CHANGE IS ON THE WAY
When Crystal arrived home from court, she decided to call her mother, but fear of the unknown kept her from doing it. That night she decided to unplug the phone, turn off her cell, take a bath and chill. She needed to decide what she wanted to do about Lange and Roger and determine how she would go about making up with her mother. Crystal was ready to make changes, to reconcile. Instead of holding onto the past, she wanted to move forward.
The next morning when Crystal woke up, she rolled out of bed, threw on her robe and went downstairs to make a cup of cappuccino. As the milk was steaming, she picked up the phone and dialed her mother’s number, a number she knew by heart although she rarely called.
“Good morning,” a male voice greeted.
“Um, hi. This is Crystal.”
“Hi, Crystal. This is Mr. Newton.”
Crystal figured as much, but to hear his voice shocked her. She wanted to hang up and pretend that she never called, but she knew that wouldn’t be the answer. She promised herself that she would go with this reconciliation.
“I’d like to speak with my mother.”
“She’s not here.”
“Well, do you know where she’s at?”
“The doctor’s office,” he told her.
“Why? Is she sick?”
Mr. Newton hesitated a second too long.
“Is she?” Crystal couldn’t hide the panic in her voice.
“I think maybe she should speak with you. It’s not my place to discuss it.”
His response irritated Crystal. Her mother was at the doctor’s office and he wouldn’t tell her why. Obviously, it was something major or else he would have told her. Crystal didn’t want to take it here, but she figured maybe guilt would get him to reveal what was going on. “Look, the least you could do after what you’ve done is tell me what’s going on.”
He didn’t say a word.
“Hello, are you still there?” Crystal said.
“I’m still here and I’m about to hang up. I don’t like being disrespected. When you’re ready to talk to me and not at me, call back. Bye.”
The phone clicked in her ear and Crystal sat looking at it. “I can’t believe he hung up on me.” She redialed the number.
He picked up.
“This is Crystal again.”
He cut her off. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what you said to me was way out of line. Your mother has forgiven me and now that I’m her husband—”
Crystal didn’t hear a word after that. She went into shock. “I’ll call back,” she said and hung up. Crystal sat down, ignoring her drink. She kept repeating the word “husband” over and over. She couldn’t believe her mother had gotten married. Damn, were they that estranged? Crystal made a decision. She looked at her schedule, saw that she didn’t have any court dates for another two weeks, and immediately called her travel agent. She was going to Charlotte to find out what the hell was going on.