Dr. SJ “got her,” as one commonly refers to the means by which a housekeeper is shared among friends and acquaintances, a couple years ago, so Gloria has been a fixture at Casa de SJ for a while. Over that time, the relationship has been friendly. Gloria laughs at my lame attempts at broken Spanish, and I do the same with her broken English, which is frankly a lot better than my Spanish.

Gloria isn’t a very good housekeeper. She does an adequate job of cleaning, but not deep and she misses a lot. She was better in the beginning and has since done less over time. Only when she’s specifically asked to do so will she vacuum under the beds rather than around them. But she’s honest and careful with our things. If something gets broken, she’ll tell me and apologize, and I’ll tell her not to worry and it’s not her fault, just to make her feel better about it. I like Gloria.

I have no idea what Gloria did in “the old country,” or how she arrived here. She’s in a program that allows her to work, and cleaning houses around these parts isn’t a bad gig. She’s not inexpensive and likely makes more per week as a housekeeper than she could doing something more “dignified.”

What I do know about Gloria is that she has two young boys at home, who are cared for by her mother when she’s working. Their father, not her husband, left her for another woman and wants nothing to do with her or their children. He provides no support and has left her to fend for herself, so she does.

She occasionally asks me questions about her rights against him, and I try to help her as best I can given that family law and child support aren’t my specialty. But there really isn’t much she can do about it, as the father of her children seems to fade into the mist when he wants to. He works off the books, she told me. It’s not as if she can easily go after a ghost and she doesn’t seem inclined to rile him.

As coronavirus got real in the beginning of March, Gloria told us that she was informed by some of her “houses” that it would be best if she stopped coming until things were sorted out. Dr. SJ decided to give her a month’s pay in advance, as she would need to support her boys and herself during this down time. Gloria was thankful but confused as to what we were giving her money for. I tried to explain it to her, but it was unclear whether she understood. I suspect nobody had ever paid her in advance before and it didn’t fit within her paradigm. She took the money and waved good-bye.

Gloria didn’t come the next two weeks. There were no texts from her to Dr. SJ or to her, as was our normal means of communication. It seemed understandable, as who wanted to go out and face the unknown? We were told to stay home, and to the extent possible, we did. And we didn’t know that having someone from the outside come into our home was a wise idea anyway. Much as we liked Gloria, it’s not as if we had any clear idea about her living situation such that we could be confident that she wouldn’t carry the virus to our door.

In the third week, Dr. SJ got a text from Gloria, that she needed money and wanted to work. Could she come? We talked about it. In Gloria’s absence, we shared the labor of keeping our home relatively free of dust bunnies and soap scum. I’m in charge of doing bathrooms. I have a close connection to porcelain. and no fear of using power tools on the shower tile grout. In a weird way, I like scrubbing toilets, as I can see accomplishment as it sparkles when I’m done. Then again, I like polishing the silver for the same reason. Law rarely provides such satisfaction.

Still, we appreciated that Gloria needed money and wanted to help. To the extent we were concerned about having an “outsider” in our house, we were willing to take our chances with Gloria. So Dr. SJ texted her back to come.

Gloria was supposed to arrive at 9 am, and we cleaned up the house in advance, putting away our papers and tchotchkes that get in the way of her doing her job. Nine came and went. No Gloria. So maybe she was running late. No biggie. Then ten, and eleven, and still no Gloria. Dr. SJ texted her to ask if she was coming or did we misunderstand. She texted in English and then in Spanish, using Google translate, back and forth, to make sure she wasn’t sounding like some dopey American and actually communicated with Gloria.

No reply.

I set about my tasks, like a Porcelain Warrior colonizing a 100-year-old throne. Cleaning supplies had run low, and unless one was willing to be the first human hands touching “green” cleansers at the Stop & Shop, the shelves offered no solace. I took to a vinegar and water mix to disinfect, which smelled as if it did the job.

A few days later, we realized that we still hadn’t heard anything more from Gloria, so Dr. SJ texted her again to ask if she was okay. Again, no response. We grew worried. Was she okay? Were her kids? Did she lose her phone or get the ‘rona? We knew generally where she lived, but we couldn’t find her address in our papers. Even so, should we go in search of Gloria now, under current circumstances? No matter, as we had no idea where to go.

Dr. SJ called the friend who referred us to Gloria, and who had decided not to have her come while she was sheltered in place. She hadn’t heard from Gloria and had no idea what had become of her. Will Gloria return, get back to us at least and let us know she’s alive? We just don’t know.