Broken Sound Read Free

yours?”
    Davey didn’t respond.  He felt his jaw lock. 
    Cassy nodded, ready to cry.
    “Maybe I should just go to the papers and magazines,” Cassy said.
    “Don’t,” Davey said.  “Please.  Just, please, have dinner with me tonight.  So we can talk and sort this all out.  I’ll do my best with whatever you need.”
    “Financially,” Cassy said, “that would be a good start.”
    “You want money?”
    “I need money,” Cassy said.
    Davey felt his grip tighten on the door handle.  He looked at Donald again and felt the same surge of emotion cut through his heart.  He slowly opened the door and watched as Cassy left.  She looked at Peter and Peter looked at the infant. 
    When Peter looked at Davey, his eyes were wider, his face more distraught.
    Davey knew what the look meant.
    The child in the stroller, Donald, looked like Davey.

(3)
     
    The phone continued to ring as Anna fought a brush through the thick curls in her wet hair.  She remained hell bent on someday battling through the curls and defeating them, finally having that perfect straight hair that required no attention.  Sure, it was a dream, but all Anna had anymore were dreams.
    Now with school let out for the summer, Anna, like the rest of the faculty at Early Brook Elementary, should have been planning her days based on late mornings, relaxing days, sun, fun, and vacation.  Instead, Anna had to get ready to go to her second job as a waitress.
    The phone stopped and Anna smiled.
    “Can’t get me if I don’t answer,” she whispered.
    A second later the phone rang again.
    Annoyed, Anna let the brush go, watching as its teeth clawed into her curls and hung in place.  She walked from the bathroom with the brush in her hair.  She took the steps down to the living room and unplugged the phone.  She really didn’t understand the purpose of a landline, not with having a cell phone and all, but her grandparents had the same phone number for fifty years and as silly as it may have sounded, Anna didn’t want to give the number up.  It was too important.  The number was etched into the scripts of her memory.  She could still see herself as a young girl, holding a phone, dialing the numbers, excited to hear her grandmother’s voice.
    As she turned to take the steps, she found her cell phone next to the sink, coming close to falling in. 
    It was the restaurant.
    Damn.
    She closed her eyes and answered the call, hoping it wasn’t Bill, the restaurant manger, telling her that they didn’t need her.  The restaurant moved in cycles and it always seemed to be extra busy when Anna was extra busy at school.  Now when she had the time to work as much as possible, there were days when it didn’t make sense to have her come in.  To Anna it made perfect sense to come in... she needed to keep the phone from ringing.
    “Hello?”
    “Anna?  It’s Bill.”
    “Hey Bill.  Please don’t tell me we’re dead.”
    Bill laughed.  “Anything but.  We’re booked solid all night.”
    Anna smiled.  Her body didn’t quite agree, knowing the effects of a long day of running around a restaurant.
    “Listen, Christie called off.”
    “Again?”
    “College kids, I know.  She was working dinner to close...”
    “I’ll do it,” Anna said.
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes.  Bill, I told you, I need the hours.  Especially now with summer.”
    “Aren’t teachers supposed to relax?”
    “Yeah, I guess,” Anna said.  “But I’m not like most teachers.”
    “Fair enough then.  If you don’t mind, I could use you here as soon as possible.”
    Anna looked at the brush tangled in her hair.  “I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
    “Good.  Thank you.”
    “No, Bill, thank you.”
    “Yeah, well it’s damn shame what that guy did to you.  None of my business, but just a shame.”
    Anna didn’t reply.  She was over replying to the sympathy comments.  It was nice of some to care.  However, when it came to the credit cards maxed out, however,