Reconnecting With The World

Chapter 24

My mom finally returns to the room. My father has found the match and is making his famous sound effects, as if he were also in the ring with the contestants. 

My mother rolls her eyes as she stands contemplatively by the door. She soon glances over at me. I flash a welcoming smile, making her more comfortable settling back into the room. 

"Did you find the nurse."

"I did." She pauses. "Well, I don't know about y'all. But that's all she wrote for me."

"Get some sleep mom." 

My father places his hand on her thigh without breaking eye contact with the match. She grins her direction before tucking herself in and reclining her chair. 

My father and I watch the match silently as my mother proceeds to fall asleep. We bond over our shared excitement. Each round, it's as if the other contestant takes the lead. It's a good match. Eventually, a commercial breaks out. My dad looks over to me.

 "You want anything to drink hun?"

"Gatorade would be good."

"Anything else?"

"That's all dad."

"Okay, be right back then!"

He hops up excitedly. Working a physical job most of his life, sitting still is not his strong suit. I realize that these "water" and "bathroom" breaks are an opportunity for him to relieve some stress. As he leaves the room, I reach for my mother's purse sitting on the ground and attempt to search for my phone. Just as I suspected, she's managed to tuck it away into a zipper. And it's just as I've left it.

I attempt to power on the phone. It turns on swiftly. The battery is preserved as it seems the phone has been off the entire time. I wait for the notifications to load. Immediately, I receive email notifications from school. The first letter is from the Bursar's office. The subject line reads: 

"Final Notice"

I sigh before proceeding to open the email and read the body paragraph.

"Dear Ms. Keruvim,

It it to my understanding that you've acquired more than the limited amount of unexcused absences available per semester. As a result, you are in jeopardy of being dropped from classes. 

Please get back to us in a timely manner so that we can resolve this matter. Otherwise, I'm afraid that we will have to take disciplinary measures.

Kindly,

Dean Everton"

I quickly close the email in fear that my father might see it. I never really wanted to go for my masters. But I felt like I owed it to my parents as the first to be born in America. My family has always been obsessed with the idea of education. And the thought of letting them down creates a level of shame that I could hardly put into words.

Text messages and Social Media notifications start to pop up. Pauly has messaged me excessively. Various text messages, sent every couple of days begin to fill my notification bar. A few drunk calls and texts from Ethan happen to take second place. What catches my attention, however, is an Instagram notification. I have gone off grid since ending my relationship with Ethan and have created a burner account that very few people know about. I notice that an unfamiliar account has liked a photo from 34 weeks ago.

I click on the account and proceed to lurk. A handsome, multi racial man pops up on my feed. He is well dressed and often seen posing alone. He seems to dress fancily, and tends to photograph in dimly lit, romantic settings. I scoff for a moment. 

"Who is this, Casanova?"

And yet, I can't see, to take my eyes off of his page. I continue to scroll. I notice the man has an organization that he spend a lot of time in. The link is on his Instagram bio. I click on the link, it leads to a site where various men are women are photographed feeding impoverished children. 

At the top of the site, there is a tab that reads, "Click here to Join us live for this Sunday's Sermon." I glance at the link hesitantly. It's Saturday night and I'm stuck in a hospital, unable to move, eat, or even use the bathroom freely. What else do I have to do? I click on the link and proceed to sign up for the Sermon, filling out all required information.

By the time I complete the questionnaire, I'm exhausted and happen to fall asleep.