Taylor
“Hello?” a groggy voice said from the other end of the line after the third or fourth ring. I smiled. Annie religiously didn’t get up until after nine. But I knew that, in order for her to be there in time for Parker’s arrival as she wanted to be, I’d have to call her at what she deemed the “ungodly hour of seven-thirty.”
“Hey, it’s me,” I said.
“Taylor?” she said, obviously fully awake now.
“Yeah. What’d you forget about me already?” I said.
“Gee, I was about to ask you the same question,” she said a bit sarcastically.
“Yeah, sorry I haven’t called. Things have just been a little...tense around here for the past few days and I knew that if I called you, it’d only get worse,” I explained. I knew there was no point
in lying to her.
“Oh,” she said. “Tense?”
Like a stretched rubberband, I thought, but didn’t say it aloud.
“A little. Look, um, I just called to remind you that Parker’s plane gets here at twelve and you said you wanted to be here so...,” I trailed off, not sure where to go from there.
“Oh yeah! That’s today, isn’t it?” she said. “Damn. I can’t believe I forgot.” She was laughing now. “I’ll be there at about eleven, okay?”
“Sure,” I said.
I expected to hang up after that, but apparently she didn’t want to.
“How’ve you been?” she asked.
“Oh, okay I guess,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not the same, but at least we’re all on speaking terms now,” I told her.
“Even with your Dad?” she said.
I had forgotten about him. Truth be told, I hadn’t seen much of him since the little incident in the kitchen the morning after the first time I had woken everyone up, trapped in a nightmare. I knew he was avoiding me and honestly, I didn’t really mind. I was about as ready to
face him as he seemed to be to face me.
“That bad, huh?” she said, noticing my silence.
“Not bad, really. Just...nothing at all,” I told her. “I mean, we got into what can probably be classified as a small fight the other day and he’s been kind of avoiding me since.”
She sighed. I could tell she felt guilty but I could think of nothing to console her. Deep down, I wasn’t positive that it wasn’t her fault. But I would never actually admit that to anyone, especially not to her and my father.
“Well, I’ll be there at eleven, okay?” she confirmed.
“All right,” I answered back.
“Okay, Taylor. Bye,” she said.
“Bye,” I said back.
We both hung up and not until the phone was back, resting in its cradle, did I notice the presence in the door way. It was Isaac. He was just kind of staring at me and I just stared back, wondering what his expression was trying to tell me. His mouth was turned downward in a deep frown and his eyes were looking at me frankly, but he didn’t seem angry.
I managed a weak smile.
“Annie?” he said quietly, his voice holding no emotion to portray whatever it was he was feeling inside of himself at that particular moment.
“Yeah. I just kind of, um, had to, uh, remind her to come, you know. She’s pretty forgetful,” I told him.
“Oh,” he said, his voice still void of emotion. “She couldn’t remember?”
“She has a very short term memory,” I told him nervously wringing
my hands as he moved to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of pop.
“Mmm-hmm,” he said shortly.
I watched him as he opened the can and put it to his lips. It took him a moment to swallow what he had in his mouth. He tended to swish it around in his mouth for a short time like a rich person sampling a fine wine. Then he looked at me.
His eyes were still thoughtful but in a different way from before. They were each narrowed, scrutinizing me and somehow I knew he was about to test me the way a jeweler tests gems to make sure they’re real. He looked me up and down and I noticed his gaze pause momentarily on my hands, which I quickly stuffed in my pockets when I noticed him staring, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about them.
“Look,” he said and paused. “Zac and I...we were planning on practicing in the garage for a little while before you and I have to
leave to pick Parker up from the airport.”
I heard the unsaid invitation in his tone of voice and thought about how this was my test. He was trying to get me to prove my loyalty as a brother to him and Zac through seeing if I was still a part of the band.
I didn’t need to be asked twice.
“Of course,” I said, noticing that I sounded a lot more like my old self when I said that. “I’ve been itching to play since...for a while now.”
He nodded, but said nothing as he started toward the garage where I assumed Zac already was. I followed him, glad to be a part of something familiar.
Carrier pigeons are less convenient and cost more, you know.
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve
Carrier pigeons are less convenient and cost more, you know.
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve