Page 160 of Run Away Home: Tempered

I reach over and grab my phone.

Private name, private number. Okay...

“Hello?”

I hear nothing on the other end beside the echo of my voice. I close my eyes again and push my hair out of my face.

“Hello?” I ask again.

I hear breathing. What the fuck.

“Who is this?”

I sit up and shift my legs over the end of my bed.

“I...” a woman responds.

“Hayley?”

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

The phone disconnects. I stare at the wall for a while. I put my phone down, stand, and stretch. It’s time to try to start my day.

I feel bad for her. I know how it feels to run from something very, very bad. I wonder where she is...if she’s safe. Does she need my help?

Seamus

IDRAW IN THE SANDwith my fingers. Ma stands in front of the ocean with her back facing me. It’s windy and hot at the same time. Her hair is blowing wildly, but she doesn’t tie it back. We hardly come down to the beach, except for when she feels like she needs to talk with Pop. For some reason, she thinks this is the place where he can hear her the loudest. She says she can hear him too.

I lay down in the sand and close my eyes. I listen to the sound of the ocean and the wind, not the voice of my dead da. Maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to me.

“Come here, my son,” she calls.

I open my eyes and sit up. She’s looking at me and smiling. I smile back. I push up on the sand and get my bearings.

Adair runs toward Ma from behind me. She opens her arms, and he hugs her. When he pulls away, she pokes his nose playfully. He laughs and laughs. She grabs onto his hand, and they both face the ocean again. She points out into the distance as he jumps up and down happily.

I’m still smiling, even though I shouldn’t be. She wasn’t talking to me. Why would I ever think she was talking to me?

I sit back down. I’m still smiling. It hurts. It burns to smile, but I just can’t stop.

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