8.

 

The phone rang three times before Sadie picked it up. "Hello," she said into the receiver, slightly out of breath.

"Are you okay?" said the voice on the other end.

"Yeah...I was just working out. Who is this?" She picked up the remote control and paused the aerobics DVD.

"Oh, ah, is this Sadie Jenkins?"

The line hissed and crackled, but even with the interference Sadie recognized the voice.

"Gloria?" she asked. She hadn't spoken to Gloria in nearly a year.

"Yeah..." She paused and Sadie could hear some clicking in the background. Then the line cleared up. "How have you been?"

"Great," Sadie said, sinking down into the couch. "How are you doing?"

"Okay."

There was a long pause. The silence pushed into Sadie's ear. "It's been so long. How's your little boy, Jay?"

Gloria cleared her throat. "Jay is well. He'll be six soon, but you know that."

Sadie remembered sitting on the oversized couch in Gloria's dreary living room each of them cradling their newborn sons. "Yeah. They grow up so quickly. Marcus just loves kindergarten."

"So does Jay. During the weekend he can't wait until Monday so he can see his teacher. I think he has a little crush on her." Gloria laughed.

"That's so cute." Sadie chuckled. "Are you working at the same company?"

"Yeah. I'm the senior manager for my department at Techcon now."

"Wow. Congratulations."

"Thanks ..." Gloria paused for a moment.

Sadie could almost hear the thoughts forming in her head. "Is something wrong?"

Gloria sighed. "Actually, it's Jay. Something strange has been going on with him, and I was just wondering if you were having similar experiences with Marcus."

Sadie's heart started to beat a little bit faster. "Yes, I have." Sadie whispered into the phone so quietly they were almost not a words at all. She stood up from the couch and walked over to the front window. The sky was dark with heavy clouds. Within seconds rain pounded into the ground.

"Sadie, are you still there?"

"Yes, yeah ..." Sadie watched the giant drops striking the sidewalk and listened for the rumble of thunder in the distance. "Marcus had an accident a few weeks ago."

"Really? What happened?"

"He hit his head pretty hard. He had to go to the hospital. Ever since then these strange things have been happening ..." Sadie had never spoken these words aloud and wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. "I don't know. Maybe I'm losing my mind. Things have just been a bit weird around here."

"If you're losing your mind, I must be losing mine too. What's happening with Marcus isn't because of the accident," Gloria said and as she continued to speak her determined words piled themselves one on top of the other, filling Sadie's brain.