Going Home by Angery American Page B

you out with that.” Dale reached in his pocket and took out a little pad. He made some notes on it and handed it to Jessica. “This’ll get you to Walmart; everything has been stockpiled there. Go to the registration tent and give ’em this; they’ll give you what you need.” He smiled as he handed her the slip of paper. She took it and looked it and gave him a little smile.
    “Could I ask for something else I just thought of, maybe a sleeping bag and tarp?” She was giving him a look that only a girl can, and I knew it was gonna work. His reaching out and taking the slip back as he clicked his pen proved me right.
    “Yer pushin’ yer luck, girl.” He smiled as he scribbled on the paper and handed it back with a smile. “Morgan, you take care of her and get her home, okay?” I nodded at him. He gave a word to the men behind him, and they let us through. This little girl is pretty sharp , I thought.
    After we cleared the barricade, I had to ask, “What’s that all about?” gesturing over my shoulder.
    “Dale was one of the cops that came out to the rest area on the run. He was sweet on me. He always brought me something extra. He’s nice.” She smiled and looked at me with a squint.
    “Whatever works. Got you a sleeping bag and canteen of some sort,” I said.
    “And some food,” she added.
    Walmart was off Jefferson Street in Perry. It took us a little over an hour to walk down there. Along the way, there was a lot of activity; a lot was going on in this little town. These folks seemed to have their shit together already. When we got to Walmart, I was shocked at what I saw. A number of tents were set up, and stuff was stacked everywhere. The fire department had a station set up; a couple of churches had tents, and there was even a vet. The vet made sense, as there were a number of people on horses. We found the registration tent, and Jessica walked up and handed the slip of paper to a young woman sitting there at a folding table.
    She greeted us with, “How y’all doin’?”
    “Good, thanks. Dale gave me this and told me to bring it here,” Jessica replied.
    The lady looked the slip over. “Okay, give me a second here, and we’ll get you guys fixed up.” She turned to a young man and started giving him instructions. He took off on an ATV. “You guys need something to eat?”
    “We could use a little something if it isn’t a problem,” Jessica replied.
    The woman pointed down the line of tents, “There is a large white tent down there on the left. They are feeding everyone there. Just go on in and get’cha some lunch. When you get back, your stuff’ll be here.” With that, she smiled and turned to talk to some people behind her.
    “Ma’am, is there a place to fill our water bottles?” I asked.
    “Oh, sure, over toward the entrance to the store is a water tank. Go over there, and you can fill up.” She just seemed too damn cheery, considering all that was going on.
    “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She smiled again, and we walked off.
    “Let’s go get some food, if they’re willing to feed us, let’s take advantage of it.” I motioned down the row of tents.
    “Sounds good to me. I’m starving.” Jessica patted her stomach.
    We found the mess tent by following our noses! It smelled wonderful. I haven’t exactly gone hungry yet, but even I can’t resist good barbecue. The tent had a huge smoker out back and a large stack of wood, oak from the looks of it. The smell was truly incredible; inside the tent a series of long tables with trays of food was set up. They actually had people serving the food! We loaded our plates with barbecued pork, beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and a couple of slices of bread. At the end of the line, several five-gallon water kegs were set out. Some were water, or punches of some kind, but two had sweet tea—God bless these people. I love sweet tea! It’s like crack to me. I filled my cup with tea, and we looked for an open spot to sit amongst the