ghosted

Ghosted 

Mary’s mother didn’t believe the trip to Highlands would ever happen. “She’s worthless,” Mary’s mother said. “Nothing but a lying lazy lump.” Mary hurt for her friend, but when her Julie failed to return her calls or make specific plans, there was more credibility to her mother’s accusations. Mary sat in the chair and cried. She wanted the friendship to work. In some ways she needed Julie, as she lived alone and had very few friends and often sat in the living room and talked too herself. 

Julie stood on the corner and looked for Mary’s blue, Honda, Civic. She still saw no sign of Mary, but surely Mary would come soon-even though she gave Mary a last-minute notice.  She had an image of Mary sitting alone in her recliner, waiting for her call. Julie completely controlled the relationship dynamic and sometimes Mary would get stalkeresqe when she didn’t hear from Julie.  But she needed Julie, and always got scared when Julie threatened to terminate the relationship; yet she didn’t want to admit she needed Julie. 

Julie almost didn’t come, as she had one ailment after another, but she needed to get away from her mother and her family. Julie also had not gotten her Texas license, and the Covid19 deadline had not been extended again.  Her family thought Julie moved form North Carolina to take care of them, but the opposite was true. Julie’s family was still in denial about her various and sundry ailments—some which were embellished or created by the multiple medications Julie was taking.

 Julie kept looking for the blue car. She looked at her Apple watch. No messages. She looked around the Spartanburg Greenville Airport. When she left to go to Texas, she swore she’d never come back. She was blackballed anyway and would never get a job there in the spiteful, incestuous town that was still a Good Ole boy place. She could’ve fought to keep her teaching job, but she decided it wasn’t worth it, and she didn’t have any family in SC to help her. She’d been in and out of the hospital the past year and spent most of her time sleeping. She recently moved into her mother’s. Her mother begged Julie not to go and cried when she took her to the airport. 

Mary wasn’t sure whether or not Julie was really coming. Mary had wanted to go somewhere ever since she got her covid vaccine, so she had hoped that Julie would actually follow through with her plans. But Julie never did what she said she was going to do. Mary had been waiting for the last-minute excuse to bailout, but Julie had not texted her in over a week. Mary called and texted numerous times, but Julie refused to answer. 

Julie looked at her phone again. Mary didn’t pick up the phone, so maybe she was in transit, could still answer and let Julie know she was coming. Mary was usually very reliable, so something must’ve been wrong. Julie walked outside and looked at the row of cars parked. Maybe Mary was driving a different car and forgot to tell her? But surely Mary would see her standing in front of the airport. Now Mary was over thirty minutes late, so Julie called repeatedly called Mary’s number and left desperate messages.  Julie contemplated calling Mary’s mother, but she didn’t know what to expect. Mary’s sister lived in Greenville, so maybe she could find her. It occurred to Julie that Mary could’ve had an accident or maybe had car trouble. 

Julie sat down on a bench in front of the airport. She was starting to feel dizzy and contemplated renting a car and going to Mary’s place.  If she couldn’t connect with Mary, maybe she could hook up with one of her online acquaintances. Her friends in SC essentially cut her off and no one even said bye.

When she left to go back to Houston. She had never seen Mary’s new place, but she knew it was the building right next to the library.  If Mary didn’t show up in a few more minutes, she would rent a car and just drive over to Mary’s place. She dialed Mary’s number again. Then she hesitated and called Mary’s mother. She could hear her heart pounding and imagined her blood pressure must’ve been off the charts. 

Julie was starting to panic, but if she took a klonopin, she wouldn’t be able to drive. Julie was exhausted and wanted to get to Black Mountain as soon as possible. She did not want to stay in Spartanburg a moment longer than she had to. 

It was now an hour late, so Julie left a message on Mary’s phone and decided to rent a car at the airport. After she got the car, Mary drove to Spartanburg. She felt queasy as she passed familiar exits. Bad memories flashed through her mind. 

she pulled off at the Pine Street exit and headed towards the library. She would park there and call Mary again. Mary told her she couldn’t enter the building without a key fob, so Mary would have to let her in. She called Mary’s mother and left a message. Who else could she call? She’d cut ties with most of her friends in Spartanburg. 

Julie went to the desk and tried to rent a car, but she couldn’t, as she had an expired license. Her SC was over two years old. 

Tears rolled down Julie’s face. Either Mary was in an accident, or she was refusing to answer the phone. Would she do something that cruel?  Julie dialed another friend who didn’t answer

Julie called Mary’s mother again and again. Mary’s mother must’ve blocked the number. 

She wanted to scream,” I’m stranded at the airport,” and wondered if anyone would hear or care.  Why did everyone hate her? And why couldn’t she persuade Mary’s mother that Julie did indeed need Mary? 

Julie thought about just getting a return ticket home, but she’d paid for the cabin at Highlands, and she wanted to make sure Mary was okay. After Julie pulled herself together, she called an uber.

When Julie arrived at the library, she called Mary again. Then she walked over to the building adjacent to the library. She dialed Mary’s room number then looked for someone who could let her in, as she needed a fob to enter the building. A short woman finally opened the door. 

“I’m looking for Mary Rhinehart. She lives in 307,” Julie said. 

“You have to have a fob to get on the stairs or elevator. I can get you up there.” 

“Thanks a lot.” 

The woman seemed to regard Julie with suspicion. 

After Julie got off the elevator, she wandered up and down the halls until she found 307. She banged on the door. 

“Mary, Mary please answer. I really came.” 

No one answered the door. 

“I need you to open the door. I’m really here. Please, Mary.” Julie basnged on the door. 

Maybe she would just have to travel to Highlands by herself, but she’d have to get to a rental place. Julie called Mary’s mother again. Julie could hear Mary’s mother telling Mary that Julie was a worthless human being, and a lazy lying lump. Her stepfather’s voice chimed in and said she was a conniving bitch. Mary’s mother told her Julie would never come, and that Julie was up to her usual manipulation. How could Julie get on a plane if she never even got out of the bed because she was drugged up on painkillers? 

Julie tried to control her sobbing after she hung up the phone. She always liked Julie’s mom step-dad. Julie wiped her tears and headed towards the elevator. She had images of Mary stuck on the side of the road or on a stretcher.   She called another cab and went back to the airport. She’d wasted her money on the cabin rentals, but she didn’t feel like going. She just wanted to get back home and see a friendly face. 

Mary was somewhere crying out. She knew Julie wasn’t really coming. Julie never called her back to confirm any plans, and Mary had the book launch to attend. 

She later checked her phone and was shocked Julie showed up. Mary called Julie multiple times. maybe she’d gone home. Mary felt guilty, as she should’ve told Julie not to come in the first place. Why didn’t she use her brain and think ahead? Then there would not have been any confusion. It was hard living alone during the pandemic, so she was eager to get out, and she often allowed her emotions to control her actions. Sometimes having a frenemy was better than nothing at all. 

Mary’s mother called her later and told her the “lazy lying lump” called, but how could that be possible? Mary had left messages on Julie’s phone. But whenever something involved Julie, there always were complications. Mary sat on her couch and mourned the loss of the friendship that never was. She dialed Julie’s number and then slammed down her phone. Mary would go to the mountain herself and send Julie lots of pictures. If was Julie’s loss. 

Mary heard a soft knock at the door. She felt ecstatic. Maybe Julie really did come. 

The knocking got louder. 

Mary took a deep breath and walked towards the door. A little voice inside told her not to get too excited, as it could be a neighbor. Mary hesitated before she opened the door. 

No one was there. 

“Hello,” Mary said. She walked up and down the hall and peered around the corner. 

 Then she went back inside and called Julie’s number one more time. Her phone rang. Mary picked up the phone but there was no answer. 

Mary sat on the couch and mourned the friendship she never had. There was still the possibility Julie would arrive and things would be just like they were before, but hope was a horrible thing to give a person when it wasn’t possible to arrive at the destination. A combination of hope and occasional reinforcement was a deadly combination and a kind of torture worse than being slapped in the face over and over again. 

Mary heard another knock at the door and heard Julie calling her name. She jumped up off the couch and sprinted towards the door. When she opened the door, no one was there. Mary stomped off to the room and pulled the covers on her head. Why didn’t she have real friends? Was she such a horrible person? Did she deserve to be ghosted and manipulated? 

Mary heard Julie’s voice again. Julie was crying out and begging for help. Mary wondered if she was experiencing some kind of psychosis. 

Meanwhile, Julie kept trying to reach her destination, but she never arrived. She kept calling Mary; hoping that her friend would be there for her. Mary opened the door again, but one was there. The air came down to her in the manner of a familiar season. 

“Julie, please. I was wrong. I should have believed you. I need you.” 

  Mary heard cries coming from someplace far away, and they would slowly kill her with the electric voice of the sea.