Page 23 of Malice

“Great.”

“He’s warming up. He called to verify your employment.”

“That’s a real phone number on the card?”

“Of course not.” Crash chuckles. “I answered it so now he believes it’s a real agency. I’ve picked up a few tricks in my time.”

I nod, absorbing my new reality, as heaviness pulls me down. “I need to call my folks. Just to hear their voices.”

“But talking to them is normally unpleasant, right?”

“To say the least. My dad is better than he was, but I didn’t turn out how he wanted me to. He wanted me to be a banker or something in finance. My mom is okay, but she drinks too much so sometimes it’s like talking to a wall.”

“Sorry.”

I shrug, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. Once I stop at a light, I press their name to call.

“Hello?” My mom answers, sounding unusually clearheaded. “Aster? Is that you?”

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. How are you?”

“Just fine, but what’s wrong? Your voice doesn’t sound like you.”

I must sound pretty bad for her to even notice. “I’m fine, Mom. A little tired is all.”

“Oh, okay. Do you want to come for lunch? I can make your favorite chicken soup and have it ready by noon.”

Her comment is so jarring, I switch lanes to pull into a parking lot. “What?”

“Chicken soup. It always made you happy as a kid.”

My eyes well with tears. “You make chicken soup?”

“Of course. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. What’s Dad doing?”

“He’s in the basement working on the remodel still. He just loves it.”

“Remodel?”

“For the grandkids. The big playroom we talked about last Christmas when Liselle announced child number three is on the way.”

“Liselle is pregnant,” I mumble as it settles over me. My sister struggled with her fertility for years. She’s on her third kid?

“They’re building that beautifully unique family. I know it was hard for me and your dad to understand when Liselle and Nance told us they were polyamorous, and then when they told us about Max, but it works for them, so who am I to judge?”

Polyamorous? Who…? What? “Max? Nance?”

“Okay, you’re starting to worry me, Aster. Your sister’s wife, Nance? Their boyfriend, Max? Are you feeling okay?”

The tears fall now. Last I knew, Liselle and Nance were pretending to be best friends even though I suspected it was much more. Nance’s parents were insanely religious and anti-LGBTQ, and Liselle was dating this loser, Tony. Now she’s married to Nance and has a manandbabies?

“I’m good, Mom. I promise.”

“Do you want the soup?”

“I’ll make time to come over soon.”

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