Multiple Innocence

" Rosenell, California." My mother recited into the phone. She was
calling to find out the weather. There was a big thunderhead above
Rosenell and she was worried there may be a tornado. I told her no way.
We've never gotten a tornado in Rosenell before. But of course, Mom
doesn't listen to me; she's a worrywart.
Hi! My name is Melissa Rainell. I am the oldest of eight children. My
parents have a lot of patience; my mother just lacks confidence when it
comes to safety. I am seventeen, just to clear that up. I guess now I
ought to introduce you to my family, and as a warning I will tell you
some of their qualities.
First up is me! My full name is Melissa Andrea Maureen Rainell. Hey, I
was their first child, what do you expect? But, you've got to give them
credit for picking ' Melissa'. I love my name! I know it's unusual to
love or even like your own name, but I can't help it. Ok, well I go to
Rosenell High and I have Ms. Recker for homeroom - she is the worst
teacher in the whole world and the worst smelling, just FYI. My
boyfriend is Chuck Markel. I just love him to pieces. I participate in
basketball and drama. I belong to a girl group with my best friends
because I can sing, too. There is nothing I can't do! I am super
senior! No, not really but it's fun to dream.
Well, I am going to star in the school production of Kiss Me Kate next
Monday and Tuesday. I am really excited about that. But I've had a very
hard time practicing with 7 other brothers and sisters.

One of whom is Danny. Danny and I get along pretty well, probably
because it was just the two of us for three years, before Matt was
born. Danny is 15. His full name is Daniel Evan Rainell. He was lucky
he wasn't the first child. He didn't get two middle names. Danny is not
a jock, that is a major relief. I remember when he first started going
to Rosenell High I was nervous that my brother would be a disgrace to
the Rainell name. You see, both of my parents went to Rosenell. They
were high school sweethearts. That's why I spaz when people say "Love
don't last forever", because that's not true. I have living
proof.
Danny is smart and compassionate, that's why he has had the same
girlfriend since the third week of his freshman year- Mackenzie, she's
great, I love her. She and I have come to be like sisters. Like I need
another one, right? Who knows, maybe someday Mackenzie and I will
become sisters.
Ok, now Matthew. Matt is 13 and just impossible. His full name is
Matthew Peter Rainell. He is very ashamed of his middle name, so don't
tell him I told you it . He is in 7th grade and a jock wannabe.
Sometimes he really scares me. He has a new girlfriend every week! Matt
goes to Mountain Connection Junior High School. Matt is a little full
of himself. Ok, " a little full of himself" is an understatement, but
you get the picture.
My sister Meredith is a sweetie. I can tell she really looks up to me.
Her real name is Meredith Eleonore Rainell and she is 9, in third
grade. She goes to Lolling Elementary School. She is very ambitious and
anxious to learn. Always asking questions, not stupid ones, very
intelligent ones. I always end up answering them. None of my other sibs
seem to care. Poor Mer.
Rebecca Juleen Jaclyn Rainell is such a thrill to be around. She is
six and is my "mini me". We both have two middle names and we look VERY
similar. I am just 11 years older than she is. We all call her Becky,
but she hates it! She loves her "elegant name" as she calls it. She
just started going to Lolling Elementary with Meredith.
Now for the twins. Actually, I shouldn't address them as one; they are
two very different 3 year olds. So, I will start with Mikey. Michael
Anthony Rainell. He is by far the clown of the family. I can't even
look at him without laughing, because I know that within seconds I'll
be hysterically laughing anyway. Mikey enjoys knowing that he's someone
that people giggle at, I think.
Marley Anne, on the other hand, is different. She is a lot like
Michael; she makes us all laugh. She just gets defensive when we laugh
at her. One time, Becky made the mistake of telling Marley she was
cute. Marley responded with anger, " No! I am not cute, I am cool!" I
was positive that Matt must have taught her that.. Marley Anne's full
name is Marley Anne Jane Rainell. Marley Anne is her first name. Anne
is not one of her middle names. I tell you this only because many
people mess it up.
And the newest member of our family, Faith, is a joy to all of our
lives. She has really changed all of our worlds in her whole 10 months
of being. Her name really describes what she has given everyone in our
family. We all thought Mom wouldn't have anymore children and to be
honest we all hoped she wouldn't. When we found out Mom was pregnant we
all were a little disappointed, but I'm sure we all had a little
excitement in us. Dad was really surprised. When Mom got us all
together in the den to tell us the news, Dad explained by telling us
that he had no idea how this happened. He told us that him and Mom had
used protection. We all walked out of the room at that instant,
disgusted. We try not to remember the exact things Dad said. I think
we've all blocked it out of our minds.
My mom, Hannah, is amazing. We couldn't ask for a better mom. And it
is obvious that Dad still feels the same way about her now, as he did
the first moment he laid eyes one her. My mom goes through so much crap
and so much hard work with us. She says all she ever wanted to do was
be a house wife and stay home with her kids, but we can all see that
she sacrificed her dreams for us. We just love her so much!
My dad, Bradley, is truly something. He has his strict points and his
absolutely pointless points. I could never compare Mike Brady and my
dad. My dad wins automatically, not that there is anything wrong with
Mike Brady. My mom and Carol Brady are just not even similar. No one
comes close to my mom.

Mom hung up the phone and opened her mouth to tell us all what she had
heard. The whole family was residing in the kitchen, Faith sitting in
her high chair. Danny began talking before Mom could get a word
out.
"There's no tornado, is there, Mom?" He said matter-of-factly. Faith
spit up and Meredith ran to her and cleaned her up. I guess Faith could
sense my Mom's tension. Because what my mom was about to tell us, would
change our lives forever.

" Shush, Danny." Dad ran over to my mom and caught her just in time.
She fell, in terror. I told you she was a worrywart. My dad just held
her up and tried to get the news out of her.
" It's?. It's coming," Mom stuttered.
" A tornado?" Dad asked, nervously.
"Uh huh," My mom answered simply, spacing out.
" When is it coming?"
" In an hour and 14 minutes, true to the words of the weather
specialist on the phone," Mom answered, precisely.
"Ok, Melissa, you take Faith up to your room and start packing as many
things as you can in boxes and suitcases. The tornado won't hit for
about an hour, so we have some time to get as much as possible into the
basement," Dad said calmly.
" Ok," I picked Faith up out of her high chair and ran up to my
room.
"Danny, you and Matthew go to your room and do the same as Melissa.
Meredith and Becky, you know what to do. Danny and Matt, when you're
done, help Marley Anne and Mikey. They are starting in their rooms,
too. Go, go! As fast as you can!" Dad ordered.
They all ran to where they were supposed to be. Dad worked with Mom
until she was able to go and pack the things in their room. Dad packed
the things in the kitchen, got us food and gathered everything
else.
Once I finished getting things from my room and loading them into the
basement, I went into Faiths room and started gathering her belongings.
I got everything in her room, pretty much. Our basement looked like a
one-room apartment, but at least we'd save everything - almost.

We were all in the basement and we could here the winds picking up.
Michael tried to entertain us all with his new tornado jokes. Meredith
was crying and wailing loudly. I guess it was shock. I was terrified,
this had never happened before. The closest thing to it was when
Rebecca was born premature.
Faith slept in her crib silently and Marley Anne slept on her sleeping
bag. She wore herself out by crying so much. I was holding Rebecca in
my lap trying to keep her calm. Matt was sitting in our grandmother's
rocking chair, holding back tears. I don't think any of us knew how
terrifying this is when all we've seen of it was movies. Matt tried to
keep his cool, but he was really upset.. Mom was coaxing Mer and Dad
was laughing at Mikey's jokes, trying to lighten things up.
The basement door was tightly closed. And we all thought we'd die. But
I kept hope. Rebecca soon fell asleep and I laid her on her sleeping
bag. Everyone fell asleep except me. I just lay in my sleeping bag,
awake. Mom and Dad slept on the couch.

That night, when I finally fell asleep, I had the weirdest dream. I
dreamt that my mom and I opened the door to the basement when everyone
was still sleeping and walked out. When we stepped out of the door, we
were in an amusement park! With Ferris wheels and roller coasters. But
we couldn't find the rest of our family anywhere. Only Rebecca. She was
sitting at the top of the Ferris wheel screaming her head off in fear.
I yelled at the man controlling it to stop. The wheel came to halt, but
the only problem was that it stopped with Rebecca on the top. She was
still screaming bloody murder. The man tried to start it again, to get
Rebecca down, but it wouldn't budge! The man sent his apologies and
went on his way, like he couldn't or wouldn't do anything about a
six-year-old stuck on a Ferris wheel! Mom was panicking and almost gave
herself a seizure! I was annoyed with the man and wanted to go beat him
up, but I couldn't do that. The best I could do was get Rebecca down.
And then, it started to rain - hard.
I began climbing the wheel. I am afraid of heights, so that didn't
make it any easier. I was literally shaking as I pulled myself up. My
foot slipped on one of the metal bars and I almost fell, but I caught
myself just in time. I finally got to Rebecca and climbed down, with
her in my arms and gave her to my mother. I sat on a bench and caught
my breath. All of a sudden, I heard Marley Anne scream, and then I woke
up. I looked around for I had thought Marley Anne was really screaming,
but I realized it was all part of my dream. I wondered if dreams come
true.
It was morning, and I wanted to look outside, but I was really scared.
I looked around and saw Dad sitting in the rocking chair. He saw me the
exact moment I saw him.
" Morning," He greeted me.
" Want to look outside?" I asked.
" Yeah, I guess," He answered me, warily. My father and I walked
toward the basement door. No one else was awake yet, so we crept out.
The door opened and?

? I almost fell backward, into the basement, when I saw the scenery
that used to be called ' home'. I was terrified. Wood. Planks of wood
were everywhere. Pieces of houses, etc. I guessed. All that was left of
our house was the foundation. The whole neighborhood was ruined and
torn to pieces. I wondered about deaths and damage all over the city.
How bad was the devastation? I kept asking myself. At least my family
was safe and we were together.
Dad and I walked out and began walking around the area. Wow. It was
amazing the damage a tunnel of wind can do. I was astonished. Dad asked
me to go wake up Mom and bring her out here, but I couldn't move, or
speak.
" Melissa?. Melissa!" Dad slapped me to get me out my zone.
" Dad!" I yelled at him.
" Sorry. I am a little emotional right now, " He replied.
" You think I'm not emotional? I've lost just as much as you have in
this thing. So please, don't give me that excuse." I walked to the
basement hastily. I regretted saying this later. I'm not a very
empathetic person, as you can tell.
"Mom," I whispered by her ear.
" Hmm?" she grunted.
" Mom, you need to come see this, quietly," I responded.
" It's morning and the tornado is over, huh?" She inquired.
" Yes."
" How bad is the damage?"
" Just come see for yourself, and then you judge." I was nervous to
see my mom's reaction, considering all else.
To my surprise, Mom took it all in quite well. She took a deep breath
after she took a look around, and went back into the basement. She said
a few words to my dad. I think they were nervous to bring the rest of
the family out to see this site, but there was obviously no way around
it.

When I stepped back into the basement, I noticed Meredith was
awake.
" I wanna see!" She whined to me. I looked at Mom and she nodded. I
picked Mere up and brought her outside.
" Wow," She whispered.
" Where's our house? What's going on? I still don't understand,
Melissa," Meredith whimpered.
" We had a tornado." I answered, briefly.
" How could anything cause as much damage as this? Anything!" Meredith
said in a very amazed tone.
" I wish I knew, Meredith. I wish I knew."