AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s Maria…”
My whole body buzzed with excitement. I forced myself to breathe as the image of Maria’s wide, vivacious smile and phenomenal body came to mind. I had told Maria if she was ever in my area to call me. Maybe she’d taken me up on the offer?
She continued. “Maria Steel? We met in Atlantic City...”
I cleared my throat. “Marybeth, will you get off the line, please,” I said. The other office phone clicked as Marybeth disconnected.
“Maria, it’s good to hear from you. How are you, Sugar?”
“Uh, well… I’ve been better,” she said hesitantly. Behind her, I heard a piercing scream, and then a wail.
“Shit,” she muttered. “Hold on.” There was a rustling and a thump, and I heard the sound of crying, but then it stopped.
“Maria,” I said hesitantly. “What was that?”
“That would be Matthew.”
Oh no.
Another wail, and then a second voice joined in.
“And… there's Jacob. Hold on.”
Shit shit shit.I knew with absolute certainty that this call was not about Maria wanting to hook up. After more thumping and rattling of the phone being moved around, the screaming stopped.
“Drew?”
“Um.”
“So… Yeah.”
“How… old?”
“A little over twelve weeks.”
I did the math. The timeline made sense.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“I—”
“What do you need?”
She was quiet on the other end. I could hear her breathing, and the babies fussing.
“Maria?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She sounded choked up. Taking a deep breath, she let it out and said, “Uh. I’m sorry. I don’t really know… I’m low on cash. I have to move. I’m about to lose my job… I… I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called.”
I felt like I was in a weird trance, like nothing was real.
Matthew. Jacob. Two little boys.
“Maria, don’t go. Don’t hang up.”
I could hear her heavy breathing on the other end.
“You said you had to move… Are you in any danger?”
