“Oh, you should have told us,” his grandmother admonished him.
“He just said he couldn’t get through, Vera,” Tom’s Pa said.
“That’s now, he should have told us before that he was coming. I would have made a nice dinner.”
“I’m sorry, Grandma. You’re right, I should have.” There was no point in arguing with her. “I wanted to make sure you’re both all right.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. We’re fine. We’re both fine, aren’t we, Bob?” Bob nodded.
“You just missed your Uncle Sam, as a matter of fact.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“Yes, he came over to bring us some lemons.”
“Lemons?” Tom frowned, puzzled. What on earth did they need lemons for at a time like this?
“Yes. I ran out. I had an urge to make lemon flummery. It’s your Pa’s favourite.”
Bob nodded again, with a fond smile towards his wife.
“You had an urge to make lemon flummery…” Tom repeated.
“Yes, that’s what I just said. Really, Tom. Are you jet-lagged?” Vera looked up at Tom in concern and felt his forehead.
“Vera, Toronto’s only a three hour time difference, he wouldn’t be jet-lagged.”
“Well, you never know. There’s something wrong with him, don’t you think, Bob? He looks poorly.”
This was surreal.
“Don’t… don’t you know?” Tom finally managed to ask.
“Know what, dear?”
“About…” Oh god, why did he have to be the one to tell them? “About the asteroid.”
“Oh. Yes. That. Sam did mention it. But I don’t believe any of that Fox News rubbish,” Vera said firmly and continued to iron one of Bob’s shirts.
Tom glanced at his grandfather who nodded along with his wife. “Quite right, quite right. Load of bullshit.”
“Pa… Grandma… It’s not just Fox News. Everywhere, everyone is reporting about it. Even the President of the United States, and the Prime Minister of Canada have come out and said it’s real. This isn’t a prank or a hoax. There’s an asteroid coming. A big one.”
Vera paused and looked at Bob.
“I don’t believe it,” she finally said.
“It’s just a big hoax, you mark my words,” Bob said. “They’ll turn around in a couple of days and say ‘Oops, our mistake, it’s all going to be fine, you didn’t have to panic.’ And by then the markets will have crashed and there will have been riots, and who comes out on top? Someone will be getting rich out of this, you mark my words, young Tom.”
“Yes, quite right, dear.”
“If I were you, Tom, I’d put money on the market crashing. What do they call it? Short-selling or something?”
“Yeah… short-selling,” Tom said absently.
“Have you got some spare money? I’d get on it quick if I were you. I told Sam the same thing.”
Tom stared at his grandparents in disbelief. He realised in a flash that nothing he could say would change their minds.
“Okay, Pa. I’ll look into it.”
“That’s a good lad. Now do you want to stay for dessert? Grandma will have that flummery whipped up in no time.”
Tom looked helplessly at his grandparents and tried to refrain from sighing. Who knew? Maybe they were right. Stranger things had happened.
“Okay. I’ll stay for a bit. Thanks, Grandma.”
“Excellent. Now, I have a light-bulb I need some help changing. Sam isn’t tall enough.”
Tom spent a rather surreal couple of hours with his grandparents. It was pleasant in a way, not talking about the asteroid, and not really thinking about it.
It couldn’t last though. Tom’s cell phone rang. It was Mike.
“Hey, buddy. How’re the g-parents?”
“Yeah, they’re in denial.”
“Oh. Really? Huh, well, fancy that.”
“It’s been a bit strange, but kind of nice in a weird way. Did you get through to the airline?”
“Yeah, that’s why I called. They said all the flights tonight are full, and so are the one’s tomorrow, but to come out to the airport anyway, and they’ll see what they can do. We’re on a list for cancellations. And I figured we could check the other airlines too. ”
“Yeah, good thinking. Okay, I hope we can get a flight.”
“I know. I was pretty pissed, three hours on hold and all for nothing. I tried looking online, but I kept getting errors.”
“Yeah, that sucks, man. Well, I’m going to be back in about an hour or so. I’m gonna get some supplies for Grandma and Pa, despite what they believe, and Pa’s going to drop me back in the city once traffic’s calmed down.”
“All right, then. I’ll see you later. Dave’s smashed, you should see him. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.” Dave was a colleague who worked with Mike and Tom in their office. He didn’t normally drink, and usually kept to himself.
Tom nearly laughed, but it died in his throat. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.
“Pa.” Tom turned to his grandfather, who was helping himself to a second bowl of lemon flummery. “I want you to humour me.”
Bob put his spoon down and frowned at Tom. “What is it?”
“I’m going to take you to the Superstore, and we’re going to stock up with a few supplies. Just in case.”
Bob waved his spoon around and shook his head. “It will all blow over in a few days, you’ll see.”
“I really hope you’re right, but just in case it doesn’t, can you do this for me?” Tom looked beseechingly at his grandfather.
“Oh, all right. If it will make you happy.”
Tom sighed in relief. He’d been thinking; he didn’t know how much longer the shops would remain open for. He wasn’t planning on returning to work any time soon, not until they got the all clear, and so he hardly expected that some kid working at a check-out would. Pa and Grandma didn’t exactly strike him as the looting type, and Pa was more prone to feeding the squirrels instead of eating them. If it was summer, then they’d have the vegetable garden, but it was the middle of winter. He worried that they’d go hungry.
“Vera! I’m just taking Tom down to the Superstore, he wants to get something.”
Tom’s grandmother poked her head around the door. She’d been in the kitchen putting away some dishes.
“Okay, dears. Be careful.”
Tom gave his grandmother a kiss on the cheek and then followed Bob as he grabbed the car keys and went out to the car.
It was a short drive to the Superstore. The roads were a lot emptier than they’d been when Emma had dropped him off, although when they pulled into the parking lot, Tom realised that a lot of other people must have had the same idea.
Tom slowed his pace to match that of his grandfather’s. They walked carefully through the parking lot, dodging people racing back to their cars with loaded shopping carts.
“What’s everyone in a rush about?” Pa said with a frown, side-stepping an exhausted looking middle-aged woman with an overflowing cart.
“The asteroid, Pa. People are taking this seriously. Who knows how much longer the stores will even be open for? That’s why I wanted you to come, so we can stock up, and get you two enough food to last you until…”
“Until it all blows over,” Pa said firmly. “Yes, that’s a good idea, Tom.”
Tom rubbed his head. “Yeah… until it blows over…”
They walked into the store. Tom made a point of avoiding any shops or shopping centres on busy days like Black Friday or Boxing Day, but he imagined this must be what it would feel like. He managed to snag a shopping cart and pushed it back to where his Pa was standing in the middle of an aisle, looking around himself and shaking his head.
“I’ve never seen it so busy here before,” Bob said.
“I told you, it’s because of the—”