Supply Shortage Showdown
Covid Love #2
Cat Burkina
Copyright © 2020 Cat Burkina
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover design by: Elisha Frey
Printed in the United States of America
“You are not a loser,” Maria’s mom said. “Your sister’s a loser, we all know that.” Her piercing laugh forced Maria’s head from her cellphone.
“Not you, no,” her mom continued, “you’re the successful one, our college graduate living in the city.”
Maria wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Her mom’s words barely touched the coldness that had descended on her like a frozen blanket she couldn’t seem to get rid of. “I’m divorced with two kids who I can’t even take care of in a crisis. If that doesn’t deserve the label loser, then--”
“Stop it.” Her mother’s tone was hard as oak. It was the voice of the scrappy mom who’d brought up Maria, her sister, and two brothers all on her own.
It brought tears to Maria’s eyes.
“This virus will not be the end of our family.” Her mother clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “It will not be the end of you. It will not be the end of my grandchildren. We are stronger than this.”
“Thank you, Mama. I know we are.” Maria sat on the couch she’d bought with her first paycheck working at Moon Venture Games. Dark green microfiber, smooth and clean the way she kept her small Salt Lake City townhome. News glared from the muted television on the wall across from her. COVID-19 this, and COVID-19 that. Failure gripped her chest, squeezed the air out of her until she could hardly draw a breath.
“Maria. Maria, are you there?”
“I’m here.” No matter how Maria tried to shake it, she knew to the core that she’d failed her children. They had no food storage, no emergency water or extra cases of toilet paper. She delighted in her weekly shopping trips to the market with Ameli, her sweet-as-sugar three-year-old, and Serg, her gem of a five-year-old. They made life worth living. Home cooked meals with the freshest ingredients were what their growing bodies needed. Maria knew it, and it had always been a priority to buy fresh. Not once had she thought her frequent grocery shopping trips would have to end. With the increasingly locked down city, the looming curfews, quarantines, and jackasses hoarding everything. Toilet paper! Why toilet paper? It didn’t make sense. None if it made sense, and she hadn’t been prepared for such a world. She should have been. Her children deserved better.
“I’d better go.” Maria walked down her townhome’s unlit hallway, stopping at the cracked door to her son’s room. His chest rose and fell in the faint blue light from his superhero night light. The night light kept him safe, he’d said.
“Okay. You are a wonderful woman, and the best daughter in the world. You sacrifice like a true mother for Ameli and Serg. We all see it, even if you can’t. This virus will pass and we will be stronger.”
Pressure welled behind Maria’s eyes. “I love you, Mama.” She bit her lip, held back the tears she’d wanted to release the moment her mother answered the phone that night. “Goodnight.” Maria shut her bedroom door and let the tears come.
◆◆◆
“Hey, you listen to me,” Maria crouched down to be eye-to-eye with her son. He had his father’s honey brown gaze, inquisitive, intense, almost too serious for a child.
“I love you and your sister more than anything in the world.”
“What about hazelnut lattes?” A grin showed two missing front teeth.
“You got me!” She tickled his ribs until he bent over cackling and wheezing onto her shoulder.
“I love you mom.” Serg wrapped his arms around Maria’s neck and hugged her with surprising strength.
In such strange times, how could she leave them at daycare? How could she be separated from them while the media spouted death and chaos, and her very city folded in on itself like a daylily preparing for a sleep that could last months. But she had to do it. Daycare was only open for two more days, so she had to take advantage of the time to get supplies. She would stock up on everything they needed. She would be a responsible mother, prepared for the unknown weeks to come.
“Okay, go now. Have fun, but not too much fun!”
“Okay, bye!” Serge waived as he turned and ran inside the red brick building. He high-fived a skinny kid covered in freckles and topped with the brightest red hair Maria had ever seen.
She made her way down the daycare sidewalk, past parents with face masks and wide eyes. There was no way it was that bad yet, but when it got there, Maria would be ready.
◆◆◆
Maria punched the start button and her car rumbled to life.
9:49 a.m. stood on the dashboard screen.
The daycare was open until 5pm. A wave of relief washed through Maria; she had plenty of time to do the right thing now. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Costcart, the big boxed store she’d been a member of for the last five years, since right after she’d had Serg. It was hard to beat the price of diapers by the pallet, plus they had a fantastic food court with cheap hot dogs and pizza by the slice that Ameli and Serg loved.
◆◆◆
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” A line of shoppers wrapped from Costcart’s wide front doors down the sidewalk past the car care center, and disappeared behind the building.
Costcart’s parking lot was like a Black Friday sale on steroids. Maria pulled into one of the last spots available at the far end of the parking
