A couple of years ago, Carlos Matias was living in Florida and feeling nostalgic for his hometown. “I just started writing little short stories about New York,” Matias says. “And then I started submitting them to the New York Times Metropolitan Diary.
” His short story, Emergency Quarters , became a “Best of the Year” finalist in 2021 and this year, a children’s book. “Growing up, when I first started to walk to school by myself, my mom would give me a quarter every single day,” Matias says. She’d tell him, “‘If you need me, or if you're going to come home late, or if you're going to hang out with your friends, give me a call and let me know.
’ So I was a young Carlos running around with a bunch of quarters in his pockets back in Queens.” Emergency Quarters is about a little boy named Ernesto who, like Matias, gets to walk to school without his parents for the first time. Ernesto throws on his lucky kicks and his favorite Mets cap.
“Feelin’ freshhhh!” he says to the mirror. But before he can sneak out the door, his mother stops him. “For emergencies, Ernesto,” she whispers, covering his right hand with both of hers.
“If you need me, look for a pay phone.” A what? “When I do story times and stuff, I have to always start off with asking the kid, ‘Do you know what a pay phone is?’ And I get the funniest answers,” laughs Matias. If anyone reading this doesn’t know what a pay phone is — send a telegram to NPR headquarters and som.