Page 58 of The Voices are Back

I took my phone and bag, then threw the note away in the trash, trying not to be sentimental about a damn note with three words on it.

That’s when I saw the message waiting from Folsom.

Folsom: call me ASAP.

I called her as I started to pull the brush through my damn tangled hair.

At least I remembered that.

My curly hair was a damn disaster and would’ve been even worse had I not brought my wet brush.

Folsom answered on the first ring, letting me know she’d been waiting for me.

“Your dad,” she blurted.

I frowned and dropped my arm to my lap before saying, “What about him?”

“Aodhan called me last night and asked me to look into why you weren’t able to call him. That’s because you were blocked from calling him. Since you’re still on your dad’s phone plan, he called the cell provider and asked them to block Aodhan’s phone number. That’s why you haven’t been able to get ahold of him,” she explained without taking a single breath.

Irrational anger started to fill me at that.

“What?” I all but shrieked.

He did what?

“Yep,” she confirmed. “He called almost to the day that you told me Aodhan left. He blocked his number, as well as his mom’s landline, as well as his grandparents’ landline.”

I was flabbergasted.

Utterly shocked and saddened all at once.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I finally said.

“No,” she sounded off.

Mad and ready to kill someone.

“I’ll call him,” I said, hoping to rein in her temper.

It was legendary.

I’d been holding her off for years from hurting my dad the way he hurt me, but this time, I wasn’t quite sure that I would be able to.

“You better do it now.” She paused. “You can just hold on. I’ll connect you. But I’m listening in.”

I rolled my eyes.

She and I used to do this all the time.

At first, it was because she wanted the moral support when she talked to her child’s baby daddy. But it’d turned into moral support for everything. Making doctors’ appointments, talking to important people, making lawyer appointments and changing wills. Making large purchases like the sale of that apartment building.

“There,” she said. “Let him have it.”

Then the phone started to ring.

“Yeah?” my dad answered, sounding miffed.

“Dad,” I said carefully. “I just got some news.”

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