"Hello," she answered, opening the back door to the deck, her favorite spot to retreat to when she talked on the phone. I followed her outside and into the abnormally warm evening. The sun, through the trees to the west, floated on the crest of Southington Mountain, casting an orange plasma-like glow through the trees.
"Nancie?" my Mom said, half asking a question. I saw her curious expression turn quizzical. "What's wrong with you?"
A few more questions were asked with no apparent answers. I turned from the setting sun and leaned on the white-washed deck railing, now listening intently to the conversation taking place on the lower half of the deck.
My Mom turned and stared through me, as if letting me know something was up. "Don't talk like that."
I didn't know what to expect, except maybe one of Nancie's 'drunk or drugged up' phone calls, the kind I got in the middle of the night a few years prior.
"Nancie," my Mom sighed heavily. "What's going on?"
My Mom's questioning wasn't getting her anywhere. Long silences were broken up by asking Nancie if she was still on the other line. My Mom sighed again when she lowered the phone from her ear. My eyebrows rose in anticipation.
"Nancie's wacked out," she said, staring down at the phone. "I couldn't understand half the stuff she was trying to stay. She said something about slitting her wrists and how depressed she is."
"Really?" I asked in a monotone voice, concerned and not totally surprised.
"Who knows what kind of shit she's on right now," my Mom said, glancing at her watch. After a short silence she continued. "I don't know what to do."
The sun had now completely set and the blue sky above the horizon was quickly fading into vivid pastels of pink and red. Night time had already fallen on the woods behind the house, only the dark branches and their new foliage stood out against the dimming sky.
Finally she spoke, "If I go over there, would you come with me?"
"It's that bad?" I could hear it in my Mom's voice, it was.
"I don't know," she exhaled. "What if I don't go and something does happen?"
Now I paused. "Good point, I'll go if you really think it's a good idea...if it sounds that bad, we should."
"I think we should, and you coming might make her think twice about what's she's doing."
The thought was logical, especially trying to prevent anything from happening. I could think of nothing worse than the regret of not doing anything. The pros outweighed the cons. We left a few minutes later for the other side of town.
...
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