Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Crybaby was sitting on her living room floor, grasping the telephone cord as she waited for Ben to pick up the phone. Earlier, she came out of her room to find her mother in front of the telephone. She'd informed Crybaby that she was putting the dial back on and she was therefore allowed to make phone calls once again, but she also made sure to add that the only reason she was doing this was because she herself had calls to make. As Crybaby was initially about to dial Ben's number, her mother told her one more thing: "By the way, your friend called. Someone named Angelina, or something."

"Angelita?" Crybaby had asked.

"Yeah, that," her mother had responded while she turned and went back into her bedroom. Crybaby and Angelita only talked for a few minutes, secretly because she was in a rush to speak with Ben. Angelita mentioned to Crybaby that she would be absent the next day because of a doctor's appointment and that she'd call her to catch up in the evening. They wrapped up their conversation, and now, Crybaby was calling Ben, hoping he would answer.

At Ben's house, he and his father were seated on the sofa, both of their heads turned to look at the telephone once they heard it ring. Ben quickly looked at his father. "Go on, go! Pick up, see if it's her," his father told him and turned the volume down on the television. Ben stood up and ran to pick up the phone. "Hello?" he said.

Crybaby heard his voice through the phone, and she felt the most relief she'd gotten since she was last with him. "Hi," Crybaby said, a smile on her face.

"Baby? What happened? Why didn't you call? Are you okay?" Ben asked frantically.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Crybaby said quickly to calm him down. "After you left yesterday, I fell asleep by accident and woke up at almost four thirty. Then, my mom wouldn't let me call anyone, and when she went to bed, I tried to call you again, but she took the fucking dial off the phone," she explained.

Ben almost snickered, "Wow."

"Sorry if you were worried."

Ben appreciated the irony and chose not to share with her how anxious he'd been. "I'm okay, just glad we're talking now," he said.

Crybaby grinned. "Is your dad home?" she asked.

"Yeah, he got back a little while ago and we've been watching T.V.," Ben said.

"That's good. I hope I didn't interrupt."

"No, of course not. You're good."

Crybaby paused for a moment while it sunk in just how much she missed him. "I wish I could be with you right now," she pouted, "I'm bored and lonely."

Ben chuckled. "Wear my shirt that I gave you. My scent might comfort you," he suggested.

"My mom washed it. Now it just smells like laundry detergent," Crybaby complained.

"You know what? I'll bring you one of my hoodies tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"That would be great. I'll wear it all day," Crybaby smiled hard at the thought of it.

Ben laughed for a few seconds before a potential issue occurred to him. "Wait, do you think Angelita would notice? I wear the same hoodies pretty often. She might've seen me in the one I'm giving you," he said.

"Actually, she's not going to school tomorrow. At our convenience."

"Perfect."