voice slipping lower
) Convulsing?
P AULINE: (
longer pause
)…You know, shaking, having a fit. Like she does whenever she has one of her seizures. (
pause
)
…
Shelly, are you okay? You sound…strange. Are you sick?
M E: (
voice higher and shriller than ever
) No, no, I’m fine, I was just…having a nap when you called. I must have been sleeping heavily. I feel a bit spacey.
P AULINE: Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t
sound
like yourself.
M E: I’ll be fine in a minute. So is, um…Dora okay now?
I was on the verge of giving up the pretense and hanging up, but my hand refused to obey my brain. “Can she come to the phone?”
(Maybe if I heard her voice it might make more sense.)
P AULINE: (
sounding puzzled, like she’s talking to a complete idiot
) Not really. But she’s fine now. Honest. She’s sleeping. And besides…well…you know, it’s not like she can tell you about it herself, is it?
My heart stopped, but my brain whizzed a hundred miles an hour. So whoever Dora was, she couldn’t speak? What was going on? Was it some kind of bad joke from one of the kids at the park? I mean…
P AULINE: Shelly, are you still there?
M E: (
sounding shell-shocked
)…Yes.
P AULINE: Please don’t worry, dear. I know she’s your sister….
M E: (
HEAD EXPLODES IN DISBELIEF.
)
P AULINE: …but it’s honestly no worse than the one yesterday, and she’s resting now. The doctor’s looked her over, and he’s confident that with the right balance of medication she’ll settle right down again. There’s no need to rush over here. Maybe
you
should try and sleep too. You still sound…tired.
M E: I am. It’s just a shock, you know.
I wasn’t lying either. Though “shock” didn’t quite cover it.
P AULINE: Of course it is, but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll see you tomorrow as usual, right?
M E: Yes. Okay. Bye.
I put the phone down gently, then staggered, zombie-like, into the bedroom. Where on earth did I start with this one?
For once Sinus was silent. No sarcasm or put-downs, just the sound of the room filling up with my far-fetched story.
“Whoa,” he finally said. “That is trippy.”
“Do you think it’s a joke? Someone from the skate park?”
“Dude, bubble wrap is one thing, but this is something else. No one could make up stuff like this!”
He was right, but I couldn’t believe it was true either.
I mean, Mom having a sister? She was an only child. I thought back as far as I could for the sketchiest of memories of an aunt, someone more laid-back and normal than Mom. Someone who stuck up for me. But there weren’t any. I hadn’t even met my grandparents. They’d died before I was born; there had only ever been Mom.
“If this is all true, then why wouldn’t she tell me?” I asked Sinus. “Why keep a secret like that?”
“Beats me.”
“And what about Dad?” I was starting to get angry now, confusion boiling my blood. “I mean, he must know about it. She can’t have kept it a secret from him too, can she?”
Sinus shrugged, looking for a second like he wanted to get out of this madhouse.
“I’m going to ask him!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “Have it out with him.”
Sinus grabbed me and pulled me back to the carpet.
“Don’t do that. Not yet. Imagine if he doesn’t know. Imagine if she has kept it from him. He’ll go crazy. No, we need to check this out first. Do some digging around.” He grabbed my laptop and opened it up. “What did you say the name of the place was again?”
My mind went blank. The name had a tree in it, but I was damned if I could remember which one. I sat there looking like an idiot.
“Come on!” Sinus looked aghast. “You can’t have forgotten that already.”
“Some complete stranger has just told me that I’ve got an aunt that I never knew about. Apparently my mom and possibly my dad are the biggest liars walking the planet. And apparently I’m as naive as they are devious. So forgive me if I can’t remember
) Convulsing?
P AULINE: (
longer pause
)…You know, shaking, having a fit. Like she does whenever she has one of her seizures. (
pause
)
…
Shelly, are you okay? You sound…strange. Are you sick?
M E: (
voice higher and shriller than ever
) No, no, I’m fine, I was just…having a nap when you called. I must have been sleeping heavily. I feel a bit spacey.
P AULINE: Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t
sound
like yourself.
M E: I’ll be fine in a minute. So is, um…Dora okay now?
I was on the verge of giving up the pretense and hanging up, but my hand refused to obey my brain. “Can she come to the phone?”
(Maybe if I heard her voice it might make more sense.)
P AULINE: (
sounding puzzled, like she’s talking to a complete idiot
) Not really. But she’s fine now. Honest. She’s sleeping. And besides…well…you know, it’s not like she can tell you about it herself, is it?
My heart stopped, but my brain whizzed a hundred miles an hour. So whoever Dora was, she couldn’t speak? What was going on? Was it some kind of bad joke from one of the kids at the park? I mean…
P AULINE: Shelly, are you still there?
M E: (
sounding shell-shocked
)…Yes.
P AULINE: Please don’t worry, dear. I know she’s your sister….
M E: (
HEAD EXPLODES IN DISBELIEF.
)
P AULINE: …but it’s honestly no worse than the one yesterday, and she’s resting now. The doctor’s looked her over, and he’s confident that with the right balance of medication she’ll settle right down again. There’s no need to rush over here. Maybe
you
should try and sleep too. You still sound…tired.
M E: I am. It’s just a shock, you know.
I wasn’t lying either. Though “shock” didn’t quite cover it.
P AULINE: Of course it is, but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll see you tomorrow as usual, right?
M E: Yes. Okay. Bye.
I put the phone down gently, then staggered, zombie-like, into the bedroom. Where on earth did I start with this one?
For once Sinus was silent. No sarcasm or put-downs, just the sound of the room filling up with my far-fetched story.
“Whoa,” he finally said. “That is trippy.”
“Do you think it’s a joke? Someone from the skate park?”
“Dude, bubble wrap is one thing, but this is something else. No one could make up stuff like this!”
He was right, but I couldn’t believe it was true either.
I mean, Mom having a sister? She was an only child. I thought back as far as I could for the sketchiest of memories of an aunt, someone more laid-back and normal than Mom. Someone who stuck up for me. But there weren’t any. I hadn’t even met my grandparents. They’d died before I was born; there had only ever been Mom.
“If this is all true, then why wouldn’t she tell me?” I asked Sinus. “Why keep a secret like that?”
“Beats me.”
“And what about Dad?” I was starting to get angry now, confusion boiling my blood. “I mean, he must know about it. She can’t have kept it a secret from him too, can she?”
Sinus shrugged, looking for a second like he wanted to get out of this madhouse.
“I’m going to ask him!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “Have it out with him.”
Sinus grabbed me and pulled me back to the carpet.
“Don’t do that. Not yet. Imagine if he doesn’t know. Imagine if she has kept it from him. He’ll go crazy. No, we need to check this out first. Do some digging around.” He grabbed my laptop and opened it up. “What did you say the name of the place was again?”
My mind went blank. The name had a tree in it, but I was damned if I could remember which one. I sat there looking like an idiot.
“Come on!” Sinus looked aghast. “You can’t have forgotten that already.”
“Some complete stranger has just told me that I’ve got an aunt that I never knew about. Apparently my mom and possibly my dad are the biggest liars walking the planet. And apparently I’m as naive as they are devious. So forgive me if I can’t remember
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