A School for the Erratic and Strange

Chapter 4: Questions and Answers

     I was taking the bus home when my phone rang, a song from a musical my mother was find of playing from it. I picked up the glittery lavender phone, and clicked the green answer button.

"Hey Mom, how's it going?" I asked, holding the phone to my ear. "The usual. Your father is upset over some drama at the work place, and your brothers were fighting over a toy they found in the attic. I think it was one of yours. I told them that if they couldn't share neither of them could have it. Your father managed to get them to agree to Kang having it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Xiu having it on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On Sundays they either share it or it goes back into the attic. I doubt that agreement will last long, you can't settle children like a business." My mother vented. She had a thick accent, but I could understand her having grown up with her.

"Sounds like them. What poor, innocent toy is caught in the crossfire?" I asked with a grin. "A little silly guitar. It has these buttons on it that play different songs from that show you liked, with the moose and the penguin and the... alien, polka dot girl." She answered, causing me to giggle. "I had a patient today that has amnesia. We don't know who he is yet or if he has family. We're having a volunteer read to him so he doesn't feel so lonely, she's a nice girl. About your age. Going to school to be a teacher." My mother informed me. "That's nice. Hopefully you can find out who he is soon." I replied. "I hope so too. I can't imagine what it must be like to not remember your own family." My mother agreed, causing me to feel a tinge of guilt.

"What about you? How are things in your life?" She then asked me. "Wonderful." I assured her, feeling my shoulders become stiffer and my smile become tighter as I said it. "My boss is great, my doorman is so kind, Miss. Lana says I'm her best student, and Mei Mei is healthy." I went on, listing things I was grateful for in my every day life. "Yes, yes, but what's new?" My mother asked. "Well, my land lord invited me to a potluck to celebrate his wife's birthday." I told her, as if I fully intended on going. "That's nice. Any new boyfriends?" My Mom asked me. "I told you, Ma. I don't have time for boyfriends. Or girlfriends, or partners." I told her. She knew I was bi, it was just something she tended to ignore.

     "Yes, yes, I know, you have... that funeral school you go to... but I think you'd be much less lonely if you had someone with you, Pútáo. You're such a pretty, bubbly, clever girl. Very funny and graceful too. I don't see why you can't find a partner." She pressed as the bus slowed to a stop. I checked to see if it was my stop, and sighed when I noticed that not only was it not my stop, it was the one after mine. It took all my strength, and my lips pressed tightly together, not to curse at myself.

     "Can I call you back later, Ma ma? I missed my stop." I asked her nervously. "Oh, of course. Get home safe my rose." She told me. "I will, Ma ma. Tell the boys I love them." I replied. "You could have told them yourself if you came home for the weekends." My mother told me. "I have to go, Ma. Love you." I told her in a rushed tone before hanging up the phone and quickly standing up. I followed the last of the crowd getting off the bus, and looked around for a taxi cab.

I sighed in relief when I saw one and hailed it, climbing into the back. "Where to?" The driver asked in a French accent. "Berry Apartments, on Fourth Avenue." I told him. "Berry Apartments? Why, I have a nephew that lives there. Have you ever met a Peter Hobbes?" He asked me. "No, sorry." I replied, pulling on my seatbelt. "He's going to college to become an engineer. Do you go to college?" The driver asked as he pulled back onto the road.

     "Yes, I'm studying to become a Mortician." I told him with a strained smile. "What's that? Some kind of Doctor?" He asked. "Not exactly. Morticians prepare bodies to be cremated or displayed in a funeral. It's quite fascinating really, the art of preserving the body, and making it presentable. And learning the stories of how they died can also be fascinating and thrilling in itself, of course you have to act sad and respectful about it." I rambled slightly, feeling my eyes light up as excitement bubbled up in my chest. The cab driver stiffened as I talked, and his smile became tighter as mine became more relaxed.