Page 65 of My Little Doe
“Hello!” she said, a little louder.
“Mom,” I said.
“Zalayuh?”
“It’s me, Mom, Zalayuh.”
“Where the hell are you?” she said.
“I can’t tell you—”
“The hell you can’t. Where the hell are you, girl?”
“I’m… I uh… I was kidnapped,” I said.
“Stop lyinnnn’” she said, with a slight slur in her words. She was already drinking for the day.
“No, I’m not. I got free, but he’s still lookin’ for me. You can’t tell anyone I called.”
“I’m gonna call the cops—”
“NO! You can’t do that. I’ll be home in a couple of months, when it’s safe,” I said.
“It was that bastard Daxyn, huh?”
“No, no. He wasn’t involved at all. He doesn’t know about this,” I told her. I had to tell some lies too, to protect myself.
“Come home, Zalayuh. I neeeeeed you,” she said.
“I will, Mom. I just wanted you to know I'm safe now. I miss y’all. How’s Aspen? Can I talk to her?” I said.
“Yeah,” she said coldly.
“Hello?” Aspen’s little voice carried through the phone. My heart skipped a beat.
“Hi, sweet girl!”
“Zay-Zay, where are you? When are you coming home?”
“Soon, baby girl, very soon,” I said.
“I miss you,” she cried out.
“I know you do. I miss you too,” I said.
“Momma is always drunk, and Bubba is sick all the time,” she whispered. I didn’t know what to say. She was six. She shouldn’t understand any of this.
“It’s okay. I promise I’ll be home soon enough, okay?”
“I’ve been waiting for you every night,” she cried.
“Listen, Aspen. It’s super important that you don’t tell anyone that you talked to me, okay? Not even Bubba. I know I always tell you that we shouldn’t keep secrets, but this one is really important, okay?”
“Okay, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I gotta go. I love you so very much, Aspen,” I told her.
“To the mooooooon and back,” she said. Then the line went dead.
