Raft People 2: Floaters by M.L. Katz

Author:M.L. Katz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Permuted Press

The Dry Line

Dr. Pham spent the afternoon on a crowded bus headed for the main refugee center at the Texas Dry Line south of Dallas. He rode with a few dozen other tired and dispirited travelers. Since the bus was not crowded on this weekday run, almost everybody took a row of seats for themselves.

For the first time he realized that the package he had gotten from the jail contained his wallet and keys, but not his cell phone. He wondered how he had missed it before. Rabbi Gerson had promised to call Sally. Pete had no way to contact her himself. He considered borrowing a phone from another passenger, but he wasn’t sure he even had her number memorized. Besides, his wife was probably teaching right now, and he doubted she'd answer an unrecognized phone number anyway.

The bus stopped at the center’s main office and he stood up to disembark. He grabbed the small bag he’d stuffed a change of clothes in, patted his wallet, and moved with the line off the bus. He was pleasantly surprised to see Sally waiting for him, even if she stood there frowning with her arms folded across her chest.

“I thought you’d be at work,” he said as he planted a quick kiss on her frowning face.

“Rabbi Gerson called and asked me to meet you,” she said. “Out of respect for him, I took the afternoon off from work. All the kids have heard about you by now, and I needed a break from answering their questions anyway.” She stood for a moment, eyeing him coolly. I’m still angry with you, Pete. I’m angrier now than I was when you left. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking very much. That’s what Rabbi Gerson said, so you two are in total agreement there. If I thought about anything, I thought about Leah. After the way he portrayed Mark and Liz, I knew she wouldn’t stop until she got in a word with Captain Marx, and I had to do it for her.”

“Oh, now you’re making me feel bad,” Sally said. Tears sprang into her eyes and Dr. Pham started to feel the urge to cry again too. “You aren’t going to punch anybody else, are you?”

“Well, I hadn’t planned on it. It just happened, Sally. I can’t explain it.”

“How was the trip?” Sally nodded towards the bus.

“The trip was fine. The bus isn’t air conditioned, but they let us open the windows. Rabbi Gerson made me a nice kosher lunch to enjoy on the way. Some of the other passengers probably thought it was weird when a Vietnamese guy pulled out hummus and pita chips, a huge half-sour pickle, and a cream soda. Otherwise, I managed to make it back without attracting attention.”

“Was he very annoyed with you?”

Dr. Pham shook his head. “At first he did his duty and expressed his opinion of my impulsive and wasteful actions. But when I apologized for putting him to so much trouble, he brushed it off. He

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