*Author’s warning: This chapter deals with the World Trade Center attacks that occurred on September 11th in New York City. If you feel that you don’t want to read about this event, then please don’t. I will put a summary of this chapter at the beginning of Chapter 15. I am including this because it is a part of history that affected many American’s lives. I was indirectly affected myself. I live in Southern Connecticut, which is very close to NYC. When I heard about what had happened, I had to pretend like everything was okay since my innocent, four-year old students didn’t understand what was going on. The only thing I wanted to do was cry. Please keep in mind that I wasn’t there when it happened. My information is taken from magazine articles and a book that chronicles the disaster. Since O-Town was scheduled to perform on September 11th, I couldn’t let the date pass without including it. My heart goes out to all of those who lost a loved one to the tragedy. Also, I pray for the innocent men, women, children, rescue workers and firefighters whose lives were lost on that day. May they rest in peace. God bless. ~Maura
Chapter 14
Tuesday September 11th
7:30 a.m.
Maria put the finishing touches on her makeup and walked out of the bathroom of the hotel room that she was currently sharing with Alex. Emily and Sarah were down the hall in the next room over. O-Town wasn’t in New York. They were headed for New Jersey where they would stay before coming into the city for the concert. Maria, Alex, Emily and Alex had chosen to go into the city a day early to sightsee and hang out. They would see the group at the concert.
"Where are you going so early?" Alex asked, sleepily. She was still lying in bed. Maria looked over at her.
"It’s a beautiful day, so I thought that I’d go out and take some pictures," Maria answered. It was an unusually warm day, so Maria had put on jeans with a short-sleeve, black tee shirt. She had pulled her hair up into her usual high ponytail. Slipping her feet into a pair of black sandals and grabbing her camera, Maria headed for the door. "I’ll see you later." Alex yawned, turned over, and went back to sleep.
Maria knocked lightly on Sarah and Emily’s door. A tired-looking Emily opened the door and smiled, even though she was still half asleep.
"I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m going out to take some pictures," Maria told her, quietly.
"Always the photographer, huh?" Emily said. "Where are you going?"
"I was going to head to Lower Manhattan. I wanted to go to the World Trade Center and get some pictures of the Twin Towers. I know it’s early, but I’m up, so I might as well go look around," she said.
"That would be cool. I’d like to go, but it’s too damn early for me," Emily said. Maria laughed.
"Then go back to bed. We can always go together tomorrow," she said. Emily nodded.
"Okay. Have fun," she said.
"Thanks, I will. See you later," Maria told her before she headed for the elevators. Once outside, Maria took in her surroundings. She wasn’t an expert when it came to New York, but she knew this area fairly well. The hotel wasn’t far from the World Trade Center, so she figured that she’d walk. Maria looked up. The sun was shining and the sky was a bright, brilliant, clear blue. Maria smiled as she began to walk.
"Who was at the door?" Sarah asked from her bed. Emily had returned to her own bed and turned over to look at Sarah.
"Maria. She’s gonna go take some pictures. She said that she was headed for the World Trade Center," Emily answered. Sarah sighed. She hadn’t really talked to Maria about what had happened with Geoff, but Sarah knew that Maria was pissed at her. They had barely said three words to each other since that night, which wasn’t pleasant since they were living together. Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. She’d talk to Maria later and settle things with her then.
8:15 a.m.
O-Town were sleeping as the bus made its way to their hotel. They were in New Jersey where they would be staying until it was time to go to the concert in New York. Jacob woke up and stretched the best he could in his confined bunk. He really wanted to see Maria again. She had been on his mind a lot since he’d last seen her. Maybe his feelings for her were, in fact, more serious than he had thought. He knew that he wanted her, but it was definitely more than a sexual ‘want.’ He’d have to talk to her to see how she felt about him because if she felt the same way, then perhaps there was a chance for them to start a relationship. Jacob smiled. It wouldn’t be long until he saw her and found out.
8:40 a.m.
Maria stood outside of 1 World Trade Center, looking up at the massively tall north tower. It was a cool shot straight up. She looked around at the New Yorkers who were going about their business day as usual. A young policeman walked up to her.
"Beautiful day, isn’t it?" he asked. Maria smiled.
"It sure is."
"Are you a tourist?" he asked, indicating the camera that was hanging around her neck.
"Yeah, I guess you can call me that. I’m a photographer from Florida," Maria answered. The cop was actually pretty cute.
"Well, welcome to New York," he said. Maria loved the way he said ‘Yauk’ instead of ‘York.’
"Thanks, Officer…"
"Lansing. Peter Lansing. I should’ve known you were from someplace warm and sunny because you’re so tan," he said. Maria smiled.
"Yeah, well. Too much sun isn’t really a good thing," she said.
"On you, it looks great."
"I honestly didn’t think I’d run into a flirting cop this early in the morning," Maria told him. Officer Lansing laughed.
"You caught me. I don’t mean to be a bother," he said.
"Oh, I love it," Maria said, smiling again. "If I wasn’t currently involved with someone, I’d flirt back." She was ‘involved’ with Jacob, right? Maria was still kind of confused about that.
"Damn. Well, I tried," he said. "Your guy’s a lucky sonofabitch."
"That he is," Maria told him. She raised her camera and snapped his picture. He smiled at her.
"What’s that for?" he asked.
"My New York City scrapbook. I’ll label it, Flirty New York Policeman." Lansing laughed.
8:47 a.m.
As they were talking, a loud sound suddenly made them look up. Maria frowned. It sounded like a plane, but it was too loud, like it was flying very low.
"What the fuck?" Lansing said, and then all hell broke loose. Maria raised her camera to zoom in and see better and what she saw terrified her. A large American Airlines plane had crashed into the north tower, exploding in a huge fireball. People screamed as they looked up. Lansing pulled Maria away as debris began falling to the ground. Papers and parts of the building rained down on them. Maria felt herself being pulled, but couldn’t stop looking up at the black smoke billowing from the tower.
"Get out of here!" Lansing shouted. He pushed Maria away just as a heavy piece of debris fell on him, knocking him to the ground. Maria gasped when she saw blood immediately begin to flow from his nose and mouth. His eyes remained open. He was dead. Shocked, she turned around and ran.
Papers, dust and pieces of the building continued to fall as Maria ran with a crowd of people away from the Twin Towers, one of which was now burning. She heard the first sounds of sirens and stopped, turning to look up again at the burning tower. She took a picture, then another. She zoomed in again and froze as her camera captured a sight that would forever haunt her: a man was falling. At first, Maria thought that it was more debris, but then she saw another body fall. Still unable to look away, she moved her camera and saw yet another man actually jump from the burning tower. From what she guessed was the 90th floor or so, a man had just jumped to his death. The view suddenly became out of focus. Her lens was dusty, so she dusted it off, moving mechanically, the image of what she had just seen still fresh in her mind.
"Move!" someone shouted and Maria moved out of the way as a fire truck sped past her, siren wailing as it headed for the Twin Towers. Dust and papers continued to swirl around her. Maria coughed and looked around. People stood, staring, looking up, unable to believe what they were seeing. Many of the onlookers were on cell phones, their eyes still glued to Tower 1 as they spoke rapidly into their phones.
9:02 a.m.
"Look!" someone shouted. Maria looked where a young Hispanic man was pointing. Another plane had suddenly come into view and she watched as it turned slightly, slicing into the Trade Center’s south tower, erupting in a huge ball of fire, smoke and debris. Maria was taking pictures, but remained frozen, refusing to accept that what she was seeing was real. That hadn’t been an accident. That plane had aimed for the building. She was sure of it. Maria felt like she was watching a movie being filmed, but somewhere deep inside of her, she knew that this was no movie.
"Oh my God!" a woman exclaimed as she began sobbing hysterically. Maria watched, transfixed by the sight of both towers now burning. It was an unbelievable sight. Maria found herself walking forward. More sirens were heard and she could see firemen running toward the buildings. Debris continued to fall, but Maria ignored it. She had her camera fixed on the burning towers. Chaos was all around her, but she hardly saw it or heard it. Her mind had shut down. What she was seeing could not be real.
"Sarah? Wake up. Did you hear that?" Emily asked. Sarah was up. She had heard it…a sound like a bomb going off. "Sarah, look!" Emily cried. Sarah looked out the window and saw smoke.
"What’s going on? Is the hotel on fire?" she asked, panicked. Furious knocking came at the door. Emily ran to answer it. Alex appeared, looking pale and frightened.
"Did you hear? Turn on the TV. Put on CNN. It’s the towers. A plane hit the Twin Towers," she said as she walked quickly into the room.
"What? The World Trade Center Twin Towers? When?" Sarah asked. She ran to the window.
"Of course the World Trade Center Twin Towers! They’re the only ones that exist!" Alex yelled. She was frightened and worried about…
"Maria!" Emily suddenly cried out. Sarah turned to her, her hand over her mouth, tears already running down her cheeks. Maria. Where was Maria?
9:45 a.m. New Jersey
O-Town was almost to the hotel when Mike M. walked into the sleeping area. "Guys, wake up. Something’s happened," he said loudly---and seriously. Their curtains opened, one by one.
"It better be important," Erik mumbled as his eyes slowly got adjusted to the light.
"There’s been an attack on the World Trade Center. Two planes hit the Twin Towers," Mike told them.
"By accident?" Ashley asked. Mike shook his head.
"No. The towers were attacked. The planes are believed to have been hijacked earlier today and flown into the towers on purpose," he said.
"Oh my God. Is our concert cancelled?" Trevor asked.
"As of right now, yes. We’ll be at the hotel soon, so we’ll know more then. The news reports are still sketchy." With that, Mike returned to the front of the bus.
"Man, that doesn’t sound good," Dan said.
"The girls are in New York," Erik suddenly said. He reached for his cell phone. He had to call Alex and make sure she was okay. Jacob sighed. He had been looking forward to seeing Maria. Hopefully, these ‘attacks’ weren’t really that serious, after all, the media has been known to exaggerate. Then, they’d still be able to go into the city and he’d get to see Maria.
9:50 a.m. New York
There was a sucking sound and cries of alarm went up from the crowd of people still hanging around, their eyes still on the burning Twin Towers. Maria watched as the south tower suddenly started to crumble. A blast of air was felt as the tower collapsed floor by floor: 110 floors in all. People ran in one direction---away from the falling debris. The debris and smoke filled the air as the tower came down. Maria followed the crowd as they raced away from the dust cloud that seemed to be chasing them. ‘God, help me!’ Maria prayed as she continued to run. She kept running until the crowd slowed down. Turning around, she stopped when the dust cloud seemed to disintegrate, putting her out of danger. Raising her camera once again, she snapped more pictures. They were mainly of bewildered people walking from the dust cloud, covered in ash, and cuts on their faces and arms from falling debris. Papers littered the street and fell from the sky like a Yankees tickertape parade.
After the collapse of Tower 2, an eerie silence fell over the crowd. Some of the onlookers were weeping, some crying, but making no sound. Maria walked forward again, her eyes trained on Tower 1 that was still burning. Smoke still filled the air and the dust was everywhere. Debris continued to fall and Maria got hit, but barely noticed the freshly bleeding gash in her forearm.
Firefighters, rescue workers and other EMS workers ran around, not knowing what to do. Injured victims were brought to a makeshift ‘trauma center’ on the street. Maria watched the chaotic scene with a feeling of detachment and disbelief. She joined other photographers who were snapping shots of Tower 1. Maria looked up, then back down towards the front of the burning building. Firefighters were walking around in a trance. Some were crying while others looked confused and helpless.
"Did you hear?" Maria turned to a man next to her who was taking pictures.
"What?" she asked.
"The fire department chaplain, Father Judge, was killed," he said.
"How?" Maria asked, not really wanting to know.
"He was giving last rites to a firefighter who had been killed by a falling body and debris struck him on the head. He had only taken his helmet off to give the last rites. Sad, huh?" the guy said. Maria frowned. The guy seemed so cold, so unsympathetic, so…detached. She moved quickly away from him. She saw again, in her mind, the falling bodies. It was either jump or be burned alive. Maria staggered. She had to get away, but her legs wouldn’t allow her to leave. She looked up again. The north tower continued to burn.
"Hello?" Alex said shakily into her cell phone.
"Alex? It’s Erik." There was a lot of static and interference, which made it hard for Alex to hear him.
"Erik. It’s awful what’s going on. Look, my phone is going to go dead, I know it is. Just listen. I’m okay. So are Emily and Sarah, but Maria went out this morning to take pictures. She went to the World Trade Center. We haven’t heard from her! Erik? Can you hear me?" The phone went dead. Alex started sobbing. Sarah, who was also crying, went over and hugged her tightly. Emily frowned.
"She’s okay. I know she is," she said, hopefully. "I know she is. You just gotta have hope. Don’t think bad thoughts. Maria’s fine. She’s fine."
New Jersey
Erik hung up his phone. The guys all sat or stood around looking at him. They were in a hotel room watching CNN and not believing their eyes. It was unimaginable. One of the World Trade Center towers had collapsed. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were missing and presumed dead. Erik looked at Jacob and swallowed hard.
"What is it?" Jacob asked, noticing how pale Erik had become.
"Her phone. It went dead. Alex is okay. Jake, it’s Maria," he said. Jacob frowned.
"What about her?" he asked. Trevor took a deep breath.
"She went to take pictures this morning. At the World Trade Center," Erik said softly. Jacob suddenly felt sick. Trevor was already crying and Ashley was close.
"That doesn’t mean that she was there, you know, when the planes…" Ashley said. Dan nodded.
"He’s right. I’m sure that she’s fine," he said. Mike C. picked up his phone.
"I’ll see if I can find out anything," he told them. Dan went over to him and told him what hotel the girls were staying in. Jacob stood up and walked over to the window, staring out at the blue sky. Erik went and stood beside him.
"I’m sure that she’s fine," he said. Jacob just stared out the window…and prayed.