Is This Me?

Chapter Seven - "I'll explain when I land, okay?"

Three days without Papa,

And the family wasn't doing very well. The laughter and fun they once had was gone. It was forlorn looks, tears, sighs and more tears.

Anne woke up that Wednesday around 10:00 a.m. She got cleaned up and headed downstairs. It seemed she was the only one awake. She headed to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She got the milk from the fridge and poured it into a bowl and added some cereal. She sighed as she carried her bowl to the table.

Moments later, David came downstairs. She looked up and he smiled to her. She forced a small smile back.

"Good morning" he greeted, trying to sound cheerful. He was worried about all of them.

"Good morning" she replied, trying to force down her food. He joined her shortly with his bowl of cereal.

After a short while, David asked.

"What do you think will happen now?"

She looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't know" was the only thing she could say. She really didn't know. Everything had changed within the twinkle of an eye, it was hard to believe Papa was gone. She missed him so much already. She always imagined that he would walk in through the door at any minute and this nightmare will end and they would have their happy family back. She forced back tears that welled up in her eyes. She suddenly lost her appetite.

He nodded, understanding. This was hard on all of them, especially their younger ones and Mama. He tried to eat his cereal with the hope that Anne would eat something too before saying

"I overheard Mama on the phone with Aunty Inaya yesterday". When she didn't reply, he looked up at her confused face.

"You were eavesdropping?!"

"Shhhhh" he gestured with a little laugh.

"You were eavesdropping?!" She repeated but with a lower tone this time.

"No. Maybe. It doesn't matter" he said, dismissively.

She widened her eyes at that and shook her head.

"What matters is what I heard her saying" David added.

Anne was now interested though. She resumed eating her cereal and chuckled.

"What?" She asked

"We might be-"

"You're up early" Pappy Isaac walked down the stairs, meeting David's eyes.

"Good morning, Pappy" David greeted

"Good Morning Pappy" Anne echoed.

Pappy sighed and smiled sadly at them. He knew that they weren't in the mood for small talk given the circumstances. No one was. He walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He sat down with the children and started to sip from his mug.

"I don't know what you kids like in this crappy thing you call food" he said, breaking the awkward silence that enveloped them. He was referring to the cereal they were eating.

They chuckled.

"I don't know why you drink that, it's so bitter!" Anne responded playfully.

"Coffee isn't bitter. It's healthy, in fact. Healthier than..." he picked up the box of cereal and peered at the name "Weetabix?"

"Yep, Weetabix" David nodded.

Pappy shrugged and went back to sipping his coffee.

After eating, Anne went back to her room to try calling Lilly. She hadn't spoken to her since the day she left. She picked up her phone and dialled the number. It rang through but there was no answer. She decided to call Lilly's mum. It rang. And rang. Finally, a click and a voice came through.