Mother

The sign was plain white paper and black Sharpie medium point marker. "Missing Child: 16 years old - 777-8762". copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡphZtsTt4jc

And that was all. No description, no details, not even a picture. A disgrace to milk cartons everywhere. Ed saw it plastered to the men’s room door at his favorite bar. In fact, he saw it so many times; he finally scrawled the number on his forearm so he could call it when he got home. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnjHdo665i

The woman who answered the phone whispered so lightly he couldn't make out a word she said. She cried, whimpered, sobbed, and wretched in tiny squeaks but made no attempt at clarity, despite Ed’s insistence. Finally, he grew angry and shouted into the phone. Silence followed, the receiver going cold on his ear. Finally, the woman spoke in her tiny, worried voice. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQ7g2mKBPl

“My daughter is gone... and I know you have her... please, I won't tell anyone... just tell me where she is... please..." copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dvHpuJtWQ

Ed slammed the phone down and backed away from it. What the hell was that all about? Some freakshow, no doubt, a lonely old lady with nobody to gum at night leaves up a sign to entice just anybody to call. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyeF5YB0OE

Ed was a telemarketer. He knew all about the old farts who took up his time on the phone talking about their children who live far away and never call instead of talking about how they could take advantage of 2.8 % financing for the next eight months. His job was hard enough without lonely people talking his ear off and not refinancing their house. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCyVBrFX30

But the woman on the phone was different. Maybe she was crazy enough to not even have any kids outside of her imagination. Maybe she got the idea from an episode of Magnum PI. At least the old boogers not buying his telemarketer schmeal had families to talk about, this woman was severely compensating. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXF5PbJ7c7S

He blew it off. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡYceyzUcUdR

*****copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04mvNFBWDF

It took a few days of convincing himself, but halfway through a desolate workout at the sweaty gym, he decided to try again. The same woman, still very distressed, answered. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡenGKwGtnOo

“Please… don’t hurt her; she’s all I’ve got…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmFsKPT3ce

“Listen to me, OK? What’s your name?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TBwEVM4QZ

“She didn’t tell you?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LgC2rKZ6g

“Who?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0APNtWpg7

“Clarissa… my little girl.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGe44VSnpL

“Look… I just want to know your name.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd7EI1yFFs

“Grenda….” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡi893eRCPwA

“Ok… Grenda, I want you to listen to me. I do not have your daughter. The sign…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU37RHlKeX

“Damn the sign! I just want her back …” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPQADM6shi

He moved the phone nervously to his other ear and spoke more swiftly, trying to get a few important words in to gain some kind of foothold in the conversation. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQsJ1234ed

“I understand that, but I need some more information….”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7Mc78hQQ6

“Are you the police?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIwyc6ftNp

“What? No…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡohilxwlOOp

“Oh thank God, I’m sure you’d kill her if I‘d talked to the police.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQy4FxICOd

“What are you talking about?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbos2hMZqB

“Please don’t kill her; I swear I didn’t talk to the police…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaSvTrx8lo

“I don’t want to kill her…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmjYFm4v8O

“Have you raped her?”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡzex9QFMKBo

“Oh god, lady… NO! I don’t even know her, I don’t have her, I’m just trying…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡY71XbFOGQP

“You… don’t have my daughter?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡKItw6AWQKT

“No.”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqHouhieDW

And the phone went dead. He looked up to see a line of gym-goers staring at him, waiting to use the phone. A man twice his size and shape loomed over him, even the man’s “mom” tattoo looked like it could kick Ed’s ass. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡLl8N7P0ylU

“There’s a two minute limit on that phone, pal.” The big man said. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFSYJNJnEl

Ed handed it over and walked away. He went about his workout, only attending the gym once a week because he had to pay for it for another two years, three months, two weeks and four days. As he pressed the unforgiving bar over his throat the same hysterical mom voice counted the reps out in his mind. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dOtMUiCin

After the workout he sat in the car and smoked a cigarette. The phone number was still on his forearm. He couldn’t get away from it throughout the workout; every upper body exercise he wasted time on gave him a view of the number. He had it memorized. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWQlS4aEhx

What really got to him was that she had the nerve to hang up on him. Here he was, trying to help, and she cuts him off. Anybody else would have just hung up on her crazy ass after the first phone call. Maybe even call the cuckoo squad with the big nets and jackets with heavy strings. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgoCfZo1jy

He drove to his bar and went directly to the payphone in the back by the men’s room door. The sign was still there, looking out of place amidst the half-peeled pin-ups and dried beer labels. As he dialed the number a warm smell of rot wafted in and out of the men’s room. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M5NnYlRaw

“Please…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwkNQEad9b

“Shut up and listen lady, I got your daughter.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQQETcGWWL

She was silent, except for the buzz of the telephone line, somehow louder than before. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeBkcAF9VS

“You there? Cuz if you ain’t there, I’m hanging up forever.”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQsbsukIGG

“I’m here.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw3ECuhUCP

“Good. Listen up; I want the following items in one big bag. You bring two bags I never call again. Got it?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0OCJcK3f1

“Yes. Is she OK?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡWd0DOIMTKD

“Wha- yeah, she’s fine. This is what I want, write it down.” He holds the phone away from his ear and stifles a huge laugh. He pounds a quick shot and goes back to the phone. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡRL6p8WAZ3F

“I want a large sausage and eyeball pizza from Aldos on the corner of 5th and Walnut, a pair of men’s Goldtoe socks, a bag of cat hair, and a small chalkboard with your address on it. Got it?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fpHJu5pkx

She repeated everything back the very second he finished speaking. Her voice was brighter, almost shrill with either excitement or fear, Ed couldn’t tell which. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVsJq5qCv1

“Let me speak to her please… just for a secondcopyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡUL0dcBFBN7

“Not today, you make the drop first and then you talk to her.”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFF7FW89iy

“I just need to know if she’s OK, please!” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb3gGsJhiP

“No... I said…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjviiWQS3Y

“I’m BEGGING YOU sir, for the sake of my sanity…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wfDzvOzV9

“Sanity, woman you are out of your…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UFbge13xa

“DAMMIT I WANT TO SPEAK TO MY DAUGHTER NOW!!!” She shrieked at him in a voice that sounded like a mountain lion with a fishhook in its balls. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHKI4Xto07

He hissed into the phone, careful so no one would hear. “Don’t you fucking curse at me Bitch, I’ve got your damn daughter and if you wanna see her…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwS5UamPhc

“NO. You let me speak to her now or so help me I will rip out your heart and consume it in front of you!!!” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7pUzCcfRz

“You don’t know…”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwkPXBMlm8

“No, you don’t know… I’ve killed thousands like you, better than you. I’ve scooped brains out of their heads, violated them with thick branches, I’ve eaten men’s genitalia in front of their emasculated, enslaved yet still living bodies, and I’ve broken legions… legions of men better than you.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyU0Th0p1Q

His ear was red from pressing it too tight to his face. His hands went a pale white as the blood rushed out of them. Ed hung up the phone.copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpJYyROkdU

And immediately it rang again. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y9nvVIEun

He backed away from it. He looked to the sign, hanging there innocently. The door opened and a massive man in a painter’s uniform came out of the bathroom, adjusting his sloppy white overalls. He answered the phone. Ed lifted a hand to stop him, but he answered anyway. He listened for a moment, looked at Ed, and then listened for another moment. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡUF6nzfKLpw

When he hung up the phone, the painter walked right up to Ed, smelling of turpentine, canvas, and cigars. His breath made Ed gag. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNKFGU1rUH

“Why don’t we have a drink or five? I’m buying.” He had a deep, rusty voice like an old cowboy. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFAXMnYQSC

“I don’t think so…” Ed said. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XMwtZseV9

“I don’t care if you don’t think so, I ain’t asking. Sit down.” Ed sat down. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXP1oXsvZV3

“Whadd’ya drinking Ed? You a whiskey man? A beer fella? What is it?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6316qCsL4

“Well, if you’re buying… I like Scotch. Black label.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNbGxNagQS

“Black label it is.” The painter dropped a hundred on the bar. “As much as that will get us, ma’am.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgUGZ2wbFm

“Who are you?” Ed asked. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Sb4Rh9h0H

“I don’t know. I never met me before tonight.” He chuckled at that. “Not important who I am. I wanna talk about you. What do you do?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqqxUsfbFd

“I’m a telemarketer.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIzC53zv3I

“Well, ain’t that something. That what you set out to do there, partner?” The bartender opened a bottle and left two glasses. The painter poured two glasses to the rim and handed one to Ed. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxTx1HvNEK

“No. I went to school. I wanted my own business.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFGmGEpbSD

“And what would that be?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ATzKP8Xlc

“Toy store, you know… custom made toys. High dollar stuff, like the crap I never got as a kid. You need money to do that kind of thing, though.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4J8jAleWl

“I’m sorry to hear that, I really am. Do you have parents Ed?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRsPLonkJ7

Ed gulped his drink. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz4uhHbPtP

“Why are you asking me this? Who the hell are you? What did she tell you on the phone?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡMx0Y2Ru63f

The painter smiled, his stubbly face stretched and worn. “She…. she wants to know about your parents. About your mother.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DOPO4ioJ5

“My father lives in Cleveland with another family. He’s sixty years old and has twelve grandkids. My mother’s been living in the dirt for thirty some years now.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUf26l80C3

The painter winced and ran his paint speckled fingers across his wrinkled eyes. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCvClZiVY4

“Well damn, Ed… I didn’t know.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuwaG6GXYB

“Car accident. I survived because I was in a car seat. My mom went through the windshield. My dad… later on, told me she left a bloody streak on the pavement a hundred feet in front of the car. That was my 18th birthday. He left the next day.”copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3DWRT20i9

The painter capped the scotch bottle and rolled it to Ed. He got up off the barstool and put a hand on Ed’s shoulder. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡefmsHV29Nx

“I am sorry. Nobody should be without a mother.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡSf9wy5QYH9

And with that the painter walked away. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPcy3T09Bs

After finishing much of the Scotch, Ed decided to walk home and try to forget about everything. He knew it was futile if a bottle of black label couldn’t cover his memories, but he decided a walk wouldn’t kill him. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CrolPu0fK

When he arrived home his front door was kicked in, the stainless steel deadbolt so much scrap metal on the floor and the heavy door split in several places. When he pushed the door open it fell to the ground in three separate chunks. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡemFW5FdTws

Whatever had burst through the front door had cut a swath through his living room and into the dining room. It was dark except for a light in the kitchen on the far end of the apartment. The sofa looked like it had been through a trash compactor. The air was thick with gypsum dust and debris. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡaU8KBToaFb

There was a large black bag on his kitchen table. The scotch abandoned him, filtering itself through his liver to avoid being a part of this discovery. He approached it slowly. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXIANC1t2s

The pizza box was the first item he asked for and the first item he pulled out of the bag. Sure enough, the sausage pizza was peppered with eyeballs. He tossed it off the table, afraid to look at it. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv04vQIbUg

He found the men’s socks, with feet still in them. The bag of cat hair was full of cats. He shoved everything back into the bag and tied it shut. He hefted it over his shoulder and headed out the door. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSYTpVSQg1

His body heaving in pain from the hangover and shock at the gory findings he couldn’t go far. He stuffed the bag into the complex’s dumpster and went back home. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡRD84J95scz

His phone was ringing. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFb4C47qFm

He stood outside the house, listening to the phone sound like some distant cricket playing a death song on its hind legs for him. Somehow, he had messed up like he had never messed up before. And now he was going to pay for it. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡgplJCXBKsl

It continued to ring. Compelled, he went inside and moved through the darkness toward his phone. His muscles twitched under his cold skin, his breath gasping from him. He was crying. Snot ran down his nose. It rang again. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbzwsaeSRq

And again. And again. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkfPEit2tw

He picked up the phone and it almost slipped in his clammy hand. He couldn’t bring himself to say hello. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxQ1nHubaG

“You don’t have my daughter do you?” The woman’s voice was heavy, but calm. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPtxvZIlKL

He couldn’t answer, he was too afraid. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iLaZzQZRA

“Please, just be honest with me. Do you know where my daughter is? Do I have a daughter?” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkBYfzFQ1w

“I… I don’t know.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgvbbI66Dn

“I didn’t think so. You know, I try so hard, I miss her so much. You made me terribly angry. I haven’t been that angry in centuries. Not since… well, when I get angry I see things how they really are.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡtr7jRs8QEW

She paused and Ed gulped air and swallowed. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eSOBaLx7A

“I don’t have a daughter. I never did. But I’m so old, so old, I spent so many years alone thinking about a little girl of my own to love and cherish and nurture and teach and hold….” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡYp9aCLxxt1

“But I am the only one of my kind, and when I’m gone… you will be the only one who will know I ever existed. Well, there’s a painter who may have some dreams about me…” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTRLvLEANn

“I wish you could have known me a long time ago, before I got so old. I could do such wonderful things. I could have been a good mother to you as well. I still could be… but I’m afraid I’ve ruined that with my temper, haven’t I? I’m so sorry. Please, find some way to forgive me.” copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4iL2GCbP1

“I’ll leave you now. Please, take down the sign you found. It’s the only one left. I wish to cause no further harm…. Good luck to you.”_copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmCbPyB42z

Ed listened into the phone until he passed out with it pressed against his ear. He slept deeply, full of dreams he wouldn’t remember. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡXi9TAvkEum

The next day he took a cab to his favorite bar and peeled the sign off the men’s room door. He tore it up and burned the little pieces in an ash tray. He ordered a club soda and a cheeseburger. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡeofRtyxeuo

When he finished he walked over to the phone, and dialed a familiar number. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pRKxVicAV

End. copyright protection17ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKS9vp5NCF

ns54.145.83.79da2

Story Language:

Interface Language:

REGISTER

LOGIN