The Meridians

Two

     The phone rang next to your head as you lie on your couch, wrapped in Dagen's quilt. It was an old phone that had a dial and connected to the base, Dagen had found it in a yard sale and said he needed it. After listening to the annoying shrill screams, you yank the phone off the receiver. You put the phone up to your ear and answered it with a harsh hello. You repeated yourself a few times, but heard nothing but static on the other line, you sigh and put the phone back. Why did you even answer it, you think to yourself, no one calls that phone anymore. It used to be Dagen's work phone, but his job had transferred all his clients to someone else. Your sisters also had the number but they didn't call you. You tighten Dagen's quilt around you and try focusing on the blobs on the television, but you couldn't really grasp the words. After you realized that you were watching an infomercial, the phone started to ring once more. You sigh and sit up grabbing the phone.

"Hello," You snap impatiently.

"Lynette, I just got your—" Your mother's voice filled the other end of the phone. You frown and debate whether you should hang up on her.

"Wrong daughter," You interrupt while starting to twist your wedding band ready for her to quickly hang up or pretend that she was not wrong.

"Rune?" She stops talking, you can almost hear the disappointment oozing from her voice.

"Yes," There was an awkward silence.

You did not say anything out of the fear that you would let it slip that everything you fought for was gone and she would make you feel like a disobedient child. She would also try to sweep your entire marriage under the rug, just as she does everything that she does not agree with.

"Emily told me that this was Lynette's number," You roll your eyes, yes blame your mistake on someone else, you think bitterly.

We'll it isn't," You say bluntly. You really wanted to get her off the phone before...

"Is that boy with you?" Too late.

"No."

"Where is he?"

"Why do you care?" You snap. "You don't like him and for all I know he doesn't like you, so cut the crap. What do you want?"

"Watch the way you're talking to me Rune," She says in one of her wintery tones. "I am still your mother, I don't know what he i—"

"Don't pin this on him, he didn't do anything," You shout back. "Besides, you don't get to play the mother card, you haven't been in that role for a long time!"

"Stop!" You hear someone yell in the background. After a moment, you recognize that it is your older sister, Emily.

"Lee?"

"Hey, Roo," She says weakly. "How are you?" She sounded worried.

"What's going on?" You sit back, did they know already?

"Roo, it's okay we know," Emily says sadly. You swallow hard, how did they know?

"Know what?" You bite your lip trying not to say more. But your hand was eagerly flipping through channels to find the local news station.

"For the love of..." You hear your father's voice raise in the background, he was getting annoyed, he only talked when he was getting annoyed.

"Dagen...I'm so sorry," Emily sniffs. "A news station called around the family to get a statement from you, but I'm guessing you haven't really answered your personal phone."

You felt humiliated, you did not want this, you did not ask for this. Your husband was dead and here they were gathered together to give you a call, a fucking call. Yes, that was what you needed now, five of the people who you really did not want to talk to now were on your phone telling you how sorry they were for your lost, they did not even like him. You could feel yourself start to fume as you debated whether staying on the phone was the healthiest choice for everyone.