Conspiracies

15. The gun song.

My mother's voice sounded calm and with a slight hint of superiority. I wondered how she could have gone so long without talking to her own daughter. I guess I wasn't part of his life. My father told me that she had always been a free spirit and that she always did what she wanted. Even as an adult, she had the rhythm of a rebellious fifteen-year-old teenager. But I was her daughter, I was her family. I have always tried to talk to her, but my father had not heard from her since she left home, and I stopped thinking about her for years, until the last few weeks, when the memory of her constantly hit me. 

 "Are you still there honey?" she asked me in an amazing velvety voice.

"Yes." I replied curtly.

"How are you?"

 "Well, well. How are you, mom?" I had difficulty pronouncing that word that had been absent all my life.

"Very good, darling. It turns out that the other day I saw you on TV. I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

"Thank you." I replied curtly.

"Is there something wrong, my love?"

"What did you call me for, Megan?"

"I don't like you calling me by my name, honey. It sounds very formal."

"It's just that I can't call you mom because you've never been one to me. Maybe with Agnes, but you stopped being her mother when you kicked her out of the house to go live in Canada with your new husband."

 "I see you've been talking to her. Do you guys get along well now?" Her voice sounded irritably calm.

"May I know what you want?" 

"Nothing, I saw what happened on the news, and I got worried. I wanted to know how you and your husband were doing."

 "We're fine, thank you."

 "I notice you are a little edgy."

"Because I am, Megan."

"Why are you like this?"

"Look, I don't have time to continue this conversation. Bye."

"Don't worry, we'll talk more in detail soon," and she hung up.

What did she mean by that? The last thing I needed right now was more unanswered questions. I was angry. I didn't quite know why, though, but I was. I couldn't let my mother occupy my head now. She had already done it when I was a child until almost adulthood. Thinking every day about why she left my father and me. For a while, I thought it was because of her way of being, because of her rebellious and independent spirit.

The nurse started to walk again, and I followed her to the room where Jens and Agnes were. Before I could get in, someone yelled at me from across the hall.

"Alicia! Alicia!" Someone was coming right at me. It was Ben.

"Hey Ben, is there something wrong?" I said.

"We need to talk." He replied with a broken voice.

"What's happening?"

"We have good news. The tests we have done indicate that he is perfectly fine. He has recovered earlier than expected. You can go home."

"Really!?" I said full of enthusiasm.

"Of course. Your husband told me he wants to talk to you before he leaves the hospital. I'll take care of telling your son and your sister."

"Okay, thank you very much."

Ben nodded with a pleasant smile and went on his way while I headed in the other direction. I was so happy to finally get out of here that I couldn't shake the big smile plastered on my face. The moment we had been waiting for so long had finally come, and we could return to our lives.