The Days After

Everyone's On

"Hello?"
"Hey Marie, it's Danielle."
"Aw, look, mom, speak of the devil. It's Dani on the phone right now! Hey Dani."
"Hey, you alright?"
"Yea, just a little rattled is all."
Danielle giggled. "I can tell. You answered before the phone rang once. I usually get at least one full ring."
"Well, not today! Haha."
"I see. Have you talked to Grace yet?"
"No, have you?"

Danielle could hear Marie moving about on the other end of the phone. "Hold on, Dani!"

"Yea, Dad, I'll tell you about my day when I get off the phone."

Danielle could hear Marie making her way up the stairs with a quick but uneven pace. As if she would pick up speed, then be slowed down after. Danielle then heard a mattress squeeze.

"Okay!" Marie said, panting. "I'm here."
"Sure you don't need a nap?"
Marie rolled her eyes. "HAHA Dani"

They both chuckled and then fell into an awkward silence.

"Well, who should we call first?" Asked Danielle.
"Hmm... Let's call Robin!"
"Okay, Robin, it is. Dial her up."

Marie did just that. The phone rang twice before she answered.

"Hey, Marie! You red-headed rascal!" said Robin.
"Hi, Robin! Dani's on too."
"Oh, hey boss lady!"
"Hey, Robin. You doing alright?" Danielle asked.
"Yea, my family is being weird. They all wanna know about my day!"

The phone call went quiet.

"Yeah.. mine too," said Marie.
"Ditto," said Danielle.
"I wonder what that's about. Lemme call Daryl and ask!" said Robin right before clicking over.

Danielle's face got hot, but she didn't let it come through her voice.

"Wonder what he thinks?" she said.

When Robin clicked back over, Daryl was on.

"Yo," he said.
"Hi Daryl!" said Marie.
"Hey DJ!" said Danielle teasingly.

There was a pause, and then Daryl spoke.

"So yea, Robin said everybody's family's been...overzealous about today?"
"Yea, what about yours?" asked Danielle.
"Yep," said Daryl with a shrug.
"Well, what do you think that means? What should we do? Are we in danger? I m-" started Marie.
Danielle interrupted. "Marie. How about we call the other two first. Yea?"
"You're right."
"Okay, Marie, you call Grace, and Daryl, you call Lucas!" commanded Robin.
"Gotcha," mumbled Daryl.
"Okay!" answered Marie.

...

Back at the Gordon household, Lucas was sitting at the table with his two older sisters and mom. His dad hadn't made it home yet. The Gordon family made jokes, and there were smiles all around, but it felt like their mom was waiting for something. Lucas, being the eternal optimist he was, was just happy with the fact that he was sitting with his family. He continued to smile from ear to ear in between bites of food. He didn't even notice the darting glances from everyone at the table, so everyone was caught off guard when he broke the silence.

"Hey Ma!" he suddenly blurted out.
Recovering from her slight jolt. "Yes?"
"This food is really good, like wow!
"Why, thank you, Lukey-Pie."

Lucas smiled and returned his wide-eyed gaze to his plate. His mom did the same but still seemed to be expecting something, but whatever she was expecting wasn't going to happen.

"Hey, Dukey-Pie! Whatcha learn' at school today?" said Marrisa.
Lucas chuckled. "You're never gonna let that go, huh?"
"Nope!"
"Well, anyway, in one class, one teacher went on a strange rant."

Lucas's mom sat up and began listening intently.

Lucas continued. "It was so strange that I tuned her out. Hey, remember that family reunion from like two years ago?"
"Lucas." interrupted his mom.
"Yes?"
"You don't remember anything this teacher said?"
"Naw, it was history class, and my mind is always on future Ma."
Her fist came down on the table. "Damnit, Lucas! You have to start paying attention!"

Everyone at the table froze. Lucas's smile was gone, Marrisa's jaw hung open, and the oldest Jessica, a senior in high school, stared at their mother. Then she spoke up.

"Mom, are you okay? You know Lucas always has his head in the clouds. Plus, it was the first day. I'm sure he didn't miss anything that important."
Pamela squinted her eyes and hissed, "How would you know?"

At that moment, Pamela quickly got up from the table, cleaned her plate, and walked hurriedly up the stairs. Something was off with their mother, and when she hissed at Jessica, she almost looked inhuman. Her neck veins began to bulge, her head was cocked to the side, and her eyes appeared to change color.

Marissa lowered her voice. "What the hell was that?"
"Some shit, I've never seen before. That's for sure," answered Jessica.

Lucas still sat there stunned, but then his smile began to return.

"She probably just had a bad day, ya' know?" Lucas said with a shrug.
"It doesn't take much for you, does it?" said Jessica.
"What do you mean?"
"You always see the bright side of things, no matter what."

Marrisa nodded her head.

Lucas's eyes got wide. "Well, yeah, I mean, when things get dark, I just turn on the light. Just because it's hard to find doesn't mean it isn't there." 
"Been reading some philosophy books there, huj Dukey-Pie?"
"Haha. I just don't see it any other way."

Jessica stared at her little brother, and a tear rolled down her face.

Jessica ruffled Lucas's hair. "You're something else, Lucas."

Lucas smiled back with his eyes closed. The siblings got up from the table almost in unison, cleaned their plates off, and began to head their separate ways.

"I'm going to see what's going on with mom," said Jessica.
Marissa shrugged. "Good luck."
"I'm not re-"

Then Lucas's phone rang in his pocket. The music came from his dad's favorite 90s anime. Some show called "Yu Yu Hakusho," and Lucas had never bothered to look it up. He liked the song, and he kept it.

"Hello," said Lucas.
"Yo," said Daryl.
"What's up, my man?"
"Nothing much. Everybody's on. I'm adding you now."
"Okay, cool!"

Everybody wasn't on, though. They were still waiting on Marie to reach Grace. When Marie dialed the number, it rang and rang and rang.