A Story for Sunday-Part 7

My apologies to Brillig and Kate, founders of SOS. I didn't realize when I accepted being the hostess last week that the same bad karma I have in real life carries over into blogland. When I accept hostessing anything here in real time, No. One. Comes. Ever. I never hostess anything anymore. There's no point. I assume they all think I'm so nice I won't hold a grudge if they forget me. Or they're just dissing me, but really, it's terrible. I can't even get people living in my own home to attend any Pampered Chef or whatever party. It's terrible. Well, at least 4 people showed up online.
This week Brillig will be hosting. The previous installment of my saga is here, which will lead you in turn to the previous posts.

The Phone Call.

Willy picked up the receiver and said hello. A man on the other line asked for Iris. Hmm. That's strange. She didn't get a lot of calls any more, unless maybe this was another work opportunity? He asked who was calling. The man gave his name, and said he was an old acquaintance of his mother's. Now that was odd. He wasn't sure what an old acquaintance would be calling out of the blue for. He wondered why. What was this man like? His mind started working in protective mode. What did this guy want with his mom? Was he someone good or bad from her past? He knew she had suffered a lot through the years and that a lot of guys had made her very unhappy. But who knows, maybe he was an old classmate that she would enjoy seeing.

"How do you know her?" he asked.
"Well, she knows me, if you'll just tell her my name." Not exactly a trust building response here.
Curtly he answered, "Well, I can't tell her, she's not here. She's been working over in Argentina."
"Oh! Well, when do you expect her back?"
"I'm not sure, it depends on how long the job lasts. Why do you ask?" He felt annoyed at this guy. Why wouldn't he say what he wanted her for?
"Do you have a number where I could reach her?" The man seemed anxious. Too bad.
"Not really, she calls me."
"Well, then I hope she calls soon. Give her my name and this number, it's important I speak with her soon."
"Maybe if you told me what this was all about, I'd do that."
The man let out an exasperated sigh, "Well, if you must know, the boy she gave up for adoption wants to meet her and I need to arrange a meeting."
Willy's heart seemed to plummet like a bowling ball dropped from a second story window. His head felt like it was on fire. "What??!!!" He yelled.
"Oh, didn't you know?" the man responded. "So sorry." He didn't really sound that sorry.
"Give me that number again!" he spluttered. His head was swimming as he took the number.
"I'll tell her alright. She'll call when she gets back, bye!" He slammed down the receiver.

He knocked over the chair by the table and swept his arm over the newspaper, the bread basket and the dishes in front of him sending them flying on a horizontal path, the heavier objects crashing into the wall before hitting the floor, the papers separating and trailing down behind. He slammed his fists down onto the table and roared. Then he fell on the ground like a little boy and wept. His wife came in to see what was going on. He heard his boy's footsteps come to the door. "What's going on? What's the matter?" she cried. "Leave me alone, just LEAVE ME ALONE.! I can't talk right now. Take the boy. Go, go out somewhere. "
"But I can't leave you like this. Who called? What's going on?"
"Just go, I can't, I can't right now. I'll be fine, just go. I'll explain later."
"Promise?"
"Yeah, I just need to be alone."
They left.
How could she DO this to him? How could she have kept this from him? What had she done? She had ruined everything. Nothing would ever be the same. She had robbed him, robbed him of the brother he always wished he'd had. He had longed for a brother to play with all through his childhood. He had begged her for a brother. She always said she was sorry, she couldn't do that. But she could! Obviously, she could do that, she just didn't want to. How could she hurt him like that? She didn't love him, really. He thought his mom had always taken care of him better than anything. He had always loved her and trusted her. Life hadn't been easy, not at all and often his mom was overwhelmed, but she was the one in the end that he always came to. She was the one who raised him and loved him. He had tried to help her and live up to her expectations and care for her. Often she was hard to live with, but hey, so was he. They understood each other. At least he thought they understood each other. He knew he was her favorite. But if she loved him so much, how could she have done this to him? To them-to his brother and himself. In one sentence, his reality had changed forever. His mom wasn't who he thought she was. She had lied to him. She had betrayed him. She had deprived him of the one thing he wanted most. He knew she was far from perfect, but this was just too much! He couldn't STAND it! His foundation had just crumbled. Why didn't she ever tell him? NO, why didn't she just keep him? OH, he was furious! Furious!! She was worse than scum! When she called, she was going to get an earful! He didn't know how he could even look at her again! His life was ruined. Over.
When his wife and son came home from downtown two hours later, everything was cleaned up. He was making them sandwiches and coffee. His face was blank. No sign of emotion. He apologized. He shouldn't have lost his temper that way. It really was no big deal. He just couldn't stand it when people didn't treat him with respect. He'd talk to his wife about it later.
He was waiting, anxiously waiting for another phone call now.