New Beginnings: A Hessa Story (2)

Chapter 53: Tessa

"Theresa, hi." My mother answers the phone. Her voice sounds weird, and I can barely hear her through all the wind blowing around.

"I can't really hear you, are you outside?" I yell into the phone over the wind that continues to blow loud into her phone microphone.

"Yeah, sorry. Give me a second." I hear the sounds of horns honking around her. It sounds like she's in the middle of New York City

The wind stops blowing, so I think she's indoors now. "Sorry about that. I'm in Seattle right now, and you know how noisy and windy it can get."

"You're in Seattle? Why?" I ask.

"I was just meeting with a girlfriend at a nice restaurant in the city."

A girlfriend? Since when does my mother have lunches in Seattle with her girlfriends?

"Which friend?"

"You don't know her." She says as someone speaks on her side. It sounds like this person is speaking over a loudspeaker, but I can't tell what is being said.

"Well, is there a reason you called me, Theresa? My friend is going to be here any minute."

"I was just calling to check in on you. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. Some days are better than others, and as the weather gets colder..." She pauses briefly. "I'm okay though, Theresa."

"Don't lie to me. You would tell me if you were getting worse right?"

"Of course... and I'm not lying. Now, how are you?"

"Hardin and I have an appointment tomorrow to see how the baby's doing."

"That's wonderful. I'm so happy for the two of you."

It's still so strange to hear that my mother is happy for Hardin and me. I remember when she first started warming up to the idea of Hardin and me still communicating when I got back from his graduation. I was upset that he left his graduation without saying goodbye, even though now we established that it was all just one big misunderstanding. My mother was supportive though, and I think that was the first time she gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe Hardin and I would make it after all.

-

"How was the graduation?" My mother asked as I entered the house. She was sitting on the couch reading her bible. She highlighted it like I do with books. It was actually a thing I learned from her.

"I don't want to talk about it." I stormed past her into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. I was in such a rush this morning that I forgot to drink a cup before I left, and I'm exhausted.

"Theresa, what happened?"

"It was fine. I saw him in his new life, with his new tattoos and new friends." I forgot to mention a possible girlfriend. That girl, Kaci I thought her name was, mentioned her sister went out with them, and I had to fight so hard to seem unaffected.

"Oh please. I'm sure he was happy to see you."

"He was, but he left me without saying goodbye. I spent thirty minutes walking around that huge stadium trying to find him, but Ken told me that he left with his friends."

Of course I was happy that Hardin created this better life for himself, but even though we weren't together, it still pained me to not be in this new life of his.

"He left without saying goodbye? I'm sorry, but that just doesn't sound like him."

"Well it happened, so I just have to accept the fact that Hardin has moved on." I took a sip of coffee to reenergize my body. I needed all the strength to get through this conversation without crying.