Page 21 of Wrecked By You

She put the headset snugly on my head. “You take it.” She indicated the button I was supposed to push.

I pressed the button. “Hello,” I said, feeling extremely nervous.

Mrs. Friendly shook her head back and forth and pointed to the notecard taped to the screen.

“Hello?” someone asked. Their name and number were immediately pulled up on the screen. “Who is this?”

“Uh, 911 emergency, how can I help you?”

“Martha, is that you?”

“No. It’s not.”

“Where’s Martha?”

Mrs. Friendly took the microphone and turned it toward her. “Sonya, I’m training a new girl. What are you doing calling here?”

“Oh. Who is the new girl?”

Mrs. Friendly sighed. “Her name is Isla Hamilton.”

“Wait a second, is that Sharon Harper’s girl? I only ask because Isla is not a common name. Wait, is she the girl that got beaten up by her father?” She trailed off.

My heart rate jumped, and I felt lightheaded. I stood.

Mrs. Friendly took the headset off my head and shooed me to the other chair. “Sonya, what do you need? You can’t be calling this number just to start some gossip.”

“Is it gossip?”

I took a couple of steps back and put my hands over my head.

Fred stood and moved to my side. “You okay?”

I nodded but hated the fact I was reacting this way to someone knowing me. Of course, people knew about me and my background and my father. The lady was right: it was easy to recognize the name Isla.

Mrs. Friendly let out a low growl. “What did you need, Sonya?”

“Oh, fiddlesticks. My cat is up in that tree again, and he won’t come down because Mr. Henly has his dog loose. It’s been three days, and I need my cat down.”

Mrs. Friendly turned back and rolled her eyes. She punched a couple of buttons on the computer. “Okay. I’ll send out an officer.”

“Okay. Goodbye.” Sonya hung up.

I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in a long breath before opening them again.

Mrs. Friendly was next to me. She nodded to Fred. “Will you cover me while Isla and I take a walk?”

He gave her a mock salute. “Will do.”

Mrs. Friendly gestured to the door. “Let’s take a break.”

I was glad we could walk down the hallway, out the door, and into the sunshine. We moved toward the park across the street.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should be better prepared for that.”

“Hush. Sonya is a busybody, and she’s just sitting around all day looking for her cat and gossiping. Don’t worry about her.”

I blinked back emotion and moved toward the playground. “I guess I wasn’t expecting to be recognized, that’s all.”