Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad Page A

The leader yelled to the kid with the flag and he pulled back the two-by-four. It slid off the sandbags and when there was enough space my dad hit the gas hard. The teenagers whistled and called out.
    My dad did not speak. His arm muscles were taut from gripping the steering wheel. I spoke and it startled him.
    What? he snapped.
    Nothing, I said.
    About ten minutes later he pulled over. He told me to change my shorts and I was amazed he had noticed. He fixed the tarp and inspected his guitar. His face looked angry. The vertical crease between his eyebrows cut deep into his skin and it looked like he had a scar there.
    Was that all our money?
    Almost, he said, then pulled the poker winnings from the sound hole of the guitar.
    Ha! I said.
    You hung tough, he said.
    He kissed me on the cheek.
    I love you, he said.
    I love you too, I said.
     
    Later that day we came upon another checkpoint. This time I saw only one teenager. He was in uniform like the others had been. He was tall with very dark skin and pimples. He rested something against the sandbags in the shade, and his long spine hooked like the handle of a cane. Gangly legged, he strolled to the truck. He spoke in slow Spanish. He pointed to the washing machine. My dad grumbled and pulled the receipt out of the glove compartment again. On cue the teenager said tax in perfect English. My dad pointed back from where we had come and seemed to recount the heavy tax we had already paid. The teenager looked startled. He craned his head and peered beyond the road into the jungle. Sitting in a folding chair was an older man in uniform with a toothpick in his mouth and a magazine in his hands. The boy whistled and the man tore his eyes from the magazine and shrugged his shoulders, as if bothered. The boy waved the man over.
    My dad’s eyes darted around. They landed on the sandbags. Suddenly he hit the gas. The tires squealed, then bit, and the truck lurched and charged the barricade. I ducked and heard the wood ping off the grill.
    Stay down! he yelled.
    He tucked his head between his shoulders like a pigeon and kept the pedal to the floor. I heard a loud pop.
    Stay down!
    I crouched into the leg space under the glove compartment. I felt the truck pull as we rounded a turn. The truck righted and he looked back.
    We’re clear, he said.
    Holy shit Dad!
    I wasn’t going to play that game again, he said.
    What was that noise?
    A gunshot.
    Crouched under the dash I stared at his knee thinking about a bullet puncturing his skull.
    They don’t have a car, I said. Right?
    No. They probably get picked up and dropped off.
    What about a radio?
    Maybe. But probably not.
    What if they do?
    I didn’t see one. I think we’re lookin’ good.
    I crept onto the bench seat and panted like a dog.
    Ollestad. Take it easy. We’re fine. They’re long gone.
    I looked at him and he saw the fear and disappointment in my eyes.
    I didn’t think he’d get to his rifle so fast, he said. He seemed slow.
    That was stupid, I said.
    He nodded and ran his hand through his curly brown hair. He stared out the window and his eyes were lost in the beaten blacktop. He looked regretful, sort of confused.
    I hated being put in this position—shit-in-my-pants scared. Now something worse was happening. Dad looked scared.
    What’s going to happen? I said.
    Nothing.
    What if there’s another checkpoint?
    I’ll just have to pay a bigger tax, he said with a smile.
    It’s not funny, I said.
    It was tense for a second there, he said. But we’re lookin’ golden now.
    I kept imagining the bullet tearing open the back of his head. I kept thinking about the checkpoint guards tracking us down and torturing us. The more relaxed my dad became the faster bad scenarios flooded my mind.
    I’m never going anywhere with you again, I said.
    Ah come on, Ollestad.
    I shook my head and we both stared out the windshield. That’s how it was for a long time.
     
    I heard thunder crawl over the mountains and soon afterward it