Zane and the Hurricane

Zane feels terrified and helpless and wants to flee. He is now certain that Dylan Toomey is a bad guy. Toomey tells Malvina he has been looking for her. He advances towards Malvina, who refuses to go with him. The National Guardsmen watch closely. Tru tells Malvina and Zane to run and prepares to jump on Toomey. Malvina shouts for help, saying that Toomey is not family, he is a “gangsta” and a “thug.” Toomey reaches to grab Malvina. She yells that he has a gun. The soldiers shout at Toomey to drop the gun and get on the ground. As Toomey halts, Zane shoves Bandy in Tru’s arms and he and Malvina run, pushing Tru’s chair away as quickly as they can. They hide behind a massive dumpster overflowing with stinky trash. The Escalade pulls up beside their hiding place. Toomey rolls down a window and tells them that Malvina was smart, but he will be watching her, and they will “get together soon” (145). Toomey drives away.

Tru is sick with fever, and his ankle is swollen and purple. Zane wonders if it got infected, or if Tru was bitten by a snake and did not realize it. Tru mutters that they must find Belinda. Malvina, crying, tells Tru he is tough and will be fine. She asks other survivors where to find a hospital, but their attempt to get there is cut off by floodwater too deep to push Tru’s chair through. People, including a policeman in a stalled police car, tell them that local hospitals are overwhelmed and flooded. They suggest going to the Superdome, but Zane and Malvina know that is not an option. A man offers them a bottle of water, and seeing how sick Tru is, tells them “Might better pray” (146). Tru’s hands tremble too much to hold the bottle. In a fit of anger and frustration, Malvina stomps on the bottle. She tells Zane they must cross the river and go to Belinda’s home in Algiers.

Zane, Malvina, Tru, and Bandy join a stream of survivors crossing a bridge over the Mississippi River. Zane is thankful to be leaving Smellyville. Malvina tells jokes and Tru kids back. Below them, the river is full of debris that Zane does not want to look at too closely. Survivors recognize Tru and say they hope to hear him play again. Tru responds matter-of-factly that his “brass” is all gone, making Zane realize the scope of the disaster. Zane can go home to New Hampshire, but thousands in New Orleans are now homeless. On the other side of the bridge, the road is blocked by cops armed with shotguns. They are letting cars through, but not people on foot. Zane does not understand why, and wonders if it is a show of power, or because they look poor. Malvina ignores orders to stop and warnings that the cops will shoot. She pushes Tru’s chair towards the roadblock. The cops take aim. Bandy, sensing a threat, launches out of Zane’s arms. A cop shoots Bandy, who falls to the ground, motionless.

Bandy is severely injured, and Zane knows he is dying. Zane yells at the police and Malvina shouts that they shot her “friend,” which deeply moves Zane. A lady appears, stating that Zane and his friends are her family, and she is a doctor. The woman hustles the group into her old van. They hurry to the Last Chance Animal Shelter: The woman is Tru’s cousin, Belinda. She recognized Tru by his hat. Tru says his hat is lucky but will not be truly lucky unless she saves Bandy. Belinda is a vet tech, but can help heal both Bandy and Tru. Malvina assists Belinda, while Zane waits with Tru. Despite Tru’s attempts to distract him, Zane thinks only of Bandy. Zane remembers how much he wanted a puppy, and how hard he worked, researching dogs, cleaning his room, improving his grades, and even pretending to be a dog before his mom finally relented. They adopted Bandy on Zane’s birthday and the two immediately bonded. Belinda announces that Bandy will recover, though he is missing part of one paw. Tru puts on his lucky hat.

The group recovers in Belinda’s house, where they all feel safe for the first time since the storm. Bandy awakens and Zane loves on him, telling Bandy how brave he was for saving Zane from getting shot. Belinda gives Tru medicine for his sepsis. Belinda is impressed with Malvina’s lion-like courage at facing the cops. Zane calls his mom, who plans to come get him. Seeing Malvina tear up, Zane thinks he is selfish for just thinking of himself, but Malvina says she is happy for him but sad and mad that he is leaving. Zane asks Belinda about his father. She knew Gerald, who was a year older, but Gerald’s brother James was in her class. James found a gun on the playground, showed it to Gerald who grabbed for it, and the gun went off, killing James. It was a “tragic accident,” but Gerald blamed himself and thought Miss Trissy also blamed him, so he ran away. Belinda suggests Gerald would be proud of Zane. Zane falls asleep and wakes to Bandy’s licks and his mom’s arrival.

A year after the hurricane, Zane regrets calling New Orleans “Smellyville,” which was disrespectful to the people who lived there. Now, Miss Trissy lives with Zane and his mom. She is a star in a local church choir and active in their small Black community. Malvina and Zane talk on the phone constantly, and she visited the previous summer. Malvina’s mom got out of rehab but had to return, so Belinda is now Malvina’s legal guardian. Malvina is not angry at her mom but feels sorry for her and hopes someday she will get better. Tru is back on the road playing with various bands, thanks to a fundraiser that helped him get new instruments. He and Malvina are “still tight.” Bandit has a prosthetic paw and is completely recovered. Dylan Toomey was killed a month after the storm by one of his teenage drug sellers. Zane does not understand everything about peoples’ actions during the aftermath of the storm but is proud to embrace his multiracial heritage and be the “one and only Zane Dupree” (171).