Page 10 of His Atonement

Odd.

Odd.

"Fuck!" One tear breaks free and rolls down to my chin, splashes on the counter next to my phone and I angrily snatch it, then swipe to my favorites and blink.

Granny.

Allie.

That's it.

No other favorite, hardly any other contacts at all anymore.

And now it's just Al.

I tap her name and watch until it switches fromcallingto the seconds before I listen to it ring, hoping she answers on the third one.

But she doesn't, so I hang up just before the fourth and call again.

Watch.

Wait.

One.

Two.

"Hey, Frank!" my cousin chirps down the line. "Were your ears ringing? Andrej and I were just—"

"Allie?" My voice sounds so small, so shaken and weak even to my own ears.

"Frankie?" Her tone is more serious now. "Frankie, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Allie… Allie, Granny, she's… Granny's gone, Allie."

"Oh no… " Allie sobs down the line, her cries barely muffled by what I'm assuming is her hand. "W-when?"

I sigh as another tear rolls down my cheek. "Just about an hour ago. It was peaceful, and quiet, just me and her. She wasn't in any pain. She just... just closed her eyes with a smile, said she loved her girls and she'd make sure to give Gramps a kiss for each of us." My tears flow a little freer now as I listen to my cousin cry, but then I smile. "Then she started humming “Another One Bites the Dust” until she passed."

Allie snorts into the phone in between sobs. "Had to get in one last good one, didn't she?"

"She did.” I pick at the chip on the counter, the one I made when I hit it with a cast iron skillet. "We talked about you all morning. Talked about you and Daisy and Lily. How glad she was that you and Andrej brought the girls to see us. She liked Andrej so much."

"I kn-knew she would. I'm really glad they got to meet."

"Granny was too. She was so happy for you, Al. Happy that you found someone that loves you the way you deserve, that loves your girls more than anything." And she hated that I'm alone, that I don't have what Allie has, that I don't have anyone now that she's gone and they're so far away. "She was so proud of you."

"Granny was proud of you too, Frank." Allie sniffles. "When we visited she went on and on about the photos you sent into National Geographic, and wouldn't shut up about your talent." Then she chuckles a bit. "She was pissed you turned down a second spread, though."

Yeah, well, no point in committing to something like that when there's no guarantee I'd make it to the deadline.

We sit quietly for a few minutes, only the sound of our cries periodically breaking the silence, then after a beat, Allie does.

"What are you gonna do, Frankie?"

I sigh. "I'm not totally sure. Granny wanted me to sell the house, her car, give away all of her shit except for what we want. She wanted me to move on with my life and try to find what makes me happy, but I don't know."

"You should do that, Frank. Sell everything, get rid of it all and start a new chapter somewhere." Allie pauses and I'm pretty sure I know what's coming next. "You could always move up here. We would love to have you, I would love it so much. There's plenty of room, lots of property and places to live close by… "