Artemis couldn’t believe that her school has been shut down after she came back. Several more students and teachers had gotten sick from some virus going around. So, now she was stuck at home until they decide what the school system was going to do.

Stacy’s store was closed as well. Some of the ladies had come down with the same cold that Artemis had. She spots her niece walking around in one of her nightshirts and pink silky boxer shorts.

“Bored, kiddo?” Stacy looks at her niece as she walks by.

“Yes ma’am. Mom said I couldn’t go to work with her, and she doesn’t want me to work in my shop either.” Artemis walks over to a nearby recliner and flops down onto it.

Stacy just shakes her head. She knew Artemis wasn’t like most teenagers. She liked to stay busy.

“How’s your friend Billy doing?” Stacy knew Billy had come over when Artemis was sick.

“His mother is sick and he’s helping his father take care of his brothers and little sister.” Billy has been texting her.

“I hope everything is going to be okay with his mother.”

“Me too.” Artemis pulls her cellphone out of her shorts pocket to see if Billy sent anything to her.

“Any word on how your school is going to do the lessons?” Stacy just watches her niece.

“No ma’am. Right now, they are still figuring out what classes they will be able to continue. Some of the teachers I had were stricken with the same virus I had.”

“Which means, they’ll need to find a teacher to cover those classes.”

“Exactly.” Artemis didn’t see any text from Billy.

“I’m going to fix us some lunch. Why don’t you give me a hand?”

“Okay.”

Artemis follows her aunt into the kitchen. She wonders what her aunt had in mind for lunch.

“How about we have hot ham and cheese for lunch?” Stacy looks over towards Artemis.

“Sounds good to me.” Artemis gets the cut ham out and the cut cheese as well.

Her mother and aunt liked the cheese you get at the deli, instead of the packaged stuff. The same went for the ham as well. Her mother only bought the packaged stuff to keep at work. Sometimes her mother wouldn’t stop to take a lunch and would make a quick sandwich to munch on instead.

“Has the government identified what this new virus is yet, aunt Stacy?” Artemis looks at her aunt as she butters the bread to be grilled.

“Not yet, but they are saying that it affects people who already have problems worst than normal people.” Stacy has been trying to keep up with the news on the new virus.

Most places have been ordered to shut down. The automotive shop her cousin owned is considered essential and was allowed to stay open. However, she knew Roxana had to rearrange the work schedule so the place wasn’t as crowded as it normally was with employees.

Artemis grill up the sandwiches, while her aunt watches her. She had been amazed the first time she had tasted and done this. When she had been living with her uncle, he never made anything like this. Life with him was hell after a while.

“don’t burn them, sweetie.” Stacy noticed Artemis was lost in thought. She knew Artemis did that sometimes as events from her past came back to haunt her.

“Sorry, auntie.” Artemis flips the sandwich before it could burn.

Once the sandwiches were made and potato chips were added to the paper plates. Stacy and Artemis head towards the den and select a movie to watch. Artemis curls up on the bean bag her mother bought for her.

For the rest of the afternoon, Stacy and Artemis watch one movie after another. Both of them had their favorites. Stacy’s was Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney. She loved all the singing and dancing he does in the movie.

Artemis couldn’t believe how corny or talented Mr. Cagney and the other actors were. She had never seen a movie like this before. Sure, her mother has introduced her to some of the classics but noting like Yankee Doodle Dandy.

After watching that movie, her aunt selects another one. Artemis takes their paper plate to the kitchen and put them in the trash can. She gets the ham they were going to have for dinner out of the refrigerator and preps it for the oven. She adds some brown sugar and pineapple rings to it. She makes up the glaze to go on it and gives it the first coat. Afterward, she wraps it in foil and sticks it in the oven when it is ready.

Artemis walks back into the den with a sweet iced tea for her aunt and herself. She walks over to her aunt and hands the glass to her.

“Thanks, sweetie. Did you put the ham on?” As Stacy accepts the glass.

“Yes ma’am. It should be ready by the time mom gets home.” Artemis sits down in her bean bag and covers back up with the throw blanket.

Later in the evening, Roxana arrives home and smelled the aroma of ham floating in the air. She walks into the kitchen and noticed Artemis and her cousin Stacy fixing dinner.

You two look busy.” A smile appears on her face as she watches her daughter and cousin.

“How was your day, mom?” Artemis cleans her hands and grabs a cold drink from the refrigerator.

She walks over to her mother and hands it to her.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Roxana accepts the drink from Artemis and opens it.

After she takes a good gulp from it. She looks at her daughter to answer her.

“Busy, very, very, busy.” Roxana couldn’t believe how busy they got.

“That bad, cousin?” Stacy looks at Roxana.

“Yes. Most of the people were talking about leaving town and going somewhere else to weather out the lock down.” Roxana takes another sip of her drink.

“How are your workers handling this?”

“They don’t like it that I have to split their hours, so everyone can get some hours into work. But they are slowly adjusting. Whatever this virus is, it's putting a damper on everything.”

Roxana steals a piece of ham that Stacy just cut. She smiles at her cousin when Stacy looks at her.

“Go wash up. Dinner is ready.” Stacy cuts a few more slices.

Roxana just smiles as she leaves the kitchen. She heads to the downstairs bathroom to wash her hands. When she is done, she walks into the dining room.