WHO: Brooke Kingman and Max Kingman. WHEN: Wednesday, April 13th, 2016. WHERE: Telephone conversation. SUMMARY: Max calls home to ask his mom for her help to go home, but she convinces him to stay. WARNINGS: None.
“Come on, come on! Pick up!” [The phone continues to ring on his side until it finally patches through.] “Mom? Mom, it’s Max. I really need to talk to you.”
“Max! Hey! How’s the island? Find your treasure yet?”
“No, we didn’t. Actually, mom, I need your help. I need to come home.”
“What? Max. What’s going on? What happened? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I was in the market and this lady wouldn’t let go of me. She kept saying if I didn’t leave, we were going to die.” [Pause] “Have you ever had a feeling, like in the pit of your stomach, where you just know something is wrong? I don’t want to stay. I really, really think I should leave, mom.”
“A lady? What lady? Why would she say that?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. She was a local, not from the hotel. But she grabbed my wrists and kept shouting that all of my friends are going to die if we don’t leave. Who says that? I don’t think the island does an early version of Halloween or anything.”
“Was she old? Did she seem lucid?”
“I’d say she was in her eighties or nineties. Lucid enough, I think. She had one hell of a grip.”
“So she was calm? And she’d answer questions for you like ‘Why are you saying that?’ ‘What makes you think that I and my friends are in danger?’ ‘What kind of danger are we in?’”
[Long Pause.] “No. We didn’t really get quite that far. There was the grabbing and the yelling and the feeling and everything. I wasn’t able to ask those kinds of questions.”
“And then she left and didn't say anything else?”
“I left because she scared me. What does it matter, mom? I really think we should come home. What if she’s right?”
“That does sound very scary, and traumatic. Sweetheart, I’m so sorry that happened. But, Max, it sounds like she was senile. It doesn’t sound like she knew what she was doing or saying. And you’ve been saving up for this trip for a long time. It might be awhile before you get to hang out with all of your friends together again. Besides the old woman, have you been having a good time?”
[Another Long Pause.] “I guess you’re right. It just [...] never mind. Yeah, we haven’t found the treasure yet, but it’s been pretty fun.”
“If you really want to come home, I’ll support you. And you should keep your eye out in case something else happens. But I think it would be a bummer if an old woman’s episode ended up spoiling your trip.”
“You’re right. It’s probably just a crazy old lady. [...] I got you something really cool. I can’t wait to bring it home to you!”
“...Is it a...Dog? Is it...a Rock? Ohmigosh! Did you get me a SEASHELL from the actual Caribbean ocean?! [crackling]...Uh oh, I think you’re cutting out now. Stay safe, Max. I love you. Have fun.”