Down Memory Lane ✓

12- Perry Again?

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Perry Again?

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THE LUMP in my stomach wasn't as big as the one that came with the news of Mrs. Morris' sad passing but it was there regardless. Yet my dad insisted on Tony bringing my dinner to my room.

It was only after he stepped in that I wondered how he managed to knock before he entered. It was obvious he was having difficulties balancing the tray in his small arms that had yet to mature into the muscles I'd associated him with.

I face-palmed myself.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to knock. You could have just walked in."

"Yeah, well, the last time I entered without knocking, you were talking to some guy friend and you yelled at me to leave."

Did I do that?

I must have said it as a simple thing, but seems like it must have hurt him for him to remember. Maybe at the time, I didn't think of how my words and action might hurt him and I didn't stop to think of how young he was.

And that's when I looked at him. He was younger and somewhat shorter than he was. Guess he hadn't had that growth spurt boys get at puberty. His hair was shorter and looked to just be growing out of a buzz cut. It was only when he entered high school he stopped cutting his hair so low. If I recall correctly.

"Hey," I called out as he was about to leave and I asked, "Do you wanna have dinner with me?"

He looked at my food and shook his head.

"Uh no. It's your food. And mine is downstairs."

I urged further. "You could bring it up here and we could watch a movie on my laptop. Plus, it's gonna be quiet here if I'm all by myself."

"Uh, never mind." He scratched the back of his neck with one hand before stuffing both of them into his pants pockets and taking a slight step back.

I frowned.

Why would he feel uncomfortable having dinner with me? Was that how strained our relationship was?

"And I'm sure a call to one of your many friends would take you out of the world and make you forget about the rest of us," he said before he turned to leave.

I sighed, but he was right. A call to them would be a relief, but I wondered who to call. I scrolled and saw Mariana's number. I wonder if she was still in... whatever condition that was.

Or if that was something that never happened. I contemplated but concluded that I wouldn't. I'd call Kai instead.

The line rang for a while before going to voicemail, but it was different.

"Hey, I'm currently not available. If this is a family member, leave a message and I'll call back. A friend? Leave a text and I'll reply as soon as I can. If this is someone I've never spoken to before, introduce yourself. You could have the wrong number..."

There was a pause and when he continued, it came out distorted. "If this is Clara, you shouldn't be calling."

I frowned and inspected my phone like it was a strange device I'd never held before and deep down, the fleeting thought of whether it was mine formed.

What did he mean by I shouldn't be calling?

First, his voicemail was never like this. It was simple. I'm currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep, and then you would hear the beep. Yep, I could still remember every word.