Long Distance Call

“Hey Jack, any chance you can stay late tonight?”

“No way, buddy. It’s my anniversary, and if I don’t take my wife out to Kemp’s on the Bay like I promised, it’ll be my hide AND yours!”

“Good point. Annie may be small, but I have no doubt she’d drop me to the ground in one shot if I pissed her off enough. OK, well you two have a good time. But don’t forget I need you back here early tomorrow…and sober!”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t forget.”

With that Jack grabbed his coat, and headed out the door. At six foot even and 180 pounds, he was a solid man. Somehow even with running the show at the seafood place, a wife, and two little boys, he still managed to squeeze in his usual four-mile runs now and then. His sandy blonde hair was still wavy, but the pony-tail was long since gone.

He opted to keep a small moustache though, even though Annie said that it ‘tickled’. He and Annie would always laugh at their secret joke. Their boys, Jake and Matthew, would always ask “What’s so funny?” Annie would just shake her head and say “Never mind, you’ll find out soon enough when you get older.”

Jake, the oldest at seven, was starting to catch on to these things, and Annie wondered if he probably knew exactly what was being discussed. He had such a devilish grin that she could never quite tell. Matthew was barely four, and still clueless about anything beyond his prized GI Joe collection. Annie had no idea how the kid was able to sleep at night based on the number of little, green army men she’d find in his bed each morning.

After almost nine years of marriage, they were finally starting to get on their feet. It had been difficult, especially since neither of them exactly came from ‘money’. Almost everything they did, they did on their own. The small three-bedroom ranch where they lived was already showing its age when they scrounged up the five percent deposit and secured the loan.

But after five years it was really taking shape. They had redone the roof, rebuilt the back deck, and added on a small addition with a garage (after taking out an equity loan, of course). Money was tight, but they still seemed to manage.

Jack thought of all of this as he made the short ride home. With all they had done, and with two boys to raise, they rarely spent any time alone. And it was starting to show. Years ago when Jake was first born, it was kind of cute when he would surprise them in their bedroom, usually at the most awkward of moments.

“No, baby”, Annie would explain. “Daddy’s not hurting me! We were just playing, that’s all.” It probably didn’t help Jake’s confusion that Jack would often laugh so hard he’d damn-near pee himself. The times that Jake would hop right onto the bed were especially interesting. Annie’s face would go white while she quietly mouthed the words “Is he still hard?”

Smiling as he remembered these moments, Jack next began to imagine how nice it would be tonight, just the two of them enjoying a nice dinner. Annie’s Mom was undoubtedly already at the house, spoiling the boys rotten, and effectively undoing all the discipline he had embedded in the boys till now.

The sun was just starting to dip behind the trees, reflecting a few last rays off the water in the distance. The wind had just picked up in the last hour or so, and as Jack drove, the branches above swayed ever so slightly. It was the most peaceful moment he could remember in a long time.

Jack looked up at something ahead, and he almost began to laugh, as if what he was seeing was too surreal to fit the moment he was enjoying. The smile was still spread across his face by the time he realized what was happening, as if it was to stubborn to accept it.

The tree limb smashed straight through the windshield, with the bulk of the heavy end catching Jack square in the face. The old oak was weakened by the last storm, and the nearly one ton branch that fell sliced through the cab like it was not even there. Had anyone witnessed the accident, they would have been dumbstruck by the fact that the man behind the wheel appeared to be laughing.

The pickup came to an almost immediate halt, pushed slightly sideways with the impact. It traveled up onto the lawn of a small house, pushing over one of those vandal-proof mailboxes like it was a toothpick stuck in the sand. The front tires, now weighted down with the addition of the massive limb, tore into the lawn leaving deep trenches.

Jack reeled from the impact. His entire face felt like it was on fire, and he instinctively rubbed his hands across it thinking there were flames tearing into his flesh. When he pulled his hands away, instead of burn marks he saw blood. A lot of blood.

But at least he was moving. If it was only a few cuts he could still make dinner. He fumbled around in his top pocket, fishing out his cell phone. He had to call Annie. As he tried to dial, blood was getting everywhere but he didn’t care. All he could see was her face.

He began to laugh again. ‘She probably won’t believe me’ he thought as he heard her voice on the other end.

“Jack, you better be calling to tell me you’re on your way.”

“Hi baby. You’ll never guess what happened.”

“Are you still at work? You better not still be there? Where’s that ass of a boss of yours. Tom! Can you hear me! You better let him leave work right now or so help me I’ll clobber you!!”

Jack felt a little twinge in his neck. ‘Better explain quick’, he thought. Just then he saw a face at the side of the truck. Jack went to lower the window, but it slowly occurred to him that the window was gone. Instead he just held a finger up to the woman standing there and mumbled “One minute. I’m OK”.

“Jack?”, Annie said. “Who are you talking to, and what do you mean by ‘I’m OK’?”

“Babe, I’m afraid I got into an accident. A tree limb came down and landed on the truck.”

Annie paused for a moment, then began to laugh.

“Are you shitting me?” Then she laughed again as she covered her mouth. “Ooops, forgot about the boys.”

Annie’s Mom called out from behind her in a whispered voice.

“Annie! Now you stop that! Don’t you be teaching my grandkids words like that!”

This was followed promptly by a slap to the back of Annie’s head.

“Annie”, Jack said. “I’m sorry sweetie but this is no joke. The truck is smashed up pretty good, and I must have a cut somewhere on my head.”

“Jack?” Annie said, the laughter in her voice immediately replaced with concern. She realized Jack would never joke about something like this. “Jack, are you serious? Are you OK?”

“Yeah baby, I think I’m OK. I think we can still make dinner, but I will need to get patched up here.”

By now Annie could hear sirens in the background. She also thought she heard a scream but she couldn’t tell.

“Jack, where are you? Are you sure you’re OK?”

“Yes, I’m OK. In fact I feel better already.”

There was a slight pause. Annie had just gone from laughter to shock, and for a brief moment she wasn’t sure what to say. Her emotions were running like crazy.

“Annie, listen, don’t worry. The truck is insured, and I’ll be fine. I think I hear the ambulance. They’ll take a look, maybe do a few stitches. But I’ll need a ride for sure, so can you come pick me up? Up just before Four Corners.”

Annie regained her composure.

“I’ll be right there Jack. Don’t you move. And for God’s sake don’t try and drive the truck anywhere.”

Jack looked around the cab area, and while something seemed extremely odd about it, he knew for sure that the truck wasn’t going anywhere.

“Don’t worry baby, I’m through driving for tonight. All I want to do is get cleaned up and go to that dinner. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“I’m leaving now Jack. Please just try and stay still, OK?”

“I will, I will. Oh, and Annie?”

“Yeah baby?”

“I love you immensely, you know that don’t you? You know I could never live without you by my side, which is why I will always be by yours.”

Annie began to cry, the emotion of the last few minutes swelling over her uncontrollably now.

“I know Jack. God I love you too. Now stay put, I’m on my way.”

Annie flew out the door, barely stopping to pick up her keys. She shouted out to her Mom to keep the boys occupied. Even though Jack sounded OK, she still wanted to get to him as quickly as possible.

She almost ran the stop sign at the end of their street. Had she not stopped she too might have been in an accident as a rescue truck careened by, headed towards where her Jack was now.

She pulled out and quickly accelerated to match the speed of the truck ahead of her. In no time she reached the scene of the accident, and right away something struck her as odd.

There were a lot of people standing around, many more than should have been there. She pulled off the road, and was quickly approached by an officer.

“Ma’am, please don’t stop here. I need you to please get back in your car and continue on wherever you were going.”

Annie managed a smile as she explained she was the wife of the man sitting in the cab, assuming Jack had listened to her and stayed where he was, that is. She craned her neck to get a glimpse of Jack’s truck.

“Yeah, that’s him over there”, she said, pointing towards the accident scene. She couldn’t quite see him fully, but she could see a lot of activity there.

The officer paused for a moment, and then reached out to touch Annie’s shoulder.

“You’re Mrs. Kinsley?”, he asked.

“Yes”, Annie said. “I’d like to see my husband please.”

The officer paused again, then said “OK, wait here for a moment please.”

He walked over towards the cab where two EMT’s were standing along with two fireman. He spoke briefly with one of the EMT’s, who looked over the cop’s shoulder towards Annie. They spoke some more, and then the EMT began to walk towards Annie.

Annie couldn’t stand waiting, and so she stepped between the rescue truck and a police care. The EMT broke into a short run as he intercepted her.

“Mrs. Kinsley, please, I need to talk to you for a moment.”

The EMT grabbed her by her forearms, almost forcefully. Annie was not the type to put up with much procedural bullshit, so she immediately tried to pull herself free. But the EMT’s grip strengthened, to the point of causing her pain. She turned to scream at him, but the pleading, pained look on his face stopped her struggle.

“Please!” he said, followed quickly by another “Please”, the second one a little softer.

“What’s wrong?” Annie said. “Where’s my Jack? Why can’t I see him?”

“Mrs. Kinsley, listen…”

“Annie”, she interrupted. “Please call me Annie.”

“OK”, he said, clearly struggling. “Annie, I’m afraid…I’m afraid to say that your husband is dead.”

Annie muttered a brief laugh as she stared at him in disbelief. “Dead?” she said. “Is this some kind of a cruel joke? Because if it is I swear I will…”

The EMT persisted. “Mrs. Kinsley…Annie…I am so sorry to be the one to tell you. But your husband was declared dead a few minutes ago.”

“But…that’s not possible. I was speaking to him just ten minutes ago. He seemed fine. He called to tell me he was in an accident. We talked for about five minutes. He said he probably just needed to get cleaned up a bit, but that he could still make dinner tonight. I don’t understand.”

The EMT’s face went white.

“He…your husband…he called you? AFTER the accident?”

“Yes”, Annie said. “He said a tree limb had fallen on the cab and that he was bleeding, but he felt OK.”

The EMT turned away, trying hard to stifle the puke that was forming in his throat. His mouth went completely dry. In a cracked voice he began to explain.

“Annie, I hate to be the one to tell you, but your husband was decapitated almost instantly. There’s nothing left of the entire cab section. I’m sorry but there is no way he was able to make any type of phone call.”

Annie stared back incredulously, unable to speak. A short laugh escaped her lips and she began to speak.

“No…no…that can’t be. We were just talking. He even said he saw someone standing next to him. He…”

The EMT interrupted her, trying to explain. He pointed over to a young girl sitting on the sidewalk of the house across the street, surrounded by two adults as she blankly stared ahead, her eyes red from obvious tears.

“Annie, that girl sitting over there was the first one to come across the accident. She’s in complete shock right now. She was the first one to see your husband. Her mother came running out and immediately screamed at the sight as she dragged the girl away. Please, Annie, you should talk to the coroner.”

Annie couldn’t take her eyes off the little girl, who now looked her way. Their eyes met, and the horror in the girl’s eyes sent a chill through Annie’s body. She then looked back towards the truck. That’s when she got a good look at the cab.

It was as if a bulldozer blade had plowed straight into it. The entire front area was occupied by the limb, and the passenger door was partially crushed by the weight of the massive oak. The limb itself appeared to be about two feet around at the thickest point. The weight of it on the passenger side caused the driver side to lift up off the ground a bit.

The back seat area of the cab was sprawled back in an uplifted mix of twisted metal and seat fabric. It looked like something had exploded outward, shearing anything in its way.

Then she saw the blood-stained sheet, laying where Jack should be sitting. It looked like whatever was under the sheet was slouched down, but that was impossible. The massive amount of blood where Jack’s head should have been made her stomach turn.

That was the last thing Annie remembered from that day. She almost fell to the ground when she passed out, but several of the rescue workers nearby stopped her fall. She didn’t even recall asking for Jack’s cell phone, which was lying on the seat next to his lifeless body.

Nor did she remember determining the exact time of his death. According to the dashboard clock, the limb came crashing down at about 5:09 that afternoon. She refused to let go of Jack’s cell phone, even though it was covered in blood. She had used her thumb to wipe the display, and even through the streaks she was able to bring up the call log. The last call was outbound…to their home…it lasted almost nine minutes, and was placed at 5:10.

The first two days after Jack’s death were very hard on Annie, and especially the boys. Annie didn’t have the strength to be there for them as much as she wanted. Her family worried that she wouldn’t get through the funeral. But that morning they noticed a change. The dull stare in her eyes was slowly being replaced by a few flickering signs of the normal Annie.

The only strange moment was when Annie went to the casket, and slipped something in next to Jack as she said her last goodbye. It was Jack’s cell phone, and she gave very specific instructions to the funeral home director that it was to remain there.

Annie eventually recovered, as best she could. She continued to raise Jake and Matthew alone, and they seemed to adjust well, although things were of course never quite the same.

One thing the boys never quite understood is why she kept her old cell phone. Jake would swear he sometimes heard her talking to someone late at night in her bedroom. But there was no regular phone in there, just her old cell phone. And the battery had long-ago died. It wasn’t even digital. And yet every once in a while as he laid in bed, he could hear a soft, faint ringing sound, followed by his Mom’s voice…