#12: The Phone call

Type: Deleted Scene

Timeline: EomE 1

Summary: June Darby gets an interesting phone call from a very familiar person

It had been a long day at First Jasper Hospital and all June wanted to do was get home. But she had to swing by the Autobot base to check in with Optimus and to pick Jack up. Apparently, it was Arcee's day for Energon Scouting and wouldn't be able to get Jack home in time for curfew.

As she passed through Jasper proper and onto the stretch of road that would lead to the base, June's phone started to ring. It wasn't a number that she recognized with the area code being from New York. So, she just let it ring, figuring that it was just a scam call or something. She wasn't in the mood for telemarketers at the moment, anyway. June entered the front tunnel when the rock façade dropped and all her devices lost signals for a brief moment. Her cellphone, which had started ringing again, went dead. She briefly switched her headlights on until she entered the main area. June parked her car where it wouldn't get squashed by an errant Autobot foot should they decide to get rowdy.

Her phone started to ring again as she got out to greet Jack and his two friends, Miko and Raf. June sure wasn't about to answer it, especially if she didn't know who was calling.

"Hey mom. We're just finishing some homework." Ack called from the catwalk.

"Alright, sweetie. Take your time." She walked up the stairs and plopped down on the couch. Her sore feet announced their appreciation for no longer being stood after an extremely long shift.

"Long day?" Jack asked with a knowing smirk.

"Very." June answered. She rubbed her forehead, sighing heavily. "And then I am getting back-to-back phone calls from a New York number."

"Telemarketers?"

"Or someone who doesn't know they might be calling the wrong number." She put her hand down and watched the kids from half lidded eyes. "Miko. Raf. How are you two doing?"

"Okay, I guess." Raf answered.

"Ugh! I hate history!"

"Here. Let me see what you're stuck on."

June smiled at her son as he slid over to help the Japanese girl. He was compassionate and helpful.

Her cellphone started to ring. Again.

Feeling all her frustration bubble up, June angrily answered the phone. "I don't know who this is but the next time you call this number, I will report you!"

There was a beat of silence before the person on the other line gave a huffed laugh.

"Come on, Aunt June. Is that any way to talk to your favorite nephew?"

She immediately knew that voice. "Eric?"

"The one and the same. Must've caught you a bad time, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I don't usually answer numbers that aren't saved."

"Ah. Now that's on me. I probably should've called more."

"Don't worry about it." June acknowledged her son's quizzical glance before moving to a more private area. "So, what do I owe this phone call?"

"I didn't catch you at a bad time did I?"

"No, no, no. Just-" Come on, June. Think. "Just waiting for Jack. He's got a tutoring thing going on."

"Aw man! Little Jack all gorwn up. What grade is he in?"

"Junior. In High school."

On the other side of the phone, Eric whistled. "Jeez. Now I feel old."

June chuckled in response. "Yeah, I know."

"So anyway, I was calling because Maya and I were thinking about visiting. I've procured a lot of vacation days and it's been a hot minute since we've seen you guys."

"Yeah. Yeah! Absolutely." June felt a rush of excitement at seeing her sister's kids again. "Were you guys thinking about flying down? Because Jasper doesn't have much in the way of an airport."

"No. We've got some places to be so we'll be stopping here or there on the way."

"That's right. I forgot you two owned motorcycles." June laughed. "When will you be leaving?"

"I'd say in the next few days. We'll be riding hard so we should be there in two weeks. We'll keep you posted as we go."

"Alright, well, don't ride too hard." June ordered them. She didn't want to attend another family member's funeral. "Tell your sister I said hi and I'll se you when you get here."

"Great. Love you, Aunt June."

"Love you, too."

There was a click as the line went dead.

Somehow, June felt more tense than before, her shoulder joints tightened as though preparing for a great weight to be placed on it. Her sister, who was twelve years her senior, had always held some sort of secret. Julia had always seemed to withhold something from her, and her two kdis were no different.

It was like an inside joke that neither Jack nor June were privy to and would never be privy to.

"Mom? Everything okay?"

June was pulled out of her thoughts to her son's worried face. She cleared her throat. "Yeah. That was just your cousin, Eric. He and Maya will be coming down for a visit."

While Jack's face lit up with excitement, Mike and Raf cocked their heads in confusion.

"I didn't know you had cousins?"

"We don't see them very often since they're a lot older than I am and live in New York."

Miko gasped. "Do they see a lot of stars?"

"I don't think so…..Eric used to work in construction but does bartending now. Maya…. I don't know what she does." June glanced to Jack who shrugged to her unspoken question.

"What are we going to say about where I go after class? How are we gonna explain away Arcee?"

And then June realized that she and Jack held their own inside joke that Maya nor Eric wouldn't and couldn't be privy to.

"Good question. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Everyone just went back to what they were doing until a couple of the Autobots returned. Miko's appointed guardian, Bulkhead, hobbled in and took the young girl's attention away from her homework. And as much as Jack tried to get it back, he eventually saw it as a lost cause that it was and gave up. He and Raf continued their homework until the young boy's guardian, Bumblebee, showed up to take him home. June helped Jack gather his things and bring them to the trunk of the car. The two waved goodbye to Ratchet before heading home.