Page 9 of Little Paper Games
“Mom…” my voice whispered.
“Did you order groceries today?” she asked fervently.
“I did. I added cleaning supplies, extra food, and toilet paper to my order like you suggested this morning,” I droned off, feeling semi-robotic in the moment.
“Good. Your father and I ordered you masks from an online site, and we ordered some bulk items from Amazon that will be delivered to your house next week. Do you use the deep freeze in the shared basement?” Her mother’s voice was sounding firmer and more authoritative the longer she spoke. She was in full-blown badass mom mode now.
I thought about it for a moment.
There was a shared basement in the duplex. It wasn’t much, just a cement floor, bare walls, and a lot of storage space. Neither myself or any of the tenants used it often.
“I don’t think so. But Jude might be using it. I don’t know,” I rambled off, my mind moving too quickly for me to settle on one thought for more than a few seconds at a time.
“I’ll call Sarah tonight and ask. A few days ago, when rumors started circulating across international news, the Lincoln’s, your father, and I decided to invest in meat. We’ll have some delivered to your house if there is freezer space. Okay?” I waited a moment, wrapping my head around that thought. The thought that we would need a freezer full of meat for… for what? To survive? I felt my stomach drop. Surely, it wouldn’t come to that.
“Thanks, Mom,” I barely whispered out.
“Take care of yourself and call me tomorrow, okay?” my mother pressed. I nodded my head before realizing she couldn’t hear that.
“Yeah, of course, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, Kenna. So much.” My mother hung up the phone, leaving me sitting on my living room sofa in pajamas that were decorated with a pattern of dancing avocados, pondering what the hell was going to happen next.
Chapter 5
JUDE
Aglobal pandemic. Lives lost numbering in the thousands. That number climbing each hour, every day. Other countries’ death counts climbing daily. Food shortages.
I’d never been so thankful to have my parents, and the Clarke’s for that matter. Their foresight to stock the shared deep freeze and the advanced warning to stock up on toilet paper and essentials had been a complete game changer over the past few weeks. The original order from the local and state government had been that we would be in a two-week lockdown, unable to leave our homes for any reason. They assigned essential workers to continue to work, providing them with proper gear and changing cleaning standards to an absolute maximum to reduce the spread of this awful virus. It was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed. Unlike anything my parents had witnessed, for that matter.
It seemed that Kenna had the same idea. We had to save the freezer food for as long as possible. That two-week lockdown was quickly changed to a lockdown for an unknown period of time. It was honestly better that way. The death count was climbing and made everyone uneasy. Until it was under control, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving. Not at all.
The biggest problem that had surfaced so far was boredom. I wasn’t used to sitting idly by. I’d paid for a subscription to Amazon, and then to their book services, both e-books and audible books to help pass the time, but that only went so far. Working out went from a morning activity to a three-times-a-day adventure. Granted, I quickly realized that the more I worked out, the more I needed to eat and the more I ate, the faster I went through supplies. It was a difficult situation to be in.
I’d considered going out into the shared backyard at some point, to just get some fresh air, but unfortunately, the city wasn’t allowing that. Not yet anyway. I couldn’t really blame them, and I made do with opening the windows for short periods of time. The weather was still really cold on some days and especially in the mornings. Still, it was better than nothing. Looking at other cities and countries on the news reminded me that I could have it much, much worse.
I opened my pantry, ignoring the meal plan I had listed out on the fridge and instead trusting my pantry to provide me with some level of inspiration. I was getting sick of the same old thing. I wanted Chinese food so badly the mere thought of it had my stomach grumbling.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound of the front door startled me so badly, I swear I jumped two feet in the air.
“Coming!” I hollered back, grabbing an N-95 mask from the bar top as I walked. I looked through the peephole to see a delivery man standing there awkwardly, a full-on face mask covering his entire face. It was like the gas masks you saw kids wear during Halloween.
Better safe than sorry, I supposed.
“Delivery for Clarke?” the man spoke, the sound barely decipherable through his extreme mask.
“Next door,” I called from behind my own door. I didn’t answer the door unless I absolutely had to. Not that I had many people knocking in the last few weeks. People were taking the lockdown relatively seriously. Those that weren’t were facing the consequences from the local and state government.
“For Clarke!” the man yelled louder, then turning on his heel, walked away. Jesus tits.
“Next. Door!” I yelled back loudly, trying to get his attention. It was no use. The man was halfway to his van by the time I had my own mask affixed and the door open. Whatever. It was cold and I wasn’t going to go pound on Kenna’s door.
I grabbed the box — the heavy box — and took it inside. What the fuck did she order that was so damned heavy? I had half a mind to open the box and find out for myself.
That was a felony, however, to open someone else’s mail. Better to just let her know she had a box. I made my way to the adjoining door and knocked loudly.
