Chapter Text
The Georgian summer was like it always was. Hot and unrelenting. It clung to everything it touched like a sticky blanket, leaving Alicia all too aware of the sweat on her back and brow. Not to mention her clothes. They’d be going in the wash as soon as she was finished with her current marking.
In her small home the little relief she had came in the form of a small rotating fan, buzzing away in the corner of her even smaller ‘office’. Though she couldn’t see it, and as desperately as she tried to focus on what was in front of her, Alicia couldn’t help but keep track of its rotation, nearly sighing in relief each time it blew cool air across her and her desk.
“This is ridiculous,” she groaned in defeat at last, slumping over her desk. The wood was cool against her skin and she greedily spread her arms out across it, soaking it up while it lasted.
A soft woof of agreement came from her side, Caesar her guide dog no doubt feeling the heat even more than she was.
7 years in Georgia, and growing up in Texas would make people think she would be prepared for this kind of heat. To those people she’d retort that this was one of the worst heat waves America had ever seen. Her AC had crapped out two weeks earlier, her teachers salary not enough to fix it right away and Alicia - in her infinite wisdom - had thought she could make it through the remaining month until her next paycheck.
“More the fool is I,” she muttered before heaving herself up from the desk. The marking would have to wait, in this heat her mind was like mud and she refused to do her students the disservice of a soddy grading.
As she rose, the shuffling of movement and the clacking of claws on hardwood told her that Caesar had stood to follow her.
“Come on, cachorro (puppy), let's get you some water.”
Though legally blind, Alica knew the way through her own home. 7 years in this place meant she had it all mapped out. She knew how many steps it was from one room to the next, she knew roughly all the spacing between her furniture and she knew where everything was stored. She made her way to the kitchen without incident and after a bit of reaching was able to find and fill Caesar’s water bowl again.
Eager lapping and the slosh of water greeted her as soon as the bowl was back on the ground. Alicia could practically feel Caesar’s tail wagging in happiness. The thought brought a smile to her lips.
Here it was a little bit cooler. She’d thrown the windows open wide as soon as she’d woken up that morning and thankfully Georgia had decided to grace its residents with the barest of breezes. The air was hot and muggy, but feeling any kind of movement across her skin was reprieve enough.
Caesar clearly had the right idea and Alicia had just poured her own glass of water when her computer chimed with a notification. Mournfully, Alicia lowered the glass and shuffled back towards the study, leaving Caesar lapping away behind her.
“New email,” the familiar electronic voice began as she approached. “From: Thomas Briggs. Recipient: Alicia de Leon. Listening.”
Odd, she didn’t think she’d be hearing from Thomas today. He didn’t like to email his teachers outside of office hours if he could help it and it was Saturday afternoon. Granted, exams were coming up so maybe it had something to do with that.
“Play,” Alicia said, sliding back into her chair.
“Playing. Subject line: School Closure.”
“Closure?” Alicia’s brows shot to her hairline. “What?”
"Dear faculty," the electronic voice continued to read for her, not stopping to allow the woman to get past her surprise. “As you all know, a pandemic is sweeping the country and until this point there had been no confirmed cases in Georgia. I have unfortunately just received word from the DHB that this is no longer the case and have been advised to close the school until further notice due to the highly contagious nature of the illness.”
Alicia fell back in her chair, lips pursed in a thin line. She’d heard about it of course. It was impossible not to but she’d had no idea that it was this serious. Everyone in the news and the radio had been saying that it was under control, that it likely wouldn’t become a widespread issue.
Clearly that had been a lie.
“We will remain closed for the next week and will reassess this coming Friday as to our next steps,” the email continued and Alicia leaned forward, peering blindly at the screen she knew to be in front of her. Unconsciously her thumb had crept up to be worried beneath her teeth, the words her electronic reader was relaying left a hollow, churning feeling in her gut. This wasn’t good. If the school was being shut down, it was likely that the shops and other facilities would be shut down as well. She’d need to run to the store, stock up on canned goods and other non-perishables, get enough dog food for Caesar.
Get another dozen or so fans…
“I’ll reach out again soon with more details. For now stay home and stay safe, God Bless. ”
The sudden silence was so very loud in the quiet summer afternoon. The soft buzz of the fan continued, the rustle of trees outside, the click clacking of Caesar moving around in the kitchen… Despite the worry that had warmed its way into Alicia’s gut, the world continued to move without disruption. It was disconcerting, and not for the first time Alicia was struck by the knowledge that the world would continue to move regardless of what was happening within it.
A shiver ran down her spine and she shifted in her chair uncomfortably.
“Best not to dwell on that,” she muttered under her breath, pushing the morbid thought far away. If the pandemic had finally spread to Georgia, she’d need to prepare for the long haul and that meant she’d need to reach out to her neighbors for help. Though she didn’t like it, Alicia wasn’t prideful enough to refuse to admit that she needed more help than most, as a ‘vulnerable person’. That was simply the nature of her disability and she had long since made her peace with it. Luckily her neighbors were lovely people and likely wouldn’t mind giving her a helping hand.
She’d need to call her Dad as well, and all her brothers. Make sure they were ok. The de Leons were a tight knit bunch, no doubt if news had spread as fast as this pandemic seemed to, she had little doubt they’d already be chomping at the bit to get out of Texas and to their ‘baby’ sister all on her own.
The thought pulled a laugh from her just as much as an eye roll, and some of the chill that had settled across her skin eased with it. It would be good to be with them again, even if it was under less than ideal circumstances.
The click clacking of Caesars claws on the hardwood floor came closer and she felt the heat of her large furry companion before she felt his wet nose poke into her side. Another laugh escaped her and she scratched Caesar’s head fondly.
“Yes you’re right,” she grinned. “We’ll be ok. It’s nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”
If only Alicia had had a chance of knowing about the events that were about to unfold. She never would have been so confident. But like she had said that same morning…
More the fool is I.