Reyona's heart clenched, and she couldn't even make a joke that he was telling her though.
"Oh, she is coming now!" Junior said excitedly. Then to Reyona "Come visit us, okay? I think we will leave here soon. Take, Ally!"
He was gone before Reyona could say goodbye and in the place of his exuberant chatter was a disturbing silence.
Reyona almost looked at the phone to see if it had already disconnected.
But then she could hear Junior's voice as he talked to Anna or whoever was in the room with them.
So, the connection was not the problem, she was just on the phone with someone who probably wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
Well, tough luck.
"Are you going to hold the phone all day long without saying a thing?"
No response.
"I can tell that you are there. Talking is the point of being on the phone, you know. Unless you want to start a trend, of course."
Nothing.
"Okay then, I will just keep talking until you are ready to respond," she said, then paused, but when she heard nothing, she continued. "How are you doing?"
Nothing.
"I should have called earlier. I am sorry that I didn't call early. I have been…well, there is no excuse really. I am sorry."
Even the breathing on the other end seemed to be getting less and less audible.
"So, do you not like the food there?" Reyona said suddenly. "Is anything bothering you? I mean, I can listen if you want to share."
Nothing.
Oh, my. "I think Junior is worried about you, you know. Anna too. Do you know why they are worried?"
Reyona thought that would go unanswered too, but then Allysyn said quietly, with a snort-like sound. "He cannot be worried about me. He is just a kid."
Oh, and you are not? Reyona thought as she felt unease at the lifeless, almost-adultlike tone she heard.
She threw all caution to the wind as she asked worriedly "Ally, is something bothering you? Is there something you want to talk about?"
"What do you care?! You liar! Leave me alone!"
********
"Rey! What have you done?!"
Reyona moved the phone away from her ear, then gingerly placed it back.
"Not helping, Toria," she said.
"Not helping? Not helping?! Not help… you dropped this on me out of nowhere and you expect me to what? Take it calmly and throw a celebration party? Reyona, what the hell?!"
Reyona sighed as she removed her hand from her face and said "Well, any other reaction would have been more welcome."
"Oh, I am sorry." Toria's voice changed as she said sarcastically. "I am sorry for not being supportive enough, sister. You have been lying to me…to us! And you want me to thank you for telling me this now?! Well, forgive my lack of generousity, ma'am."
"Okay, that is not fair. I did not lie. I…"
"... just conveniently didn't say the truth? You made us believe you will never have anything to do with that ugliness again. You…how far has this gone? Since when has this gone on, Rey?"
As guilt-ridden as she felt at the moment, Reyona knew there was no point in holding back now. "Since the day I met Fiona," she said in anticipation of the next onslaught.
"Who the fuck is Fi… Fiona? As in the Fiona? You mean this started when I drove you to meet that woman? Oh, I shouldn't have taken you there that day. There I was foolishly believing you when you told me that she just wanted to catch up and give her condolences. How could I have been so stupid?!"
Reyona was feeling worse at the moment. "Toria."
"Wait until Dad and Mum hear this. Mum is going to have palpitations. Do you know that she gets palpitations these days? This is going to send them right off the roof."
"Toria? Toria, you can't tell them about this."
"You still want to keep this from them for longer? What is wrong with you?"
"Okay, you need to calm down, okay? I can't tell them. At least not yet. What good will it do if I tell them now? It would just get them worried and they would think I have not moved on and…"
"And they would be right. You clearly have not moved on, Rey. How can you possibly get yourself involved with those kids? They are literally the reason for your ruined marriage!"
"Okay, that is not…"
"You are not about to lie to yourself that you don't resent them a bit for that, are you? Rey!" Toria said passionately.
"I don't… this is not their fault. They just happen to be caught up in all of this."
"Just as you are caught up in this too. This is not your doing, Rey. You are not obliged to save those kids. Nobody expects you to. You need to let the fucking bastard and his bitch face the music of what they did. Stay out of their mess, Rey, please." Toria's voice had lost its bite.
Reyona wished she could just take the good-natured advice of her sister and just do what was best for her own mental health.
She was sure she would be saying the same thing to her sister right now if the roles were reversed but it was too late. Her heart had done her in again.
She can't turn away now.
"Actually, there is more," she said quietly.
"More than this? What else could be worse than this?"
Reyona told her what Maxwell had suggested.
"He what?! I am going to kill him!" Toria said in anger. "I am going to cut off his balls, then slowly wring his neck. I thought he was one of the good ones. How can he suggest such a thing?"
"I was so angry when he first suggested it too," Reyona said slowly as conviction set in her heart solidly.
"Wait…wait, Reyona. What do you mean you were? Please, don't tell me that…"