Page 34 of Empty Net

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She answers on the second ring. "Caleb?"

"Hi, Mom."

"It is late."

"It's only ten there."

"Late for you to call me without a calendar invitation."

"I don't send calendar invitations for family calls."

"You sent one for Thanksgiving travel."

"That was logistics."

"You titled it 'Parental Visit Coordination.'"

I close my eyes. "That was a mistake."

"It was very you."

Her voice does what it always does: enters the room and rearranges the furniture without moving anything. Soo-jin Wren has never needed volume to establish authority. She was a librarian for thirty years. She can silence a room with one inhale.

"Did something happen?" she asks.

"My lease is up in February."

There is a pause.

"That is what happened?"

"I need to decide whether to renew."

"At eleven o'clock at night, you called me about lease renewal."

"It's a real decision."

"It is a decision. It is not the decision you called about."

I look at the wall. The mark from Nolan's shoulder is barely visible. I will clean it tomorrow. I will probably not clean it tomorrow.

"The kitchen is small," I say.

"I told you this already."

"You tell me many things already."

"Because you require repetition."

"Do I?"

"You are my son."

This is Soo-jin's way of saying she has peer-reviewed me.

I get up and walk to the kitchen because sitting on the bed feels like continuing a conversation Nolan has left. The clementines are back in order. My keys are not. One key hasslipped off the ring slightly, the spare mail key I keep meaning to remove. I fix it while my mother waits.

"The apartment is close to the arena," I say. "The commute is good. The building is quiet. Parking is included."

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