Page 102 of Lovebug
Right on cue, as if to remind me of how well I’mnotdoing, I feel my phone buzzing. I don’t even need to look to know it’s that unknown number again. I just let it ring this time until the caller gives up. They never leave a voicemail. Shouldn’t they leave a voicemail?
I shake it off. This is my opportunity to connect with my aunt, not to worry about money. So I go all in with the questions.
“Who’s, um. Who’s ‘we’?” I ask.
“Huh?” she responds. Am I imagining that she’s looking around us every few seconds? Does she not want to be seen with me?
“Who is ‘we’?” I repeat. “You said ‘We’ve been here for three months.’”
“Oh. My husband and our daughter.”
“You have a daughter?”
She hesitates a half-second.
“I do. She works here, actually. She’s around here somewhere, running around with a friend.” She takes this opportunity to look around again. “My husband got transferred up this way for work, so… off we went.” Suddenly, her energy shifts, and she leans forward as though she’s about to let me in on something personal. “I knew it might cause—But I guess I couldn’t—”She seems to think better of whatever she was saying and drops the thought completely and just says, “Well.”
Man, I always imagined that if I ever saw her again, we’d still have this great bond. An awesome rapport. Just like when I was a little kid. But this is awkward. This is sad and strange.
“You said your daughter works here?Iwork here. Who is your—”
“My god, you’re beautiful,” she says sort of wistfully. “You’ve always been beautiful, adorable, but... wow, you’re a woman now.”
At that, she instantly bursts into tears.
“I’m sorry,” she says between quiet sobs. “I shouldn’t be—”
“Are you okay? Do you need me to call someone or—”
“I’m fine,” she says firmly, composing herself. “I’m always fine.”
A strange jolt goes through me at those words. And the way she says them.
“What did you say?” My voice is weird and whispery when I ask it.
“That… I’m okay,” she says with a little head shake. She’s managed to get a smile back on her face.
“No,” I say. “You, um. Just now, the way you said...”
“I heard you were back in town, but I didn’t believe it.” We’re interrupted by a smug voice that has been way too present today for my liking. I look to my right, and it seems Naomi is finished fawning over Wally and is back to make my life difficult.
“Hi, Naomi,” I say in what I hope is a kind and welcoming tone. “This is my aunt Tina. We haven’t seen each other in—”
“No introductions necessary. Your ‘aunt’ and I go way back. Don’t we, Tina?”
Why does Naomi sound like she’s perpetually putting air quotes around things? Your “aunt” Tina. What the heck is that supposed to mean?
Tina looks at Naomi for a moment like a deer in headlights, then responds with a smile. “We, uh… we do, yeah.” She turns and explains to me. “Naomi and I went to high school together.” Her tone completely changes when she faces Naomi again. “Could we… speak privately for a minute?”
“Of course,” Naomi croons. “I’d love to ‘catch up.’”
“Great,” Tina responds, then turns and places a gentle hand on my cheek. “So good to see you, sweet girl. You have no idea. You keep being amazing, you hear me?”
Before I can respond, Naomi chirps, “So sweet of Wallace to lend you his wife’s suit, Mabel. It looks adorable on you.”
My stomach bottoms out.
I played soccer for three years during middle school. I played defense. The problem was, I was terrified of the ball. I basically ran away from it whenever it came near me. Not a great defender, right? Understatement. In the rare moments when the ball did reach my foot, I punted it up the field as fast and as far as I could, closing my eyes and crossing my fingers that it reached someone on my team and not the opponents. The worst moments, though, were when the ball sailed across the field and slammed into your belly. In those moments, it absolutely knocked the breath out of you. Left you literally gasping.
