Beth

After walking the nine flights up to Jo's apartment I scarcely had the energy to knock. A put-together man in a frilly apron answered the door. "May I help you?"

I fiddled with the scarf around my neck. How could I be freezing and perspiring simultaneously? I guess that's what walking up nine flights in late February will do to you. My teeth chattered. "I'm looking for my sister, Jo."

The man opened the door wider. "You must be Meg or Beth. Come in."

"I'm Beth. Is Jo here?" I glanced around the apartment. The furniture was well worn but everything looked neat and clean and it smelled of cinnamon.

Bob explained, "No, I'm afraid I'm the only one home at the moment. Sarah is at her art studio, Allie is still in the hospital. Your sisters, Jo and Amy left about two hours ago."

"Oh dear..." I began to pace in the small space. "The LIRR is shut down. Apparently no one is allowed to leave the city."

"I heard something about that on the news. Have a seat Beth. I get you a nice cup of cinnamon tea. It'll warm you up. Then I'll help you think."

As Bob left to prepare the tea I heard him yelling from the galley kitchen. "There's no need to panic. God is still on the throne." He reentered with a tray of tea and cookies. "I hope you like Oreos. I hear they're vegan,"

"How can cookies be vegan? They don't even eat but are eaten." I smiled shyly at my own joke.

"Right you are  Beth. You do look a bit peaked.  Let me add a bit of extra sugar to your tea."

I wondered who this polite young man was. I'd only heard horror stories about Bob the Slob. "I'm sorry I didn't get your name."

"It's because I neglected to give it. I'm Bob." He held out his hand.

As I took his hand I must have had a shocked look on my face. "You're Bob...?"

"Yes, but please call me Robert. It sounds much more dignified don't you think?"

Bob sipped his tea like a gentleman. If any crumbs fell from our cookies he swept them up immediately.

"Robert, do you have a landline?" My cell phone doesn't seem to be working."

"We haven't had a landline in 4 years. I think old lady Miller might. She lives down the hall in apartment 911."

I shuddered at the number. I wondered how much worse this pandemic might be. "Do you think she'll let us borrow it? My Aunt and Uncle on Long Island need to know what's going on with us. We were supposed to be there at three oclock.

"She's never liked me much but I'll bet if a pretty sweet lady like yourself were to ask..."

I  blushed.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you Beth. You have such an understated beauty."

"Understated?" It sounded like a back handed compliment. Bob had no idea how inferior I felt to my sisters.

Bob sat a little too close to me on the sofa. "Yes, so many girls feel they have to wear a lot of makeup to look pretty. Not you---your naturally pink lips and flushed cheeks pick up the golden highlights in your dark blond hair.

"You mean dirty blond." I hung my head. Bob wasn't about to undo 19 years of insecurity.

"I mean honey-blond. Yikes girl! You need a good solid look in the mirror! Most women would kill for your natural beauty."

I began to squirm so I changed the subject. "How about I try Mrs. Miller's phone?"

Bob and I walked down the dimly lit hall to Mrs. Miller's apartment. He nudged me, "You ring the bell. If she sees me she'll never answer."

I did. After two revolutions of ding dong, ding dong, the older woman opened the door with the chain still intact. "Yeah, whaddya want?"

"I'm Beth March. Um... My sister Jo is moving into apartment 907 and she's gone missing..."

Bob coughed.

Mrs. Miller barked. "Who's with you? Is this some sorta scam?"

"No ma'am..." I stuttered. "It's... just...that--"

Bob stepped out from behind me. "It's me Linda."

"You! Bob, I told you to never bother me again. They took seven of my cats away because of you!"

I mouthed to Bob, "Seven?"

Bob whispered to me, "She's still got four more."

I could hear the cats meowing at Mrs. Miller's feet. "Ma'am, I'm not sure what happened between you and Bob here... but my sisters are missing and our cell phones won't work.."

Mrs. Miller unlatched the door. "Come in, come in. Those new fangled gatchets. I knew they'd never catch on. Ma Bell has always been good enough for me." She led me to a circular table in her parlor. On the antique accent table was a doily and a black rotary phone.

"Wow this is special." I'd only seen phones like this in the movies. I'd never actually dialed one.

"It sure is..." Mrs. Miller beamed. "I got it the year Henry and I married back in 1965. It still works good as new."

I looked around for signs of Mr. Miller.

"He's been dead nearly twenty years now. It's just been me and the cats." grey and orange tabby cats swirled around her ankles begging for food and attention.

Her apartment smelled of kitty litter and mothballs. My eyes watered.

"Your boyfriend Bob called animal control on me. They said I was in violation of too many cats per square foot. Cats don't take up any room at all."

"He's not my boyfriend Mrs. Miller. I've only just met him. He told me of a kind lady down the hall who might let me use her phone."

Bob peeked his head into the parlor. "I am sorry Mrs. Miller. I wasn't the only neighbor who complained. You have a lovely home and it hardly stinks at all now."

I smiled at Bob and spoke through gritted teeth. "Robert, why don't you wait at home? I'll only be a moment."

Mrs. Miller gave us a dirty look. "So you moving in with him too eh? He's got a harem of girls over there."

"No ma'am. My sister is and they're all just friends. It's on the up and up I promise."

Mrs. Miller waved her twisted, age spotted hand at me. "Ehhhh... Use the phone, it's time for our nap."

I didn't know my relative's phone numbers. I didn't know anyone's numbers by heart. Maybe Mrs. Miller was right. If electricity and satellites failed we'd be up a creek without a paddle. I pulled up my contact list on my phone. If I couldn't text or call with it at least it worked as a roladesk.  I put my finger into the phone's dial.  "6... 3...1..." Apparently I was doing it wrong because Mrs. Miller took over.

"You gotta bring the numbers all the way around see? This ain't no push button phone. This is a rotary phone."

Once the phone began to ring on the other end I breathed a sigh of relief.

Uncle Jerry answered. "Hello?"

"Uncle Jerry, it's me Bethie. Are any of my sister's there yet?"

"No Shug and I'm beginning to worry."

I could hear Aunt Catherine coughing in the background. She sounded awful. "The LIRR shut down Uncle Jerry. Something bad is going on."

"That's something. In my 25 years working there it's never shut down."

Aunt Catherine's coughing turned to hacking. "Is Aunt Catherine okay?"

"I think she has the flu. I may need to take her to the hospital if she doesn't improve. Her fever is 101 degrees."

"In case you leave please leave a note for my sisters. Tell them I'm at Jo's apartment in Manhattan."

"Will do, shug. I'll have them call you back on this number when they show up. Take care of yourself."

I looked at Mrs. Miller. "No one is anywhere..."

"Nonsense! Everyone is some where you just haven't located them yet. My mother used to say, "No news is good news and bad news travels fast."

I wondered how fast bad or good news could travel without cell phones. "Thank you for your time Mrs. Miller.  If my family calls, would you let me know?"

"Certainly dear... don't worry I've lived through worse times than this. I'll pray you find your sisters."

"Oh thank you Mrs. Miller!" I hugged her. "Thank you!" Little did I know that would be the last time a stranger let me hug them.

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