Without a means of reading data, I guessed he was right and said so.
The tornado didn’t last long and broke up in less than five minutes. We remained rooted in place, absorbing it all. The disconnect was as incredible as the touchdown. She pulled back, a thin rope weaving into the sky as she weakened.
Ozrik reminded me to take pictures.
The rope stage lasted a while, and the sky slowly lightened before it was fully gone.
The calm that followed made my head spin. Had that just happened?
Ozrik turned to me, clutched my face, and kissed me with bruising force. “That was fucking incredible.” Another kiss, then he ran down the road, whooping and cheering like he’d lost his mind.
I felt a similar rush and couldn’t stop laughing at his ridiculousness.
Even when Ozrik calmed, his cheeks retained a steady glow of excitement. The rain never fell, and the wind dropped like someone had flicked a switch.
We remained, staring at where the tornado had been as the clouds shifted and the light changed.
Ozrik wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder in a backward hug. The heat of him around me sent butterflies into flight in my belly.
“Amazing, wasn’t it?” he said by my ear.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Thank you for breaking the rules with me.”
“Thank you for corrupting me.”
He chuckled and kissed the shell of my ear. “I think it will be my new life mission. A corrupt Gale is a fun Gale.”
“Olivia is going to kill me.”
“Yeah, but we saw a tornado, and they didn’t.”
We stayed like that for a long time, linked in a backward hug. I leaned against Ozrik, letting him take my weight.
Remembering the explosion of dust and debris when the tornado landed, I squinted in the direction it had gone, my worry about houses returning. “Can we drive over there and make sure people are okay?”
“For sure. Let’s do it.”
Ozrik drove, and I was relieved to see that the path the tornado had traveled consisted mostly of farmland. We came across one house with significant damage to a corner of its roof and branches and other debris strewn across the property.
Ozrik parked. We got out and walked up the driveway. A man and woman stood outside, examining the damage, but they turned at our approach.
Ozrik called out, “Evening. Everyone okay here?”
The man approached and shook Ozrik’s hand, nodding a greeting in my direction. “We’re all right. Could have been worse. Took shelter in time.” The man faced the damaged house. “That damn roof needed to be replaced anyhow. Would have preferred to do it on my own time, but here we are.”
“Do you need a hand with anything?” I asked, scanning the debris littering their yard. “We can help you cover that before nightfall.” I motion to the exposed second level. “In case it rains.”
“That’s kind of you. My son and the neighbor are heading over to help out. I appreciate the offer. Did you fellas see it?”
“We did,” Ozrik said.
“Chasers?”
Ozrik nodded.
The man laughed. “Y’all are crazy. Be careful out there. Those tornadoes are no joke.”