Fallout (Crank 3)

Try dialing by hand. I do,

and from a distant city, through

the static, I discern a familiar voice.

You procrastinators don’t have

much time left. Santa’s almost here….

“That’s my brother,” I tell Kyle.

“Hunter. He works at a station

in Reno.” Nostalgia whacks me.

Really? How come you never

told me you have a br

other?

He turns up the volume, but

the meager signal has dissolved

completely. “I have three brothers,

actually. Oh, and a sister, I guess.

I hardly ever see my brothers, and

no one bothered to tell me I had a sister

until a couple of weeks ago.”

Wow. That’s tough. I love my sister.

Can’t imagine not … His voice

catches as he considers what

he’s about to say. Can’t imagine not

seeing her, let alone not knowing

she even existed. How’d you find out?

I shrug. “My dad got drunk—

that night he got the DUI, in fact—

and it kind of just slipped out.”

Kyle thinks that over. Finally says,

My dad was drunk when he told

me about my mom going into the river.