The Dead and the Gone

Alex picks Julie up from Holy Angels on August 29, and she flies into his arms sobbing about the loss of the school’s garden. This is the first time that Alex has seen her cry since the moon’s collision. As Julie complains about the loss of the garden and the cold weather, Alex worries about Julie not getting lunch at school. After dropping Julie off the next day, Alex searches for Sister Rita, a nun who works at Holy Angels. Sister Rita tells him that the school will continue serving lunch to the students. She also tells Alex that she is aware that he is Julie’s current guardian and praises Julie’s hard work. Sister Rita thinks a great famine is coming and warns Alex to either prepare well or leave New York.

Alex visits Father Franco the next day to see if there is anywhere Julie can go to be safer. Father Franco explains that many churches, hospitals, agencies, and schools are closing, so Julie is better off with Alex. Alex feels responsible for Julie’s situation because he didn’t send her with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lorraine when he had the chance.

As September 1 dawns, Alex realizes that because he considered taking someone else’s property sinful, he has been wasting the resources in the four apartments he has access to. Now he will do what he must to help Julie survive. He doesn’t tell Kevin about the apartments, which makes him feel guilty, an emotion he now feels as frequently as hunger and cold. After trading his body shopping finds for food, he takes Julie upstairs to go through each apartment for anything they can trade. This will mean that both will miss lunch at school. Alex and Julie store everything they find in their apartment but put blankets over their windows to prevent anyone from seeing inside.

The new school year begins on September 6, and Alex finds that the chapel is only a third full with returning students. The students no longer must complete a job to earn lunch, which is a relief to Alex, as he is finding the exertion of the stairs more difficult. There are also fewer people to check on—a result of either moving away or death. Alex sees some classmates who returned from spending the summer elsewhere, showing him that “gone doesn’t mean dead” (172). Alex and his friends chat later in the day, and James Flaherty tells them that Pennsylvania had clearer skies but was colder, causing all the crops to die. However, one benefit of being in the country was that there were no dead bodies lying in the streets—something James is getting used to with his return to New York. The boys discuss the poor, overcrowded, and possibly conditions at the evacuation centers.

Alex and Julie are walking home on September 12 when they notice a blanket flopping in the window of their apartment, making them think someone has broken in. Julie goes to the third floor of the building to hide, and Alex enters the apartment to find that Bri has returned. The siblings’ have a joyful and grateful reunion. Bri has developed adult-onset asthma, so she coughs with any exertion and has an inhaler to help her breathe. The nuns sent her home from the convent because of her asthma, and she can’t go outside unless absolutely necessary. Regardless, she is very happy to be home and says that she will never leave again. While Alex is happy to have Bri back, he worries over how to feed her. She is pale and as thin as she was when she left, but he is confident everything will work out simply because she has returned.

Two days later, on their walk home from school, Alex and Julie see a man fall from his seventh-story apartment to the sidewalk. Alex runs to the body and looks for a wallet, telling Julie to take his shoes. Julie is horrified but learns that Alex has been body shopping for some time and that this has supplied the food keeping them alive. She offers to go with him and Kevin, but Alex prefers to keep this sin on his conscience alone. Miraculously, the kids have been able to gather at least a week’s worth of food through all their trading. Bri tells her siblings that life is easier in New York than in the convent and advises Alex to keep believing in miracles. However, Alex now finds more comfort in food than in prayer.

On the first Sunday since her return, Bri ignores the air quality and goes to Mass at St. Margaret’s. She is truly happy because faith gives her life meaning. Alex, on the other hand, focuses on food. He tries to be like Bri and rejoice in his faith, but he simply can’t. At school the next day, Alex goes to Father Mulrooney and asks him to hear his confession. Though Father Mulrooney hasn’t done so in a long time, he listens as Alex confesses that during the food riot, he shoved an old man and didn’t save a baby; Alex also details the stealing he has done. When questioned, Alex explains that he doesn’t hate God, but he does hate not loving God. Prayers are just words to him now, and it is easier for him to feel nothing than to live with the anger and pain. Father Mulrooney counsels Alex that his penance is to pray for humility, as pride is his only true sin, and to do something to make his sisters happy. Alex leaves Father Mulrooney’s office with his faith restored.

On September 20, Alex tells Julie to inventory their tradable supplies; he then talks to Bri about planning a surprise birthday party for Julie—an idea Bri enthusiastically supports. September 30 is Julie’s birthday, and on that day, Alex takes her to St. Margaret’s to pray just like Mami would on each of her children’s birthdays. At the church, Alex and Julie pray and light candles for Papi, Mami, and Carlos. When they return to the apartment, five of their friends and Father Mulrooney surprise Julie, and she is overcome with happiness. The group drinks Coke and eats a chocolate birthday cake that James was able to bake the previous day. They then turn on a CD player, and the boys and girls take turns dancing with each other. Even Father Mulrooney joins to dance with Julie.

Alex realizes he’s never had anyone over before because he was ashamed of his apartment, knowing the wealth of students like Chris Flynn. Watching his friends and sisters in such a normal setting overwhelms him with nostalgia. Kevin gives Julie a tube of lipstick, which she promptly applies, to the adoration of the other girls. When Father Mulrooney suggests the party end to honor curfew, the boys put the furniture back and walk the other girls home. Julie says that in her prayers, she will thank the Virgin Mary for having such a great brother and sister and for being allowed to be 13.