I went back to work, but the whole time I kept thinking about all the ways my life was better now that Zoey was in it. I had actually managed to turn things around. Maybe I was looking at a different kind of life now and maybe… just maybe that could possibly include my parents. Sure, I had refused to become a doctor like dad, but I was finally doing something semi-respectable. Working for an arts magazine would certainly impress my mother, if not dad.
I still hadn’t been able to call mom, but as the day wore on and I became more and more pumped at the prospect of putting the dealing behind me once and for all since landing my new job, I decided maybe the time had come.
I got home by six-thirty and found that the apartment was empty. I realized that Zoey had a later shift at the ice cream parlor today so she wouldn’t be back home till eight. I put some pasta on the stove to boil and then picked up my phone. I took a deep breath and punched in my mother’s number. It took a couple of rings, but she finally answered.
“Hello?”
I froze in place for a moment, wishing I had decided on what I was going to say before I had called.
“Hello?”
I gulped back my doubt and barreled ahead despite my reservations. “Hi, mom,” I said.
“Devlin?” She definitely sounded surprised.
“Yeah… yes… it’s me.”
“Oh… I didn’t expect to get a call from you,” she said. “Is everything alright?”
Of course she would assume something was wrong. “Everything’s fine,” I said, but instead of offering her an explanation as to why I had called, I just stopped talking and let silence drip between us.
“Do you… need money?”
“No,” I said immediately. “No… that’s not why I called.”
“Oh…” mom replied, and I could hear the unspoken question on her tongue. Why did I call?
“I just… I wanted to thank you,” I said. “I wanted to thank you for keeping my paintings and… and for giving them back to me instead of just throwing them out.”
“Oh,” mom said, and now she sounded even more shocked. “Well… you are very welcome.”
She was so proper… so poised even she spoke to me. But then I realized that we weren’t all that familiar with one another. We had grown so far apart in the last few years that we may as well have been strangers. I knew the conversation was very close to being over. I had to be the one to make the first move; otherwise, there was really no point in this call. I thought about everything Zoey had told me and that gave me the courage I needed.
“And I also wanted to say… I’m sorry,” I said, as my voice went low. “I’m sorry for being so… abrupt and rude when I was over at the house. That was uncalled for.”
There was silence on the other line, and I wondered if I had lost her. “Mom?”
“I’m here,” she said.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you,” she replied.
“Ok…” I said awkwardly when she didn’t say anything.
“Well then… I guess that’s what I wanted to say,” I said. “And now I said it so… I better go.”
“Wait, Devlin,” mom said quickly, as though she had just snapped out of her trance. “Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Your father and I are having a dinner party on Saturday,” she said. “I would… we would really like it if you would come.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You want me to attend one of your dinner parties?” I asked, knowing how important those events was to both of my parents.
“Yes.”
“Maybe you should check with dad first,” I said.