I heard the garage door open and put down my books. Schoolwork could wait. My mother was home. I ran down the hall and opened the door that led into the garage. My mom had parked on the driveway and was climbing out of her car.
“Hey, Mom, how was shopping?”
“I never thought buying groceries could be so exciting and scary at the same time.” She popped open the trunk and grabbed some bags.
“Here, let me help,” I said as I ran toward her.
“No!” she practically shouted. I skidded to a surprised stop. “Sorry—I mean, no, I don’t want you to touch them. But if you want, you can sit on the steps and keep me company.”
I backed away and sat down. I watched as Mom started removing bags and placing them on the floor of the garage.
“Was it crowded?”
“There was a lineup outside. It looked longer than it was because everybody was standing six feet apart. Once I got in, it wasn’t that bad. Just so different.”
I hadn’t been able to go shopping with her because only one person from a family was allowed to go into the store.
“Between the one-way arrows for the aisles, people staying apart, plexiglass shields at the cash registers and, of course, gloves and masks, it’s all so surreal.” She gestured to the white mask still hanging around her neck.
“You sure bought a lot of stuff, Mom.”
“Yes, it’s amazing how much you need to last two weeks,” she said as she kept pulling out bags. “It’s not more than we’d normally buy, but it’s all at once. I made sure to get only what we need so there’d be plenty left for other people.”
“Dad says that’s how everybody should be doing it.”
“He’s right.”
“Is he coming home tonight?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, honey. He never knows how his day is going to go until it’s done.”
Once all the bags were out of the car, my mother started taking items from them and spreading them out on the floor in little groups—meat, milk, fruit and vegetables, cans, cartons and boxes, and frozen items.
“I’ve always thought the hardest part of shopping was putting stuff away when you got home. Now it’s even harder,” she said.
She started moving items to a big blue Tupperware container. These were things that didn’t need to be refrigerated and could be stored for a few days. That way any virus on those items would die just by sitting there.
Next she started to bring fruit and vegetables over to the counter by the laundry sink.
“How was school today?” she asked.
“Same as always. It’s not too bad, but I’m really tired of all this.”
She ran hot water and put in some soap. As the sink filled up, she continued to bring over more items.
“I think we’re all tired of everything, but it’s just the way it is right now.”
“I know. But I miss my friends.”
“I know it’s hard, honey. We’re missing so much. But what I miss more than anything is your father being here with us. He’s working so hard to keep all of us safe. We need to be grateful for the people who are missing seeing their families in order to keep everyone safe.”
I felt selfish for being so upset about not seeing my friends. I missed my dad so much. But I hadn’t really thought about how much he missed us.
Mom started dipping fruits and vegetables in the sink and scrubbing them with a little brush. She rinsed off each item with fresh water and placed it on the counter until she was finished. Next she started bringing over milk cartons and containers of yogurt and packaged salads. She wiped them all down with the soapy solution.
“Do you think everything you’re doing is necessary?” I asked.
“It can’t hurt, right?” She looked at me. Maybe she could see I was feeling anxious, because she asked, “How are you doing, Quinn?”
“Fine.”
“Really?”
I let out a big breath. “I get nervous sometimes, but who doesn’t? I think I’m doing okay, don’t you?”
“I think you’re doing amazing. It can be pretty overwhelming.”
Overwhelming was the perfect word. That was how I felt sometimes. I had trouble getting to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. When was it ever going to end? Right there in the garage, I felt my lower lip start to quiver. My mother didn’t need to see that. She had enough to worry about. I was glad her attention was on the groceries and not on me.
“Tell me more about how the online learning is going.”
“Not sure if there’s much to tell. Some of the assignments are okay, and others, well, they’re as useless as always.”
“It must be difficult for your teachers,” she said.
“I know the teachers are trying. It’s just hard for us to focus on math or science when there’s so much happening out there in the real world.”
“What kind of assignment would you like to do instead?”
“Well, we had one about what it meant to flatten the curve and I really liked that. So, for example, what if when we do stats, it was about COVID-19? Couldn’t we be studying the virus in science? What about writing in our journals about how this feels to us?”
“Wouldn’t it make it harder if more of your school assignments were about the virus?” my mother asked. “Don’t you want to get away from it sometimes?”
“There is no getting away from it! I think having more information, talking about it, will make it better. I get anxious about things I don’t understand.”
“Well, maybe you can suggest some of those ideas to Miss Fernandez. She’s good about things like that, isn’t she?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m glad you’re spending time with Isaac,” she said. “It must be hard for him being alone so much.”
“We keep each other company. Besides, he doesn’t do well without an audience.”
“It was nice that he joined us for lunch the other day.”
“Yeah,” I said, getting up. I had had enough of this serious talk. “I better get going on my schoolwork.”
“Thanks for offering to help with the groceries,” my mom said. “Sorry if I barked at you.”
“That’s okay. I understand.”
“I’m just trying to keep you safe. But it was nice talking to you. I think you should talk to Miss Fernandez about doing something more real as an assignment.”
“I’ll think about it. And…Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for everything.”