Callisto by Torsten Krol Page A

how it happened.”
    â€œYou put that package somewhere out of sight and leave it there till I come over. I’m coming over there right now.”
    â€œOkay . . .”
    Then she went and hung up on me, which shows how agitated she is about the package, not waiting to hear the bad news even. I hung up the phone, thinking to myself it’s clever the way I don’t have to explain about finding the money now and talking to Donnie Darko, which would have opened up a whole new can of worms, as they say. Those early morning plans are generally the best kind.
    In around twenty minutes she showed up, wearing her uniform same as last night, and without even saying Good morning or anything she says, “Where is it?”
    I brung it out of the kitchen cupboard where I had it stashed and the look on her face says she’s relieved it isn’t opened like she wanted. She turned it over and over a few times, then made me tell the story again about finding it on the porch right next to the screen door. That part she doesn’t like, I could tell, because it’s mysterious and unexplained,which are both things that upset some people. I was not upset because to me there’s nothing mysterious and unexplained about it, just a simple fiberoo to smooth things over.
    â€œI need breakfast,” she said, setting the package down. “Would you mind?”
    â€œWell, there’s a problem about that.”
    â€œWhat problem? You didn’t eat your way through all the food, did you? The freezer’s got plenty, you said.”
    â€œWell, about that freezer, it’s got a problem. That’s the bad news I told you about but you hung up the phone so fast I didn’t get to tell you about it.”
    â€œIf it’s broken, call an electrician, just keep the lid down to keep the cold in.”
    â€œNo, it’s working fine, but there’s something in there that’s not frozen food. Okay, it’s frozen, but it isn’t food . . .”
    â€œOdell, you’re making my head ache. What’s wrong with the damn freezer?”
    â€œIt’s got Bree in it.”
    I watched her face. She’s thinking, Bree in the freezer . . . and then she gets it, only she doesn’t want to.
    â€œBree . . . ?” her voice was all little and soft like a girl’s, which is a side to Lorraine that I did not see till right now, she has got a softer side, which I liked.
    â€œI went down to get something for breakfast,” I said, following the script careful, “and I’m digging around to find something besides pizza, which isn’t right for breakfast, only lunch and dinner generally, maybe some breakfast sausages and waffles if there’s any there, and that’s when I found her. I don’t know how to say this . . . she’s dead. I’m real sorry.”
    She looked at me like I just told her a flying saucer landedon the roof, then she did something very unexpected, which is slap me right in the face very hard, and she is a big woman like I said, so it hurt.
    â€œDon’t you tell me a story like that! Fuck you!”
    I didn’t hit her back, of course, she’s a woman in shock so what she did is excusable, but I got ready to block a second slap if there was another one coming my way, which there wasn’t, she just kept on looking at me, reading my eyes to see if it’s the truth I’m telling, which it was, mostly. Then she rushed out of the kitchen and down to the basement to investigate the situation there. I stayed where I am, not wanting to intrude on family grief, which is a very private thing restricted to family members only. Then I heard what I kind of expected, namely a scream, but it was short. Then after awhile she come up again and looked me square in the face. “Did you have anything to do with this?” she asked me, very cold, her mouth all tight.
    â€œNo, all I did was find her down there,” I said, the whole