Anna looked back at a sulking Casey sitting at the dining room table, staring unseeingly at the telephone, a dejected frown on her face, now many shades lighter than she’d been before. Anna dried the last of the dishes and turned toward her, wiping her hands on the towel she’d had on her shoulder.
“Case what’s the matter?” she asked tenderly.
Casey shrugged, her lips pouted obstinately, “nothing,” she replied curtly.
Mike, who was sitting at the other end of the table reading this week’s paper looked up at her, then at Anna, his eyes bright with interest despite his nonchalant posture and overall behavior since he’d found out about Brad.
Anna placed a hand on Casey’s shoulder gently, “did you call your dad?”
Mike grunted, and Anna shot him a warning look.
Casey sighed, then nodded. She placed the cordless phone on the varnished table top and twirled it on its back.
“You didn’t get through did you?”
She didn’t answer, instead she stared at the spinning phone in front of her.
Anna reached down and clamped it to a stop with her hand, she glared at her daughter, “no matter what the situation Casey Wright, I will not tolerate this kind of rudeness in this house. Do you get it?” she lifted Casey’s chin with her finger.
Casey nodded, and at her mother’s narrowing eyes said, “yes mum.”
“Now talk to me.”
“I called him, today and yesterday… more than once and he won’t answer.”
Anna sighed and brushed back the loose strand of hair that had fallen from her pony tail, “he’s only just gotten home two days ago darling, not even a whole two days. Something must have come up, and am sure it’s something very important ‘cause he won’t forget to call otherwise.”
Casey looked relieved, “but he promise to call the minute he got back”
Anna smiled, “Brad loves you very much…”
Mike rose from the chair suddenly; the saucer on the table top clattered noisily along with the angry snapping sound of the paper being slapped on top the table. Mike looked at her with flared nostrils.
“Cut the crap Anna. If you think am gonna sit right here and listen to you poison the child with your pathetic childish fantasies, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Anna glared at him, he ignored her turning to Casey, “none of us know anything about this guy, she didn’t know much about him then and she sure don’t know nothing now. So I’d keep my fingers crossed if I were you, no sense building up your hopes for a bastard that wasn’t man enough to stick it out with ya in the first place.”
And with that he stomped out of the kitchen.
Anna looked down at Casey apologetically, “your uncle is quite upset about the situation that’s all.”
“What the situation Mom?” Casey asked.
Anna frowned thoughtfully, then sighed, “I don’t know darling, I don’t know.”
She turned to the stove and reached for the oven handle, “now hurry up and go get dressed, we’ve got prayer meeting tonight, and the lord knows we’ve got a lot of praying to do.”