The Call

The house was so quiet it was deafening. Mid-afternoon light invaded through the westward facing windows, falling softly on the homey, broken-in furnishings and the family photos lovingly hung on the walls of the family room and displayed on the mantle piece and scattered on the coffee and end tables.

         Sarah sat beside her husband, Dan, on the sofa.

         “We can’t stay here forever. We have to go back to our house” Dan said, breaking the silence in a hushed voice.

         “I know that, but she’s my baby sister,” Sarah said, glancing over dan’s shoulder into the kitchen. Her sister, Mary, sat in a chair at the old oak table, staring at the antique rotary phone. “She needs us right now. The kids need us.”

         “What she needs is to forget about him. She needs to move on. She’s not a baby. She’s forty-two. I understand things are rough right now, but the kids don’t need us, hon. They need her—they need their mother.”

         “It’s just not that easy, Dan. She and Frank have been together their whole lives. I’m sure she’ll get better as time goes on. She just needs more time.” Sarah paused. “I’m just worried about her. You don’t know her like I do. She doesn’t adjust well to things like this, to change.” She looked at her husband with weary eyes and a furrowed forehead.

         “I just feel she would adjust faster if she went and talked to someone that’s all.” Dan smiled weakly at his wife.

         “I guess,” Sarah’s voice trailed off and the room returned to silence.

         The stillness in the room was broken again when Jackson, Mary’s oldest son, arrived a few moments later with his two younger sisters shadowing behind him.

         “Hi, guys. How was school?” Sarah put on the best smile she could manage for the kids’ sake.

         “It was fine,” Jackson said in a low, almost inaudible tone. He sat down in the leather recliner and pulled his youngest sister, chloe, into his lap.

         “We made pictures with finger paint, and I made mine of daddy,” Chloe said.

         “That’s great Chloe. Can we see it?” Sarah asked.

         “It’s at school still. My teacher said it wasn’t dry yet.”

         “Oh well, maybe tomorrow. How ‘bout you Kayla, how was school?” Sarah looked up from her seat at her middle niece.

         Kayla dropped her book-bag in the middle of the floor and didn’t respond.

         “When is daddy coming home? I want to show him my picture tomorrow,” Chloe chimed in.

         Kayla’s eyes darted to her younger sister. “Dad’s not coming back! He’s gone!”

         “Kayla!” Jackson said, hugging Chloe closer to his chest—her crying grew louder and higher pitched, piercing through the ears of all the other family members. “shh, Chloe, shh.”

         “Kayla, I think you should go up to your room for a while,” Sarah said calmly.

         “What? It’s true. Chloe and Mom need to get that through their heads, he’s never coming back,” Kayla said, slinging her book-bag back onto her shoulder and stomping up to her room, slamming the door shut be hind her. 

         Mary still sat undisturbed in the kitchen, silent and stolid faced, waiting for the phone to ring.

         “Jackson, would you take Chloe up to her room for a nap?” Sarah asked.

         “No! I don’t want a nap! I want to play!”

         “You want to play do you?” Jackson said, giving chloe an evil brotherly eye. He started tickling her. She screamed at the top of her lungs and smiled and brought smiles to everyone’s faces.

         “Hello?” Mary said earnestly into the receiver, gripping it tightly with both hands.

         “Chloe, Jackson, shh, shh” Sarah said, waving her hands at them to quiet them down.

         “Frank? Are you okay?” Tears welled up in Mary’s dark brown eyes.

         “Daddy!” Chloe said, her eyes brightening.

         Dan, Sarah and Jackson all exchanged worried glances, then glued their eyes to Mary, hanging on her every word.

         Mary continued, “I’ve been better. Things haven’t been the same since you left. How are you?” A hot tear slipped down her cheek. “I wish you would come home. I miss you so much.” There was a pause. “I know, but you made a commitment to me. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Another pause. “Your family comes first before any of that” she snapped, but her features softened quickly. “We need you. I want you to come home, the kids want you to come home.”

         “What’s that boop sound,” Chloe asked.

         “Shh Chloe,” Jackson said gently, hugging his sister a little tighter.

         “They’re fine,” Mary said, smiling sweetly into the family room at her children. “Jackson got into Johns Hopkins pre-med program, Kayla’s got straight A’s, and Chloe is doing well with kindergarten. They miss you. We all do. Please Frank” she whispered the last words. Another pause. “Well, when do you think you’ll be back?” Another pause.

“What do you mean you’re not coming back? You can’t just tear this family apart. You can’t just leave me alone with all of the responsibility. I can’t do this all alone!” The pitch of her voice rose. There was a longer pause. The tears ran freely down her reddening face, dripping down onto the table. “Yeah, I know. I just..I just love you, and I want you to come home.” A pause. “Yep, okay...Bye.” She hung up the phone, stopping the dial tine. She lowered her head down to the table, resting her forehead on her crossed forearms.

         “When’s daddy coming home?” Chloe asked, bouncing with excitement in Jackson’s lap. He didn’t say anything this time. He just looked down at the ground and bit the inside of his lower lip, his stubbled chin quivering a little.

         “Chloe, honey, remember we talked about this yesterday?” Sarah stopped when her voice cracked.

         Dan took over, “Chloe, Daddy went away to a better place, remember? He went away to heaven, and we won’t see him for a while, remember?”

         Chloe burst into another round of violent cries, but quickly calmed again. “Does that phone call heaven? Can I talk to Daddy, too?”

         “No honey, Mommy’s not feeling very well. She’s sick, but she’s going to be fine. The doctor is going to help her,” Dan said. He turned to Sarah, who was trying desperately to fight back her own tears. “I’m going to go call Doctor Miller. Maybe he can give us a good referral.”

         “Yeah, I guess that’s what’s best,” Sarah murmured, looking back into the kitchen. Mary still had her head down on the table, her shoulders pulsing erratically. She was crying.

         “Will you please take Chloe upstairs, Jackson?” Dan said.

         “Yeah, come on Chloe.” He stood, holding his sister in his arms. He took her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

         Sarah and Dan sat alone in the family room. Quiet. The only sound that broke the heavy silence was the irregular sobs coming from the kitchen. Sarah slouched on the sofa, leaning back with her eyes closed, trying to contain the tears, but some escaped and ran down her cheeks in little streams. Dan stood from his seat next to her.

         “I love you, Dan. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough” Sarah said, opening her eyes.

         “I love you too, Hon.” He smiled and took his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed the number and stepped outside to make the call.