Jakarta Pandemic, The (11 page)

“What do you think we have going on over here?” Alex said.

“If you guys were closer, we’d help you too.”

“I think Danny is a little too focused on a big salary, and way too dependent on your support. I can think of other terms for it, but I promised Kate I wouldn’t bitch about it with you guys. Anyway, I can feel my blood pressure skyrocketing. Bottom line, they can deal with their own kids for a couple weeks without your help.”

“We’ll see how things go. I’m willing to bet this whole thing will clear up in a few weeks, just like the swine flu. A trip sounds nice, but…”

“I know. Danny and Karla need more time to figure out how to take care of their own kids. Sorry. I promised I wouldn’t. Anyway, just don’t wait too long, Mom. I think the situation has the potential to deteriorate very quickly. Think about it and let me know. You guys are always welcome out here, and so are my brother and his family. Love you guys.”

“Love you too, Alex. Give Kate and the kids a hug for me.”

“Will do, Mom,” he replied and hung up the phone.

They aren’t taking any of this seriously.

Alex was sweating profusely. In just under one hour, he had hauled roughly one-third of their firewood into the garage. Two cords of firewood were dumped on their driveway in late August, and with the reluctant help of his son, he’d finished stacking the wood along the outside back wall of the garage by the middle of September.

Sometimes I wish I was a hard core procrastinator.

He grabbed another oversized stack of wood and started the grueling trek around the side of the garage. As soon as he cleared the rear corner of the garage, he saw Charles Thornton walking over from his house across the street. He picked up the pace, hoping to disappear into the garage bay before the man arrived.

Alex had made a practice of tactfully avoiding Charlie Thornton as much as possible. He had learned the hard way that any conversation lasting more than three minutes with Charlie would inevitably shift to the politics of hunting, and the liberal conspiracy to deny his children the right to enjoy a tradition on which this nation was founded.

He approached the front corner of the garage and looked up at Charlie, who was clearly headed over to talk to him.

Unavoidable. God damn it.

Alex entered the garage bay and placed the wood on a neat stack along the outside wall of the garage, furthest away from the mudroom door.

Two cords are going to jam this garage shut.

Charles was halfway there, just as Alex emerged from the garage.

“Hey, Charles, not tromping around the woods today?” Alex asked, wiping his forehead.

“Shit, I wish. Linda’s still at the office, trying to unscrew the temp situation at National Semi. Three of them walked off the job yesterday, unannounced. I still have no idea why, but if we don’t get some replacements in there by Monday, we could lose our contract with them. We have at least thirty floating around there.

“Anyway, we heard about the crowds at the stores, so I took off to try and get some grocery shopping done. I started over at Sam’s Club. Forget it. I couldn’t even get close to the place. Same story at Hannigan’s and Shale’s. Did you manage to get to any of these stores today? Linda and I have been so busy at the office that we never made our weekly shopping run. Our house is empty. Looks like we’re eating out tonight.”

Like every night?

“Yeah, you and the rest of the town. I couldn’t get near Hannigan’s this morning. Drove by around eleven, and the line was over a mile long just to get into the parking lot. That’s just in one direction. We have enough stuff on hand for now,” Alex said uncomfortably.

“I heard they closed all of the Hannigan stores in the area. Picked clean by ten. I’m worried about getting my dad’s meds. They should at least keep the pharmacy open at Hannigan’s. All I need are some refills.”

“You should ask Greg Murray about that. His wife might be able to hook you up. She’s a pharmacist over at the Scarborough Hannigan’s.”

Sorry, Greg.

“That’s right. Do you know if they’re home?”

“Carolyn might be home right now if the store is closed.”

“I’ll have to check. So why are you stacking your wood inside the garage. Don’t you normally keep it out back?” he asked.

What dragged you all the way over here, Charlie?

“Well, ever since we put in the wood-burning stove, we make a lot more trips to get wood. Kate hates going outside to grab the wood, so I figured if it was inside the garage, she’d keep the fire going and quit turning up the thermostat.”

Outright lie.

“You gonna move it all inside?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t think so. We won’t go through two cords this winter. Barely burned through one last year. But who knows what the boss will want,” Alex said.

“Wives. Give them whatever they want, right? Well, I gotta get back to the house and figure out dinner. Probably need a reservation to get in somewhere tonight. Hey, if I can’t get into a restaurant, you might hear the thunder of one of my rifles. I’ve seen fresh signs of deer in the woods back by the park.”

A little more than three minutes this time.

“No worries here. I’ve been on the receiving end of blasts that could make your ears bleed.”

Or tear your limbs off.

“I’ll bet. You ever do any sniping? That’s the ultimate hunting in my book.”

Is he serious?

“No, but we routinely had snipers assigned to our battalion. They didn’t seem to enjoy their job much.”

“Hell, I’d give anything to trade places with them for a few hours.”

“I don’t know. Nothing out there shoots back,” Alex said and glanced toward the trees north of the neighborhood.

They both looked at each other for a second, and Alex felt like he was being sized up.

“Yeah, maybe not. Anyway, have a good night, Alex. I’ll catch you later,” Charlie said and started walking back down the driveway.

“You too, Charlie.”

He returned to the wood stacked behind the garage.

Definitely gonna keep an eye on Private Pyle over there.

**

Alex stepped out onto the mudroom stoop and looked around for Kate. He didn’t see her in the front yard, so he headed down the driveway and spotted her four houses down, petting a chocolate lab in the Coopers’ driveway. He approached Kate and leaned down to pet the Coopers’ dog, Max, who wiggled and squirmed his way over to Alex, stopping short to roll over onto his back. Kate stood upright as he rubbed Max’s chest.

“Very good boy. Yes, you are. Any sign of Paul and Nancy?” he asked, without looking up at Kate.

Kate leaned in and rubbed Max’s neck. “No. I thought I saw their car drive by our house on the way out…maybe an hour ago?”

Alex stood up and took in the trees, his eyes straining in the direction of the Thorntons’, without turning his head. “Let’s get rolling before we attract some unwanted attention,” he remarked, nodding toward Charlie’s house.

Kate looked over at the Thorntons’.

“Jesus Christ. Don’t look!” he whispered forcefully.

“What are you, in third grade? None of their cars are out, and you know they never park in the garage.”

“I’d just like to get off the block unmolested,” he said, and they started to walk briskly toward the other side of the Durham Road loop.

They continued to walk through the loop, passing the Murrays’ and the Bishops’ houses to their right. Alex caught some movement in his peripheral vision from the Santos’ yard, on the other side of the street, but nobody called out to them. They passed by the Cohens’ house, also on the left, and saw that both of their cars were fully packed. One of the cars had a cargo carrier on top, which was open and halfway stuffed with duffel bags. They both picked up the pace to get by the Cohens’ house.

“They don’t have any immediate family down here, right?” Kate asked.

“I was just thinking the same thing. I think Margaret’s parents are retired and live up near Bar Harbor,” he replied, still thinking about it.

“Yes, that’s right. Her parents own a huge place on the water up there. They spend a few weeks each summer up there and most of the weekends.”

“Looks like they’re taking off.”

They continued walking toward Harrison Road, where they planned to turn right and connect with Everett Lane, which ran parallel to their neighborhood and connected with several other streets behind their subdivision. This route was one of their favorite walks, which took them a few miles through surrounding neighborhoods and eventually connected with Hewitt Park. Several foot trails extended for miles through the land trust preserve surrounding the park, but he and Kate usually turned around once they reached the park.

As they approached Harrison Road, a black Toyota Sienna minivan careened, tires squealing, onto Durham Road, barely making the turn ahead of a red sedan on Harrison Road.

“What the…” Alex exclaimed, pushing Kate slightly off the sidewalk onto the Quinns’ lawn and putting himself between the van and his wife. He quickly recognized the Perrys’ van as it approached, still moving way too fast for a neighborhood road. He saw Todd Perry behind the wheel of the van as it closed the distance.

I really hope he keeps going.

The van slowed as it pulled parallel to the Fletchers, the window already down.

No luck.

“Can you believe this shit?!” Todd yelled at them.

“What’s going on, Todd? Is everything all right?” Kate asked, almost sounding overly concerned.

“No. I’ve been all over Portland, and it’s the same story. I guess you have to get up at five in the morning to get groceries now,” he said, barely below the level of screaming.

“Yeah, I think from this point on, you might be right,” Alex said.

“What am I supposed to do, camp out with my entire family? Four kids in a minivan, just so we can fill up a cart full of groceries? They have to figure something else out. Not everyone can afford to sit around Hannigan’s all day,” he replied, his tone calming slightly.

“Todd, why don’t you have Susan give me a call? We can watch your kids for a few hours in the morning, and you can both head over really early. Take separate cars, get in line separately, then you can play a little catch up and get two loads of groceries. Don’t go together. They won’t let you grab two carts if they see you’re together,” Kate offered.

“
They?
Who the fuck are
they
? Some punk ass kids at Hannigan’s?” he said loudly.

“No, the police. Nancy Cooper saw the cops break up a couple trying to load two carts into one car.”

“Jesus. It’s a police state already. Hey, sorry to bite your heads off. I’m just a little frustrated by all of this nonsense. I appreciate the offer to watch the kids. We may take you up on it. I’m gonna have Sue call her parents, maybe they can drive down from Augusta tonight and help us out. Thanks. I’ve been so pissed off, I can barely think straight,” he said, calm now.

“Just keep us in mind, Todd. We’ve got nothing planned for tomorrow, so it’s really no big deal for one of us to head over and keep the kids company, or you can pack them up in their pajamas and herd them over to our house. I’ll feed them pancakes,” Alex offered.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll run it by Susan.”

“We might be out tonight for dinner, so leave a message and we’ll call you when we get back.”

“Thanks again, guys. I’ll give you a call later,” Todd said.

“See ya, Todd,” Kate said.

Todd accelerated the van to a reasonable speed and made a controlled turn toward his house. Alex and Kate started walking again.

“Loose cannon alert,” Kate said. “Susan told me he had a short temper.”

“Confirmed. Are you really gonna get up at the ass crack of dawn to watch their kids?”

“Oh, I’m not getting up. You are.”

“That’s what I thought.” He laughed.

They turned on Harrison Road and walked holding hands toward Everett Lane. A chilly breeze sifted through the towering maple and oak trees along Harrison Road, sending a cascade of dried yellow, red and brown leaves to the ground.

**

The Fletchers’ Subaru crossed the Casco Bay Bridge, headed away from Portland. Traffic was surprisingly light, and Alex took a moment to look left, across the oncoming lanes. He stared out into the Casco Bay. Lights sprinkled across Peaks Island were barely visible, giving the island a sparsely populated feel. Indeed, at this time of the year, the island held fewer than a thousand residents, and the number decreased every week as seasonal home owners retreated to the mainland for the harsh winter.

As their car continued on, the view of Peaks Island was washed out by the blazing deck lights of a massive petroleum carrier docked at the oil terminal on the northern tip of South Portland’s industrial waterfront.

Alex felt bloated from dinner. He could have stopped with a nice salad after the appetizers, but the allure of seared ahi tuna was too much to resist. Kate made a similarly delicious but regrettable decision, choosing the citrus glazed salmon. Both of them rode in silence across the bridge. As they crested the bridge and began to descend, they saw two police cars at the first intersection. The cruisers’ roof lights flashed a blue warning to the approaching cars.

As they drew closer, he gained a clear picture of the situation at the bottom of the bridge. The police cruisers were positioned to barricade the two lanes of forward traffic, leaving just enough room for vehicles to drift into the far right turn lane. A police officer stood adjacent to the far right cruiser, motioning traffic toward the turn with a red illuminated wand. As their car approached the police officer, Alex slowed the car to a stop and lowered his window.

“Evening, Officer. What’s going on down there?”

The officer leaned down with a serious expression, took a look around the car, and then settled his eyes on Alex. His glare softened, erasing any trace of anxiety from the encounter.

“Nothing to be worried about. We have about three to four hundred cars jammed into the Shale’s and Hannigan’s lots, waiting for tomorrow. Lots of people roaming the lots, eating at McDonald’s, ordering Domino’s. A regular zoo down there. We tried to move them out of there, but it became pretty apparent that nobody planned to go anywhere. Not much we can do, right? We’re just trying to keep any more cars from jamming into those areas. We’re gonna be up all night walking those lots.”