Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
"Alex, is that you?" Briana called.
"Yeah. Let me in," he said. "What's going on?"
Bri opened the door. "The electricity just went out," she said. "The cable went out, too."
"Alex, where's the flashlight?" Julie asked.
"Check on top of the fridge," Alex said. "I think there's one there. Where's Mami?"
"The hospital called," Briana said. "A little while ago. Mami said it's a really big emergency and they need everybody."
Julie walked into the living room, waving the flashlight around. "She's only been there two weeks and they can't manage without her," she said.
"She said they couldn't tell her when she'd get off," Briana said.
"Papi called while you were gone," Julie said. "He said everyone arrived safely and Nana's funeral is tomorrow. I wish we could have gone with him."
"I don't know why," Briana said. "Whenever the family gets together, you always find some excuse not to go."
"You'd better be nice," Julie said. "I have the flashlight."
"Use it to find the transistor radio," Alex suggested. "Maybe the whole city is blacked out." He thought, not for the first time, how much more convenient things would be if the Morales family could afford a computer. Not that it would be any use in a blackout.
"I bet it has something to do with the moon," Briana said.
"Why the moon?" Alex said. "Sunspots cause problems, but I've never heard of moonspots."
"Not moonspots," Briana said. "But the moon was supposed to get hit tonight by an asteroid or something. One of my teachers mentioned it. She was going to a meteor party in Central Park to watch."
"Yeah, I heard about that at school, too," Alex said. "But I still don't see why an asteroid would knock out the electricity. Or why Mami would be called to the hospital."
"The radio isn't working," Briana said, trying to turn it on. "Maybe the batteries are dead."
"Great," Alex said. "In that case, why don't you take the flashlight and get ready for bed. Mami'll tell us what happened when she gets home."
"It's too hot without a fan," Julie whined.
Alex didn't know how Mami and Bri put up with Julie. She was Carlos's favorite, too. Papi actually seemed to think she was cute, but that was because she was the baby of the family. A twelve-year-old baby, in Alex's opinion.
"Do you think everything is okay?" Briana asked.
"I'm sure it is," Alex said. "Probably a big fire downtown. I heard a lot of sirens."
"But Mami works in Queens," Briana said. "Why would the hospital need her there if the fire's downtown?"
"A plane crash, then," Alex said, thinking of the people pointing to the sky. "Remind me to tell Papi that twelve B has a plumbing problem, okay. And go to bed. Whatever the emergency is, it'll be gone by morning."
"All right," Briana said. "Come on, Julie. Let's pray extra hard for everybody."
"That sounds like fun," Julie grumbled, but she followed her big sister to their bedroom.
Mami kept votive candles in the kitchen, Alex remembered. He stumbled around until he found one and matches to light it. It cast only a small amount of light, but enough for him to make his way to the room he had once shared with Carlos.
Originally the two rooms had been the master bedroom, but when they'd moved in, Papi had built a dividing wall, so that the boys and the girls each got a small bedroom. He and Mami slept in their own room. Even without Carlos, the apartment was crowded, but it was home and Alex had no complaints.
He undressed quickly, opened the door slightly so he could hear Mami when she got home, blew out the candle, and climbed into the lower half of the bunk bed. Through the thin wall, he could hear Briana's Dios te salve, María. Papi thought Bri was too devout, but Mami said it's just a stage fourteen-year-old girls go through.
Somehow Alex didn't think Julie would go through that stage when she turned fourteen.
When Alex had been fourteen, three years ago, he'd thought for a couple of days about becoming a priest. But Bri was different. Alex could actually see her becoming a nun someday. Mami would love that, he knew.
Sister Briana, he thought as he turned on his side, his head facing the wall. My sister the sister. He fell asleep grinning at the thought.
Thursday, May 19
"Alex! Alex! Let me in!"
At first Alex thought he was dreaming. He hadn't slept well all night, waking up several times to see if the electricity had come back on or if Mami had returned. The hot, muggy weather hadn't helped. The dreams he'd had all had to do with sirens and crashes and emergencies he was somehow involved in but helpless to prevent.
"Alex!"
Alex shook his head awake and looked out the window. It was still dark outside and the streetlights were out. But he could make out a man's face. It was Uncle Jimmy, crouching at the window.
Alex got out of bed. "I'll meet you at the door," he said, tossing on his robe, then making his way through the apartment to the outside door.
"The buzzer's not working," Uncle Jimmy said. "Everything's blacked out."
"What time is it?" Alex asked. "What's going on?"
"It's four-thirty," Uncle Jimmy said. "I need you to help at the bodega. Wake up your sisters and get dressed as fast as you can."
"What's happening at the bodega?" Alex asked, but he did as Jimmy told him, banging on his sisters' bedroom door until he was sure they were awake.
"I'll explain it all later," Jimmy said. "Get dressed. And hurry."
In a matter of minutes, Alex, Briana, and Julie were fully dressed and standing in the living room. "Come on," Jimmy said. "I have the van here."
"Where are we going?" Briana asked. "Is everyone all right? Is Mami home yet?"
"I don't think so," Alex said. "She couldn't have slept through this. Uncle Jimmy, how long are we going to be gone?"
"As long as it takes," Jimmy replied.
"What about school?" Briana asked. "Will we be back in time?"
"Don't worry about school," Jimmy said. "Don't worry about anything. Just come with me."
"What if Mami calls?" Briana asked. "Or Papi? They'll be scared if no one answers the phone."
Alex nodded. "Julie, come with us," he said. "Bri, you stay here in case anyone calls." He would have preferred Bri's company, but it was safer to leave her alone than Julie.
"All right," Jimmy said. "Let's get moving."
Uncle Jimmy had left his van double-parked in front of the building, but Alex supposed at that hour of the morning no one really cared. They piled in and Jimmy began driving crosstown through the park and then the twenty blocks uptown to the bodega. There was a lot more traffic than Alex would have expected so early in the morning, and he could still hear sirens in the distance.
"What's happening?" Alex asked. "Do they know what caused the blackout?"
"Yeah, they know," Jimmy said. "The moon. Something happened to the moon."
"Moonspots," Julie said, and giggled.
"Nothing funny about it," Uncle Jimmy said. "Lorraine couldn't sleep all night. She's convinced the looters will hit the bodegas at first light. Last night it was the liquor stores and the electronics stores, but in the daylight they'll start going for the food. So we're unloading the bodega, moving all the food out, back to the apartment. I need you to pack and lift."
"What about us?" Julie asked. "Do we get any of the food?"
"Yeah, sure," Uncle Jimmy said. "Where's your mother?"
"At the hospital," Alex said. "She worked all night, I guess. Papi's still in Puerto Rico. Uncle Jimmy, what's going on?"
"I'll tell you the best I know how," Uncle Jimmy said. "Some big thing hit the moon last night, a planet or a comet or something. And it knocked the moon out of whack. It's closer to Earth now. Tidal waves. Flooding, blackouts, panic. Lorraine's hysterical."
Aunt Lorraine was prone to hysteria, Alex thought. Papi's nickname for her was La Dramática, and Mami still hadn't forgiven her for the scene she'd made when Carlos announced he was enlisting
"Can't they move the moon back where it belongs?" Julie asked.
"I sure hope so," Jimmy said. "But even if they can, it'll take a while. In the meantime, Lorraine says we might as well have the food and not let strangers steal it from our babies' mouths." He pressed hard on the horn at the sight of a car cutting across Third Avenue. "Idiots," he muttered. "Rich people, pulling out at the first sign of trouble."
"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 drive?" 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 outside. 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."
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."