Alex was picturing Father Mulrooney in a toga when he heard footsteps coming toward their apartment. For a second his heart stopped.

Julie raced from her bedroom. "Who could it be?" she cried.

Alex gestured for her to be quiet and go back to her room. Julie pouted for a moment then did as he told her.

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Alex called.

"Greg Dunlap," a man replied. "Apartment twelve B."

Oh God, Alex thought. They had a plumbing problem. He opened the door. "Mr. Dunlap," he said, "I'm sorry my father hasn't gotten around to making that repair. It's just…"

"He never came back," Mr. Dunlap said. "That's been my guess. Am I right?"

Alex couldn't come up with a reasonable lie, so he simply nodded.

"We've heard a lot of stories like that," Mr. Dunlap said. "May I come in?"

"I'm sorry," Alex said. "Please. We haven't been getting a lot of visitors lately."

"Are you all right?" Mr. Dunlap asked. "I should have checked up on you, since I knew Luis was in Puerto Rico, but things kept getting in the way. That's how it is with good intentions. How is your family holding up? Have you heard from Carlos?"

Alex nodded. "He's fine."

"Good," Mr. Dunlap said. "And your mother? Is she around? I'd like to speak to her."

"She's out right now," Alex said. That wasn't a lie exactly, and it was a lot easier than the truth.

"All right, then, I'll discuss this with you," Mr. Dunlap said. "Bob and I are leaving the city tomorrow for Vermont. We have friends there. The only thing that kept us here for this long is that we've been taking care of the cat in sixteen D. friends of ours live there and they were vacationing in Maui when it happened. They were due back that weekend, and we haven't heard anything from them, so we just kept taking care of the cat. But this is ridiculous. We're not going to die just so we can keep taking care of a cat for people who are… Well, they won't be coming back. We gave them a month. We'll take the cat with us."

"So you won't need the plumbing repair," Alex said.

"Plumbing's been the least of our problems," Mr. Dunlap said. "You know⁷, I came home with that pizza and Bob was hysterical because he had the TV on, so he knew what happened. I didn't. I just remember walking home thinking it was going to rain. That was the last happy moment in my life, maybe the last one ever. Anyway, I came down here so I could give you the keys to my apartment and to sixteen D. Bob and I have eaten most of their food, but there are still a few things left, and there's stuff we're not taking that maybe your family can use." He handed Alex two sets of keys. "Bob says it's better if the stuff goes to a Vincent de Paul man," he said. "I hope it'll help."

"Yes, thank you," Alex said. "We really appreciate this."

"I guess you're sticking around waiting for your father," Mr. Dunlap said. "I know how hard it is to give up your home. But New York is in for some very bad times. Bob works for the Daily News, and naturally he hears things. It's going to get very rough, and it won't get better anytime soon. Maybe never. Tell your mother she should think about making other plans, at least for your sisters so they'll be safe."

"Yes, I will," Alex said. "Thank you again, Mr. Dunlap, and thank Bob for us as well. I hope things work out in Vermont."

"I'm not sure things are going to work out ever again," Mr. Dunlap replied. "Sometimes the best you can do is postpone the inevitable. Please tell your mother that our thoughts are with her."

"I will," Alex said. "And thank you."

As soon as he closed the door, Julie ran out of her bedroom. "Let me see," she demanded as though two sets of keys were worth looking at. "Oh, Alex, can we go up to sixteen D now and get their food?"

"No," Alex said. "Not until tomorrow. Besides, Mr. Dunlap said there isn't much there."

"Not much is better than nothing," Julie said. "I don't want to wait."

Alex didn't want to, either, since the only thing he'd eaten all day was half a can of chicken noodle soup, with half a can of mushrooms promised by Julie for supper. "Wait a second," he said, and walked to his bedroom. He lifted the mattress from the upper bunk bed, and pulled out the two envelopes that held keys for apartment 11F and apartment 14J. If either of them had ever come back, they'd made no effort to contact Papi. And if they hadn't come back, there might be food going to waste.

Was it stealing? Was it a sin? Alex thought it might be both. But Christ couldn't want them to starve when there was food available.

He walked back into the living room, his hands shaking with excitement. There was no time to waste, since the electricity came and went.

"We're going upstairs," he told Julie. "Papi had keys for two apartments, and if the people there never came back, we'll take their food."

They ran into the hallway and pressed the button for the service elevator. It had gone up to the twelfth floor and took a moment to return.

"We'll start with fourteen J," he said. "I don't know when they left or if they ever came back. We'll ring their bell and give them a minute before we open their door. If they do, look cute and apologize. We'll take the stairs to eleven F next. Okay?"

"Do you really think I'm cute?" Julie asked as they boarded the elevator.

"Compared to me," Alex said. "And maybe Carlos."

Julie giggled. She hadn't laughed, Alex realized, since Bri had gone.

There was no one in the fourteenth-floor hallway. Alex and Julie walked over to apartment 14J. Alex willed himself to press the bell. They could hear it ring within the apartment, but there was no other sound.

"Can we go in now?" Julie pleaded.

"Let's ring it one more time," Alex said. He didn't want to knock on their door, since the other people on the floor would hear that. He gave them thirty more seconds, which felt like an eternity, then used the keys to unlock the door.

He could sense right away that the apartment was empty and had been for a while. There was a thin layer of dust on the furniture and the air was stuffy and hot.

"Hello?" he said loudly enough for anyone in the apartment to hear him.

There was no answer.

"Now?" Julie asked.

"Now," Alex said, and they walked into the kitchen.

Alex knew he shouldn't have been, but he was startled at how beautiful the kitchen was. It must have been remodeled recently, he decided. It was strange seeing how much bigger the apartment was than their own, how much airier and lighter. Same building, but totally different lives.

Still, he was alive and so were his brother and sisters. Who knew if 14J could say the same.

He opened the side-by-side refrigerator and was accosted by the smell of rotting fruits and vegetables. "They're gone," he said. "Let's take everything in the cabinets."

"Everything?" Julie asked. "Look, Alex, there are Oreos!"

Alex grinned. "Oreos and everything else," he said. He checked under the sink and found a box of trash bags. "Let's start loading."

"Maybe she has a shopping cart," Julie said. "Like Mami."

"Where would it be?" Alex asked.

Julie scurried to the coat closet, and came back with a folding cart.

Alex began loading food into the plastic bags. There were cans of tuna and salmon and sardines, two jars of herring in wine sauce, lots of cans of beans and soup, both of which he was tired of but he knew ultimately he'd be grateful for. There were jars of artichokes and hearts of palm.

"Saltines," Julie said. "Look, Alex. Peanut butter. Look at all these different kinds of jams and jellies."

"Not so loud," Alex said, ramming boxes of weirdly shaped pasta into a bag. Searching the lower cabinets, he found two six-packs of bottled water, which he put into the bottom of the shopping cart.