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“Excuse me for a moment, please.”
“No problem.”
She stepped to the side and answered. “Hello?”
“Good morning, how are you?”
It was her sister, Desiree.
Claudia braced herself for a fight. It never failed with Desiree. She’d start out pleasant then turn into a tyrant.
“I’m fine, how about yourself?”
“I’m good. How’s mom?” Desiree asked.
“Also, fine.”
“I’m coming to see her this weekend.”
Creases ran across Claudia’s forehead. “Okay, will that be Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?”
“It will be Friday, and I’ll be leaving out on Sunday.”
“Staying for a full weekend this time, nice.”
“If you have something to say, just say it. I don’t want to fight with you in front of mom.”
“Hey, I’m not looking for a fight at all.”
“You know I can hardly get time off at work.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have implied otherwise,” Claudia said.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
“I’m in the middle of something so if there isn’t anything else,” Claudia stated.
“Too busy to talk to your big sis for a change?”
This time Claudia folded her arms. “What would you like to discuss?”
“Has mom been taking her pills?”
“That’s what you want to talk about?”
“It’s just a question.”
Claudia had the feeling that Desiree had something on her mind but wasn’t in a rush to spit it out.
“Whenever I’m there to shove them down her throat. On the other hand, no.”
“Well, when aren’t you there?”
“Hmmm,” Claudia put a finger to her lip. “How about when I’m at work, or at the grocery store or doing something else adults do.”
“Or busy out on a date,” Desiree stated matter of fact.
Claudia closed her eyes and sighed, here we go, she thought. “What exactly are you implying, Desiree? Just come on and get it out of your system because we both know this isn’t a friendly call.”