Cynthia Hogue
poetry
Rebecca Ross
photography
Lawanda and Sean Scott (Their Anniversary, Their Story)
(administrative assistant, fire alarm dispatcher)
1
Our anniversary was
Friday. In August
we celebrate our
anniversary.
We drove to Biloxi. We wasn’t
paying attention to the storm.
We
wasn’t paying attention.
We went to Biloxi.
We
went on with
our lives. The
casino we were at
set out in the water, and I said to Sean,
“If a storm come through,
it’s going to take all of this down.”
And
it sure enough did.
The whole place swept into
the
Gulf. On our way home
Sean’s brother called, “What you gonna do?”
“Do for what?” “A storm’s coming.”
And we were like . . .
But when we got home
we went walking in the Quarter.
We did. With another couple.
We went on with our lives.
Saturday morning about 2 o’clock,
I woke up and saw the storm on CNN—
you know how big it was—and I said,
“Look at that! We got to go.” Yeah!
*
In Houston, we saw
CNN: “Breaking News.
Levees breaking in
New Orleans.”
We saw the water pouring in.
I didn’t feel a thing.
I was numb.
“What
are we going to do?”
“Where
are we going to go?”
We lived upstairs,
so we were spared
by the water, but
we were destroyed
by the
looters. They took everything.
Everything,
everything. Every last thing
except,
by the grace of God,
our wedding DVD.
That was on the
floor.
That was in the middle of the floor.
You know, that was
our wedding.
They took the television,
the stereo . . . they took
the surround sound
and the microwave, and my George Foreman grill,
my son’s
clothes. My daughter’s jewelry.
People was living
in our house. Mmm mm.
While we were
gone. Mmm mm, mmm mm.
I
said, “Let us go then.”
That’s how we wind up here.
2
In New Orleans, I
was fired for failure
to come back to
work in the hurricane.
I had to go to
court to fight it.
Didn’t have no
attorney.
I went based on the
information
my supervisor
signed documentation
that I was on
vacation on this day,
this
day, this day, and this day.
“You had a duty to act,”
they said. “You supposed to be
on duty.” So I lost that case.
When I came back
out here,
I was terminated
from my new job
for failure to
report to work.
So I went back to
New Orleans
and found a job but
no housing.
Too
expensive. I knew
there was empty trailers,
but FEMA said, “We need to clean
and inspect
them.” New Orleans is
slow, slow,
slow. From the beginning
my thing was, Don’t go. Mmm mm.
Don’t do it. I knew it wasn’t time.
But hard head here, he went.
[laughs]
I knew it wouldn’t work out.
EMS waited till he drew
on
retirement, then
hired him back. Oh they knew
what they were doing.
They said, We’ll hire you
back now, but at a cheaper salary.
I looked at the big picture.
I couldn’t get him to see that.
“You’re worth more
than that salary.
You
have credentials,
you have experience.
Why quit your job here,
to go back there
to make less money?
It don’t add up.” My thing
was,
I wanted to go
home.
I want to go
home.
3
We went back where
the levees broke at.
Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.
Empty foundations. No birds, no trees.
My friend looking
for his mother’s house
in the 2200 block
of Tennessee
found it in the
1600 block: 2216
right there in the
middle of the road.
Downtown
is like Las Vegas,
all bright lights for tourists.
Elsewhere, it’s slow because of money.
Political stuff. After
Katrina, the mayor
and the governor
feuded because, well . . .
It was personal. It was
personal.
And they were both
mad at Bush. [laughs]
I think the government didn’t want
to put money into the hands
of politicians. New Orleans
has
a reputation for dirty
politicians. But
people need money
to start their
lives over. FEMA
did nothing for
renters.
We got $2000. Period.
We’ve had to
borrow. Now
it’s a struggle.
I don’t know why
but right now home’s
not right. But I know
to
go home is right.