Page 62 of Sight Unseen

Suzanne gave a pleased laugh. “Thank you, Cody.”

“So, before the waiter gets here, can we have a role call?” Cody had initiated this method of all the people at the table calling out their name so I got an idea who was at the table and where they were.

Names were called from my left to right, and I nodded, visually filing away their location. One good thing, my memory had improved since being blind, no doubt out of sheer necessity. “Thanks for coming tonight. I appreciate you all being here.”

A waiter came over and our drink orders were placed.

“So what did Cody give you for your birthday?” Dev asked slyly. “Let me see. Did it involve something up close and personal? Did it end well? Could you eat it? Want to tell us about it?”

My face heated. It had indeed been something personal but I damned well wasn’t telling anyone around this table about it.

“No, Nate isn’t going to tell you all our dirty secrets, so stop fishing.” Cody chuckled. “Blu, control your man. Dev has never been the subtlest of people.”

“Yeah, well, someone has to keep him on the straight and narrow.” The fondness in Blu’s voice was hard to mistake. “Dev tends to shoot his mouth off, or says the most cringe-worthy things at the wrong time. Last week, down at the beach, he told this joke to a bunch of people before I could stop him. He didn’t realize there were some kids behind us who immediately started asking their parents some serious questions. Dev didn’t make it any better when he joined in.”

“Ooh, tell us the joke,” Suzanne exclaimed.

I heard the grin in Dev’s voice. “Okay. How did the Burger King get the Dairy Queen pregnant?”

There was silence at the table.

“I have no clue,” Cody finally said. “Go on, tell us.”

“He forgot to wrap his Whopper.” Dev delivered the punch line and cackled.

Suzanne burst into giggles, I chuckled, and Cody guffawed once or twice.

“There you have it,” Blu added wryly. “After that, the kids kept asking their folks how a burger can get an ice cream pregnant, and some asked what was pregnant anyway? Dev didn’t help by trying to explain that one should always practice safe sex, so a Whopper was in fact a representation of a condom, which grossed the kids out no end and led to even more questions.”

Laughter burst out around the table.

When everyone had laughed their fill, Blu carried on. “Eventually the parents moved away with the kids, but not before a few dirty glances were thrown our way.”

Dev argued. “You make me sound like a pervert. I so did not know those kids were there. Maybe you should find yourself someone a little more circumspect,” he huffed.

“Baby, you’re perfect just the way you are. Big mouth and all,” Blu said softly.

Dev’s tone perked up. “You like my big mouth for other things.”

That led to a ribald discussion about the pros and cons of big mouths and I listened with gratitude that I had such good friends. Not only was my social circle the best, the affection between Blu and Dev was unmistakeable.

I wondered idly what might have happened had Blu and I gone further that night, and whether we might have gotten together. In hindsight, everything had worked out just the way it was supposed to.

Cody was my future now. Actually, he always had been.

***

A week later, something happened that triggered a series of events that I could have never imagined. If I’d known then what would happen, I would have never made that first phone call.

On a bright November morning I was enjoying the warm sunshine streaming in through the bay window in the family room. I sat on the sofa honing my constantly improving Braille abilities when a news flash on the radio made me sit up and take notice.

“And now to the latest news. In Christchurch, New Zealand, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake rocked the country. It is not known yet exactly how many casualties there are, but the current number stands as sixty dead, and many more injured or missing. Some of the worst hit areas are still being searched and it is hoped more survivors may be found beneath the rubble of this thriving city. We cross over to our Brenda Ondine, who is in the disaster area, for more details. Brenda, are you with us?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. My family lives there.

I didn’t wait to hear what Brenda had to say. Dread trailed sneaky tendrils through my brain and chest. My heart had clenched at the radio announcer’s first two sentences and I’d already been scrambling for my phone with trembling fingers.

While I knew my vindictive and manipulative father would never forgive me for being me, not to mention what I’d done in his boardroom all those years ago, or the decisions I’d made; and despite not speaking more than a few words to me in twelve years, never mind my entire family’s complete and utter lack of concern that I might have died in an accident, I needed to find out if they were okay.