“No, Mom. It’s me,Ryan.”
“Don’t play games with me Chad! You said you were coming for Christmas dinner and then you’d take me to the cemetery to see your father andbrother.”
I was still dead toher.
“Mom,” Ipleaded.
“I have a Christmas wreath for your father’s grave. I’ve been working on it since Easter lastmonth.”
Last month wasNovember.
“I have a baseball hat for your brother’sgrave.”
I looked down and rubbed my hand over mystomach.
“You know how much he loved baseball,Chad.”
I nodded and fought the tears, but I couldn’t prevent them fromfalling.
“Mhmm,” Imumbled.
“It had been in the lost and found, but since no one had claimed it for months, I asked the lady if I could have it for hisgrave.”
I took a deep breath and pulled the phone away toexhale.
“What does the hat look like?” Iasked.
“It’s navy and has L.A. in white,” shereplied.
“Ha,” I laughed out loud. I inhaled sharply and noticed all of the congestion I had. “That sounds like a Dodgershat.”
“No, it says L.A. on it,” she barked. I started to say that the Dodgers were the baseball team for L.A., but it wasn’t worth it. “Now, hurry up, Chad. It’s already dark! I’ll be waiting for you in the commonarea.”
She hungup.
I pulled the phone away from my head and looked at the screen. I opened the text from mybrother.
Chad: Nope. Haven’t heard from her,fucker.
I sighed and took another deep breath. I knew to text him had been a bad idea, but I needed to know if there was an emergency situation with ourmom.
Ryan: Well, she’s waiting for your ass to take her to visit Dad and mygravesite.
Chad: Bet that train hurt. Or did what happened in the boxcar hurtworse?
I balled my hand up into a fist and took another deepbreath.
Ryan: Can you try not to be a fucking asshole to her onChristmas?
Chad: I’d rather be fuckingyourasshole onChristmas.
I tossed my phone on the couch and went to go look at my eyes in the mirror. They were red, and my skin waspuffy.
“Fuck!” I swore and grabbed a washcloth. I soaked it in cold water and pressed it against my eyes for a few minutes. When I pulled the rag away, they looked nobetter.
I grabbed the package for Russell and headed over to his house for a holiday party. When I pulled up to his house, I deleted the text string with my brother and hadn’t opened any of the new six texts that he hadsent.
