Page 26 of The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose
“Not as important as you.”
He heard her suck in a shaky breath, her tears having subsided. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you, sausage?”
Jonah laughed lightly and blinked back his own tears. “Um, is Dad okay? His hands? He didn’t hurt himself in the fall?”
“The nurse cleaned him up and bandaged them. Poor sod.”
“Give him a kiss from me, won’t you?”
“Always, love.”
“And, Mum?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry about the chickens.”
She sniffed. “Yes. Me too. Bloody fox. You’re lucky you don’t get them in London.”
“Mum, I’ve seen more foxes here than what I ever did in Cornwall. My neighbor had one with babies in their garden last year.”
“Really?” She sounded genuinely surprised. “Well, I never. Even London isn’t safe from the buggers.” She paused. “Oh, Jonah?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Once he said goodbye to her, he sucked in a deep breath and clicked to return the call to his aunt. She never called him, only texted now and then, stupid things about the ugly paintings she’d found in thrift shops and how many tomatoes were growing in her garden. For her to call meant something big happened, but his mum seemed fine on the phone, and she said Dad was okay, so he silently hoped it was nothing but a butt dial as it rang.
“Hello, Jonah, my love.” Her voice sounded warm, freshly baked scones with melting butter and raspberry jam.
“Aunt Penny.” He matched her tone, genuinely happy to hear her voice. “I had a missed call from you?”
“Yes, well, I wasn’t sure if I should call or not, but... here I am.” A silence hung between them. “I’m worried about your mum, love, she’s not been herself.” Three years younger than his mum, Aunt Penny lived with a woman called Sally who she referred to as her roommate, but as Jonahgot older he realized they lived in a one-bedroom apartment adorned with photos of the two of them looking remarkably loved up. Even when Jonah came out, Penny never hinted at anything other than friendship with Sally. But one time Jonah saw them kiss each other softly in the kitchen when they thought no one was looking, and he was happy to quietly back out and pretend he hadn’t seen anything while their backs were turned if that was how they wanted it.
“She just called me in hysterics about her chickens, but that’s okay, Pen.”
“I had that this morning too. It’s not just the chickens, Jonah. I went over there yesterday morning and she just sat there trembling, not from cold, I don’t know what it was.” Penny sighed.
“She’s stressed about Dad,” Jonah said, not wanting it to be anything serious; he didn’t want to think of the alternative. “I’m going to do some research this afternoon on more homes. Dad needs to be somewhere now. She can’t look after him.”
“I agree with you there,” she conceded. “We are all worried about your dad, but sometimes I think she gets forgotten in all this.”
Jonah knew what she meant, though her statement felt like perhaps she was trying to say maybehewas forgetting her. “I will call her more often, check in on her. It’s hard being so far away.”
“Oh, I know, love,” Penny said softly. “We will keep an eye on her here for you. I just thought we should maybe talk more, keep each other up-to-date on what’s going on so we can support her.”
“Of course.”
“Well, I will let you get on, you’re a big star now, aren’t you?” Penny laughed sweetly. “Keep safe, Jonah”
Dexter grimaced and slammed his hands on the floor. Jonah stood over him, panting as Peter meandered to the side, arms crossed over his chest. It was the twelfth time in a row Dexter messed up the tiniest bit of combat choreography. Where he needed to fall to Jonah’s right, his sword swiping out in an attempt to strike him, he pivoted his foot to the left, resulting in him stumbling while waving his prop sword redundantly in the air.
“Beyoncé would not be happy with me for saying this, but it’s to theright, Dexter, to the right, to the right!” Peter clapped his hands together as he spoke, emphasizing each word, turning them into an attack of his own. “If you go to your left, the audience won’t see the move, which is what?”
“Pointless,” Dexter grumbled from the floor.
“Let’s take a break. I’m in desperate need of a vape, and don’t either of you two lecture me on the dangers of vaping, because I’ve had it up to here with it.” Peter gestured to his forehead aggressively before turning from them, grabbing his bag, and stomping out of the room.
