Chapter Twenty-Six: Seventeen Years
"Hi," Michelle said with a small smile.
"Hey. How was your Christmas?"
"Lonely. Yours?"
Tony shrugged. "The same."
"Tony…" Michelle bit her lip. "There's something I need to tell you."
This perked Tony's curiosity; the last time she had said those words to him she had told him she was pregnant. That couldn't be what it was this time, though… so it had to be something bad.
"What?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
She looked away. "Your father… he died a few days ago."
His… his fath… "…What?" he asked again. It couldn't be true, Tony was getting out in just three years, surely his dad could've held on that much longer…
"He got a bad case of pneumonia just after Christmas, and he--" Michelle cleared her throat and tried again. "He passed away on Tuesday."
"Pneumonia? This is the twenty-first century, Michelle, people don't die from pneumonia anymore!"
"He was very old, Tony…" She looked at him sympathetically.
Tony exhaled loudly and shook his head. "I don't believe this."
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks…" Tony sighed and made himself look up. "How's my mom?"
"She's doing okay, considering. She says she's glad he got to have one last Christmas."
Yeah, one last Christmas without me there, without Zoe there…
"Does Zoe know?"
"Yeah. I felt so bad having to tell her over the phone, but…" She sighed. "We can't afford to pay for her to fly back for the funeral at such short notice. She's pretty cut up about it."
"And I can't go either…"
"I know… Is there anything you want me to say at the funeral on your behalf? Zoe's sent me a whole speech."
"Uh… I dunno. Let me think about it. I'll call you."
"No, Tony, call your mother, it would really make her feel better. I'm gonna be with her most of the time anyway, helping to organize things… or if I'm not there you can leave a message with her. She'll appreciate it."
"Alright."
Then they tried to talk about happier things, but their mood remained too somber for this to give them much comfort.