Ring, ring.
I answer. “Hello?”
“Yeah, hi. Is this Sean Dietrich?”
“This is he. Who am I speaking with?”
“Omigosh. My name is Leah.”
“Hello, Leah. You sound very young. How old are you?”
“Omigosh. I’m turning 11 years old in a few days.”
“Wow. Well, happy birthday. And pleased to meet you, Leah.”
“Omigosh. This is so cool.”
“What can I do for you, Leah?”
Silence.
“Well,” she began, “I don’t really know what to say. I just called because I wanted to, well, to meet you for my birthday wish, so my mom got your phone number so that we could talk.”
“I see. And how did she get this number, Leah? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Your wife gave it to us.”
“Does your mother know my wife?”
“No, but Mom is friends with your wife’s cousin’s best friend’s aunt’s nephew’s dentist’s landlord’s neighbor’s mechanic’s attorney’s plumber, who lives in Dothan, and goes to Bible study with my mother’s distant cousin in Opp. So my mom texted some people, they found your wife’s number.”
“Small world.”
“Is this a bad time? I can call back.”
“No, Leah, this is a perfect time. How are you doing?”
“Omigosh,
okay, I guess. I mean, the doctor says I’m doing okay. So I guess I’m good.”
“The doctor?”
“Yeah. He’s really hopeful.”
“Hopeful about what?”
“That I’m going to go into remission.”
“Oh.”
More silence.
“It’s not all that bad, being sick, Mister Sean. Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t care about losing my hair. The only thing I don’t like is when there’s a little tiny bit of hair left on top my head. That’s why I told my mom to just shave it off because I feel weird, I can’t stand the little patches of hair on a bald head, you know? It just looks stupid.”
“Um.”
“Yeah, so my mom shaved my head with my…