Lilly September 2011
"Mom, are you still coming to pick me up early today?"
"Yes. I should be there around lunch. Then we will go to the airport. Are you excited to go see your grandparents and Tia?"
"Yeah. I just wish dad was going with us."
"So does he. Work just has him too busy at the moment."
I bend down and kiss Usnavi on the top of his head. "I love you son. I will see you in a few hours."
"Love you too Mom."
Half an hour later, I make it to Luis's work. After dropping Usnavi off at school, I decided to stop and get him breakfast before we leave for the week.
"Lilly, Love, what are you doing here?" He asks, kissing me as I walk in his office.
"I want to bring you breakfast before we are gone for the week."
"I'm sorry I can't come."
"I know Luis. I understand. You will come on the next trip. Let's enjoy a breakfast. I know you didn't eat. That is, if you have time."
Luis smiles at me. "I have just enough time."
We enjoying our breakfast when we hear what sounds like an explosion.
"What was that!?"
"I have no idea."
We look out the window but don't see anything.
"There are no alarms or anything going off.
We walk out of his office, to the other side and see a sight that makes my blood run cold. The other tower has smoke billowing out of its side and a large hole is in the side of the building.
"Oh god!"
I look over at Luis. He is pale as a ghost. Luis is terrified of fires. He nearly died in a house fire when he was five. His dad never made it out of the building and his mom was severely burned. Luis suffered third degree burns on his legs.
"Luis, look at me. Everything is fine. The fire is in the other tower. We will just evacuate."
Before I can get him to move, the office manager speaks up.
"Everyone, I was just on the phone with the fire department. They want us to stay put. All the people in the other tower will be evacuating and they need us to stay put. After they get people cleared from the other tower, they will let us know it is clear to leave."
Not liking the decision, but deciding to trust the firefighters, I guide Luis back to his office. When I close the door of his office, he finally relaxes a little.
"Luis, everything will be fine."
He nods and I wrap my arm around him. I kiss his cheek and hold him close.
A little after nine, I hear the roar of a plane. It is so close, I think I can see someone in a window of the plane. To my horror, I realize it if flying right at us. There is another explosion and we are knocked to the floor. The building rumbles and sways. The windows in Luis's office shatter and we both scream.
"Luis! Are you okay?" I scream when I can get my voice back.
Luis is curled up in a fetal position in the middle of his office.
"Luis! We have to get out of here!"
It takes me ten minutes to get him to snap out of his panic attack.
"LUIS! We need to go! Our son need us. We we stay here, we will die! I refuse to leave you. Please! I don't want out son to be orphaned again!"
He nods and stands up. We run out of his office and it is mostly empty.
"Wait! Where is Daniella? Was she here today?"
"No! She is in LA on a business trip."
I nod and grab his hand. I can still feel him trembling but he follows.
We get to the stairs and am hit by a strong chemical sent. There are also dozens of people coming from above us and I can hear there are hundreds of people below us.
We start running down the stairs and it takes us close to thirty minutes before we get to the lobby. On our way down, we passed firefighters working their way up the stairs.
We get outside and we are both out of breath. By this point, Luis has come back to himself and is now leading me.
"Lilly, we need to get as far from these towers as possible."
I am still woozy from being in the stair well. What finally gets me moving is when I hear an indescribable sound. I look over and see someone lying on the ground. I realize the person is the sound I just heard. I assume it is a man, but it is hard to tell. It is a sight that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.
Luis and I start walking away from the scene. We get about five blocks when we hear a rumble behind us. We turn around and see a white cloud coming towards us. There is nowhere to run and hide. Instead, we crouch and cling to each other as the cloud envelopes us.
"Just hang on Lilly. It should clear soon." Luis coughs out."
When the cloud eventually clears, we are both covered in white dust.
"Are you okay Love?" He ask, holding my face.
I struggle to catch my breath but nod. "What happened?"
"I think one of the towers collapsed, at least, part of it. I only see one tower standing now," Luis says, emotion taking over his voice. I turn around and see it. My heart breaks as I realize the building we where just in is gone. I remember the firefighters we passed heading up the tower.
"My son! We need to get to Usnavi. I need to see my baby. He... he is going to be so worried for you."
"Okay, let's go get him."
It takes us half an hour to get to our son's school. We live on the upper east side. Thankfully, Usnavi was not likely to see what happened. During our walk, we are enveloped in another cloud. We were further away, so it wasn't as bad. As we walk into the school, the secretary and principal are shocked to see us.
"Luis, Lilly, are you guys okay?" She asks, handing us a towel. I wipe my face.
"We are here for our son please. We are here to pick up Usnavi Luis Mendoza Delavega."
"Of course."
Luis wraps his arm around me while we wait. Five minutes later, Usnavi walks in the office. At first, when he sees us, he doesn't seem to recognize us.
"Mom? Dad?"
"Navi! Come here baby." I say, crying when I finally see my little boy. He runs to me and jumps in my arms. When he is safe in my arms, I break down into sobs. Luis wraps his arms around us and holds us close.
"We are safe. We are all safe and we are all together. That is all that matters to me at the moment. My family is safe."
When we get home, Luis has Usnavi go back to his room to play. He has so many questions but we tell him we will answer them later. Luis then takes me into the bathroom, undresses me, and has me get into the shower.
"No! Don't leave me." I say on the verge of tears. He nods, undresses, and joins me. He holds me close and washes my hair. We are both shaking but feel safer in each other's arms. That night, we all sleep together in our bed. We hold each other close and thank god that we are all alive and we are all safe.
Lilly October 2002
It has been over a year since the attacks. It took a while for us heal. We both had pneumonia half a dozen times. I also have developed asthma. The doctor says it is caused by the smoke cloud we were in.
Three months after, we moved to Washington Heights to run the bodega. Luis has struggled to find a job. There are so many people looking for jobs since the attacks. We could no longer afford our apartment and the bodega has an empty apartment. It is one bedroom, but we have made it work. Usnavi's room is in the living room, but we know it is temporary.
Usnavi was heart broken to leave his old home and school. He no longer goes to school with Vanessa.
I am closing the store when Luis runs in all excited.
"Luis, Amor, what has you so excited?" I laugh.
"Daniella called me today. She is opening a new office here in Washington Heights. She wants me to come and work as her CFO."
"Really! Luis! That's great."
"I will finally be able to afford to get us back into a proper home again. The best part, the office is in a building that only has ten stories. My office is going to be on the second floor. "
I wrap him in my arms and kiss him deeply. "I am so proud of you."
"Usnavi will be so happy. Vanessa will be going to the same charter school as Usnavi again."
"Oh! I can't wait to tell him."
"How about we go home and celebrate before the kid gets home?"
"We only have an hour."
"That is all I need."
He sweeps me off my feet and I laugh. I kiss him so passionately, I need my inhaler.
