Fractured by Tamar Ossowski

Author:Tamar Ossowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510743854
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2019-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

A few days after we returned from our weekend away, my cell phone rang.

“Sam, it’s Lucille,” my mother’s coworker said, like she called me every day, which she didn’t.

“Is everything okay?” The pitch in her voice had lifted to a place where I knew that it probably wasn’t.

“I was wondering if you’d heard from Mom? She hasn’t been to work in a few days.”

The slow cadence of her speech made it sound like she was talking to an eight-year-old.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Just probably needed some time off.”

“I thought I’d let you know just in case.”

I hung up after reassuring her a second time that all was okay and promising to check in on my mother, even though we both knew the possibility of her taking time off was very unlikely.

My mother never took vacations because she believed there was always someone looking for a house and a truly committed realtor couldn’t waste her time lounging on a beach chair or sitting around a golf course when there was work to be done. I wondered if Sol’s conversation with Brian was what was behind her disappearance from work.

That Saturday morning, I went for a walk mostly to clear my head. I started off on the streets of my neighborhood hoping to find quiet. It was still early, and all the shops were closed and there weren’t many people around except for some dogwalkers and a few middle-aged women jogging in tight Lycra tops and shorts. I tried not to think and instead just focus on my steps. I took one and then another, hoping to fall into the rhythm that happens when the only thing left for your body to do is move, but the pavement was buckled, and after tripping twice I decided to head to Daphne Lake.

It had been a long time since I had walked there, mostly because Sol liked to drive in the mornings so that is what we did. I dodged a few more joggers but finally arrived at a part of the path that seemed peaceful. I took deep breaths in through my nose, but that only made me feel dizzy. I tried to appreciate the leaves above me that looked as though their tips had been dipped into pots of yellow and red paints, but lost interest when a woman with short cropped gray hair and muscular legs ran past. I could hear the huff of her breath each time her sneakers hit the ground and could see the film of sweat that glistened across her shoulder blades. Her determination distracted me from my attempt at getting lost inside myself, so I just gave up and went to where I knew I would end all along.

On my way, I stopped at my favorite bakery to pick up muffins. The old women who worked there were from some eastern European country and always seemed angry. They grunted at the customers, but I didn’t mind that at all. In fact, I liked turning to the person behind me and rolling my eyes, as if somehow, we all belonged to the same club.

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