Spring Rain by Gayle Roper

Author:Gayle Roper [Roper, Gayle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-78167-3
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2011-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

SUNDAY EVENING the phone rang, its shrill call filling the small apartment.

“Don’t answer, Billy,” his mom called from the kitchen. “I mean it.”

“Mom! Why not?” The phone had been ringing off and on all day, and now it was night, and it was still ringing and driving him crazy. He couldn’t stand to hear a phone ring and ring like that. Phones were meant to be answered. They made no sense otherwise. She made no sense.

They’d been having such fun just a few hours ago laughing at Uncle Ted and Clay in those silly pictures. Then Grandma Jule and Dr. Traynor disappeared all of a sudden, and Clay got all grumpy and started looking out the windows.

“It’s okay if they’re together. He’s nice,” Bill said, but Clay didn’t listen.

Then Mom found a picture of Uncle Ted and Clay in their graduation robes with those stupid flat hats on their heads and got very quiet. Pastor Paul tried to move the box of pictures from between her and him, probably because he could tell Mom was upset about something, but Clay leaned over and dug into the box so he couldn’t. Then Pastor Paul sighed and left. Clay walked him to the door. When he came back into the room, Mom shot him a dirty look.

When Bill found a picture of Clay by himself at graduation, his diploma in his hand and a goofy smile on his face, he hooted about how silly those graduation hats were. Clay came over to look, the start of a smile on his face. He studied the picture, looked at Mom, then lost his smile. She wouldn’t look at him though and boom! Suddenly she grabbed Bill by the arm, and they were leaving.

“But I haven’t finished the pictures!”

“Another time,” Mom said.

“Good-bye, Uncle Ted,” he yelled as Mom dragged him out the door, but Uncle Ted was too busy studying one of the pictures to even look up. “Good-bye, Clay,” Bill yelled next, but Clay was too busy watching Mom.

Since then he’d been sentenced to hours of the phone ringing and ringing.

“Come on, Mom. Answer it! You’re being ridiculous.”

“No, Billy. We are not answering the phone.” She clicked on the garbage disposal.

“Bill. It’s Bill.” He stared at the ringing instrument, then at the kitchen. Keeping his voice low even though the disposal ground on, he said, “What if it’s an emergency? Huh? What if someone really needs to talk to us, like Grandma Jule needs help with Uncle Ted or something? I think I should answer just in case.”

She didn’t reply. He smirked to himself. That means she must agree. He grabbed the receiver.

“Hello. Spenser residence,” he said, but more softly than he’d ever spoken into a phone before. She had ears like a rabbit, and it’d be just like her to hear even over the rumble of the disposal and the gush of the water.

“Is this Billy?”

“Bill. Yeah. Who’s this?”

The man ignored his question. “Have you seen Terror lately?”

“What?”

“You know, kid. Your dog.” The man sounded impatient.

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