The Writer’s Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire and various fiction and non-fiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com.
Two Calls, One Life by Allison Hambrick
Mona straightened up, took a deep breath, and trekked across the room. The closer she got, the less she could see of the brother she knew. 17 years old, yet scrunched up in that bed he looked like a baby. A stillborn. The very thought sent a shiver down Mona’s spine.
When she reached Eddie, instinct told her to take his hand. Mona knew he couldn’t feel it, but she could. He shifted his gaze toward his older sister. A crooked smile overtook his face. In that moment, Mona could see the little boy she’d helped raise. He opened his mouth as if to speak, though he could only muster a labored moan.
“I’m here, Eddie.”
The smile returned, and so did the little boy it belonged to. The same boy who cried after catching a june bug. The same boy who Roger and their other brother, Jan, tormented throughout his childhood. The boy she vowed to protect from the minute she first held him.
Jay stood beside Mona, tentatively reaching his arm around her shoulders. Mama Ethel plopped into a chair near the door, the exhaustion of the past few hours catching up to her.
“Hey there, Ed. Still more handsome than Roger, huh?”
Mona leaned into Jay, thinking about the ordinary night they’d planned on having and the mostly full plates sitting in their kitchen. Sighing, she turned to Mama Ethel.
“You need to go home, Mama. You’re exhausted.”
“I’m not gonna leave my baby,” Mama Ethel replied.
“You’ve got two more babies waiting in the lobby. They’re tired, and so is Daddy. Go home,” Mona asserted, “And you, Jay. Go home, clean the kitchen, sleep. You can call Lockheed in the morning to explain. There’s no need for both of us to stay.”
Jay started to speak, but he thought better of arguing with his wife. He stepped over to Mama Ethel and extended a hand.
“Can you give me a moment alone with my daughter?’ said Mama Ethel.
“Sure, Ma’am,” Jay spoke, turning to wink at his wife, “I love you. Don’t hesitate to call when you need me.”
Making sure Jay was out of earshot, Mama Ethel leaned in toward Mona.
“You don’t need to stay here, Mona. I will.”
“Mama, you’ve got Kathy and Roger to look after, not to mention Daddy. Being here is the least I can do.”
“Daddy is a big boy, and so is Roger. They can look after themselves and Kathy.”
“Eddie wouldn’t want you to put yourself out,” said Mona.
“How would you know? Last I checked, Eddie is my baby, not yours,” Mama Ethel retorted.
Mona looked away from her mother, trying not to show how much the remark stung.
“Look, you have two babies at home. Jan has his girls. Miriam has Tim. I don’t have a baby at home to take care of,” Mona replied.
“Mona, I didn’t mean”
“You know what you said,” Mona interrupted, “But it doesn’t matter. You know I’m right and that you have to go.”
Mama Ethel hugged Mona around the waist. Mona’s arms remained at her side.
“Thank you,” Mama Ethel remarked, “And for what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
Mama Ethel exited, and Mona turned to her brother with a sigh.
The first night Mona spent in the hospital was the longest; each subsequent day blending into the last. Eddie slept in short stretches, and Mona made an effort to be awake whenever he was. Roger would stop by after school, and Selma brought Mona supper every night she was there. She felt guilty eating in front of Eddie, so she’d step into the hall to eat sitting on the floor.
On the fifth day, Eddie took a turn for the worse. His breaths were shallow, and his complexion took on a yellow hue. Wanting to comfort him but unsure of what to do, Mona climbed into the bed, reaching her arm around her younger brother.
“Y’know, Eddie. You were the only one I was afraid I’d miss when I got married the first time. Such a sweet boy and cute as a button, too,” Mona stated, tears welling up in her eyes, “I always said you’d grow up to be a heartbreaker. Looks like Mama but a heart like Daddy.”
She carefully rested her head on his chest.
“I should’ve listened to you back then. Always been a good judge of character. Maybe if I had, then things would be different. You wouldn’t be here, and we’d both be happier, but do you want to know a secret, Ed? Not even Mama knows.”
Mona leaned up so that she could look Eddie in the eyes.
“Jay and I, we want to have a baby. Can you imagine it? Me, a mother?” Mona said, “After Earl, we didn’t think it’d be possible, but Preacher George said there’s so many babies out there, just waiting for mamas.”
Eddie smiled.
“I just know you’ll be a great uncle. I mean, you already are, but to my baby, you would be amazing,” whispered Mona. Before she could stop them, tears came flowing down her face, “You’ll make a fine father, too, one day. Just like Daddy is.”
The smile disappeared from Eddie’s face, and he furrowed his brow.
“Oh, Eddie, it just isn’t fair. It wasn’t meant to happen this way. You’re supposed to get a long healthy, happy life,” cried Mona, “I’m the oldest. I’m the one who’s made mistakes. For Heaven’s sake, I wire planes for a living. It should have been me. I’d trade places with you if I could.”
“You’d be a fool,” Eddie mumbled, his voice raspy and barely audible. Mona gasped, and her tears escalated into sobs. She nestled into his chest, crying herself to sleep. Her face relaxed as she temporarily forgot her worries.
The peace wouldn’t last; the ringing of a phone would once again disrupt it.
“Hello,” Mona said, keeping her voice low, “Eddie Jennings’s room.”
“Hello, Mona. It’s Preacher George.”
“Hey, George. Is something wrong?”
“No, ma’am. In fact, something is right,” answered Preacher George.
“Oh?” Mona questioned.
“We’ve got you a girl.”
“What?”
“Mona, you’re going to be a mother.”
Mona slammed the phone onto the hook, hoisting herself off the bed.
“Eddie?” Mona called out, receiving a groan in response, “I’m having a baby.”
Eddie smiled his lazy half-grin. Mona felt like bursting into song, until she had a realization.
“I hung up on Preacher George!”
Mona dialed the familiar number and was informed by Preacher George that Jay was coming to get her. They were going to go home with a baby that same night.
A few long hours later, Mona found herself outside of a red brick courthouse, Jay by her side. Her feet felt like cinderblocks. Her mind raced. What if she wasn’t a good mother? What if the baby hated her? What if she hated the baby? Worse, what if someone took her baby? What if something horrible happened to her little girl?
After walking through the door, Mona collapsed into the nearest chair. The beige cinderblock room seemed to be spinning. She told Jay to go in without her, and after some resistance, he obliged. She sat with her head on her knees, trying to compose herself, until she heard her husband’s voice.
“Mona, meet your daughter.”
Mona slowly stood up, met with a pair of blue eyes and a smaller pair of green eyes. The baby’s skin was smooth and pale. Her hair was a deep, rich brown, and it was full of so much static that it stood straight up. Mona was in love. Looking into that small face, she knew: this was her baby. Jay and Mona were no longer just a couple; they were a family.
After Jay handed Mona the baby, he never thought she’d give her back. Mona spent the whole night just holding her. She debated driving down to Whitesburg Hospital, so Eddie could meet his niece, but she feared exposing her daughter to disease. The odds were against anything catastrophic occurring, but then again, she had spent many an afternoon walking the very same path that inevitably cost her brother his life.
Mona decided her decision could wait another day. Eddie had survived this long, hadn’t he?
Jay heard first, from Mona’s sister Miriam, who heard from Mama Ethel. No one was with Eddie when it happened. Jay didn’t tell Mona that part. She didn’t know what to feel. Mona cried tears of joy for her daughter, while mourning her brother. The thought that leaving him alone cost him his life plagued her, even though she knew Eddie didn’t have long after that nasty accident.
“I never wanted to trade lives,” Mona confided in her husband.
“You didn’t; it was tragic, what happened, but we have to believe there was a reason.”
“What reason could there be for someone that young to lose his life?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find out. Maybe we never will. One thing is for certain: Eddie’s life meant something, short as it was. So does yours. So does mine.”
“So will hers,” Mona resolved.
