Disney Got It Wrong

Chapter 10

"Rae, we have a problem."

I rolled over on my back and pushed my hair off my face to blink blearily at the dark ceiling of my bedroom.

"Who is this?" I croaked out groggily.

"It's Karen. Look, I know it's crazy early, but we need someone at the bakery."

"Did you call Natalie?" I asked.

"She didn't answer. You know she sleeps like the dead."

"Oh my goodness. Okay. Hang on."

I kicked the covers off, once again instantly irritated over having my sleep interrupted with urgency, and sat up to fumble for the lamp switch. I heard it click, but nothing happened. I clicked it a few more times before a flash of lightening illuminated my bedroom and a low rumble of thunder followed. It was then that the sound of heavy rain registered in my slowly waking mind.

It was storming outside. The power was out.

Rubbing my puffy eyes, I moved to stand while I struggled to open them properly. I felt for the wall to guide me to the light switch by the bathroom door. I flipped it, hoping it was just a blown bulb in my lamp, but still nothing happened. I cursed under my breath and looked at my phone to check the time, just past four in the morning and my phone battery was only at twenty three percent. I cursed under my breath again.

"What's going on?" I sighed.

"We have a leak. We came in to open the bakery this morning, and there was water everywhere in the storage room."

"Great," I groaned. "Is it the spot from the tornado damage?"

"Yep, that's the one. We have a bucket under it, and we're already working on moping it all up, but some stuff in the storage room got wet. We figured one of you needed to know."

Fuck my life, dude.

A couple of years ago, a tornado tore through Tupelo. We lost a few businesses, and numerous homeowners lost everything. A few even lost their lives. Saltillo had been spared from the worst of it, but the building Double Doozie was in had suffered some minor damage to the roof that Natalie and I hadn't gotten around to having fixed yet because we hadn't had any issues. It was a spot right over the storage room, and if it was as bad as Karen had just made it out to be, we'd be taking a financial hit not just from repairs, but from our inventory as well.

I heaved a heavier sigh and flopped back down on the foot of my bed. "Yeah, you did good. Do you guys have power at the store?"

"Yeah, we're straight here. Your street still out?"

"For now, I guess. Hopefully, not for long. Give me time to make a couple of calls, and I'll be there."

"Be careful, Rae. It's rough outside."

As if to punctuate that statement, another bright flash of lightening flickered like strobe lights followed by a rumble of thunder that rattled my windows. How Natalie managed to sleep through that and her phone blowing up was beyond me. I envied the heavy sleeper.

I called my mom first and asked her if she could come help with the kids while I handled business. I felt terrible for waking her up so early to get out in bad weather despite her assurances that she didn't mind. To make things easier on her, I laid out the kids' clothes and packed Breslin's kit by cell phone light. The power came back on just before she pulled into my drive, and I thanked god for the Tombigbee power crew.

The storm was easing up a little by the time I rushed from my Tahoe into the front doors of the bakery around five o'clock, but it was still raining hard enough that I got just soggy enough down the left side of my body to be uncomfortable on my way in. An umbrella is just no match for wind driven rain.