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My had mother video tapped everything. It was some compulsive act, if anything was happening she was there with the video camera (weighing a tone because it was the 90’s) telling me “sing that song again Rune” “make that face for mommy one more time baby.” Sometimes at night she would stay up late talking to it, making tapes of herself. I knew they were for me but I ignored it, my mother was eccentric and I put the tapes off on that. She died in a freak accident when I was 9. After that my Dad shipped me off to a boarding school, it wasn’t because he didn’t love me or anything, his job is just so demanding he couldn’t watch me or expect me to take care of myself. Now at the ripe age of 17 he had called me back from the school pulling me out for the summer instead of leaving me there as he had for the past 8 years. To house sit.
“I left you a note on the counter did you get it?” he asked, the noise from the airport making it hard to hear him.
“Yes, Jim, I got the note but you’re out of cat food.” I examined my ragged nails as I spoke. I made a mental note to file and paint them.
“It’s all in the note Rune. Nuit doesn’t eat cat food.” He paused and asked somebody else a question. “I’ll call you back they’re calling my plane. By baby!”
I still held the phone to my ear after it clicked off. Baby? 8 years of putting me on the back burner and he…. I slammed the phone on the counter and received a dirty look from his cat which was currently reclining on the kitchen table. I curtseyed and dialed Olivia’s number as I browsed the lengthy note Jim had left me.
“Hi, hi! This is Olie’s phone leave a message after the beep ‘cause you’ve missed me!”
“It’s Rune, the place isn’t too bad. He’s got a cat though, y’know what that means, and, WHAT? Salmon, I have to cook salmon for his dumb cat every night? Call me Olie I think I might kill myself before the week is out.” I hung up and put the phone on the counter and moved towards the fridge, opening it wide to see several packets of salmon and a white envelope labeled “Food Money.” I closed the doors and threw the now crinkled up note in the trash.
“Ass.”
