Silence

Chapter 16 - Phone Call

  Carter drops me off at my house just as Lauren pulls up into her driveway. I walk over to her car as he drives away.

When she looks up at me I give a small wave.

"Hey, how was your day?" she asks while wiggling her eyebrows. She laughs and then pulls me in for a hug.

"I am so happy for you, but we haven't hung out in a while," she tells me.

I smile and make a motion with my hand, telling her to come over.

"Okay, but let me get your bag. You left it yesterday and we have homework this weekend," she says as she reaches into her car and takes my schoolbag.

I take it from her and we start walking to my house. We pass the living room and I see my mother on the couch holding open an address book. She looks up and closes the book.

"Hey girls, " she says quickly.

"Hey Miss Catherine. We will just be upstairs," Lauren tells her and I nod. She takes my hand and pulls me upstairs.

"What's up with your mom?" she asks me once the door is closed.

I open my top dresser drawer and take a bag of skittles out. I shrug my shoulders and eat the candy.

"She was acting a little weird when we walked in. I saw her put the telephone down when we walked in. She also had an address book. Why would she need an address book? Doesn't she keep all of her phone numbers in her phone contacts?" she asks as she plops down onto my bed while taking some of my skittles.

I shrug my shoulders again. I do want to know what she was doing because my mother does keep all of her phone numbers in the contacts on her cell phone. I know I need to figure out what happened between my dad and I, and my mother must know something about it. What if she knew that he abused me?

"Maybe it was just one of her patients family that she was calling," Lauren suggests.

I know that isn't true because first of all it's Saturday and second she keeps a separate book for that. She keeps all the numbers of the family who cares for her patients in it's own book. She keeps one at home and one at her office. My mother is an audiologist, and her office is about fifteen minutes away. She treats her patients for hearing and balance problems. She has to keep the families numbers in case any problems occur. My mother became an audiologist when we moved to Star Cove. Before we moved here, we lived in a different town in Louisiana called Mayberry. She was just a regular family doctor when I was little, but I don't remember her specializing in audiology until she started treating people who had hearing disorders here.

"So why did I tell your mom we were hanging out all morning?" she asks, changing the subject.

I reach onto my beside table and take my cellphone. I type a text.

I don't want to talk. I send.

A few moments later Lauren's phone vibrates. She pulls it out of her pocket.

She types and sends, Well text it then. I want to know!

I breath out a laugh and type out my day. I start in the morning when he came into my room. I text how he held me when I screamed and cried. How we had a very amusing game of flour-war, and how he guided me through his home. I also tell her that he is my boyfriend. I can't believe he's my boyfriend. I don't tell her about the library because Carter meant that only for me. He may have not told anyone about Alice before.

Once we finish talking/texting, Lauren says she's tired and walks home. I open my bag and do the homework that was assigned. Once I'm finished I lay in my bed thinking about my mom. What was she doing?

After about twenty minutes, I decide to head downstairs. The lights are off so my mother must be in her room. I am about to turn around when I hear a noise. I slowly walk towards the living room. There is a lamp on and I see the faint shadow of my mother. She is sitting in a chair with the same address book in her lap. She has the telephone to her ear like she's waiting for an answer.

Suddenly, she whispers, "Hello. It's Catherine," She pauses waiting for the response. "Yes, she's good, same as always. How's Alice?" she asks the other person. That must be just a coincidence.

"Good. Listen, I spoke to Michelle's caseworker. She is still in foster care but the foster family she's in is good right now," she speaks into the phone.

I lean into the door frame. What in the world is she talking about? Who is Michelle and how does she know her?

"Alright, thanks Nicole," she whispers and hangs up the phone. I turn and head back upstairs. Nicole is Carter's mom's name, and Alice lives with them. Definitely not a coincidence.