I'm -not- okay

Summer 2021, Week 4, Sunday early morning

Phone Call

Paige Nelson

To: Auntie Greg As soon as she opened Twitter that morning, Paige saw the flood of articles about the battle of Henry the night before. Clicking on one of them, she assumed she'd see the usual - "big bad Evos" doing "big bad Evo" things - but the first sentence made her heart skip. "Lucius Hawke, alias Blood Bolt, is said to be the perpetrator behind the battle that turned Henry into a firefight last night." 'No way. No fucking way.' She read the rest of it is as quickly as she could and then Paige closed the app and pounded the phone icon. Auntie Greg was at the top of the list. She clicked on his contact and dialed his cell. 'Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.' she repeated over and over as she waited.

Greg

To: Little Paige The phone rang once, twice, three times and threatened to go to voicemail before it answered. The other line was silent for a moment before asking one word in a familiar sounding gruff voice. "Yes?"

Paige Nelson

"Hey Auntie Greg, it's Paige. You know, the little shit with a big mouth. Is it really him? Did he really get locked up?"

Greg

A short pause. “Yeah, kid. Yeah he did. Lucky that was the only thing they did to him.” Some grumbling off the phone about the fucking EHEA.

Paige Nelson

"Is... Is he like, gonna be okay or what?"

Greg

“No idea. We’re—I’m trying to put things together so I can look into that. It’s gonna take time.”

Paige Nelson

"What do you need me to do? I'll do whatever. You guys are the only adults that didn't ignore me, abuse me, or treat me like a dumb kid. He must've... just... he must've had a bad day or something. A really bad day."

Greg

“I need you to stay safe, Paige. Things are…they’re not gonna be good for us. Our types. So make sure you’re safe. And if you need me, you call. I’ll be…away but nearby. Understand?”

Paige Nelson

"Away? The fuck? You can't go away now! Are you kidding me?! So I'm just supposed to sit here. Nah. I can't do that. I have do something."

Greg

A muffled sigh over the phone. “Away as in if anyone asks ya, I went away. But I’ll still be ‘ere. Come on, little one. Gotta think. But you don’t need to be doing nothing on your own. That’s how you’re liable to get hurt, and I won’t have that. I got things covered here. No worries.”

Paige Nelson

"Fine. Whatever. I guess call me if you hear anything. Have fun on your staycation." She hung up without giving him a chance to respond.

Type

Record, Historical

Medium

Digital Recording, Text