ENTERPRISE -- Chris Helberg's before-school job the past few weeks has required him to wave at motorists as they drive by outside a tax preparation business in downtown Enterprise.
He wears a red, white and blue Uncle Sam outfit, holds a placard promoting the company and waves to everybody, hoping to attract someone inside.
Some waved back.
Some honked their horn. Most just drove by.
Only one customer was inside the business by mid-morning.
While most of the country must file federal tax returns by Tuesday, taxpayers here have until April 30 because the county was declared a national disaster area after a tornado ripped through it.
That's also why Chris is here. For more than a month now, Chris has been making $6.
50 an hour as a "waver."
Until six weeks ago, the Enterprise High School student would have been in class at 10 a.m.
That was before a tornado destroyed a section of the high school, killing eight of his classmates.
Chris, 16, wasn't hurt. Neither was senior Cammy Key, who drove up and joined him for a few minutes.
"I was in a class when the warning was given," he said. "We went into the hallway and then the lights went out. Then everything happened.
"
As a result of the tornado's damage to the high school, students now attend classes at Enterprise Ozark Community College.
"Our classes have been cut short, but we're still getting full credit," said Chris, a sophomore who hopes to study culinary arts one day at Louisiana State University.
Cammy, 18, who plans to go to nursing school when she graduates on May 31, said she jumped under a table when the tornado struck and escaped injury.
Across the street is WVVL-FM, the local radio station known as Weevil 101. Sales representative Jessica Loucks and disc jockey Derek Snellgrove compared notes about how they reacted when the sky turned pitch black and the winds began to howl outside the former bank.
"I saw it coming and ran into the vault," she said.
"When the wind hit the building, you could feel it. We're lucky it didn't hit at nighttime. Many more people could have been lost.
"
Snellgrove was in the control room playing country music when he got word of the approaching storm. He also ran into the vault, but quickly remembered something.
"We were still on the air and I went running back into the studio to warn people that it was for real," he said.
"I looked outside and saw our American flag flying into the street. Then I could see and hear ambulances and fire trucks from surrounding cities coming down the street."
Snellgrove said the killer tornado has left an indelible impact on a town best known for its boll weevil monument in the middle of Main Street.
"I don't think things will ever be normal again," he said."In some ways, it's good because it takes something like a tragedy to make people realize we can work together and accomplish a whole lot more."
Chris is working and accomplishing.
He said he earns enough money as a pizza maker and as a babysitter that he pays income taxes.
As he waved to drivers, music from his vehicle blared Led Zeppelin's greatest hits.
"My mom started playing their music when I was a kid," he said.
"I really like it. I don't like country."
"Well, I like country," Cammy said.
"That's my favorite music."
The two attended funerals for students killed in the tornado. In the aftermath, they try to adjust.
They wave. They babysit. They focus on small things, simple pleasures that remain following the tragedy.
"Right now paint balling is my main focus," said Chris.
"I like going to the beach," said Cammy, referring to Panama City's inviting beaches not far away.
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