope, if you are headed to the land of Oz, so am I. You wanna get high in the poppy fields with me?” I ask while rifling through his sock drawer and grabbing a pair before slipping them over my bare feet.

“Stealing a dying man’s socks?” he huffs as I sit in my chair.

“You ain’t dying today, old man. Give it up.” He lets out a short laugh.

“Rather the storm takes me than this shit.” He waves his shaky hand around at his monitors. I push my lips out in thought and give him a half nod.

“I get that, wanting to die on your terms.” He huffs as he looks out the window. You can barely see the field through the heavy rain and dark clouds.

“You should go on downstairs with Dorothy and the boys. You need to have a healthier fear of God’s power, girlie.”

I stare at my sock-covered feet on his mattress before looking up and giving him a half-shrug. “I’ve seen the power of man. Trust me, God has nothing on that.”

“You, my dear, are deeply damaged.” I wrinkle my nose at him and grin.

“I like to think of it as ‘extra seasoning’.” We both look up at the ceiling when we hear what sounds like part of the roof being ripped off.

“It’s about to be too late to get off this ride.” He warns, and I give him a shrug.

“Old man, you’re stuck with me until the bitter end. You ain’t flying solo.”

“Why? You got a death wish or something?” I look down at my bandaged hand.

“Or something,”

Jackson

“As soon as this storm is over,” I growl, continuing to fume on the bench in this stupid fucking storm cellar. “If she ain’t dead, I’m going to kill her.” Looking from my fidgeting mother to Jensen, I jab my finger in his direction. “And I’m kicking your ass.”

“What should I have done? Broke the door down and carried her over my shoulder?” Jensen huffs. Yes, that is precisely what he should’ve done.

“She obviously has a screw loose,” I state slowly. “Letting her stay in that house when a –”

“Enough,” Mom snaps as she glares at us. “In the last week, that girl has made your dying father show some life in his eyes, saved Leroy twice, saved you and your dogs. She decided to stay up there with your father so he doesn’t have to be alone.” Her voice cracks, and tears roll down her weathered cheeks. “I should be up there,” she whispers. “Not her, he’s my husband.” Carter and Jensen wrap Mom up in a hug as I listen to the ripping wind, praying this ends soon.

* * *

“We’re in the clear,” Carter says, looking down at his phone. Jensen walks up the steps and opens the hatch to let us out. We climb up the steps together, Carter helping Mom and Jensen carrying Rocky as we make our way back to the house. I’ll have to assess the damage tomorrow, but the house is still standing, meaning Pops and Ozzy are okay.

Once inside, I follow Mom up the stairs because, for whatever reason, I need to actually see that Ozzy is alright, or I won’t be able to relax. Mom gives me a warning look before turning the knob on the door, it’s locked.

“Hold on!” Ozzy calls from the other side. She unlocks the door and smiles brightly at us. “Hell of a night, am I right?”

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