The Dead And The Gone Read Online Free PDF Page B

there, either. He fingered Mami’s rosary beads, wishing she had them with her.
    Alex checked their closet next, rifling through his father’s pants pockets. He was rewarded with a handful of coins and two dollar bills.
    On his father’s night table, Alex found the key to Papi’s office, where he kept his supplies. It was unlikely Papi kept any money there, but it needed to be checked out. Papi never let any of the kids into his office unless he was there, and even then only Carlos had ever hung out with him.
    As Alex crossed through the living room, he found Bri and Julie hard at work. “Where are you going:” Bri asked him.
    “To Papi’s office,” Alex said.
    “Papi won’t like that,” Julie said.
    “He’ll understand,” Bri said. “Especially when he sees how many cans of mushrooms you got for him, Julie.”
    Alex grinned at the thought of Papi eating nothing but mushrooms for the next month. He left the apartment and walked the few feet to Papi’s office. It wasn’t much more than a supply closet, but Papi had a desk, and maybe he kept some cash there.
    There was a minifridge in the corner, and out of curiosity, Alex opened it. There were three cans of beer and an untouched six-pack. Well, if Julie drove him to drink, Alex wouldn’t have to go very far.
    In Papi’s desk drawer he found a directory of all the apartments, a deck of cards, and two envelopes. Both envelopes were sealed, but Alex could tell they held keys. One envelope said 11F, the other 14J. 11F felt like it had money in it. Curiosity and desperation overcame fear, and Alex opened the envelope. He found two twenties and a paint chip. Apparently Papi had agreed to paint 11F and was to use the cash to buy the paint. Well, if Papi couldn’t make it home for a few days, the odds were neither could 11F or 14J.
    Alex put the envelopes in his pants pocket. He debated about the beer, but then decided it was safer in the apartment. Besides, Papi would want a beer the minute he got home, whenever that might be.
    Between his tip money, the couple of bucks in Papi’s pants, and 11Fs forty dollars, Alex figured they had a little more than fifty in cash. With the food in the house they should be okay until Mami got home.
    He went back to the apartment, beers in tow. “Papi’s really going to kill you,” Julie said.
    “I’m holding them for him,” Alex said. “Count them. Nine cans.”
    “When do you think Papi’ll get home?” Briana asked.
    “Late next week probably,” Alex replied. “They have to get the airports open first, so it’ll take a while.”
    “Do you think Mami’ll be back tonight?” Bri asked.
    “Mami may be stuck in Queens,” Alex replied. “Father Franco said the subways aren’t running.”
    “It’s funny to think she’s stuck in Queens and Papi’s stuck in Puerto Rico,” Bri said. “Like they were both really far away.”
    “What’s funny about it?” Julie asked. “How do we even know 7 they’re okay?”
    “Our Madre Santisima is looking after them,” Bri said. “Isn’t that right, Alex.”
    “Of course she is,” Alex said, praying that the Most Holy Mother’s arms were big enough to embrace the millions of souls, dead and gone, crying for her mercy.
     
    Saturday, May 21
    Alex knew his sisters would expect to go to Mass on Sunday, but he wasn’t sure he wanted them to hear what Father Franco might say. It didn’t help that the panic inside him was growing stronger and more uncontrollable by the minute. He told himself repeatedly that it had been Papi who’d called, that Bri couldn’t be wrong, that it was just a matter of time before Papi made his way back home. But he couldn’t shake the image of the tiny seaside town being swept away, Papi screaming as twenty-foot tidal waves carried him to certain death.
    And Mami. The longer they went without hearing from her, the more terrified Alex became that they never would. Had she drowned on the subway like thousands of others?
    It was only three