There was a pause. “I’m Alex’s father.”
Click.
I hung up.
Г
I needed to focus on measuring the butter.
The same number called again. I ignored it.
He kept calling.
Annoyed, I finally answered. “What?”
He must have been afraid I’d hang up again
because he got straight to the point.
“Don’t you want to know why your family
went bankrupt?”
My hand froze.
I was seventeen when it happened.
My parents had insisted I board at school
during my senior year.
Г
I thought they just wanted me to focus on my
studies, to avoid wasting time commuting.
Later, I learned they’d sold the house.
They’d hidden their financial struggles from
- me.
I knew there’d been a problem with one of
their projects, but not the details.
I leaned against the counter. “Are you saying
Alex did it?”
The man laughed. “No. I did.”
He sounded just like Alex.
The same tone, the same inflection, a clear
く
indication of their relationship.
That same lazy drawl that Alex sometimes
used.
“I’m very fond of my son; he takes after me.”
The man’s tone was almost… approving, and
it made my skin crawl. He sighed
dramatically. “Unfortunately, he’s always
defying me.
I had to… discipline him somehow.”
I gripped the phone. “What do you want,
telling me this?”
I heard other voices in the background.
“Where’s Number Fourteen?
<
VVIIU
111111
yet.
Found him! He’s here!
LI
Damn it, who gave him a phone? Someone’s
going to pay for this!”
Amidst the chaos, I heard him laugh.
“Nothing. Just thought you should know.
Oh, and my son’s about to propose, isn’t he?
Congratulations, daughter–in–law. Best
wishes.”
Click.
He hung up.
The dial tone buzzed in my par
Г
The dial tone buzzed in my ear.
My hand went limp, and the phone clattered
to the floor, rolling until it hit the wall with a
dull thud.
I was changing to go find Alex when my
phone rang.
It was him. His voice was cautious. “Honey,
did you get a call just now?”
I didn’t need to go out after all.
I sat on the bed, fiddling with my blood test
results.
“Yes.”
Г
“What did he say?”
I almost lied, then remembered Alex asking
me to trust him.
He’d never done me wrong, not as a child,
not as an adult.
It was just… hard to relate to him the way I
used to.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and
told him the truth.
“He said he was the reason my family went
bankrupt.”
Alex’s voice was filled with panic.
“
وو
<
“I…”
I interrupted him. “Alex, please, just… let me
think.”
I buried my face in the pillow, pulling the
covers over my head, and slept for a long,
long time.
I dreamed of the aftermath of our first
meeting.
Alex was still a child, and his mother had no
other family.
My parents arranged the funeral.
No one came. It was a small, sad affair.
I bowed before the headstone.
I bowed before the headstone.
Alex stood beside me.
He stared at the photograph of the smiling
woman.
He said, “I kind of hate you.”
His voice was barely a whisper.
