Gap
Hannah Jones
Pearl answered the phone with both hands. She could barely reach it, even standing on a stool in the kitchen, and it was too heavy to hold in just one hand like Mommy and Daddy did. So, she held the phone like a rind of watermelon and spoke with her lips touching the talking end. “Hello?” “H-hello?” the woman’s voice on the other end stammered. “Is this Pearl?” “Yes,” Pearl replied. For a moment, she was nervous. After Cheri had fallen asleep in the armchair as usual, Pearl had snuck off and made a rather large mess of Captain Crunch on the kitchen floor. She wondered if the voice knew—if she was in trouble. But the voice didn’t sound angry. “Oh, Pearl, sweetheart,” the voice said. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I’ve waited a very long time to get the chance to talk to you, because… well, I’ve been thinking about you, about you growing up, and I had been hoping…Pearl, darling, do you know who I am?” “Yes,” Pearl answered. The voice made a shuddery sigh that sounded like laughing and crying. “That’s wonderful, poppet,” she said. “That’s just so marvelous. Can you talk a minute? Are your mummy and daddy around?” “No,” Pearl answered. It was just Cheri, and she was still sound asleep in front of Thomas the Tank Engine. “Okay, darling, then we’ll just have a little chat. Just you and me. Would that make you happy, love?” “Yes,” Pearl answered. “Wonderful,” the voice said. “Just wonderful.” * * * “So I talked to the tooth fairy yesterday,” Pearl said. Toby’s eyes got all round behind his glasses, and he set what was going to be his next animal cracker back down. “Really?” he asked. “Uh-huh. Her name is Kelly.”
33
