Chapter Text
Once the girl sitting next to him in the Greyhound station falls asleep, Elmer pulls out his cell phone. He taps a familiar phone number into it.
But he doesn’t press “call” just yet.
He stares down at the number—smiles down at it. Of course. But there’s something caught in his chest, and it’s going to come out if he presses the call button, and he doesn’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. He runs his thumb over the button again and again. The screen goes blank, and he wakes it up again to stare at the number some more. Finally his thumb comes down on the button, and he lifts the phone to his ear.
It rings twice before it picks up, and Monica’s voice asks, “Elmer?”
Good old caller ID. “Hey, Moni-Moni,” he says, the words easy enough. “Is Huey around? I have a question for both of you. It’s quick, I promise.”
“Sure, just a second.” Her voice is strange. He hears her call for Huey and then turn the headset to speakerphone. “We’re here, Elmer. What’s up?”
He’s figured out what’s wrong with her voice. It’s strained—weird-cheerful. A fake smile kind of voice. But he doesn’t think of cheering her up, right now; instead he thinks of bared teeth and crinkled eyes and sobs of terror that had tried so hard to be laughter. For a second, he’s forgetting to breathe.
“Elmer?”
That’s Huey’s voice, intense and concerned. Definitely not smiling now, and Elmer can’t even begin to think how to change that, can’t imagine a reassurance or a stupid joke or anything but the question he called to ask, which comes out in a voice that doesn’t sound like his at all—
“Um… Can I come home?”