The Phone Rang

The phone rang three times before Nathan Hargrove was woken up by it’s cries. He wasn’t a morning person, and the last thing he wanted to do today would be to deal with bill collectors this early. Without looking at the phone, he flipped it on it’s face and turned over. He would have to wake up soon and he wanted to relish in these last moments.

It had been two weeks of the heavy rain that poured over Oakwood. The sun hid beneath the clouds without any sign of parting, making the city below a bleak and lifeless bore. Nathan sat up in his bed with his head in his hands and his mind somewhere else. Tuesday March 14^th  would be one of the most difficult days of Nathan’s life thus far, and now he had to face it alone. He got up out of bed and walked over to his dresser. There was a photograph of him and his mother Charlotte with their backs to the Falls that he turned down on it’s face.

She’s gone now, she’s in a better place.

It seemed like any time that Nathan had alone, he would see Charlotte’s face; just hovering in the blank space in front of him. Today, he had to face the entire family and all the friends of his mother who would be expecting him to give her some grand send off. That didn’t matter too much to Nathan though, he didn’t think too highly of the company his mother kept. He felt as though they weren’t around in the moments she needed them the most. He had been her sole caregiver since her mind started to go a few years ago. The doctors told him that the severity of her dementia wasn’t uncommon in a woman of her age, and that he should focus on just making her comfortable for the rest of her time.

Nathan wasn’t entirely sure he could even make it through the service, much less give a speech. He was all she had for many years and had no idea where to go from there.

His cousin Jerry wasn’t nearly as upset when Nathan walked downstairs and into the kitchen. He was stuffing a sandwich into his face when Nathan walked in. Nathan leant over the countertop and looked him up and down to see if he had dressed appropriately for the day. Usually you could count on Jerry to have unkempt hair, food stains on his clothes or a slightly rancid smell about him, like someone who hadn’t been home in a few days and today was no exception.

“You want one?” He asked while gesturing the remainder piece of crust covered in mustard.

“Can we just get out of here? Can you drive?”

“Sorry, let’s go.” Jerry said, tossing the crust into the trash.

The two got into Jerry’s beat up Honda civic and went to the church where his mother would be laid to rest. Nathan stared out the window in silence for most of the ride, only turning his attention away from the window to periodically deny a persistent phone call.

“Are you planning to answer any of those? If it’s a girl, I promise I’ll behave. No farts” inquired Jerry.

“Nah, it’s bill collectors or some shit, not today..” Nathan replied hitting deny yet again.

The service was a relatively big one, extended family had shown up to pay their respects and console Nathan, but he didn’t want to see them. He wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible so he could put the whole thing behind him. Nathan knew better than to fall for the bullshit act they were putting up. He could feel the stares as he took his seat, and the attempts at feigned sympathy that they made. Some came up to question him about her last moments, or why he didn’t try harder to save her. It broke his heart to have to be in this position.

“Remember her as she was: A devoted civil servant, a loving mother, and a friend to the many people in the house of God today..” The pastor’s voice slowly faded out of Nathan’s ears, and was soon replaced by the sound of his mother’s whispering.

Nathan

Nathan

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and Nathan checked it. The name that showed up on the phone was “Charlotte Hargrove”.

Nathan stared at the phone for a moment before standing up and running outside, ignoring the whispers that followed.

The weeks to come weren’t any easier for Nathan. He was Charlotte’s only son and as such, the only one who cared enough to claim responsibility for everything that needed to be done. Moving out, picking up the death certificate and meeting with the life insurance company would all be too difficult to face on his own, so he asked Jerry to join him. Ever since they were little children, Nathan could count on Jerry to have his back in a pinch. Jerry even got Nathan his first opportunity to work with him at Echotech as an intern.

“We can start looking for something more permanent tomorrow. After we finish here, I have an overnight shift tonight” Jerry said while dropping a large box into the living room of his condo.

“I appreciate you letting me stay here man, I couldn’t sit up in that big house by myself any longer”. Nathan said.

“I appreciate you giving me some of that life insurance money for rent, and your help with the dishes, and I really appreciate you ignoring any loud noises you hear coming from my room at night” Jerry said with a laugh.

An hour later, Jerry left for work and Nathan planted himself in front of Jerry’s tv which sit in his wall. Unimpressed by it’s limited options, Nathan turned it off and decided he should pick up a book and engage his mind more.

The phone rang.

Nathan put the book down and checked his phone, it had been a full month since the last time he saw his mom’s name on the phone, but there it was again. Nathan answered the phone this time and immediately began shouting at the receiver.

“Who is this? Why are you fucking with me?”

The voice on the other end was garbled and distorted, Nathan could only make out a few words.

“Coming.. Back.. to Get.. You”

“Stop fucking calling me, I swear to god”

Nathan pressed end on the phone and tossed it into the couch, he grabbed his jacket and the keys Jerry left on the countertop before walking out the door.

Nathan stood in the elevator, wondering who could be playing this kind of joke on him. He didn’t keep many friends, and Jerry wouldn’t do something this distasteful to his own family. Closing his eyes made Charlotte appear and he heard her voice whenever it was quiet.

Nathan opened his eyes and saw the elevator doors open, on the other side of the lobby’s door was a woman that made him gasp sharply. She was incredible; tall and beautiful, with thick, long dreadlocks and despite the sadness in her eyes or the frown on her face, Nathan felt obligated to speak to her.

Nathan walked over to the lobby door only to hear the girl pleading into the speakerphone with someone who clearly wasn’t willing to listen. 

“Can you just fucking let me in? I just want to tal—I’ll wait til you get back. PLEASE”

Nathan pushed the door open and held it for her.

“Oh my god, thank you.” She said walking towards the elevator.                                                                                

“Is everything okay?” Nathan asked

“No, my boyf—nevermind, you don’t need to deal with this”

“Well actually, I could use a break from my own issues” he said with a smile and gestured her towards the elevator that had just arrived.

Nathan was enamored with her beauty, so much that he forgot all about going for a walk to clear his head or the phone call that drove him from the condo. She explained to him that her boyfriend and her got into a fight because of some guy in her kick boxing class. Nathan listened and threw in a “oh wow” every now and then so she wouldn’t be weirded out by his staring.

The two of them got up to her boyfriend’s condo on the ninth floor, the same as Jerry’s, and tried the door. It was locked and her key wasn’t working but she kept at it. After about a minute or so, in an attempt to break the awkward silence, Nathan asked her if she wanted to have a drink with him. It would calm her down and then they could come back once her boyfriend returned. She reluctantly agreed and the two of them went over to Jerry’s condo.

“So, what’s your name anyway?” Nathan asked after a half an hour of wine, realizing he had invited this stranger into his cousin’s home without even knowing her name.

“It’s Cher, like the singer.. Except, I’m a caregiver at Oakwood nursing home”

“Nathan, Hargrove, I work at Echotech”

“Nice to meet you Nathan Hargrove of Echotech” she said while sipping her glass of wine.

Nathan wanted to mention that her name reminded him of his mom, but felt like it was a little out of place with a woman he was interested in. She was stunning and that’s all he could focus on, he almost didn’t even notice the shadow dancing behind her. He put his glass down and stood up to see over her head, but the shadow had disappeared.

“Are you alright,” asked Cher

He opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sudden, blaring noise coming from his pocket.

The phone rang.

“My bad, thought I turned this off” he said while turning his phone off.

“Well? I’d like it for at least one man to give me his full attention today” she joked playfully.

She looked him in the eyes and put her wine glass down before leaning in to kiss him. The two began tearing at one another while leaving the kitchen and making their way to the bedroom.

Cher fell asleep shortly after they finished, and Nathan sat up thinking about how lucky he was to have scored a woman that fine.

Your fault

“Who’s there?” He asked the dark room. Nathan got up out of the bed in his underwear looking around for the culprit until once again, the phone rang.

He picked up the phone and groaned loudly at it before denying the call and tossing it away, it fell into the hoodie he had on earlier and vibrated inside of it for a bit more before going quiet.

The ringing woke up Cher and she watched him standing there muttering under his breath, with his fists clenched. He was pacing back and forth and talking to himself, so she slid out of the bed and picked up her clothes.

“I think-- I think I’m gonna go now. Are you gonna be okay?” she asked nervously.

Nathan ignored her, too focused on how angry he was and too afraid he might say something out of anger. Cher waited for an answer for a few seconds more, then left.

Nathan shouted at the top of his lungs before falling to his knees and crying himself to sleep.

Nathan woke up the next day with a splitting headache and enough regret to put him back into the funk he was in before meeting Cher. It had only been one night, but after a night like that, Nathan owed it to himself as well as her to apologize for his weirdo behavior and hope she still wanted to get to know him.

Jerry staggered through the door at 8 am the next morning, he dropped his shoulder bag on the ground and slumped over onto his couch face first. Nathan walked into the living room and then to the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal.

“Hey bro you gonna be able to get some of that shit on the list done?” he said while rubbing his temples.

“mm later, fuck off” Jerry said groggily.

“Alright man, just remember to get that shit done before I get back home.” Said Nathan walking to the door.

He was sick of the taunting from this mystery caller, so on his way to the nursing home that Cher worked at, he decided it was time to call his service provider.  He picked up his phone to dial but was interrupted when the phone began to ring once more.

He denied the call, but it rang again, and again when he denied it afterwards. Nathan turned his phone off and put it back in his pocket.

Later, at the nursing home, Nathan strolled through the halls looking for the beautiful Cher in hopes of apologizing. He finally spotted her walking with her lunch tray towards a round table in the cafe, he noticed her nametag said “Cheryl” and he laughed to himself. Duh.

“Nathan.. What are you doing here?” she asked sitting down to eat.

“I wanted to apologize for last night, I uh—”

“You got a call from your girlfriend and felt guilty, I get it. You’re a man, we don’t even—”

“No, I swear, it was a prank call. That’s why I’m here, you were having a rough night and that couldn’t have helped. Is there anyway you’ll give me a chance to make up for it?” Nathan asked.

“Ill think about it.” She said playfully shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth.

“Think about it over some more wine back at my place, tonight” Nathan replied.

“Oh you mean your cousin’s?’

“Yeah, but I just came into a boat load of mo—”

“I'm joking, I’ll see you later. Is it okay if I finish my food now, sir? Sheesh” she said laughing.

Nathan smiled and turned to walk away when he felt a familiar vibrating in his pocket.

The phone rang.

Nathan shut his eyes and counted to five, he did some breathing exercises he had earlier found on Youtube that he thought might help. When he opened them, he saw what looked like the outline of his mother’s head, attached to someone sitting down a few tables away from him. The person had their phone to their ear and Nathan raced over to confront them.

Unfortunately for Nathan, it was not his mother. He apologized for scaring the poor old woman speaking to her nephew and headed home.

He felt like he was losing his mind, he saw his mother everywhere, and heard her voice almost constantly throughout the day. Jerry was gone when he arrived back at the condo, Nathan paced up and down, occasionally throwing things around in anger.

He dialed the number back, but no one answered and so he threw the phone at Jerry’s bed.

Nathan was sweating, he tugged at his collar and went over to the window to open it. Once there, he took a few deep breaths and looked at the world below.

The phone rang.

Nathan shouted. He went over and answered it.

“IF YOU DON’T FUCKING—”

“Hey, im downstairs” Replied Cher.

He forgot that he invited her over. Nathan buzzed her up and went about trying to set everything straight before she arrived.

“Hey again, haha” he said nervously.

“Is everything good? No girls hiding in the closet?”

“No, none of that. Just us haha” said Nathan.

The two of them sat and enjoyed another bottle of wine from Jerry’s cabinet, and before long, Nathan forgot all about the phone call.

“Okay, if I don’t use the bathroom soon, I won’t have a choice in the matter” she said walking to the bathroom.

Nathan grabbed his phone from the countertop and turned the screen on.

There was an image text from his mother’s phone. It was a picture of the two of them hugging.

The phone rang.

Nathan answered.

“Coming.. to you..” the distorted voice said.

“IM RIGHT FUCKING HERE OKAY, IM NOT AFRAID OF YOU”

The phone hung up.

Charlotte Hargrove appeared in front of Nathan again.

“Wretched boy, this is all your fault” She bellowed.

“Mom? No, you—”

“Dead? You’d like that wouldn’t you, you nasty little bastard child. So, you can get all my money, so you don’t have to take care of poor old mom anymore”

It’s all in your my head, you’re imagining this, Nathan. He thought to himself.

“I will NEVER leave you, boy. I gave you life and I can—”

“NO, YOU’RE DEAD, I KILLED YOU” he shouted holding his head.

Cher heard the commotion and peaked through the bathroom door.

She watched as Nathan ran towards the window and stuck his head outside of it.

“Nathan? What is happening?!”

“I can’t fucking take it anymore! LEAVE ME ALONE YOU BITCH” he shouted at the air

Cher shut the bathroom door again, fearful he might turn his anger towards her.

About a minute later, she peaked her head out once more, but into an empty room.

“Hello?”

Silence.

The phone rang, it read “Charlotte Hargrove”

Cher bent over to pick it up and answered it.

“Hello, is this Nathan?”

“No, I’m his friend Cher. I think he stepped out.”

“Oh well, I believe I found his mother’s phone. I’ve been trying to reach him since the funeral, but I dropped it and couldn’t read his number through the cracked screen.”

Cher straightened up and walked over to the window to close it, the wind whipping the curtains made it hard for her to hear.

She heard screams from the first floor and looked out to see Nathan’s disfigured body lying on the ground below with a pool of blood around him.

Cher screamed.