We used to have a tradition with a friend of my youth to call each other on weekends to exchange news. He still lived in the country, worked hard, was lonely, no family, no other friends, and I kept in touch with him. About two months ago he missed my call once, twice, three times. I figured he was busy with something and didn’t want to bother him. The second month I was seriously worried, but then I decided he was only forty, nothing could have happened to him, I was probably boring him. Just in case, I told him the news on my voicemail – what if he was interested and listened later?
– Hi. It’s been a long time since you answered the phone. How are you? How are you? My heart’s always missing. What else could it be? These kids are driving me crazy. My daughter doesn’t want to go to college anymore, she’ll go back to school. Isn’t it okay that the whole first semester is over? Isn’t she ashamed of herself? And I’ve got so much paperwork…
There’s another voicemail after a while:
– You didn’t change your number, did you? It’s embarrassing if I’m texting someone else. My daughter will go, she promises to do the transfer herself, but she does not want to go back to her old school. And Julia is busy with her family life, she has no time for her parents. I wish I could come and visit you for a week. We could go fishing and barbecue. Call me back when you hear what I have to say, maybe we can arrange a date?
Almost two months later, I recorded his last voice message:
– I’m really looking forward to hearing from you. I’m already worried. You’ve never disappeared like this before. Did you go abroad and not even tell your old friend? I miss talking to you, you know. Still hoping to go fishing with you, just like old times. Please call me back soon. I’m not talking about my daughters, I’ll either complain about them in person or later on the phone.
The next time I called, the woman next door picked up.
– He’s been gone for two months,” she told me, “his heart just stopped beating. We buried him at the expense of the work collective and the village. I only recently found the phone in the house and picked it up. Are you a relative?
It made my eyes blurry. I did not think of such horror, I did not know that I had long been without a friend.
I didn’t want to go to my childhood village to say goodbye…
