Day 8 50/50 Lead line

The prompt is "He didn't think she was going to answer him."


He didn’t think she was going to answer him. She could tell as he just changed the subject and began telling her what a wonderful job he was doing with the children. She held the phone to her ear not believing what he had just said. Her jacket was suddenly too warm and she was grateful that the little café was nearly empty. She shed her jacket and laid it on a nearby chair.  The pay phone was mounted on a pole in the middle of the cafe...no privacy for sure.  An old guy with a graying beard leaned over his coffee with his hands wrapped around the mug savoring its warmth.  She was anxious to get her own mug but she needed to take care of this phone call first.
       It had been a long night in the campground outside of Taos. Motorcyclists had driven in around 2 in the morning to a campsite nearby and made a lot of racket. Mary Gray had been sleeping outside but had to come in so she and Betty had to make room for her in the van. At daybreak  they broke camp and drove into Taos to find some breakfast. A small café off the square was open and she was in hopes of finding a phone. Her husband had taken the kids to L.A. on a business trip and because she had been camping, she hadn’t had a chance to check in with him and see how it was all going.


Her trip had been planned for months. She and two girlfriendswere going to NECCA in Ft. Collins, Colorado. They were going to drive her van and while staying in a dorm at the campus, they planned to camp on their way home. About 2 weeks before they were to leave, her husband announced he was leaving on a business trip to L.A. She said, “What are you going to do with the children? I’m leaving and you had agreed to keep them for the two weeks I’ll be gone.” She was so upset as she had been counting the weeks until departure and her friends were counting on going in her van and sharing the expense. She wasn’t going to back down and he got the message. He decided rather than cancel his trip, he would take the kids with him and she left it to him to work it out agreeing only to help the kids get packed.

Because of the time difference she knew she needed to call him early and luckily she had the number of his hotel. Now it was her turn to be stunned as he rattled into the phone about how he had worked it out to leave the kids with his sister-in-law during the day and picked the kids up after work to spend the night with him at the hotel. All this after he announced, “I had a visit with my sister. She is having a hard time and I’m bringing her home with me.” My mind went into overtime and finally I said, “Whoa, wait a minute. You what?”

“I’m bringing my sister home with me.”

“Over my dead body. There is no way that is going to happen. I looked after your mother in a nursing home for 5 years before she died and I’m not looking after your crazy sister. It ain’t gonna happen!”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, tell her whatever you want…that you’re married to a bitch, I don’t care but you are not bringing her home with you. Listen I gotta go, someone is waiting to use this phone and the café is filling up. Give the kids a hug and save one for yourself. I love you but you are not bringing your sister home. Bye, honey. Have a safe trip back. I’ll be home in about 3 days.”