We had reached the end of the normally productive spring season for vegetable crops and faced a long dry time where the green grass that grew so quickly in the spring had matured and dried to a golden brown. The fruit and nut trees had blossomed and started their annual round of drawing water from deep underground to hang heavy with their bounty to a late summer and early fall harvest.

But much of the greenery that heralded the beauty of the wealthier part of Los Angeles was heavily irrigated from reservoirs as far away as Northern California. Those reservoirs, due to the changing weather, were either overflowing in years when the Sierras got too much rain and snow or near empty when periods of drought struck with resulting wildfires burning the declining bone-dry forests, grass and chaparral.

Already, we were in a period of drought, and I feared we would suffer if we didn't come up with a way to provide us with water through this summer and beyond. On our forays along the interstates, I had seen the usually green vines covering the banks turning yellow and brown from not getting their usual irrigation. I feared many of the fruit and nut trees in the city we possibly could exploit would die by the end of this summer unless they were firmly rooted to survive drought without irrigation.

At least, Grandpa Ralph had a deep well into the aquifer powered by a combination of a windmill and solar panels our family had provided him in 2010. But much of Los Angeles and the surrounding communities had been dependent on annual water from the Sierras. As parts of that system failed, water to those communities would fail. It was happening already wherever we went and landscapes were rapidly drying up.

These thoughts ran through my mind as I rounded up Gary Hastings, Viktor Sarnoff and his son, Peter. We set off, fully armed, for Southern California Steel and Tank. Where Gary assured me we could get everything for a water tower and plumbing pipe to re-pipe our neighborhood. Viktor assured me he could weld any kind of metal and knew of epoxies that could be used to seal joints. I was glad to have them aboard. Expertise was invaluable. I was willing to try to do anything, but some things were beyond my skills.

Once again, there were still fires and smoke in the air. The landscape from the freeway looked bleaker than before in every direction. The stench of death still prominent in places. I was wondering how many were dying out there from lack of food and water. I wanted to do something about it, but didn't have time right now with our urgent need for water in the neighborhood.

We left the freeway and took a boulevard to our destination when I spotted a small boy in the shade on a street corner, alone. We pulled up and Peter yelled, "Hello, can we help you?"

The boy was frail, lethargic and very skinny. Didn't answer. All he could do was wave weakly at us. We left my truck and approached him. His lips were parched and he could barely speak. Looked to be about 9 or 10.

Approaching with my thermos water bottle, I asked him, "What's your name?"

He struggled, and with a raspy throat muttered, "Jerry."

I gave Jerry some water. A moment later, he threw it up. I gave him some more, slowly, and gradually, he started to come out of the trance he had been in sitting under that awning.

I asked him, "Why are you sitting here and not home with your parents?"

"I was waiting for the bus."

"There aren't any buses running."

"My mother told me to take the bus to Auntie Gloria."

"Where?"

"San Diego, I think. We went there a couple of times. I think I can find it."

"Why would your mother tell you to go alone with no luggage?"

"It was the last thing she said before she stopped talking with her eyes open and I didn't know what to do because she wouldn't wake up. So I came here yesterday, waiting for the bus. Will you take me to San Diego?"

"What about your father, your sisters and brothers?"

"I don't have a father. And Mama told me they were dead and not to look."

By that time, I understood. Jerry was so weak he couldn't walk, so I carried him to the truck and we took a few minutes to keep hydrating him and gave him an energy bar he began eating so fast he ended up choking. We slowed him down and he finished the bar.

When I discovered we were losing time on our mission. I drove off with Gary keeping Jerry hydrated in the backseat, and on through the streets to our destination.

Suddenly, there was a loud, crack! on my driver's side door. I didn't feel anything but looked down and saw blood on my left leg and a bullet sticking out of my jeans, blossoming from faded blue to red. I made an emergency stop to the side of the street.

Ever alert, the guys got out behind the truck and pumped automatic fire in the direction they thought the bullet came from. I yelled, "Stop shooting unless you have a target! Stop wasting bullets!"

No one could tell me where the shot came from. There were no more shots as we huddled behind the truck, looking for a glint of sun off a gun barrel or movement. Nothing, just silence.

Fortunately, the bullet came out easily. I simply pulled it out when we had our first aid kit open. While a bandage stopped the bleeding, I would have to get it properly dressed later. I was really lucky the bullet passed through our company sign, the steel of the door and the inner door as well as the plastic and fabric door covering. It had slowed the bullet so it only punctured my leg muscle. But didn't cause any serious damage that would have really delayed our mission. The wound hurt a bit, but I could use my leg without any more pain.

Continuing to be watchful and worried we might get ambushed, we arrived at the yard and were relieved when we saw the padlock on the main gate hadn't been cut or broken. Dad had taught me how to pick padlocks like that rather than cut them off with bolt cutters. After about two for three minutes of working on the pins, it opened and I left it to lock again when we left.

Jerry was doing much better. Even getting a bit talkative. He told us he was 11 and was even a little bit fat when he got sick at school and came home to his mother. He kept asking us if we were going to San Diego and Gary assured him we probably would, "Later, but for right now we were going to take you home with us. Okay?"

"Okay. Can we stop at McJohnny's on the way there? I want a McSmoothie with chocolate cookie bits." He remained a bit confused and a lot dehydrated. I hoped the best for him, not sure he'd make it.

The food soon made Jerry sleepy and he was fast asleep in the truck while we worked. The yard was huge. Soon, we located a water tank the size we wanted and it included a tower already built, 30 feet tall, stored alongside. The tank plus the tower would reach 50 feet, providing adequate water pressure for us. We could get the tank on our trailer, but the tower was too big. Fortunately, there was a flatbed truck in the yard with adequate space for the tower and two more tanks we would add to our cistern system.

Best of all, there was a brand-new fuel cell milk truck with a gleaming stainless steel tank covered with near transparent solar skin sitting there to be delivered somewhere, but going nowhere. I picked the lock on the office. We went inside and found the key fobs to both trucks. We also found copies of keys to all of the locks. Even the front gate padlock. So I wouldn't have to take any more locks, thank goodness.

I quickly wrote a note with an inventory of what we took and that we would find a way to pay for it all to the owners. I placed the note in a prominent place on a desk where it would be found if anyone came back. We left the office to begin the hard work ahead.

Fortunately, the flatbed truck had a hoist that made it easy to lift and place the two tanks and the tower on the flatbed. Getting the tower tank on our trailer required using a forklift we didn't have at home. I figured we would just use a lot of manpower and hope no one got pinched, rolled on, or crushed. We would use the truck hoist and the same manpower to lift the tower and tank into place since the planned location would not accommodate anything other than a come-along.

After we loaded everything on the trucks, we had to do a lot of strapping to keep them from sliding or rolling off in transit. We were quite a convoy when we left, happy with what we had found and planning to come back there often for more if we weren't stopped.

Viktor drove the flatbed truck behind me and Gary drove the milk truck behind Viktor. While Peter watched Jerry sleep and his color return… A good sign. It seemed like no time and we were back home just before noon.

Once again, a cheer rose up as we drove past people working in the yards when they saw what we brought with us. I pulled over to the side so Viktor could pass me and enter the gate to the estate. Fortunately, it was a wide gate required when the building was built in the 1920s.

Peter woke up Jerry and took him across the street to the Rosenberg house where the kids welcomed another and Martha knew just what to treat Jerry with that would make him happy and help him quickly regain his health. She began heating up some hearty soup from I can. One of the items still had a supply of.

I arrived before the crowd and helped Viktor maneuver to the place where the water tower would go up in the southwest corner of the estate. I had just maneuvered the truck into the right location, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daphne running from the house…

"Drake, what are you doing! You're ruining my front yard with that big truck!"

"I'm sorry, Daphne. I thought you knew we were going to put the water tower here, the highest point on the street. And, we are going to have to put a water tank on your roof to give you water pressure very soon. Otherwise, you won't have water."

"I think I see." She looked defeated and calmed down a bit. "But it's so ugly! Can't you make it look beautiful?"

"Maybe, someday. Right now, I'm concerned about all of us just surviving!"

"You're always right. Dammit! I guess that's why I like you so much… Even love you a little…" She snickered, gave me a peck on my cheek and skipped back to the house like the schoolgirl she still was--delightful.

With all that manpower watching, Viktor and I used the hoist to lift the tower off the truck that hadn't driven on the lawn. Just the hard baked corner of the property and drive made of paver stones that easily took the weight. Once the tower was approximately in place, Viktor drove the truck back out into the street and parked it where we would unload the two tanks later for cisterns for two properties that didn't have one.

It was my turn. I drove up the drive just in front of the tower top where the water tank would be rolled off the trailer sideways to the right spot where it would be welded to the tower. Viktor and I could have winched it off, but with all that manpower standing around, I decided we could use them.

Derek and Peter arrived with our two tractors and we were in business, I hoped.

Drake had brought two by fours that we placed perpendicular along the bed and nailed them down to make a ramp for the tank to roll off gently. With the two tractors and their front buckets raised high to hold the tank from rolling too fast, I tied ropes to the tank and asked the gang assembled to pull the tank off the trailer slowly. While they did that, on either side, the tractors backed up slowly holding the tank from rolling on either side until it landed gently on plywood we had placed to keep it from being scratched by the paving stones.

I sighed in relief when it was done but the cold sweat on my neck lasted a bit longer. The next step involved the crowd helping to position the tank to the top of the tower where Viktor, Gary and Peter began work to bolt and/or weld the tower to the tank and install all the piping and even the solar panels that would be used to power the pump at the bottom bringing water to the tank from below.

I let their expertise go to work while the others went back to their work. I drove my tractor back to the shop in the garage and installed the backhoe.

Returning to the site, I dug four holes for the concrete base. And then, made some cement to put in the holes with rebar for reinforcement. Before the holes were completely filled, with Victor's help, I placed mounting plates with four bolts for the final pour from my tractor bucket. Placed with bolts upright and welded in place so when the tower was dropped into place, each tower leg bottom plate would have four bolts to hold it firmly in place in the strongest wind or earthquake.

In the meantime, the children came in from their morning chores to  lunch and found a new kid on the block. Jerry was loving the treats Martha put before him, making sure that they were small portions so that he wouldn't get sick. As the children gathered around, started eating, they were full of questions for Jerry.

"What's your name," Melissa asked, curious.

"Jerry… Jerry Phillips."

"Where you live? Do you go to school?" Flower questioned, squinshiing her nose a bit.

      "Anaheim. I got sick at my middle school there and had to go home."

"Oh, are you going back there?"

"My mother told me not to. She told me to take the bus to my Auntie Gloria's place in San Diego. That's where I'm going after I feel better and can take the long bus trip."

"Why would you leave your mother? I wouldn't do that." Melissa blurted, upset in her angry eyes.

"Because that's what she told me before she stopped talking with her eyes open and staring at me!" He started to cry.

Wondah, who had been listening to the kids discussion, came over, gave Jerry a hug, and asked. "What is your auntie's name other than Gloria, is it Auntie Phillips?"

"I don't know… Something like that, but not…"

"What was your mama's name before she married to your father?"

"I don't know, don't have a father… But she told me she was going to raise me alone because her mother, my grandmother I never saw, Merryweather Roberts, didn't raise her. It was Mama's grandmother, Eloise Roberts that raised her, she said. She showed me a picture with Eloise's name on it. Stern looking old woman. I miss my Mommy…" Jerry started to cry again and Wondah held him tight, knowing his pain. The other kids grew quiet, feeling the same.

Wondah grabbed her smart pad and had the two girls gather around for their first lesson of the day. "This is how you can find your relatives if you know their name and where they lived. Some of you may be able to find relatives you can go to who may have survived? Let's try for Jerry, first… Okay?"

All of the kids gave a unanimous response, "Okay!"

"First, we do a simple search. The more we know about the person we are looking for, the better. In this case, we know Jerry's auntie is named, Gloria Roberts. We also know she lives in or around San Diego. And she's probably around 30 years of age. She is the sister of Jerry's mommy." The children watched while Wondah turned on speech and dictated the information, ending by the command, "Search."

The search turned up three Gloria Roberts close to San Diego. Any one of them could've been Jerry's aunt. Rather than call all three, Wondah asked Jerry, "Did your mother ever call her sister by any other name?"

Jerry thought a moment. "Yeah, I think I heard her on the phone saying something like, 'Annie.'"

There was one Gloria Ann Roberts. There appeared on the screen an immediate address, phone number and email address. Wondah tried the phone number and made the call.

It rang for some time before anyone answered. And then, the screen flickered and a woman looking tired and gaunt came on the screen. Jerry couldn't help himself…

"Auntie Gloria! It's me, Jerry! I'm coming to live with you… Mommy told me…"

"Oh, Jerry! It's so good to see you, too, child. But you can't come now. Things are too bad here. We don't have any food and water. It's terrible. That woman you're with looks healthy… Stay with her."

Wondah answered her. "I am Wondah (she spelled her name). We rescued your nephew dehydrated and hungry on the street, telling us, 'I'm waiting for the bus to take me to my Auntie Gloria in San Diego.'

We brought him here where we are providing water and food for a whole community. We even have a school and I'm teaching science and mathematics. You don't sound like you're in a very good place. I'm sorry. I wish you could come here and join our community. If you can, you are welcome."

"It's best Jerry stays there with you. There's nothing here right now. We are struggling so much with so many lost. Keep in touch, I caught your number, too, Wondah. Jerry, you stay there with her for now. If we get better and can take you in, we will.

"Your mama asked me after everyone not sick, to take you in. But we just can't right now, just can't… Wondah, thank you so much for saving my nephew. I will always be grateful. I'm afraid I'm going to have to sign off now." She was crying either tears of joy or sadness as screen went blank.

Jerry held Wondah tightly and looked up at her. Suddenly, she had a son to take care of. It was a whole new experience for a teenager. The lesson continued…

Melissa found cousins in Idaho and was very happy.

Flower looked for her uncle in Whittier, but no one answered the phone listed. Since it was her father's brother, she told Wondah, "I'm glad we didn't find him. Mama was mad at him anyway like she was with dad. Don't tell her I looked." Her eyes pleaded…

"Don't worry, Flower, honey, your secret's good with me." Everyone laughed, even Jerry. They would keep it, too. He was fast asleep before the lesson was over and carried off to bed.

Copyright 2023 © Ronald W. Hull

6/20/23