From: Tempest
Good. Um. Any particular spot?
To: Tempest
Who is we?
From: Tempest
Huh?
To: Tempest
You said “we were wondering.” Who are you with? Did you find Victor? You were supposed to tell me if you saw him! Has he harmed you? Is he forcing you to text to me? Why didn’t we set up a duress word? Tell me where you are right now.
From: Tempest
Whoa now, that was like a wall of words. No, I haven’t seen Carlo.
From: Tempest
We is Ellis and me.
From: Tempest
No one is forcing me to text you. Ellis wouldn’t let me drive, so I have all the time to text without killing someone.
To: Tempest
Why are you threatening to kill someone? What the hell is going on?
From: Tempest
Henceforth, my duress word is: windowpane. I think I could work that into a conversation in which I was being forced to text you.
To: Tempest
ARE YOU WITH YOUR COUSIN?
From: Tempest
Such as, “here I am in a windowless van, one that doesn’t even have a windowpane.”
To: Tempest
Did you just use windowpane as an example, or did you use it because you are secretly under duress?
From: Tempest
I am not with my cousin. I told you that I was meeting my friend Ellis in Genoa today. You sound odd. Are you hungry? Are you missing me, but don’t want to tell me that because you insist you don’t need me, but in truth, you’re hungry and crabby and don’t get the humor in someone sending you a faux duress word text?
To: Tempest
Emergency (noun): a situation of dire peril, and not one in which you simply wish to text someone information about the picking up of friends from California.
To: Tempest
Although I will remember windowpane for future situations.
