Читать книгу A Little Bit of Ivey - Lorelei JD Branam - Страница 8

Apparently my sisters and I got an identical match of DNA when it comes to our vocal chords, because we all sound interchangeable when we speak. Our voices, intonation and tone are so similar that we feel each other’s presence many times a day. Lucy says she can hear her own self in me, when I leave a voice message on her phone. Many times mid- sentence, I will hear her in the sound of my words, and she is two hundred miles away. Maybe this is why I talk to myself—just to hear the sound of my sisters.

Growing up in the Seventies, there were no cell phones. Streamlined telephones in shiny colors of avocado green, lemon yellow, powder blue and cotton ball white inhabited our house. The phones were so attractive—I don’t know—they sorta reminded me of candy and beckoned me to use them. But, there was only one phone line and six of us girls to share it, seven including Mother.

My father really disliked the telephone. I never saw him use it except in his office and rarely did he ever pick it up when he was home, but when he did, it always gave me a laugh, while causing surprise and confusion for the caller. You see, Dad didn’t waste time when it came to the phone, and if he was forced to answer it, he did so by simply stating, “Speak.” There was no greeting or pleasantries. Speak, and tell him what you want.

A telephone call to my home could prove to be quite frustrating because it was literally impossible to know who you were speaking to, and the choices were endless. When I was fifteen or so, I came running up from the lake to get fresh towels and picked up the ringing phone in the kitchen to hear Dad say, “Hello, Lorraine. Is your mother around?”

I tell him, “It’s not Lorraine.”

He says, “Lucy Lea?”

“No”

He gives it another go, trying to ascertain which one of his many daughters he is speaking with: “Rosemary?”

“No, Dad”

“Well, let’s see, Pollyannie?”

“Oh come on, Dad!”

Then with good humor tingeing his Southern drawl in sweet frustration, he gives up. ” I’m workin’ right now, so whoever the hell you are, would you please go and get your mother? I need to talk to her.”