The Rebel - Raleigh Ruebins Page 0,27

eyes.

“It’s fucking bad out there,” he said.

My stomach twisted. For Perry, that was rare. He was usually stony, quiet, and kept to himself in the kitchen, nothing bothering him. One time he’d come into work and only after an hour, we’d found out someone had crashed into his car on his way in. He’d shrugged it off like everything else.

If he was worried, too, it was something serious.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked him. “You look like you just saw a ghost. A ghost that told you you had to do public speaking.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Mitch asked Sam, a grin on his face.

Sam shrugged. “Public speaking is the number one thing people are afraid of,” he said. “And if you saw a ghost that made you make a speech? Pure terror.”

“I didn’t see a speech ghost,” Perry said, “but I did see what looked very much like a tornado. We should probably head into the basement.”

“What about the bar?” Mitch asked. “It’s almost time to open.”

“Nobody in their right mind is going to be out in this weather. I’m going to lock the front doors until it passes,” I said.

I pulled out my phone to shoot Liam a text.

>>Red: There are multiple tornado warnings. Drive safe and stay in the basement when you’re home, will you?

He didn’t respond. Mitch, Sam, and Perry congregated at one of the windows, opening the slats and gawking at the weather.

I couldn’t help but send Liam another message five minutes later.

>>Red: Please let me know if you're home safe?

After another few minutes, we started to hear the sound of heavier wind and rain battering the roof and windows.

“Fuck,” I said, gnawing on the inside of my cheek. “Perry’s right. We’re going to have to go down into the cellar. Let’s go, boys.”

I crossed back out to the front doors of the bar, locking them before heading back down the hallway and opening the door toward the cellar.

“I don’t care how long I’ve lived in this place, I always fucking hate this,” Sam said. “My balls are somewhere very very deep inside me right now. Maybe behind my spleen.”

He was still his usual jokey self, but I saw real fear in his eyes as the four of us headed down the stairs. I kept checking my phone every minute for a response from Liam, but there was nothing.

We shut the door behind us. There was a brief moment where things seemed more peaceful, shrouded from the noise upstairs, but soon the sound of the storm reached even down here.

It sounded violent. The sound of debris crashing onto the outside of the building came through.

“Are we going to die?” Sam asked, his eyes big.

“We’re safe down here. We’re surrounded by feet of concrete.” Perry said.

“What I’m more worried about is the bar. Those windows aren’t that sturdy,” I said. “And Liam never messaged me back.”

I had zero cell phone service down here in the cellar. There was nothing I could do to check on him, and it was beginning to eat away at me.

How could I have just let him go out into a storm like that? Why hadn’t I heard any tornado warning sirens go off?

A very loud crash and shattering sound came through from upstairs. Sam jumped and shrieked, tumbling into Perry in fear.

“It’s fine,” I said. “We’re fine. But that definitely sounded like it did some damage. Fuck.”

I was monetarily responsible for any damage that happened at the bar. Insurance might pay for some, but was very unlikely to cover anything more than vital structural repairs. I was already living paycheck-to-paycheck, and I had no idea how I could deal with a repair bill right now.

For the next ten minutes, we all huddled close, just listening to the sounds coming from upstairs. Sam began to rattle off last words, telling us he loved us and that he wanted all of us to keep his tank top collection and wear them proudly if he died.

Slowly, things began to dissipate. The howling wind started to lessen, and the rain was no longer audible from down in the cellar.

“I think it’s passed,” Perry said.

I was dying to leave. “I’m getting the fuck out of here,” I said, heading for the cellar door. “You guys stay if you want to.”

“No! What if we’re in the eye of the tornado?” Sam said.

“That’s not how that works,” Perry said.

My heart was slamming in my chest as I pushed through the heavy door. Immediately I knew something was