Wrong number

“Hello Jose, is it you?” asked an older female voice

A voice expressed in confusion from the other side of the call “No, my name is Pedro, I think you called the wrong number”

“What did you say? Can’t hear you, it seems the phone line is not working properly”

“My Name is Pedro”

“What?”

“PEDRO! I AM PEDRO! NOT JOSE, PEDRO!”

“Ah alright, Pedro. Sorry, I keep confusing you and your brother, I think my old age is finally catching up to me”

“I don’t have a brother” – said Jose while facepalming knowing this would be a long call – “Listen I think you got the wrong number”

“No I didn’t. It was Fernanda who gave me this number to call”

“Who is Fernanda? What is going on?” Pedro said as he wanted to hang up but his curiosity didn’t allow him to do so

“Fernanda the pharmacist, not to be confused with Fernanda the 1^st grade teacher, you know that annoying lady with three kids that keeps talking and talking, she is really not aware sometimes when she should be…”

Jose Talked interrupted “Listen I don’t know any Fernanda or any Jose…My name is Pedro, I live alone…” he said as he was looking at his cat “Well not alone, but I haven’t seen anyone from my family in ages”

“Oh that’s unfortunate. My name is Eugenia. I am sixty two years old, I used to be a receptionist in the Santa Luz hospital until I met my husband Manuel in the Macedonia café, you know, the one I used to go everyday before I met him not to be confused with the one on Alameda street… Hello? I think the line is not working again, did you leave the call?”

“No, I’m here” – said Pedro annoyed

“Ah good, well as I was saying…”

“Listen Eugenia, I don’t want to be rude, but there must be a reason for you to be calling me, I mean Jose. Are you sure you dialed the right number?”

“Hmm well I am not sure, hold on here I will get my reading glasses”

For some minutes, the only thing Pedro could hear was some grunts, furniture moving and some inaudible complaining until finally he heard Eugenia getting closer.

“Hello Pedro? Are you there? I have my reading glasses now”

“Good, can you read the number back to me, do you have it in a note paper or something?”

“Oh right the paper! I forgot! Hold on! I will get it”

Again the same searching procedure repeated, and Pedro kept wondering what did he do wrong lately for destiny to keep testing his patience.

“Ok, Pedro are you there? I have the paper”

“Great…” said Pedro sarcastically “ Can you read the numbers?

“I can try. Lord be praised, Fernanda’s handwriting is terrible, I’m wondering if all pharmacists are all like this, I remember the pharmacist on Avenida Bemvinda street was the same, he was a very nice fella but also has a terrible handwriting, I’m starting to think that maybe it is….”

“Eugenia please lets focus on the task ahead”

“Ah sure, you are right. Ok I will do this now” She slowly moved the paper until she could read it and then started ”Well I see a 9… I see a 6… now a 4….”

While Eugenia was slowly reading the phone number back to him, Pedro was biting is thumb with the same nervous tick as he developed since he was a kid. When she finished reading then Pedro was happy because he found out the problem and as a consequence he could leave this call that was tormenting him.

“Ah Eugenia I see you did a mistake there, my number ends in 6, the number you just said ends in 5”

“Ah marvelous, So… What am I supposed to do now Pedro?”

While Pedro covered the speaker of his phone he let out a small scream

“Eugenia” he breathed deeply “You just need dial the number that is on your paper, exactly how it is written, do not end it in 6, you need to end it in a 5”

“Thank you my darling. I profoundly appreciate your help, I will pray for you later”

“Alright Eugenia thank you, hope you have a nice day”

“You too my darling! May God bless you!”

As he hung up the call he looked at his cat and spoke to him like it was going to understand what he was saying.

“Well Ginger, It’s not even eleven AM and I want to jump out of my window already” He then looked around his living room “Oh look at your bowl, you need more food don’t you?”

As he filled Ginger’s bowl with cat food that he bought the previous day, he then sat down on his sofa and started to read one of his books.

As peace was finally setting on his mind and he was starting to fall asleep, his landline phone rang again, only thirty minutes after his first phone call of the day.

“What in the….Please don’t tell me it is…”

He walked fasted to the desk where his phone was when he picked it up he quickly answered:

“Hello, This is PEDRO, who is this?”

“Hello my darling it’s me, Eugenia.”

Pedro’s eyes got bigger and he stared at his wall not believing he had to go through this again.

“Eugenia, I think you dialed the wrong number again”

“No I didn’t, I dialed the right one you see, but I kept getting no answer I think the phone number doesn’t work, I kept introducing myself but I couldn’t hear anything. I’m just an old lady, I don’t understand these new technologies maybe you know more than me because you have similar phone numbers”

“How would I know? Just because I have similar phone number doesn't mean I know what’s wrong with other peoples’ numbers”

“Is that so? Oh that’s a shame, I don’t know what to do now then”

Silence once again in the conversation until Pedro spoke up again

“Eugenia listen, I can call that number myself just to see if it works maybe you have an issue with your phone or something I am not sure what is going on but I can at least try”

“Oh you would do that? Thank you my darling! Pedro you are a blessing to me. I know once I heard your name you would solve my problems, you know there’s a saint with your name? Sao Pedro it is  his name, he used to help fishermen to find their way back home, I am not a fisherman but…”

“Alright Eugenia you can tell me later about it, I will call that number now, I will let you know later, Goodbye”

“Goodbye my darling!”

As Pedro gained dialed the number, a voice could be heard from the other side:

“Hello who is this?”

“Hi, are you Jose?”

“Yes I am, and who are you?”

“My name is Pedro, listen I think your grandmother or mother called you, her name is Eugenia”

“I know… I can’t stand that old witch”

“Excuse me?”

“Yes you heard it right, I don’t want to do anything with her and I am only waiting for her to die”

Pedro was confused with the caller’s aggression and tried to defuse the situation

“What is wrong with Eugenia? She seems like a nice person to me”

“A nice person wouldn’t take out her own SON from her will, I know she always liked my brother more than me, but what she did was unforgivable, my brother is not living in the same country as us and he gets all benefits! She accuses me of stealing but I only took the money for other expenses you see! After all I did to help her and she thanks like this? I should have cleaned all from her bank account!”

“Well Jose... She’s trying to reach you, maybe to make peace with you. There’s a reason she called you”

“And there’s also a reason why I’m not answering her. If you call again I will look for you, you bastard!” – Jose said as he hung up the call

Pedro stayed motionless once again staring at his wall and after digesting what he had been told, he called Eugenia once again.

“Hello Eugenia this is Pedro”

“Hello my darling! So did the phone number work?”

Pedro took some time speak  “I have bad news for you. The phone number doesn’t work for me also”

“Oh that’s a shame, I really wanted to reach him”

“ You said you have another son, have you tried reaching him?”

“ My other son, his name is also Pedro, he lives abroad with his wife in Denmark, I have been there once in the winter and twice in the summer, I do prefer the summer but in the winter the streets are so beautiful with all the lights and decorations… I think I lost his number.”

“Hold on, maybe I can help you, do you need something?”

“You can help me? That’s marvelous! I need some help me with some of my tasks, I have been having some back pain I can barely walk nowadays. Usually Jose was helping me but now that I am alone everything is so hard. I really wanted to ask someone for help but with my old age there’s not many people left that I know of”

“Sure I will help, where do you live?”

“In the  flat 52 in 22^nd Vitoria street”

“I live close by. I will meet you in an hour”

“Thank you darling, I will make you some tea when you get here”

“That sounds lovely”

As he hung up Pedro hurried up to meet Eugenia.