Chapter 7: Chain Letter by Stephen Simpson
She presses the end button and then slowly she puts the
phone back onto the counter, looking at it as if it were something that did not
belong here.
She sinks down onto the floor and sits there, her back
against the cold cabinet and stares at the wall.
Peter finds her like this. “And now?” he asks.
“My mom died last night,” she answers him, without looking
at him. Her voice is flat.
Immediately he rushes to her and pulls her up from her
sitting position. He pulls her into him. “I am so sorry, Lisa.”
Only then does Lisa start to cry, the tears streaming down
her cheeks, sobs shaking her body.
She cries until Paul comes running into the kitchen.
“Mom, where is?” He stops when he sees Lisa crying, hanging
desperately from Peter's shoulders. “What's wrong?” He frowns.
Lisa stops crying immediately and sniffs, wiping the tears
away with the back of her hand. She gives Peter a meaningful look, a look that
says, ‘do not say anything’.
Lisa forces a laugh, trying hard to get her voice to sound
normal. “You know Mommy cries every time there is a full moon.”
“Yeah. Silly if you ask me?” He smiles, Lisa's tears already
forgotten.
“So, what were you looking for, pumpkin?” Lisa asks him.
“My trainers. I have tennis practice this afternoon.”
Lisa walks out the kitchen with him and steers him up the
stairs. “You should really start to put your things where they belong, then you
would not have to run around looking for them,” she tells him gently.
They pass E’lisa coming down the stairs. “Ah, no! Are we
going to be late again today?” She asks annoyed.
“Of course not. Go get some cereal so long, there will be no
warm breakfast today.”
“Why not?” She sulks.
“Because otherwise you will be late, E’lisa. Please I am not
in the mood for tantrums and arguments this morning.”
E’lisa stomps down the stairs.
By the time Lisa and Paul get back down to the kitchen,
E’lisa is having cereal while she is talking softly to Peter.
Peter has told her about Marlene.
E’lisa looks towards Lisa apologetically, coming towards
her. She hugs her tightly, and says softly, “I am so sorry, Mom.”
“I don't want to upset your brother,” Lisa whispers.
“Okay.”
E’lisa is fifteen and a very will-full independent young
girl. She does not really know her grandmother that well. The once a year
holiday does not encourage unbreakable bonds.
Paul is seven and particularly close to his Granny, they
forged a connection from the first moment Paul opened his eyes to this world.
They are inseparable every year for the short two weeks Peter and Lisa can
spare to visit Marlene.
Lisa wanted a moment to sit down with him and tell him, as
well as explain the concept of death. Now was not the time, with the running
around before school, the making of lunches, the packing of bags, the getting
into the car and the dropping everyone off before the first bell echoes through
the school halls.
She supposes she could have kept everyone at home today, but
she needs the quiet of after she gets home. She needs the routine, she needs to
book the flights and pack the bags and she needs to do all of this with no
questions, no sibling fighting, and no television in the background - silence,
only silence.
Peter looks at her apprehensively. “I think I should take
the day off.”
“What for? I need you to go to work. I will phone you to
tell you what time our flight is and when our return date is, so that you can
make arrangements at work. You have that important meeting today about your
promotion anyway. You have been waiting for this day for four years and now you
just suddenly want to take the day off?” Her voice is getting shrill and
louder. Her throat feels tight and sore from holding back her tears and
emotions. To hide her fears and sadness she is becoming defensive and argumentative.
“Lisa, calm down. I am going,” Peter interrupts her calmly.
He walks towards her and hugs her to him supportively, kissing her fleetingly
on her cheek. “I'll phone you as soon as I get to the office,” he says with
concern.
“Okay.”
Lisa is standing in the middle of the kitchen and she
watches Peter say goodbye to E’lisa and Paul, who is now also having a bowl of
cereal, a bowl Lisa could not remember giving to him.
Peter walks out of the kitchen and a little while later Lisa
hears the front door close behind him.
“Come on. We better hurry, are you both ready to leave?”
Lisa looks towards E’lisa and Paul, as if suddenly realizing again, where she
is.
“Yes,” they both reply together.
Chaos - Lisa thinks as her gaze sweep over the kitchen
before she turns. Walking behind her children, they leave the house and get
into the car.
By the time she gets back home again, she goes straight to
the kitchen. She would not be able to concentrate on booking flights if the
kitchen is in such a mess, so she starts tidying up and putting the dishes into
the dishwasher.
Switching on the dishwasher, the droning noise breaks the
silence in the house, but she soon gets used to it and once again, everything
is quiet.
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