I held the phone in my hand, her voice coming in over the speakers in crackly silence. “Hello?” She asked. My voice wavered. “Hi, this is Elena.” I said, and she gasped. We hadn’t talked for ten years, in fact, the last time she heard my voice I could only wail and make gurbling sounds. We talked for what seemed like forever, but in reality, it was only two minutes. She was busy, she was busy then, busy now. To busy for her own daughter. “Are you in school?” She asked, and I scoffed. Of course I was. She was a high school drop-out, but I pro,I see myself years ago that I wouldn’t be. “Can I call you back?” She asked me, and I gave her my house phone. Did she call?

Nope.

Did I want her to call?

I don’t know.

She still

Hasn’t

Called