Chapter 3: The Call That Changed Everything
Maya chose a diner with fogged windows and red vinyl booths, two blocks from the school. Jason got there early and waited near the door, where he could see the sidewalk without looking like he was watching for her.
When she came in, she scanned the room before taking off her backpack.
“You came alone,” she said.
“I did.”
She picked a booth near the front window. Jason slid in across from her, leaving the menu between them. The place smelled of coffee, fryer oil, and warm bread. A server came by with water and two menus.
Maya looked at the menu for a long time.
“Take your time,” Jason said.
“I am.”
He stopped himself from asking what she wanted. She knew what she wanted, or she didn’t. Either way, the choice was hers.
At last, she pointed to a grilled-cheese sandwich and a cup of soup. Jason ordered the same, then set his menu aside.
“You don’t have to copy me,” she said.
“I know. I like grilled cheese.”
She gave him a doubtful look, but a small line of tension eased between her eyebrows.
The server left. Maya kept both hands around her water glass.
“Grandma said I wasted the laptop money,” she said.
Jason’s stomach tightened. He kept his voice even. “What did she say happened?”
“She said you sent money for a laptop, and I blew it. That I didn’t care about anything you did for me.” Maya rubbed a thumb against the glass. “She said I was irresponsible, like always.”
“Did you get a laptop?”
“No.”
The word sat between them, plain and final.
Jason looked out the window. Across the street, a bus hissed at the curb and pulled away. He wanted to ask where the money went, what Evelyn had bought, what else she had hidden. He also knew Maya wasn’t a witness he could cross-examine until the truth came out.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Maya’s gaze sharpened. “You say that a lot.”
“I know.”
“Sorry doesn’t tell me what happened.”
“No.” He met her eyes. “It doesn’t.”
The food arrived. Maya ate carefully at first, as if she were waiting for someone to tell her she’d chosen wrong. Then she broke off a corner of her sandwich and dipped it into the soup.
Her phone vibrated against the table.
Maya flinched. She turned it over. A name lit the screen, then vanished. The phone buzzed again.
“You don’t have to answer,” Jason said.
“I have to tell her where I am.”
“Every time?”
Maya shrugged, but the movement looked practiced. “If I don’t, she asks.”
The phone buzzed a third time. Maya silenced it and placed it facedown beside her plate.
“She’ll keep calling,” she said. “Then she’ll say I made her worry.”
Jason felt anger rise, hot and familiar. This time, he didn’t let it choose his next words.
“Would you like me to answer if she calls again?”
Maya stared at him. “Why?”
“So she can hear where you are from you. Not because I want to fight with her.”
“You said you wouldn’t confront her behind my back.”
“I did. You’re right here. And it’s your phone. If you want me to answer, I will. If you don’t, I won’t.”
She studied him, then nudged the phone a few inches toward the middle of the table.
“If she calls again,” she said. “Just answer.”
The next ring came before either of them could pick up a fork. Maya’s shoulders jumped. Jason waited for her to change her mind. She didn’t.
He answered and put the call on speaker.
“Where are you?” Evelyn demanded.
Maya looked down at her soup.
“With me,” Jason said. “We’re at a diner. Maya chose it.”
A brief silence. Then Evelyn’s voice turned sharp.
“What are you doing to her?”
“Having lunch.”
“She’s frightened. You show up out of nowhere, start asking questions, and now you’ve got her sitting with you like I’m the enemy.”
Maya’s fingers tightened around her spoon.
“I didn’t ask him to come to the house,” she said. “We’re in public.”
“I know where you are, Maya. You should have told me before you left.”
Jason felt his jaw lock. He kept his hands flat on the table.
“Evelyn, she’s allowed to have lunch with her father.”
“Don’t tell me what she’s allowed to do. I’ve been the one taking care of her while you were gone.”
Maya’s face went still. Jason heard the old accusation in that sentence: his absence made every choice Evelyn’s to control.
“I’m not going to argue about this on the phone,” he said.
“You’re the one who started it.”
“I didn’t call you.”
Another silence, thinner this time. Maya picked up her spoon and took a small mouthful of soup.
Evelyn’s voice dropped. “Maya, come home after lunch. We’ll talk there.”
Maya swallowed. “I’ll take the bus.”
“Jason doesn’t need to take you anywhere,” Evelyn said.
“I didn’t say he would.”
“I’m hanging up.”
The call ended. Maya set her spoon down.
“She’ll be mad,” she said.
Jason looked at the dark phone. “I’m sorry she put you in the middle.”
“You answered because I said to.”
“I did.”
Maya picked up her sandwich again. She ate the rest in silence, and Jason let the silence belong to her.
Outside, the afternoon heat pressed against the diner windows. Maya slung on her backpack and stepped onto the sidewalk ahead of him. He followed at the distance she’d set, not close enough to steer her, not so far that it looked like he was leaving.
Her phone lit in her hand.
She stopped walking.
“What is it?” Jason asked.
Maya didn’t answer. She turned the screen toward him.
The message was from Evelyn. Beneath it was a photograph of the diner’s front window, taken from across the street. Maya was visible through the glass, her face turned toward Jason. The image was so recent the server still stood beside their empty plates.
Maya read the message aloud, her voice barely above the traffic.
“Tell your father not to turn you against family.”
For a moment, Jason heard nothing but the city rushing around them. Maya stared at the photo, then at him.
“She knew where we were,” he said.
May you like
Her phone buzzed once more in her hand.
Neither of them moved to look.
