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Movement came from behind the first row of potato chip boxes, and then a guy appeared. A guy I had never met or seen here before. “Who are you?” I demanded.
He cocked one eyebrow. “Who are you?” he shot back at me.
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “That’s not your business. Who are you and why are you in our stockroom?”
My threatening tone didn’t help matters. He looked around as if he wasn’t sure why he was here, but he wasn’t concerned about it. “So this is your stockroom? I’ve never seen you in here before, so I was unaware it belonged to you. Maybe if you tell me who you are, then I can help you.”
He was arrogant. I hated him already.
“I’m Ezmita Ramos and I’m looking for my father. You don’t belong back here.”
He frowned at me. “Really? Well, I was told to organize the potato chips and pull out dated boxes by my boss. I’ll have to tell him you said I didn’t belong here.”
What? “Where is Mr. Darren?” I demanded.
“Who?” he asked.
I pointed at him then, catching him in a lie. “HA! You are lying. Mr. Darren is stocking in the store. He would be your boss. You need to leave.”
“Ezmita,” my father said as he came walking into the stockroom from the door that led into the store. “Why are you not in front?”
I glanced from the stranger to Papa, and he didn’t seem at all concerned by the guy’s presence. “I’m supposed to tell you lunch is ready, and then I am headed to the front,” I explained. Then I was starting to point out the guy when Papa finally looked at him.
“Malecon, we have a spill on aisle four. Clean it up,” he said, then back to me, “Go up front.”
Malecon looked at me and smirked.
He thought he was cute. You could see it in his stupid grin. Maybe he was cute, but outward beauty only went so far. He was doing everything he could just to annoy me. I’d done nothing to ask for it either. Were guys always going to be so dang perplexing?
JULY 20, 2020 I Needed Distracting Right Now
CHAPTER 35
ASA
The call had come at two a.m. The ringing of the phone had woken me up, but I’d been confused when I answered. I hadn’t been completely awake. Sleep had been a struggle the past few days, and last night it had caught up with me. It had been a deep, dreamless sleep until the phone woke me.
I imagine it was how parents must feel when they get that late-night phone call. Unsure when they answer, only to hear the solemn voice on the other line. Even though you can’t see a face or read an expression, the sound of the unfamiliar voice alerts you something is wrong. The world has once again changed, and you can never get it back to the way it was.
Having a stranger tell me that my mother had passed away over the phone only added to the emptiness that had dug into me since I’d found out she was in the hospital. I was never able to say good-bye. I hadn’t been able to tell her I loved her. Hearing her voice was no longer something I would ever do again. Even now, I couldn’t touch her hand. She was out of reach. She had died alone in a hospital.
I knew she was far from the only person to die this way since Covid-19 hit, but she was mine. She was my mother. She was the good inside me. She was the only happy memories I had from my childhood. She was my home. It didn’t matter that so many others had experienced this loss and were experiencing it at this moment all over the world. Not to me. I still felt alone in my pain.
Nash’s apartment was quiet, but I was surrounded. Technically I wasn’t alone. My friends were all here. Food had been brought over by Nash’s mom and others. Nash’s mom had hugged me tightly, and I’d almost broken down then. It had reminded me that I’d never get to hug my momma again.
Tallulah set a plate of cookies in front of me and a glass of milk. “You need to eat something,” she said softly.
I had no appetite, but I nodded.
“West and Maggie are headed this way. He said to tell you he’d be here soon,” Nash told me, and I looked up to see he’d been on the phone. Again I nodded. My father hadn’t called me. He either didn’t think I deserved to know or the nurse that told him had mentioned telling me. Still, my mother was dead. His wife was dead. Wouldn’t he call? No. I doubted he would. I wasn’t sure I could answer if he did.
