{"id":1003,"date":"2020-11-30T15:45:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T23:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2020-11-30T15:45:16","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T23:45:16","slug":"sheltering-in-place-at-the-magdalena-arms-episode-xxix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/2020\/11\/30\/sheltering-in-place-at-the-magdalena-arms-episode-xxix\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheltering in Place at the Magdalena Arms: Episode XXIX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Previously:<\/strong> Jackie, the performer without an audience, took up residence on the Magdalena Arms roof, miffed at her longtime girlfriend\u2019s focus on turning the pandemic to her financial advantage; Pamela\u2019s crippling depression is barely affected by the exercise and bathing routine Lon has devised, and Millie mood suffers too, as extended caffeine deprivation turns her touchy and tearful by turns.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Horizons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Ramona woke up, stretched, and realized that she again had the double bed to herself, concern nibbled at the back of her mind like a persistent mouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had been over a week since her high-strung actress girlfriend had stormed off in a fit of tearful fury. At the time Ramona had been fed up enough with Jackie\u2019s moods to let her go. She\u2019d figured Jackie would slink back to their shared one-bedroom sooner or later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the thwarted thespian had proved more stubborn than Ramona suspected. Camping had never been Jackie\u2019s style, but according to reliable reports she\u2019d slept outside on the Magdalena Arms roof ever since her one-woman walkout. And the prima donna persisted in her pet, even though the original point of her pique\u2014the fact that Lon had been chosen over Jackie to care for Beverly\u2014was no longer relevant now that Audley had displaced Lon as Beverly’s official nurse.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramona was beginning to suspect that the earlier outburst over who would tend Beverly had just been an excuse, and that she<\/em> was the true target of Jackie\u2019s resentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abandoned entrepreneur sighed, threw off the bedcovers and rolled out of bed, into her slippers and robe. She padded to the kitchen and put the kettle on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was her day off from the dispensary, and after a week of managing lines, trying to match the right kind of cannabis to each customer, and listening to all the fears and anxieties that came veiled as inquiries\u2014\u201cMy roomate\u2019s probably been exposed and I\u2019ve been having insomnia, what would you recommend?\u201d\u2014Ramon wanted nothing more than to relax with a pot of coffee and the morning paper. But visions of Jackie shivering on the roof made it hard to concentrate on the news as she breakfasted and scanned the headlines\u2014\u201cHealth Department Warns Against Troubling Trend of Complacency\u201d; \u201cWeary SIPers Find Relief in Indoor Games\u201d; \u201cField Hockey Players in Funk as Big Game Cancelled.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe she should have been more patient, she told herself, turning a page. The poor kid had been hit by hard luck, no two ways about it. Getting her first part in a legitimate production\u2014the kind that paid for rehearsal time\u2014and then having to watch the show get cancelled practically the minute she took her first curtain call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, The Seagull<\/em> had closed\u2014Ramona stopped to calculate\u2014over two months ago now. Wasn\u2019t it time to move on? And anyway, how was Ramona to blame for Jackie’s crushed dreams? She hadn\u2019t started the pandemic. To Jackie she was a handy scapegoat, all the more so because the dispensary was flourishing and Ramona had a chance to finally make some real money. Ramona couldn’t help feeling a little miffed herself. How did the mopey mime think they were managing to pay rent and groceries? It wasn\u2019t with Jackie\u2019s long-gone rehearsal pay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by the time she\u2019d finished skimming Mamie\u2019s column (\u201cIllicit House Parties Fueling Latest Surge?\u201d), the mellow merchandiser had reverted to a more forgiving mood. She missed her headstrong honey; it was time to mend fences, let bygones be bygones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramona pushed back her chair, and pushed the cats eye glasses firmly up her nose. She\u2019d get dressed and visit the roof right now, olive branch in hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relieved at the prospect of resolving their feud, Ramona hummed a little tune as she wrapped up the last pecan roll in a napkin. This would work better than an olive branch; Jackie had a sweet tooth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 While Ramona clambered up the fire escape, Maxie was tapping on the door to Apartment 203. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello!\u201d she said breezily, when the door cracked open and a pair of suspicious eyes over a homemade mask peered out. \u201cI\u2019m Maxie, your neighbor on the fourth floor. I would have stopped by to introduce myself sooner, but\u2014\u201d she waved an airy hand to indicate the pandemic and all its consequences. \u201cAnyway, welcome to the building! Would you like a cappuccino?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millie blinked. \u201cI don\u2019t\u2014\u201d she began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrink cappuccino?\u201d Lon had warned her scruples-free girlfriend that the new girl was proud, and Maxie had arrived primed to overcome any resistance. \u201cI find it too milky myself. How about an expressor? Or a double? Or maybe you prefer your coffee in a bowl, like the French? I\u2019ve got viennese style here\u2014dunkel oder hell<\/em>, as they say! And there\u2019s Moroccan too\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mesmerized, Millie opened the door wider. She saw that Maxie stood next to a chrome and glass cart, which was indeed covered with every form of coffee drink known to cosmopolitan caffeine fiends. Steam wafted up from the myriad pots and cups, a drip pot of white china, a silver pot with a long gracefully curving spout, a many-faceted geometric metal machina<\/em>. The sight of the crowded cart and the overpowering aroma of caffeine dizzied the deprived documenter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee, with a side of condensed milk and a sugar cube to hold between your teeth, if that\u2019s your style,\u201d Maxie was continuing. \u201cBut be careful\u2014if you\u2019ve gone without, it can be a little like mainlining heroine after withdrawal!\u201d She laughed gaily at her own analogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Millie bristled. \u201cYou don\u2019t really bring out this\u2014this caffeine-filled welcome wagon for every newcomer! Was it that Lon who told you I was deprived? I don\u2019t need charity!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maxie responded blithely, \u201cYes, Lon told me you had to cross coffee off your grocery list, and yes, it’s obvious you could do with a donation or two\u2014couldn\u2019t we all? But if it makes the coffee go down easier, think of it as a tryout for a job. There\u2019s an opening at Kizirian\u2019s Coffee Roastery\u2014I know old Mr. Kizirian and I\u2019m prepared to recommend you, but only if you\u2019re qualified. Are you a full-fledged coffee fiend or just a dabbler in arabica robusta<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArabica<\/em> or robusta<\/em>,\u201d Millie corrected automatically. Her eyes roved the coffee cart like a starved refugee newly arrived at a Swedish smorgasbord. She felt possessed by an irrational force, which was lifting her hand and causing it to pour a dark liquid stream from a hammered copper pot into a gilt-edged demitasse cup that stood next to it. Millie watched her hand add a heaping spoonful of sugar and then she lifted the cup to her mouth a drank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caffeine hit her bloodstream like rocket fuel, igniting a reaction that moved through her body with deliciously explosive force. Millie rolled the faint grainyness of the brew on her tongue, and felt the last of the sugar melt in the back of her throat. She heard the birds twittering in the garden with crystal clarity, smelled the fragrance of the clematis, and it seemed she could feel the very roots of the garden plants vibrating their way into the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArmenian, excellent choice!\u201d Maxie was saying somewhere. \u201cI\u2019ll tell Mr. Kizirian, he\u2019ll be impressed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millie drained the demitasse and shuddered. \u201cIt\u2019s called Soorj,\u201d she said. \u201cTell your Mr. Kizirian I\u2019ve studied historic recipes for it! And although I trained as an archivist, and last worked at the Bay City Historical Society, I also have extensive experience in food service, and paid for my schooling by working in the college cafeteria!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Maxie\u2019s attention had snagged on Millie\u2019s first sentence. As the caffeine starved girl sampled the viennese coffee, before turning to the previously rejected cappuccino, Maxie exclaimed, \u201cThe Historical Society! What did you do there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was assistant archivist,\u201d said Millie, eyeing the old-fashioned percolator at the bottom of the cart. \u201cI evaluated old documents, from Bay City’s early European settlements, and sorted and preserved them.\u201d Her mind racing, Millie tried to think how to relate this experience to coffee. Did one deaccession bad beans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maxie wore a triumphant smile. \u201cOld documents, eh? We may have additional work for you, aside from coffee!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

********************<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois\u2019s phone rang as she was lying next to Pamela on the exercise mat, slowly bicycling her legs in an effort to encourage Pam to do the same, while Lon watched them both. The ring tone was Wagner\u2019s \u201cRide of the Valkyries,\u201d which meant Mrs. Pierson was on the line. Lois leapt up and snatched her phone from the top of Mrs. DeWitt\u2019s old rolltop desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse me, I must take this,\u201d she apologized as she exited into Mrs. DeWitt\u2019s old bedroom, now littered with luggage from Lois and Pam\u2019s apartment. She shut the door behind her, and pushed \u201canswer.\u201d \u201cYes Mrs. Pierson?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere you are! Time was when you\u2019d pick up on the first ring! Well, everyone\u2019s getting slack I suppose.\u201d Without giving Lois time to defend herself or explain the difficulties of managing a catatonic girlfriend in the midst of a pandemic, Mrs. Pierson launched into a series of instructions. \u201cYou need to pick up a number of misdelivered items from the penthouse and bring them to me at Loon Lake. The idiots at that mail order place took it into their heads to send everything to my Bay City address. Here\u2019s the list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois had automatically found pen and steno pad and was transcribing Mrs. Pierson\u2019s words into the hooks and potlatches of shorthand, but as realization of Mrs. Pierson\u2019s meaning penetrated, she interrupted with a gasp, \u201cYou want me to drive up to Loon Lake?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaven\u2019t you been listening Lois? How else am I going to get the new bicycle-powered generator? I\u2019ve got the whole staff pedaling in turns and it\u2019s barely enough to keep the lights on, let alone the flatscreen television!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can call and have them redeliver\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what about the suckling pig and the chicks? They\u2019ll do me no good if they arrive dead!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois looked down at the list she\u2019d written automatically. Bicycle generator; Water purification system<\/em> was followed by Fifteen day-old chicks<\/em>, followed by Suckling pig see Luis<\/em>, and finally, Case gin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can pick up my mail while you\u2019re there, they\u2019ve been holding it at the front desk and forwarding it once a week. You\u2019ll need to go this afternoon\u2014Luis has been most uncooperative about feeding\u2014\u201d The executive-turned-survivalist broke off to call out in an exasperated tone, \u201cHilda! Ivy! Aren\u2019t you done setting up that chicken coop yet? The garden needs hoeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivy was Ivy Gill, an old friend of Mrs. Pierson who long ago, before she\u2019d entered the Happy Valley sanatorium, had hired Lois at Sather and Stirling. Hilda was the nurse Mrs. Pierson had engaged to care for Ivy when she swept her off to Loon Lake at the beginning of the shutdown. Lois thought Luis was probably one of the long-suffering doormen at Mrs. Pierson\u2019s apartment building.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow is Miss Gill?\u201d Lois asked now, to buy some time. \u201cYou\u2019re keeping her active?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFarming is better for her than any occupational therapy,\u201d Mrs. Pierson said, with an air of self-satisfaction. \u201cShe\u2019s whipped the staff here into shape and I think we\u2019ll have a bumper crop of strawberries, if we can keep the rodents and birds away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave you tried cats?\u201d Lois suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have three! Although of course they stay in the barn. They’re hunters, not house cats, and I\u2019m a trifle allergic, it turns out. So,\u201d Mrs. Pierson’s voice became brisk again. \u201cI\u2019ll expect you tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut Mrs. Pierson\u2014\u201d Lois gnawed on her nails. She hated to disappoint the overbearing executive; in fact she had an ingrained habit of assisting her no matter what she asked. But Pamela\u2014who would take care of Pamela?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what?\u201d Mrs. Pierson\u2019s voice was a dangerous purr. \u201cYou have something better to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois could hear water running in the bathroom, Lon filling the tub for Pamela\u2019s therapeutic bath. Could she trust Lon to care for Pamela in her absence? She\u2019d be gone only for a few hours\u2014well, a day and a half if she had to stay overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At if in answer to her thoughts, Lon appeared in the doorway. \u201cI think you should go,\u201d they said low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois covered the receiver. \u201cWhy?\u201d she whispered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSather & Stirling pays your insurance premiums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lon was right. Lois couldn\u2019t risk losing health coverage in the face of multiplying crises. Anxiety ran through the office manager like an electric current at the thought, and with a shock, she registered that she was suddenly worrying about her employability as she hadn\u2019t for fifteen years. Another item to put down to the pandemic\u2019s account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She uncovered her phone. \u201cI should be there by seven,\u201d she told Mrs. Pierson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next:<\/strong> What will Lois find at Loon Lake? What will Ramona discover on the roof? And can selling coffee substitute permanently for Millie\u2019s archiving ambitions?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previously: Jackie, the performer without an audience, took up residence on the Magdalena Arms roof, miffed at her longtime girlfriend\u2019s focus on turning the pandemic to her financial advantage; Pamela\u2019s crippling depression is barely affected by the exercise and bathing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[274,277,278,273,215,220,211,217,239,245,231,276,279],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-serial-siping-at-the-magdalena-arms","tag-caffeine","tag-cannabis-entrepreneurs","tag-depressed-actors","tag-depression","tag-lesbian-career-girls","tag-lois","tag-magdalena-arms","tag-maxie","tag-pandemic","tag-ramona","tag-sheltering-in-place","tag-survivalism","tag-unemployment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicanolan.com\/pulppep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}