by Kate Morris
“I-I missed you, too,” she admitted and leaned just ever so slightly into him. Then she cleared her voice and stepped back. “Um, we should get this finished.”
He grinned and nodded. At least she admitted that she’d missed him, as well. Roman could live with that for now, although he wanted so much more of her, all of her. He just hoped that he wouldn’t end up missing her in his life because she was gone permanently, killed by this plague.
Chapter Nineteen
At a little after midnight, Roman texted her:
My dad said he’d take us for supplies. He thought it was a good idea.
She sent back a simple: Thanks for taking me too.
Thanks for not rejecting me when I called you my girlfriend.
Jane’s heart thumped hard in her chest. She’d wondered later in the shower if she’d only imagined that. Every girl in their school wanted Roman Lockwood for a boyfriend. She’d never even considered it. He was so far out of her reach she might as well have lived on Mars. She didn’t know how to respond, so she simply texted:
Ok
Is that your idea of dirty talk, Livingston? We might have to work on it.
Jane laughed and even blushed. He didn’t wait for her to answer again. A new message popped right up.
Get some rest. I’m going to pop one of my dad’s sleeping pills cuz I just remembered that blue bikini again. Sleep is a long way off now. Thanks, fake boobs girl.
His message was followed by a flame emoji and two smoke swirls. Jane laughed louder this time. He was really funny. A new message popped up again. This time it was a picture of a long stretch of winding road. She didn’t get it.
???
That’s you. Curves for miles. G’night, sexy girl.
Jane laughed again, blushed harder, and sent him something funny of her own. It was a pic of Johnny Cash. He returned a second later with:
Best compliment ever. My girlfriend is awesome…and hot. G’night.
Can’t wait to meet her. ;) See you tomorrow.
After that, she tossed and turned with worry about their day tomorrow. She’d texted her dad again and couldn’t get a response. It was frustrating. Was he sick? Were they just in an isolated area and couldn’t get service? It was usually like that. She stamped out thoughts of him being sick and tried to focus on the reason for him not answering just being the simpler one of being out of range.
She texted Roman back and said not to worry about picking apples in the morning. She would do it later. It seemed more important to leave early and get the supplies. Then she nodded off thinking about the word ‘girlfriend’ and if it meant the same thing to Roman that it did to her. She’d never been someone’s girlfriend before and didn’t really know the parameters of such a title. She only knew what they were in her mother’s life, which was sex and drugs and whatever she could get from a man, including money.
The next morning at six-thirty a.m., Roman and his father pulled in with Connor. Nana Peaches had breakfast ready. They ate in the dining room to accommodate everyone, and Connor kept them entertained for a while with funny stories.
Then his father broke in and said, “I’m sorry for the way things went the other day, Peaches. You’ll have to forgive my wife. She’s just been awfully stressed out lately what with everything going on.”
The excuse was lame, but Jane felt the apology was heartfelt. Her grandmother dismissed the rude behavior and accepted the apology with grace. Then they discussed the plan.
His father said, “We’ll go to the Sam’s Club up on The Strip. Then from there, we’ll hit the Drug Mart and the wholesale restaurant supply store downtown.”
“In the city?” her grandmother asked.
“Yes, I occasionally cater in lunch for my employees, so I joined a restaurant supply store to save money on those dinners and lunches since I have a vendor’s license.”
“That might not be safe, depending on where it’s located downtown.”
“I’ve never had a problem before,” he said. “It’s down on Cherry and Twelfth, which isn’t great, but it’s safe at this place.”
Her grandma’s gray eyebrows lifted as if she were concerned about the location. Jane never went downtown. Her grandmother told her once that it used to be a nice place and she’d go there with her friends, walk the city, shop, stop for ice cream, ice skate in the plaza in the winter, and admire the grand old mansions. Now most of those places looked like rundown crack houses. Jane knew those types of neighborhoods well from her experiences with Maureen.
Outside, an ambulance and firetruck sped past with their sirens blaring. Jane stared at the grandfather clock’s pendulum swinging back and forth. When it finally chimed the quarter hour, she jumped.
“We should get going,” his father said and rose. “Connor, be good for Miss Barnes.”
Connor raised his little hand and saluted his father, who smiled and rubbed the top of his son’s head affectionately. He was nothing like his wife.
“I’m going to the bank, too,” he told them as they collected their jackets from the hooks in the mudroom. “I’m going to pull out a good sum of money in case we need it. You should do the same thing soon.”
He said this to Nana Peaches, but Jane knew that she didn’t do a lot of banking in the traditional sense. She kept most of her cash in a coffee can under the kitchen sink. Her grandmother just smiled and nodded at him.
“Ready, kids?”
“Yep,” Roman answered his father.
They left to the backdrop of the sun shining, the birds whistling, the fall winds brisk and carrying leaves, and the sound of helicopter blades whirring low overhead. Jane waved once to her grandmother from the middle of the front seat where she sat between Roman and his father.
Jim Lockwood drove them to his bank and then The Strip, which was not far from their neighborhood. Before they came within a mile, though, the traffic congested and slowed way down. It was like this on Black Friday, too, when everyone wanted to shop at the mall and the chain stores on The Strip, which were so much more in fashion than a big box store, or the second-hand store where Jane usually shopped.
Once they came to the intersection, she could see why it was so busy. The traffic lights weren’t working, and the police were there directing traffic. Except they were doing more than just directing traffic. They were stopping cars and had the other side of the road barricaded off. His father pulled up, rolled down his window to speak with the police officer in charge who was letting people go through or ordering them to turn around and leave.
“What’s your business here?” the cop asked.
“We’re just trying to buy food and supplies. I have kids to feed. Is something wrong?” Jim asked.
“No, sir, but the only people we’re letting through are people with cash. None of the card machines are working.”
“Yes, officer, we have cash,” his father said.
“You have one hour. Then you gotta clear outta the area to make room for others to shop,” he said firmly, to which his father agreed with a nod.
“Wow,” Roman said as they drove past and made it to the wholesale club safely. “This is crazy.”
“Yeah, guess a lot of other folks were thinking the same thing,” his father said as they got out. “Look, let’s split up once we’re in there. Try to hurry. Get what you can and text me when you’re ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Roman answered for them and took her hand.
She held tightly to his hand as they went into the store, which was crowded with hundreds of people. She, Roman, and his father wore the latex gloves and masks, but most of the shoppers didn’t. The wide rear doors to the stockrooms were also open, and employees were handing people bags of bulk foods and crates of canned goods right from the shrink-wrapped skids. Roman took some and so did Jane and put it all on their low, flat cart.
“Here, Roman,” she said to him as he pushed their cart. She led him down the aisle of baking goods and handed him sacks of flour and sugar.
“
Are we going to bake some cookies?” he teased.
Jane smiled or tried to. She was too nervous about what this all felt like. Every other shopper there had the same frantic look in their eyes.
She led him next to the canned fruits and vegetable aisles that were mostly picked clean. Then they went to the snack aisle near the side wall. She handed him boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups and pre-packaged cookies like a mom would pack in a child’s lunch.
“These have a lot of preservatives,” he said. “I guess that’s a good thing now, right?”
She nodded and headed toward the paper products aisle where they collected two huge packages of toilet paper and toothpaste. Shouting somewhere in the store alerted them just as his dad texted to meet up.
When they found him near the check-out line, which was long, he said, “Did you hear that? They’re running out of stuff already. People were fighting. We need to get out of here.”
Another squabble began in the next checkout line over from them. Roman’s father pushed his cart toward the exit, which made Jane nervous they’d get arrested for shoplifting. He exchanged quiet words with the police officer working the door. Then she watched as he slyly pressed five, crisp hundred-dollar bills into the man’s hand.
“Let’s go!” he said fiercely.
He pushed his cart, and she helped Roman push theirs. Mostly she just wanted to be close to him because being close to Roman suddenly felt safer. Occasionally, he’d move his hand to cover hers or pressed it against her lower back as he looked over his shoulder as if expecting to be attacked from behind. It made Jane even more nervous.
His father led them to Nana Peaches’s truck near the end of the parking lot where they’d managed to find a place to park.
“Roman,” he stated with urgency, “get in the bed. Jane and I will throw it all up to you. Pack it down so it doesn’t fly out. Hurry, son.”
Roman didn’t even hesitate. He was over the side of the truck in a second while his father lowered the tailgate.
“What’s going on?” Jane asked as fear started to settle in on her.
“We need to get out of here,” he said. “It’s a powder keg about to blow.”
“Oh,” she whispered and lifted a box of dry pasta noodles into the bed of the truck to Roman.
“Like this,” Jim instructed and showed her to set the boxes on the tailgate and shove them hard toward Roman in the front. “Hurry, Jane.”
His sense of urgency made her even more scared, and Jane followed his orders. Soon, she had her cart emptied. His father finished a few seconds later. That’s when they heard the loud crack of a gunshot. Roman hopped over the side and landed on his feet while his father slammed the tailgate closed again.
“Let’s go!” Roman urged and encouraged her toward the driver’s door. “Get in. Get in!”
They sped away from the shopping center and left a different way. He was heading toward the freeway, but instead of grabbing the on-ramp, he kept on going.
“Freeway’s closed,” he explained.
“Was that a gunshot?” she asked with wide eyes. Beside her, Roman took her hand, and Jane did not argue or pull away. Hers shook, but his was calm and reassuring as he pressed her hand tightly against the top of his thigh. He looked in the side mirror and over his shoulder through the back window a lot.
“Yes, Jane,” his father answered her. “I saw a few people with guns concealed under their shirts in there. I figured it was gonna go that way. We need to get to the restaurant supply company and head home as quickly as possible.”
She nodded and chewed her lower lip. Roman released her hand and slipped his arm around her shoulders instead.
“It’s okay. We’re safe,” he reassured her.
Beside her, his father lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol tucked in the front of his jeans waistband.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said.
“If anyone tries to take our stuff, I’ll have to use this. Don’t worry. You won’t get into any trouble. I have a permit to carry.”
She nodded again and stared out the window thinking how surreal this all became and how quickly. A few weeks ago, she was worried about a math test. Now, she was driving with Roman Lockwood and his father looking for food and supplies to ride out a pandemic flu episode probably barricaded in their homes. And he was carrying a gun.
They took side streets to the downtown area, which was much less busy. It seemed like the usual bustle of city life. Businessmen in suits were exiting a huge banking corporation carrying their briefcases and getting into a limousine. A homeless man was pandering on the street corner. Two well-dressed women were walking down the sidewalk, probably going to lunch together.
“I don’t think they got the memo,” Roman remarked as he, too, watched the people going about their day.
“Not everyone is following this story,” his father said. “Doesn’t matter. After what we just saw up at the Sam’s Club, we’re taking precautions. I just want to get more items to stock up on. When we get there, you two, wait in the truck so nobody steals our stuff.”
“Yes, sir,” Roman said.
“I’ll be glad when your mother gets home tomorrow night,” he said. “I never should’ve let her go.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine, Dad,” Roman said to mitigate his father’s concerns. “Besides, it looks like a lot of other people don’t think this is a big deal.”
“Well, I’m not one of them now,” he said. “And, Jane, I’m sorry that we didn’t believe you two the other day. That won’t happen again, young lady. And neither will the rude behavior of my family.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said with a small smile.
Jim Lockwood was a nice man and was giving her a fair shake. It was a vast improvement over his wife’s characterization of her. Maybe she’d come around, too.
His father drove into the even dodgier section of downtown and parked in front of an old brick building. It was well-maintained, but the area was not safe. She could tell because the fence around the business was at least eight feet high with barbed wire at the top, and the building across the street looked abandoned and had graffiti on the face of it. She wasn’t sure how much business this place usually did, but it was packed today. There were at least fifty cars in the small lot. Some were parked crookedly, some not in spots at all but parked along the fence. Roman’s father took a space near the back corner, and she did not believe it to be by accident since there were a few open spots up by the door.
“Honk the horn if you have any trouble with anyone.”
“Got it,” Roman replied.
His father went in, and she sat quietly looking out the back window watching for him.
“I’m glad you’re with me,” he said and touched her hair. Jane didn’t turn to face him. She was worried about his dad.
“Me, too. Thanks for doing this. I mean, you and your dad could’ve done this without me, so I appreciate you including me.”
“No, way,” he said. “We’re in this together, right?”
Jane turned in her seat so she could look at Roman and also through the back window.
“I’m not going to ditch you and your grandmother to fend for yourselves. We’re in this together. We started this as a team, and we’ll stick together.”
She grinned lopsidedly. He said such strange things like that. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. Roman was so direct and unafraid to express himself.
“You look so pretty today,” he said and ran the back of his knuckles down over her cheek.
“Um, thanks,” she muttered. He also said strange things like this. Jane knew she was no beauty. It had been confirmed many times over by the other girls at school.
Roman sighed and said, “Why couldn’t I have made you notice me sooner? Why’d this all have to happen now?”
“What?” she croaked and looked up at him.
“I’ve waited for so long for you to take notice of me,” he said and touched her cheek tenderly.
&
nbsp; “Roman,” she said softly with confusion.
“I just wanted you to notice me, and now that you finally have…all this had to happen and ruin everything and…”
“Notice you? You were waiting for me to notice you?” she asked for clarification.
“Yes,” he answered honestly and scooted closer until they were mere inches apart. “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a long time. I’ve watched you from afar, from my window when you were out walking in the orchard, at school, at the library even.”
“What?” she asked on a hiss of surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Um, yeah, sorry,” he said with an embarrassed frown. “That sounds weird and stalker-like, but it wasn’t. I promise. I just never had the courage to approach you.”
“Why not?”
Roman shook his head, as if he didn’t know how to answer that. “Over the last few years, I’ve tried here and there to talk to you, draw your attention. It never worked, though. You’d scurry away, rush to get away from me.” He offered a simple chuckle. “I figured you thought I was a joke.”
“Um, I don’t…I’m not sure…” she stammered uncomfortably. This was all so new to her, foreign, and sent a lot of feelings rushing through her.
“Remember when I told you I wanted to ask you something last week?” he said and got a nod. “I wanted to ask you if you’d be my girlfriend, but now that sounds so stupid and…I don’t know, pointless.”
“How long have you felt like this?” she asked, not wanting to look at him because he made her feel even more nervous than she felt waiting for his father to return.
“Since our sophomore year, about two years ago. But it’s been a lot stronger this last year. All summer. All last spring. I just felt so drawn to you. I couldn’t help it. You-you fascinate me, Jane Livingston. You aren’t fake, and you don’t play games. Your life sucked before you came here, but you didn’t let that define who you are. You’re so strong. I just wanted to be near you. I even switched two of my classes this year so that I could be in the same class as you.”