The Dead And The Gone (2 page)

“I don’t see any cops,” Alex said.

Jimmy laughed. “They’re off protecting the rich people,” he said. “They don’t care about nobody else.”

Uncle Jimmy seemed to have a little
dramatica
in him as well, Alex decided. Life with Aunt Lorraine probably did that to a person. Their kids sure had tantrums, but they were still little and Alex could only hope they’d outgrow them. Not that Aunt Lorraine ever had.

“Good,” Jimmy said. “Benny’s here.” He pulled his van over to the front of the bodega. “Get out,” he said. “Alex, you and I’ll load. Julie, you assemble cartons. How’s it going, Benny?”

The large man standing in front of the bodega nodded. “It’s been quiet,” he said. “We should have no problems.” He pulled a gun from his belt. “Just in case,” he said.

“Benny gets paid first,” jimmy said. “Beer and cigarettes.” “The new currency,” Benny said with a grin.

Alex began to wonder if he was still asleep. None of this seemed real, except for the reports of Aunt Lorraine’s hysteria. Uncle Jimmy unlocked the steel gate. Alex and Julie followed him into the bodega while Benny stayed on guard by the door.

Jimmy handed Julie a flashlight and told her to sit on the floor behind the counter and assemble boxes. He showed Alex where the cartons of beer and cigarettes were, and as Alex carried them to Benny’s car, Jimmy filled empty boxes with milk and bread and other perishables.

Benny told Alex to load his trunk first, and then the backseat. It was remarkable how many cartons of beer and cigarettes the car could hold.

Finally the only room in the car was the driver’s seat. “You know how to driver” Jimmy asked Alex.

Alex shook his head.

“Okay, I’ll drive the stuff to Benny’s,” he said. “Benny, you stay out front. Keep that gun where people can see it. Alex, start packing cartons for my family. Tell Julie to use the plastic bags for your stuff. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

Benny stayed outside while Alex joined Julie in the bodega. Uncle Jimmy locked the steel gate, leaving Alex with the uncomfortable sensation of being a prisoner, even though he knew he and Julie were safer if the store was locked shut.

“Uncle Jimmy’s crazy, right?” Julie asked.

“Probably,” Alex said. “You know Aunt Lorraine. She’s only happy when the world’s coming to an end.” He noticed all the cartons Julie had assembled. “You’ve really been working,” he said.

Julie nodded. “I figured I’d better,” she said. “Otherwise

Aunt Lorraine will have a fit if we take any stuff for ourselves. And if we don’t, Mami’ll get mad.”

“Good thinking,” Alex said. “Uncle Jimmy says to use the plastic bags for our stuff.”

“Sure,” Julie said. “They’ll hold less.”

“It’s his food,” Alex said. “He’s doing us the favor. Why don’t you fill as many bags as you can while he’s gone.”

Julie nodded and began stuffing bags with jars and canned goods. Alex did the same with the cartons. As he worked, he tried to figure out just what was really going on. The moon was responsible for tides, so it made sense if it was closer to Earth, the tides would be higher. How quickly could
NASA
solve the problem? The distant rumble of thunder unsettled him more.

He jumped when Julie broke the silence. “Do you think Carlos is okay?” she asked.

“Sure,” Alex said, silently laughing at himself. “He must be pretty busy. I don’t know when he’ll have a chance to call.”

“Mami, too,” Julie said. “With all the looting and everything, the hospitals must be full.”

“And Papi’s safe in Milagro del Mar,” Alex said. “We’re all fine. By Monday everything’ll be back in order.”

“I wonder if they’ve called off school,” Julie asked. “I have an English test I haven’t studied for.”

Alex grinned. “You’re safe,” he said. “Even if Holy Angels is open, they’ll probably cancel the test.”

Julie continued filling the plastic bags with as much as each could hold. Alex did the same with the cartons. It was nice to tell Julie things would be back to normal by Monday, but he thought that was unlikely. The more food they had at home, the better.

“How are you doing?” he asked Julie.

“I’ve packed twenty bags,” she said.

“Good,” Alex said. “Keep on. You know the kind of stuff Mami gets.”

“Better than you do,” Julie muttered.

Alex laughed, but the truth of the matter was he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to a supermarket, and he certainly couldn’t remember Papi or Carlos going to one. Groceries, cooking, cleaning —all that was done by Mami, Bri, and Julie. Alex kept his room tidy, and Carlos used to help Papi out occasionally, but it was Bri and Julie who knew how to sew and iron and cook. Even when Mami went back to school, first to get her
GED
and then to learn how to be an operating room technician, she and the girls did all the housework.

Not that Alex had ever heard Mami complain about it, or Bri. Julie certainly did, but if Julie were a crown princess, she’d complain about the crown.

Right on cue, Julie whined, “My arms ache. And I can’t reach stuff on the top shelves.”

“Then just take stuff from the shelves you can reach,” he said. “Be sure to take canned mushrooms. Papi likes them.”

“I already have a bag,” Julie said.

“Good,” Alex said, and went back to packing and thinking.
NASA
was most likely consulting physicists and astronomers from around the world about the quickest way of getting the moon in place. Things would eventually get back in order.

By the time Uncle Jimmy returned, Alex had filled all the empty cartons. He and Jimmy loaded the van while Julie returned to assembling the few remaining boxes. Then he and Jimmy filled those boxes and whatever bags remained.

“Julie, you stay here,” Uncle Jimmy said. “Benny’ll be out-

side. Alex and I’ll empty this stuff at my place, and then we’ll come back and drive you home.”

Alex wasn’t crazy about leaving Julie alone in the store, but he supposed she’d be safe locked in with an armed guard standing watch. “Behave yourself,” he said to her.

Julie glared at him. Alex pitied any looters who might make it past Benny.

Jimmy swiftly drove the four blocks back to his apartment. “Lorraine’ll help us unload.” he said. “But it’s going to take a while to carry all this stuff upstairs.”

Jimmy and Lorraine lived in a second-floor walk-up. Jimmy unloaded the cartons from the van to the first floor, and then Alex carried them upstairs, where Lorraine met him and brought the cartons into her apartment. Alex could hear his little cousins screaming in the background, but that was nothing new. Lorraine said nothing, just grunting occasionally as she pushed the heavier cartons into her home.

When they finally finished, Lorraine looked up at Alex. “Thank you,” she said. “You’ve helped save my babies’ lives.”

“Things’ll work out,” Alex said. “Give the scientists some time and they’ll figure out what to do.”

“This is too big for the scientists,” Lorraine said. “Only God can save us now.”

“Then He will,” Alex said.

“Come on, Alex!” Jimmy called from downstairs. “Let’s get going.”

Alex gave Lorraine an awkward hug, and raced down the stairs.

Jimmy drove them back to the bodega, where Alex noticed Benny was no longer standing guard. “Dammit,” Jimmy said. “I told him to stay until we got back. Julie, you okay?”

“People were banging against the steel door,” Julie said, crouching behind the counter. “I heard gunshots.” “It’s all right,” Alex said. “We’re going home now.” “Okay,” Jimmy said, still looking annoyed. “I’ll finish packing what’s left on my own. Come on, let’s load up your stuff.” Alex was impressed with how many hags Julie had filled and how heavy the bags were. They’d certainly have enough food to last until things got back to normal.

Jimmy helped them bring the food into the living room, then went back to the bodega. Alex, Briana, and Julie carried most of the bags into the kitchen. Whatever didn’t fit there stayed in the living room.

“The phone rang while you were gone,” Briana said. “I think it was Papi, but I can’t be sure.”

“What do you mean you can’t be sure?” Alex asked, every muscle in his body aching. All he wanted was a hot shower and four more hours’ sleep.

“There was a lot of static,” Briana said almost apologetically. “But I heard a man’s voice and I’m sure it was Papi’s. I think he said something about Puerto Rico.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Alex said. “If he called, he must be all right. He probably called to say he won’t be coming home on Saturday.”

“I told him we’re all fine so he won’t worry,” Bri said.

“They left me alone,” Julie said. “People tried to break in. Someone could have killed me.”

“Are you all right?” Bri asked. Alex could see the worry in her eyes.

“Of course she is,” Alex said. “We all are.”

“Can we call Mami?” Briana asked. “We can tell her about the groceries and that we heard from Papi.”

“We shouldn’t bother her at work,” Alex said. “She’ll call

us when she can, or maybe she’ll just come home. Look, how about making us some breakfast. We’ll all feel better after we’ve eaten.”

“I can make scrambled eggs,” Briana said. “The stove’s still working. I checked.”

“Sounds good,” Alex said. “I’m going to take a shower. After breakfast we’ll go to school.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Julie said. “Not in the blackout.”

“I don’t want to go, either,” Bri said. “Can’t we stay here until Mami comes home?”

“All right,” Alex said. “But I’ll go out after breakfast and see what’s happening.”

He got into the shower only to find there was no hot water. He got in and out as fast as he could, then dressed in his school clothes.

“There’s no hot water,” Alex told Bri.

“You don’t think the people in the apartments will blame Papi, do you?” she asked.

“No one will blame Papi,” Alex said. “It’s not just this building. The whole city is probably blacked out. Where’s Julie? Did she eat already?”

“She went back to bed,” Briana said, putting scrambled eggs on Alex’s plate. “I hope the orange juice is still okay.”

Alex took a sip. “It’s fine,” he said. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he smelled the eggs. He’d just finished gobbling down the food when the phone rang.

“Maybe it’s Mami!” Briana cried, and raced to answer it. “Hello? It’s Carlos! Hi, Carlos. Is everything okay where you are?”

“Give me the phone, Bri,” Alex said. “Carlos, this is Alex. How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Carlos said. “I can only talk for a minute. We’re being deployed. I don’t know where we’re going, but they told us all to call home. Is everything okay with you?”

“We’re fine,” Alex said. “Papi called this morning and spoke to Bri. And Mami’s at the hospital. How are things where you are? Is it blacked out?”

“No, we have electricity,” Carlos said. “Is Julie all right?”

“She’s sleeping,” Alex said. “Jimmy had us empty out the bodega. She worked really hard. You want me to wake her?”

“No, that’s okay,” Carlos said. “Look, Alex, you’re in charge now until Papi gets home. Mami’s going to be depending on you.”

“I know,” Alex said. “Carlos, have they told you anything about how long before things get back to normal?”

“Nothing definite,” Carlos said. “Just that it’s going to take a long time and we should expect lots of trouble.”

“Well, we’re okay,” Alex said. “We got a lot of food from the bodega. And Jimmy’s around in case we need any help until Papi gets home.”

“Good,” Carlos said. “I’d better get off. There’s a long line here. You take care, Alex, and take care of Mami and the girls. You’re the man of the house now.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Alex said, but before he had a chance to say good-bye, he heard Carlos hang up.

“Who was that?” Julie asked, coming out from her room. “Mami?”

“It was Carlos,” Bri replied. “He called to make sure we were all right.”

“Carlos?” Julie said. “Why didn’t you let me speak to him?”

“He was in a hurry,” Alex said. “He’s being deployed. See,

Bri, there’s nothing to worry about. The Marines are on the job.”

“Mami’ll be so glad we heard from him,” Briana said. “Julie, do you want any eggs?”

“My stomach hurts,” Julie replied. “I was so scared at the bodega, I ate a bunch of candy bars.”

“Well, that was real bright of you,” Alex said. His head was pounding, but he knew it had nothing to do with candy.

“You don’t know what it was like,” Julie said. “I was all alone there and I could hear people shooting.”

“People are shooting?” Bri asked. “Are we safe, Alex?”

“Of course we are,” Alex said. He could have killed Julie. “You know what it’s like uptown. We’re fine here. I’m going to go to school and see what I can find out.”

“But you’ll come right back?” Bri asked. “Even if school’s open?”

“All right,” Alex said. “Don’t worry. Everything’ll be all right. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that,” Julie said, but he chose to ignore her as he left the apartment.

The chaos on the streets before dawn was nothing compared to the madness he encountered. The traffic was worse than he’d ever seen. The side streets were like parking lots, and so were West End and Amsterdam Avenues, where the traffic went uptown. Broadway was limited to emergency vehicles, and they were flying down the avenue, their sirens screaming. With the traffic lights not working, the drivers made up their own rules about when to go. No one stopped for anybody, and Alex raced each time he crossed the street. There were few other people walking, and the stores all had their steel gates locked in place. But even without pedestrians, the noise from sirens, honking horns, and screaming drivers was overwhelming.

Vincent de Paul was on Seventy-third and Columbus, and unless the weather was really bad, Alex walked. The skies were threatening, but the thunderstorm he’d been expecting since last night had yet to arrive. Sweat dripped down his brow, but he couldn’t be sure whether it was from the heat, the running, or fear. Julie was right. He couldn’t promise anything.

When he got to the multistory, brick school building Alex found a sign on the door, closed until Monday.