Gabriella by Carl Facciponte - HTML preview

Chapter 56

Alexi played on the steps of the rectory. Her pink jeweled cell phone rang, displaying an unknown number.

Dad says never to answer a number I don’t know. He always says you never know who it may be, and besides, everyone you want to talk to is already in your contacts list. You can see their name when they call. She obediently ignored the ringing.

A few minutes later, the same number appeared as the phone rang again. Alexi picked it up.

“Hello, Alexi. Do you recognize who this is?” said the gentle voice with a slight inflection.

“Gabriella!!” shouted Alexi. “Where are you? I thought you went away! Can I see you? I love you! When can we get together? I want to give you a hug! Are you coming over? When can I see you?” she blurted out in one excited breath.

“I love you too, honey. I promise we will get together again, but it may take a little while before we can. Alexi, I need to tell you I may not look like the same person at all when we meet. You won’t recognize me, so I will call you and describe myself to you first. You’ll know it’s me if a nice lady comes up to you and uses a secret code word no one else but you and I know. Is there a code word you can remember and would like to use?”

“Why won’t you look the same, Gabriella? Did you cut your hair or something?”

“No, sweetie, it’s more complicated than that. Trust me for now. It’s all good. No matter what I look like, I will always be me, and I will always love you. Please remember that. Now, what’s a good password for us?”

“Well, I liked the fun we had playing together in Central Park.  Remember the ice cream you always talked dad into, even if it ruined our supper.”

“Yes, I do. I’m glad you still remember those things, Alexi.”

“So I want our secret word to be Hot Fudge Sundae,” she replied with authority.

Gabriella responded with a smile in her voice, “Then Hot Fudge Sunday it shall be! Alexi, I don’t think you should tell your father about our conversation. He wants nothing to do with me anymore.”

“I’m not sure,” Alexi said. “He’s been sort of sad for a long time now since you haven’t been coming over. A news thing he saw on TV when there was a shooting or something upset him a bunch. We sometimes go to the places where the three of us used to have fun together. Do you think it means anything, Gabriella?”

“It might,” said the CrayXC40 with a slight up-lilt in its voice. “It just might, Honey. We’ll have to see what the future holds.”