501I know, I know! It's been a while since my last update. I have so many pulls on my time right now but I've finally made the decision that I also need to do somethings just for me so here I am.
Thanks for all the PMs giving me the gentle nudge I needed to ignore the world and crack on with this story - you helped me to focus on me for a change!
Plus I have had the mother of all reminders that life's too short as my gorgeous sister-in-law has just dropped the bomb that she's got liver cancer 8 years after having recovered from breast cancer. We're all stunned but I can't imagine how hard it is for my brother. This is his second marriage - his first wife died of a brain aneurysm 15 years ago. If you're a religious person, please pray for them both
Anyway, please R&R - you might get another chapter before Christmas if you do...
o0o0o0o0o
Ranger was tearing his hair out – well figuratively anyway – as he paced anxiously in his office.
His daughter, Charlottecardirishon (or some such – Christ! He really hoped that was not her Christian name) had barrelled into his life in full force – He could only imagine what she looked like. She was obviously her mother's daughter, judging by her ballsy attitude he mused as a smile spread across his face.
Did she have her mother's curls? Were her eyes blue or brown? Was her nose cute like a button…cute like a button?!
He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to calm down.
He had a daughter...
He had a daughter!
He had a daughter!
He had a daughter!
Another daughter and her name was Charliecardirishon he thought as he sat down in his chair - he could only hope that she was a carbon copy of her Mom at the same age. Taking a swig of water from the black refillable bottle in front of him, he grinned from ear to ear as he reminisced over their brief conversation.
o0o0o0o0o
In other parts of Trenton there were 'stirrings in The Force' – Helen could sense something was a changing.
"I hope you're right, Mother" she whispered at the sky as she took the recycling out to the garage, shivering slightly in the crisp morning air. Maybe today was the day Stephanie would call them, she could only hope.
Back inside she put the bin away in its proper place, grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and fixed them both before tucking the paper under her arm and heading over to the small wooden table.
As she sat down Frank joined her and quickly stole the paper then went straight to the sports section. Once he'd gathered up the pages he wanted he gave her the rest back, smiled at her with a nod then settled in, coffee in hand.
With another nod of affection in her direction, Frank took a deep draw of his coffee before he began to read the sports pundit's commentary on the previous night's baseball game.
Across from him Helen began to read the headline news. Covid 19 continued work its evil magic but things were getting more and more grim. It had now got New Jersey firmly within its grasp - the hospitals were almost filled to capacity and people were dying left, right and centre. This, however, was not new news. This dreadful virus (she was convinced that the speculators were right and it had been concocted in a lab somewhere) was rapidly changing people's behaviour as everyone took whatever measures they could to keep themselves safe. What did make her gasp though was the speculation that everyone was about to be put on house arrest. *
Frank looked up quizzically, knitting his brows in confusion at her seeming distress.
"I need to go shopping, Frank. Stock up on the essentials like dried and canned food plus toiletries and toilet roll**. If what the reporters are saying is true, it looks like we're going to be made to stay in our homes – damn virus."
Frank nodded, quickly finished his coffee and stood extending one arm towards her. Helen looked quizzically at him.
"Come on, time's a-wasting. I'll drive. You can make a list on the way." He explained.
Quickly standing Helen nodded her head and grabbed his hand.
"Good idea." She replied grimly.
Even though their hearts had been shredded by Steph's disappearance somehow they'd grown closer, supporting each other as they learned to deal with the gaping hole left behind. "I'll ring Valerie and see whether she needs anything." She added.
"Good idea." Frank parroted back nodding as they headed out, Helen frantically scribbling as she went.
o0o0o0o0o
The next few days went in a blur of Covid 19 related activities. The death toll had ridden dramatically and everyone seemed to know someone who had tested positive for it or was waiting to see if they were going to test positive.
Mild panic had set in and even the underbelly of society was starting to take time out from its nefarious activities – well mostly.
Schools were suddenly closed and teachers were being asked to provide on-line classes instead. Laptops and tablets of every shape and size were rolled out to the poor and needy, marginalised and vulnerable so that learning could continue.
Supermarket shelves were stripped bare but the stores could not replenish them as supply chains broke down. Drivers of all types from small vans to the 18-wheelers as on-line sales went up as store based supplies grew more and more scarce.
Workers were told to stay at home and work remotely where possible.
Hospitals became crowded hellholes as doctors and nurses struggled to deal with the rise of inpatients, many of whom were extremely ill. Normal inpatient wards were converted to critical care and intensive care units and every day journalists reported that it only seemed to be getting worse.
Life as everyone knew it started to change as the damn disease caused chaos, uncertainty and heartbreak.
And then it happened, the whole world went into lockdown.
o0o0o0o0o:
"Report!" Barked Ranger on Monday morning (08:00 hours) as he looked round the small conference room table. Rangeman was still able to operate at almost normally as many of the employees lived on site so were in its social 'bubble'.
"Crime rates have slowed as Trenton's finest hunker down to avoid infection. Fewer people are being granted bail and those that are have been easy to round up as they're stayed close to their nearest and dearest. People aren't being granted bail because the courts aren't in session so cases aren't being processed." Stated Ram.
"Break ins and false alarms have halved as people stay at home." Stated Cal.
"Within the work force fitness levels are high as most of the men are spending additional time in the gym to relieve boredom though Hank and Zip had to be separated before they did any serious damage to each other in the ring yesterday as frustrations rise. I can only see this getting worse." Stated Bobby.
"Emotional and mental fatigue is increasing as the men worry for their families and their friends. I have been offering counselling to those who want it and take up is rising." Stated Bones.
"Supplies of food and other consumables are becoming harder to find and I'm doing my best to find alternative suppliers." Stated Ella. "The roof garden is providing some of the shortfall but it's not much. If this goes on for a while I think we're all going to be even leaner once we get back to normal." She added.
Ranger nodded. He could see the tension and fatigue on the faces and in the bodies of the people in the room. "I know how hard you're all working to keep everything as normal as possible. Rest assured we have enough capital to keep ourselves afloat for about 6 months" he explained. "Thank you for all your help." He finished before dismissing everyone.
Returning to his office he took a deep breath as he mentally went over the information his men (and woman) had just shared with him. The other sites had reported similar scenarios although in addition Miami was struggling with falling personal protection bookings but on the bright side, Boston was seeing an increase in calls for IT and firewall protection as felons started to turn to internet scams to support their incomes.
What he hearing though was that overall Rangeman was still in a good place - at least in the short term anyway. That said, if this health crisis continued then things may get a little more difficult and maybe bark and twigs would become part of their staple diet after all.
Speaking of bark and twigs, his mind automatically rolled round to his Babe. Because he did not know where she was, he worried that she might be having all sorts of problems thanks to the lockdown. He hated the idea that both Stephanie and their daughter could be in distress and he desperately hoped that they were being looked after and in a safe place. Rumours of increased home violence and familial breakdowns were rife and he really had no idea which of his extended family were looking after her. "Well if only you'd stopped to listen rather than jumping to conclusions, fuckwit" a little voice in his head snarked out.
His heart clenched as he considered that any plans he might have had to get to know his daughter and to start to heal the enormous rift between him and his wife had been well and truly scuppered. Ironically he now had more time to share with them but no way of doing so.
o0o0o0o0o
Charlie was getting bored. She couldn't venture out to the park or have play dates with any of the other pre-schoolers. She knew that her Abuela and Mom had been discussing the possibility of her attending the local day care nursery but that the nasty bug was stopping this from happening. If she ever got a hold of this bug she was so gonna squash it under her new trainers really hard.
Grabbing BunBun she wriggled off her bed and went in search of her mother- maybe she'd been able to squash the bug.
Just before entering the kitchen she heard Delfia and Steph deep in conversation, catching snippets of what they were saying so decided to hang back and really listen.
"You know you need to." Delfia said softly.
"I know, but what if he doesn't want us?" Steph relied.
"Sweetheart you won't know until you speak to him."
"I love him so much and he has the change to completely break me but more importantly, what about Charlie? He married Rachel to give Julie a more stable future. What if he feels obligated that he has to be involved with me again because of Charlie?"
"I doubt that!" Delfia scoffed. "That was a marriage on paper only. He loves you, well he did and perhaps he still does. You say he sounded broken, hopeful?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right but if I had to choose it would be Charlie, it would always be Charlie."
Charlie felt she had heard enough. She wanted her Daddy and Mommy to be together and now that the wicked witch was dead, she was determined to get her happily ever after. Squeezing BunBun hard to give her courage, she stretched up and grabbed her Mom's phone from the table in the hall and set off back to her bedroom. She had a phone call to make.
o0o0o0o0o
Don't hate the messenger – Charlie made me stop with a cliffie…
* I'm going to make some assumptions here based on my own experiences. Not exactly sure how things panned out in the US but here in the UK large cities went into lockdown and within less than a month this was changed to a country-wide lockdown where people could only go out for essential reasons, ie dog walking and grocery shopping.
**In the UK toilet roll, eggs, milk and bread became a national crisis as some selfish pigs, er I mean people panic bought huge amounts leaving nothing for anyone else. The elderly and those working in essential services such as the healthcare system were also badly affected as the shelves were stripped bare).