One Came Running

 Chapter 5    

Casualties of War 

 

The morning broke nice and clear, not a cloud in the sky.  The temperature would remain in the 70’s with very little humidity.  It would be a perfect Indian summer day.   Teddy left at his usual time, got to the office at his usual time.  Had his book out on his desk as none of the Managers would be in for a while.  He had a nice big cup of coffee on his desk, when he heard it. 

It was an explosion, loud and rumbling.  Teddy could tell it was coming from the Trade Towers.  His first thought was the terrorists were back.  A small group of them had tried to bring down one of the Trade Towers by planting a car bomb in one of Tower’s parking lots a few years back. 

It was almost comical as all they managed to do was blow a hole in the floor of the parking lot.  It had no effect on the building.  Teddy hadn’t even heard the explosion that time.  He was in a different building not near the Trade Towers. 

So, Teddy figured he’d wait to hear what was going on.  But then phones started ringing.  It was early 8:48, so there weren’t too many people there.  But those who picked up were getting frantic phone calls from their families.  Something about an airplane going into the Trade Towers. 

Teddy decided to go downstairs and when he got there, he saw Rene in the front of the building with his arms spread wide and shocked look on his face. 

Teddy asked.  “What happened?” 

Rene shook his head and said.  “An airplane just crashed into the Trade Towers.  I saw it.” 

Teddy turned and looked up.  He could see black smoke billowing out of the building.  He figured somebody flying a small plane had just lost their way.  Small planes were not allowed to fly over Manhattan.  Probably not terrorists after all. 

As the smoke kept billowing out, Teddy wondered why hadn’t the sprinklers turned on?  Why was it still burning? 

Teddy went back upstairs.  The phones were ringing off the hooks.  Teddy’s phone wasn’t so he dialed his home number.  There was no answer.  But then she would be on her way right now.  He tried her cell phone, but it didn’t connect.  That was the bad thing with those phones.  They didn’t always have service. 

Teddy knew he could get a better look if he went to the big conference room on their floor as he would be higher up.  Not quite on par with the Towers but high up enough that you could clearly see the buildings. 

When he got there the windows were already ringed with other employees none of whom could believe what they were seeing.  It wasn’t just the black smoke but the amount of it.  This was a roaring fire.  Teddy knew by the extent of it that the sprinklers just weren’t going to have much effect. 

Then everyone by the windows gasped.  Teddy didn’t see it at first but then he saw a man, falling or jumping out of the building.  Teddy tried to tell himself it was furniture, but the man’s arms and legs were flailing in the air.  Teddy could see him falling, falling, failing till he was out of sight.  Teddy turned his head away as he began to see other people jumping or being blown out of the building.  And Teddy knew instinctively that he would see that man falling, for the rest of his life. 

Then someone to Teddy’s left screamed.  Teddy turned and saw it.  It was big and moving fast.  It turned slightly and the way the sun hit it, it looked all black with wings and Teddy thought it was a huge, guided missile. as it flew right into the south Tower.  There was a huge, massive black and red cloud that was expanding and coming right for their windows. 

Teddy had a moment of sheer terror, and he yelled.  “Get away from the windows!”  But then the black and red cloud stopped expanding and began receding quickly.  In the next moment Teddy turned into a block of ice.  He felt nothing.  He didn’t even hear the explosion.  If anyone had asked him what had just happened, he would have said a guided missile went into the south Trade Tower and it didn’t make a sound. 

Teddy hadn’t realized Nick was in the room.  He must have just gotten to the office, but he saw him run right by.  Nick’s wife worked in that building, the south Tower. 

Teddy went back to his phone and dialed both numbers again, no answer.  Teddy knew he should be anxious, scared out of his mind with worry over Livi.  He realized he probably was, but he felt nothing.  He was numb. 

Teddy walked over to Fulton Street and waited between the two exits Livi would come out of after she took the 4 or 5 train. 

Across the street he could see Nick at the foot of City Hall Park with his cell phone in hand.  He was texting furiously.  

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Chapter 1 continued

Teddy sat back at his desk.  He could go back to his book about the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor.  It was quite an interesting take on the attack.  All his life Teddy had read history books or watched documentaries that told how it was this great victory for the Japanese and this horrible defeat for America.  But this guy’s take showed how the Japanese had sunk 4 Battleships, one Mine Sweeper and damaged another 12.  The ships that hadn’t been sunk were all repaired and back out to sea in a manner of weeks.  The Aircraft Carriers that they needed to cripple weren’t even there.  They were all out to sea.  So, the whole attack was an unmitigated disaster for Japan.  Which was kind of astonishing to Teddy Green. 

The other fact that hardly got any mention in the other books he’d read was why December 7th?  Why not November or even January 1942?  The American embargo on their oil, meant that Japan was going to run out of oil by the end of 1941.  Their whole modern industrialized economy was going to come screeching to a halt.  They were about to go dead broke. 

He thought about that for a moment.  It was all about the oil or the lack thereof.  Or the wealth that the oil let their economy, and everyone else’s economy produce.  He wondered for a moment if all wars weren’t fought over that.  Not oil but what it let a country produce, its wealth.  Had all wars been fought over that, wealth?  If the British hadn’t tried to collect taxes would the Colonies have ever started The Revolution?  And if some guy had figured out a cheaper way to pick cotton and tobacco than using slaves, would there have been The Civil War? 

Food for thought but then he was just a clerk in a Housing Agency, and he hadn’t even been a history major.  No, his Major had been English.  So, what did he know? 

There was only one other thing to do.  He opened his lower drawer and took out the instant coffee and the powdered creamer.  He didn’t want coffee and if he did, he would go downstairs to the coffee stand, not drink this crappy concoction.  He had no idea of drinking it, so he just spooned in enough of the coffee and the creamer to make a half a cup. 

No, he’d make a coffee because there was only one water fountain on this floor that had a hot waterspout.  So, he made his way over to it.  It was on the east side of the building where the offices looked out on the beautiful span of the Brooklyn Bridge.  In fact, this row was so good that their Assistant Commissioner had her office at the far corner of that row.  The closer you were to the Assistant Commissioner’s office indicated how important you were to this Division. 

The hot waterspout was diagonally across from one particular office that was seven offices away from the Commissioner.  But its nearness to the Assistant Commissioner’s office didn’t matter to Teddy Green.  What was important about this office was that its occupant was the very beautiful, no more than beautiful, the stunning Marie Livette Henri.  She was five foot eight inches tall, and she weighed 130 pounds, and she had curves in all the right places.  She had the most beautiful coffee, colored skin tone anyone could ever wish for.  Even though she was forty-eight years old, she still hardly even needed any makeup.  Her hair was naturally just slightly curly, light brown and hung down to her shoulders.  She was Haitian so she was always impeccably dressed.  And, she had that slight French accent which also got men all steamed up.  And, if Teddy could just catch a glimpse of her, it would make his last hour livable. 

Of course, he did not want her to catch him gawking.  That was not a good idea.  So, he kept his head down as he let the hot water run into his cup.  Her door was open, and he just gave a quick look, a glance, a peek really.  He could see some guy go rushing in the door like he had something important to talk to her about.  But Teddy knew better.  Men were always doing that.  Going into her office over one pretense or another.  Like Honeybees drawn to a beautiful flower, hoping.  When a man was foolish to actually ask her to go to lunch, she would just hold up her left hand with the wedding ring on it. 

But then the men wouldn’t really mind when she said no.  They just wanted to be in the presence of a beautiful, stunning, impeccably dressed woman.  Even though they got shot down, they went out more intoxicated than when they went in.  It was the Honeybees and the flower thing.  Teddy couldn’t blame them he’d done the same thing himself. 

Of course, Teddy knew she wasn’t married.  She’d been divorced for years.  She only kept the ring on so she could turn men down gently. 

But he did catch a glimpse of her.  The side of her head, the curve of her neck and her light brown hair falling gently on her shoulders. 

When Teddy got back to his desk, he sighed as he sat down.  The only difference between him and the other Honeybees was that at a little before four o’clock, just when he was getting ready to leave, the phone on his desk would ring.  He’d pick it up and on the other end would be the slight French accent and the voice of the beautiful, stunning Maire Livette Henri.  Then they would figure out if they were going to get some kind of takeout or if one of them, usually him because he would be home first, was going to cook something for dinner. 

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