The Day his Motor Died - 7. Chapter 7

Marty Severs never took a vacation. His wife, Lois, was constantly badgering him to go away with her to some beautiful, peaceful place. She even threatened to leave him if he didn’t. So, when she and Marty planned to drive their only daughter, Ivy, to SUNY Buffalo to start her college career, Lois went to work. She decided to plan the vacation she and Marty never had.

She booked hotels for one-night stays in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, five nights in Toronto, and a week in a charming lodge she had scoped out on Hudson Bay. Her husband had no say in the matter. Complaining that it was too long an absence from his business, he finally acquiesced to his wife’s “or else” demands. They planned on starting their drive to Buffalo on the day after Labor Day, September 3rd, and returning on September 18th.

Marty owned an import-export business, simply named, Martin Severs, Inc. His office was on the eighth floor of Tower One in The World Trade Center.

On the Thursday and Friday, before Labor Day, Marty was frantically busy delegating work to his six-man staff. The one he trusted the most, was the newest member of the group. He had begun working for him around Independence Day. Marty spent a good part of that time, assigning Doug Carey to more projects than he could possibly handle. Doug wisely knew that he would have to share some of the burden with his co-workers.

On the evening of Sept. 2, 2001, Marty removed the back seats of his Plymouth Voyager, and loaded his car with his daughter’s needful college things, and clothes for his vacation with his wife. At 5 AM the next morning, the three of them left their beautiful suburban home, and started the long car ride to Buffalo, NY.

Doug and his co-workers had no trouble running the company, and running it very well. Notwithstanding that Marty had assigned most of the work to Doug, the other men and women shared the load with him.

On Monday evening, September 10th, Doug was just leaving the office. He was setting the answering machine, when the phone rang. It was the firm’s biggest client, Nate Berger. Nate needed to see Marty about a new product he wanted imported from Taiwan. Doug explained that Marty was on vacation, but that he would be pleased to meet with him. Nate already knew Doug, and trusted him implicitly. The two men made an appointment to meet early the next morning in Nate’s office in mid-town Manhattan.

Call it providence, karma, or whatever name you can think of, but Doug and Marty were spared the carnage of the morning of 9/11/01. Doug’s five co-workers did not survive.

******

Michael Moran had just arrived at his office, and was headed for the employees’ lounge for a cup of coffee. Suddenly there was a roar in the office, and people were running helter-skelter. He was almost run over in the effort of his co-workers to turn on the television set in the lounge.

What had been chaos moments before became deadly silence as every man and woman tried to make sense of the awful thing that was happening. Michael couldn’t move if he wanted to. His eyes were glued to the TV set, and cold chills were running throughout his entire body. His head got light and he had to grab a chair to keep from falling. He did totter, and it was Barry who caught him.

“What’s the matter?” Barry asked.

“Doug’s in that building,” he cried, and Barry had to grab him again to keep him from falling.

The news report continually showed the hi-jacked plane crashing into the building, and Michael got sicker and sicker. All he could think about was his life history. Every time he got too happy, he got complacent, and his world tumbled down.

******

Nate and Doug were deep in conversation. Even if Nate had a TV set in his office, they would not have been aware until a couple of hours later of the chaos New York City was enduring. They had heard something like an explosion a few minutes ago, but neither of them paid attention.

******

Marty and Lois were seated in a small boat, slightly bigger than a canoe. They were attempting to fish. Neither knew how, but they had been given some gear and limited instructions by one of the Cree natives, who worked at the lodge. They did not learn of the terror in New York until dinner time that evening. Marty feared the absolute worst. Not only might his entire staff be dead, but his business might be gone also. They packed immediately, and started for home.

******

“I’ve got to get downtown,” Michael said. He attempted to push Barry away, but Barry held him tightly.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Barry commanded. “There’s nothing you can do except wait for news. Besides you shouldn’t be bothering first responders, and interfering with their work.”

“I know, but I have to do something.”

Just then, Joe Spenser came into the lounge. “Look,” he said, “the stock market is closed and we can’t do anything here or down at The World Trade Center, so I’m closing the office. I want you all to go home while the trains and busses are still running. I’ll call you when I know what we are going to do.”

“I can’t go home,” Michael cried. “I have to do something,” he repeated.

“Until we hear from Doug, I want you to come home with me. I won’t leave you alone,” Barry insisted.

Michael nodded in resignation. He and Barry left the building. Michael’s attaché case was on his desk, and along with a lot of papers, his cell phone was in the case also.

******

Nate invited Doug to lunch. They exited their building and were bombarded with an acrid smell of fire and decay. The air was full of ash, and the sky was nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” Doug yelled at a passerby.

The man took a moment to fill them in, and then he ran off to wherever he was headed.

“Oh my God,” Doug screamed. “Everyone will think I’m in the building. I need to make some phone calls to let them know I’m safe.”

“Sure,” Nate said. “You should do that as soon as possible. Let’s go back to my office.”

Doug’s first call was to Michael’s office. A robotic answering machine informed him that the office was closed. He then called Michael directly on his cell phone and got no answer. He left a message which would not be retrieved for a couple of days.

His next call was to his parents. They had been watching television, and slowly disintegrating into basket cases. Once they heard his voice, and he convinced them that he was all right, they relaxed, but they didn’t want to let him go. He explained that he had to reach Michael, and he hung up on them.

It finally struck him that Barry, Michael’s friend and co-worker, might know where Michael was. Unfortunately, Barry and Michael hadn’t arrived home yet. The transportation system was a mess. They couldn’t get a subway train, and decided to walk a couple of miles to Barry’s apartment. The foul, smoky air made their trip hazardous. Once again, Michael pictured himself walking on a deserted Wyoming road seeking help. When Barry didn’t answer, Doug left another message.

Finally, he tried to reach Marty. This was going to be the hardest call of all, so he saved it for last. Marty was in the same situation as Michael had once been. He was in a wilderness, and had no cell phone reception. Doug did not bother to leave a message. Nobody was returning his former messages. His best hope was that Marty would eventually call him in an optimistic prayer that he was all right.

******

Barry and Michael finally got home. Barry put Michael on his sofa, took off his shoes, and told him to rest. He hoped that George would be home soon. While he was getting Michael comfortable, Barry saw his answering machine blinking. He went to retrieve his messages. There were two of them.

The first one was from his mother asking if he had seen the news. The second message was from Doug. He told Barry that he was all right, and asked if he know where Michael was. He begged him to call him on his cell phone. Now it was Barry who started to cry and almost fainted.

“Doug’s alive,” he told Michael, but Michael was near to being comatose, and didn’t hear him.

“What did you say?”

Barry repeated. “Doug’s alive.”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“No, I swear.”

Both men broke out into heart breaking sobs, and they clung to each other.