“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.
In the office, I was offered a rusty folding chair next to the secretary, who handed me the receiver of an old beige rotary phone.
“Hello?”
“Hiya, sweetie,” said the voice, familiar as the smell of hot sesame bagels wafting up through my bedroom window on a Sunday morning at home. It filled me with an unexpected longing.
“Hi, Mom.”
“How are you?”
“Good. I was just at Sunday services. How are you?”
“I’m okay, honey. It’s so nice to hear your voice.”
I chewed on a ragged cuticle. “Yours too. What’s up? Is everything all right?”
“Of course, love. Everything’s fine. I just wanted to call you to let you know there’s been a little change of plans.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know how you were supposed to stay at camp for the rest of the summer?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie, but we’re going to have to bring you home next week.”
“Why? There’s still three weeks of summer left.” The edge of my fingernail started to bleed. My mind swirled.They miss me. She needs me there because they want us to spend family time together.
“Honey, Daddy...”
Fear bubbled in my esophagus. “What happened? Is Daddy hurt?”
“Nothing like that. It’s kind of hard to explain.” She sighed.
“Can you please try?” My voice trembled, though I wasn’t sure why.
My mom inhaled deeply. “Daddy lost his job, honey.”
My stomach tied itself up like a garlic knot in the oven at Al Dente’s Pizzeria. “Oh.”
“We don’t have the money to pay for the rest of the summer.”
“Did they—um,” I lowered my voice to a whisper, “firehim?”
“It’s not important, honey.”
“They did, right?” I knew I was right, and I hated it.
Mom didn’t respond. The secretary looked away, shuffling papers.
“That’s the second time this year,” I said, trying not to raise my voice.
“Oh, baby. My sweet girl.” She paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry. I know you’re disappointed.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s out at the pool hall. He needed a little time on his own.”
