Trouble in Tiltown

The radio man

She sat the edge of my bed with her hands in her lap.
"Hello. I just wanted to check up on you to see how you're doing." She spoke quietly, as if afraid to startle me.
"I'm okay, I have a bit of a cold though." I warned her, however she stayed in the same spot despite the risk of getting sick.
"I hope you feel well soon." She replies.
"Uh, thanks." I said. Instead of responding, she let my response sit in the air.
I weakly sat myself up, "You've been acting strange lately. Is everything okay?"
She shot her head up to look at me as if she had just got caught in headlights, "I guess so. Well, no. Things have been rough at home."
Curious, I cocked my head slightly.
"How come?"
She took a deep breath as though it was going to be hard to get out. She looked at her feet once again.
"I don't get to see my dad much but when I do, it's not very fun," she pauses. "Ever since my mom left years ago, he's been a very angry person."
My eyes dimmed, "I'm sorry."
She tightened her hands as she clasped her hands together, "It's alright."
"Well, no it's not. You deserve better." I bluntly told her. She didn't look up this time but I noticed her eyes widen.
"Why do you say that?" She inquires.
"Well, because nobody should be treated poorly. Especially if it's someone that should be your closest friend." She decided to stick to silence as a response. Perhaps she was thinking of what to say. Or maybe nobody has told her that.
"Yeah, maybe. I'm just hoping one day I can stand up for what's right," She pauses for a moment, "Or just leave this weird town."
I chuckled to myself, gaining her to grin at me, "Why do you say that?" I asked her. She turns her whole body my way as if I just brought up an interesting topic.
"The asylum in town, the ouija board in the shed, that weird creepy guy on the radio-
"Wait a minute, you know him too?"
"Yeah, I've caught my dad listening to him all the time. The radio man is always on about what not to do in town and what to do. I think that's why my dad is always so strict." She snorted to herself.
"Does he live in town, the radio man?" I asked.
She spaced out as if she was thinking hard, "Yeah, I mean, I reckon so. Why?"
I hopped out of my bed and rushed through the hallway and into my living room with Kat following behind, peering around my shoulder. I picked up the phone book and started searching for names and a number.
"Have you ever heard what his name is?" I quizzed her.
She bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "I don't recall. I-I can't remember." She said apologetically.
"Just keep thinking and I'll try looking." As I looked harder and harder, my tongue stuck out ever so slightly. Kat jumped, making me flinch but never losing my concentration.
"West McAllister!" She said in excitement, softly clapping her hands proudly.
I quickly went to the W's and immediately found him.
"Score! Do you reckon he's awake?" I asked.
She glanced down at her watch that sat on her wrist, "it's only 9 pm, I'm sure he's awake. His whole idea is that he never sleeps." She snorted once again. She wasn't completely wrong. I shuffled my feet over to the phone on the wall and started dialing as Kat whispered the numbers to me. A few rings until he picked up.
"Who is this?" He answered instead of the normal hello.
I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, "Well, I wanted to talk to the mysterious radio man. You know, I'm a big fan." There was a moment of silence. Oh no, did I lose him? I held the phone with my shoulder and began picking at my nails.
"Okayyy.. What makes you such a big fan of my show?" He inquired. I felt my mind wanting to stumble over words, but I took a deep breath and attempted to keep that part of me at bay.
"I-I am interested in the creepy topics you have to say about our lovely town." I failed at the perfect sentence I had set in my head.
He laughed a deep laugh over the phone, "I wouldn't say it's a lovely town."
I raised my eyebrow at Kat as she kept inching closer to hear the conversation.
"Then what type of town would you say it is, Sir?" I questioned him with curiosity.
I heard him hum for a long time, the hum becoming deeper as it reached the end.
"This is a mysterious town. Maybe even troubled, if you will." He suggests to me. Kat clapped quietly to herself as she couldn't contain her excitement. I put my finger to my lips as to shush her.
"Sorry." She mouthed over to me.
I cleared my throat, "So what're you saying?"
"Well, it's not about what I'm saying. It's about what you think I'm saying," he paused. "So, Sir, What do you think I'm saying?" He asked me, A curious tone dripping from his question.
I quietly laughed to myself, "I think you're saying that there's trouble in Tiltown."
Kat raised her eyebrows and I grinned in response.
"I don't think you're terribly far off from the truth." He truthfully commented. Suddenly my mom comes down the hall with tiredness over her face.
"Honey, you know you're not supposed to be on the phone after hours." She softly spoke to me before turning to Kat.
"And you're supposed to be at home, sweetheart." Kat smiles nervously, "Right. I'm sorry. See you later Laurence." And with that, Kat leaves out the door and my mother goes back into her room to return to her peaceful rest.
"I apologize but I reckon I should get to bed now, Sir."
The man sighs heavily, "It's been quite an interesting call. I'd love to have you on my show sometime." He offers. My eyes nearly popped out of my head at the offer.
"Uh- yeah, Uhm- I'll think about it. Bye!" I quickly said, hanging up the phone. I slapped my forehead with my hand at my lame response and headed off to my bed.