“Hey, hey. Calm down. Nothing’s wrong,” she said in a hurry.
“Oh.”
“Something’s got to be wrong for me to want to talk to my big brother?” she asked with a slight edge to her tone.
“Of course not. I just…”
“You just wouldn’t have answered if you thought it was just to talk to me?” Sam didn’t sound mad. She just sounded… resigned, and her disappointment was evident in the heavy exhale that followed.
I opened my mouth to correct her, but what would be the point? We both knew the truth. And the truth was I probably wouldn’t have answered.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she said, graciously overlooking how much of an asshole I was. “You know with today…”
“I’m doing fine, Sam. How about you and Dad?”
She was silent for a moment, and I smiled because I knew she was sitting there nodding into the phone, a habit both her and Mom had. It usually only took them a couple seconds to remember the caller couldn’t see them. “I’m all right. It’s hard but… school’s starting in a week and senior year is supposed to be the best, right? So I’m excited for that. I haven’t seen Dad much though. He’s been traveling on and off for the past few months.”
That son of a bitch would leave his only daughter to fend for herself without a care in the world. A voice in my head asked me if I was any better.
She cleared her throat before asking, “So what city has the honor of your presence today?”
I hesitated before clearing my throat and answering, “Carillo.”
“Carillo.” She drew out the word slowly. “As in…”
“Yeah. I got back this morning.”
“You’re home? And you didn’t tell me?” Sam finally let her armor crack, and I heard a soft sniffle come through the line.
“Sam. I just didn’t—”
“Hey, it’s all right. I u-understand. I do. But I have t-to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” she rushed out. But instead of just hanging up like any other woman would when she desperately wanted to get off the phone so she could cry in solitude, Sam waited for me to say goodbye, too.
“Yeah, Sam. I’ll talk to you soon,” I said in a low voice. She mumbled another strained goodbye before hanging up. I clutched my phone for several seconds before dropping it to the floor and putting my head in my hands, hoping like hell what I’d just said wasn’t a lie.
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