“Yeah, I’m sorry, Lucy. Put her through.”
I watched the light flash on my phone, signaling an incoming call. I didn’t want to answer, but I couldn’t ignore her. Not after everything that had happened.
“Hello?” I asked, watching the arms on the Saints clock tick on the wall above the door.
“Max?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s me. How are you, Sam?”
“I’m good. How are you?” I could hear the hesitation in her voice.
“Good. Workin’ my life away,” I laughed, trying to ease the tension between us.
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“Some things never change, I guess. What are you up to?”
I heard her take a quick breath. “Ah, not much...”
Samantha was a fixture in my life since I could remember. She became friends with Brielle in elementary school and she’d been around ever since. Her parents were divorced and she lived with her mother and us a lot of the time, it seemed. Especially as she got older, she was always around. She didn’t seem to have many friends besides Brielle and never seemed to have a steady boyfriend; I never really understood that.
I was like a big brother to them both. I gave them rides, helped them out here and there, basic shit. They were good girls, a little ornery but nothing serious. Some of that changed after the incident. Mama had arranged for them to get counseling for awhile. Brielle kind of acted out, getting into some trouble on her own. Sam kind of kept quiet about it, though. We all waited for her to act out, too, but it never came.
“You alright?” I asked softly.
“Yeah,” she whispered back. “It’s a tough day.”
I nodded, although she couldn’t see me. “I’m sorry, Sam. Damn it, I’m just—”
“Stop it, Max. I shouldn’t have called you.”
“Of course you should have.” I felt my chest rise against the imaginary band wrapped around it. “Are you okay? Are you alone today?”
She laughed lightly, sounding so innocent. “I’m meeting Bri at your mama’s in a little while for lunch. She always has us come over on the anniversary.” Sam sighed. “I hate calling it an anniversary. That makes it seem like a good thing.”
“I’m with ya on that.”
“But Mama Fern is making Beef Manhattans and Better than Sex cake, so the day should get better.”
“Please don’t say my mom’s name and the word ‘sex’ in the same sentence ever again,” I deadpanned.
She laughed again, sounding happier this time. “Weird, right?”
“On so many levels.”
“How’s your day?”
“Not good, actually. Fired a guy earlier. That always sucks.”
“Well,” she drawled out, “your mom always says that everything can be fixed with food. Wanna meet us all there for lunch?”
I considered it, but my cell starting flashing Kari’s picture with an incoming call. A smile broke out across my face as I envisioned her in ‘red’.
“I’d love to, Sam, but I have a few things I have to do that I’ve already committed to. But if you need anything, you have my number, right?”
“Yeah, no worries. I won’t take up any more of your time. I just, you know...” Her voice trailed off. “I just wanted to hear your voice for some reason. I don’t know. I’m sorry if I bothered you at work.”
“I needed the break,” I smiled, looking down at a voicemail notification from Kari’s number. I felt guilty for trying to get off the phone with her.
